Metabase Cloud

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Metabase Cloud

A curated collection of the 2 best self hosted alternatives to Metabase Cloud.

Metabase Cloud is the hosted, fully managed version of Metabase that provides cloud-based business intelligence: dashboards, visual query builder, SQL editor and alerts. It simplifies analytics by handling hosting, scaling, security and updates for teams.

Alternatives List

#1
Apache Superset

Apache Superset

Apache Superset is an open-source BI platform for SQL analytics, interactive dashboards, rich visualizations, strong security, and wide database connectivity.

Apache Superset screenshot

Apache Superset is a web-based business intelligence and data exploration platform for building interactive dashboards and running ad-hoc SQL analysis on many data sources. It is designed for organizations that need a scalable BI layer with governance features like permissions and row-level security.

Key Features

  • Rich visualization library and dashboard builder with interactive filtering and drill-down
  • SQL Editor (SQL Lab) for ad-hoc querying, saved queries, and result exploration
  • Broad database connectivity via SQLAlchemy (works with many SQL engines/warehouses)
  • Semantic layer concepts via datasets/metrics and calculated columns to standardize definitions
  • Role-based access control (RBAC) with granular permissions and optional SSO integration
  • Row-level security (RLS) rules to restrict data visibility per user/role
  • Alerts & reports (scheduled delivery) and caching support for performance
  • Extensible architecture: custom visualizations/plugins and a REST API for automation

Use Cases

  • Build internal BI dashboards for product, finance, and operations teams
  • Enable analysts to explore warehouse data with governed, reusable datasets/metrics
  • Provide a lightweight alternative to commercial BI tools for SQL-centric organizations

Limitations and Considerations

  • Requires operational dependencies (metadata DB and typically Redis/Celery for async tasks)
  • Feature depth and UX may vary by database/engine depending on driver capabilities

Apache Superset is a strong fit when you need a flexible, SQL-first analytics UI with dashboards and governance controls. Its broad connector ecosystem and extensibility make it suitable from small teams to large deployments when paired with a robust data warehouse.

69.7kstars
16.4kforks
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#2
Metabase

Metabase

Self-hosted BI tool for querying data, building dashboards, and sharing insights with SQL and a no-code editor.

Metabase screenshot

Metabase is an open-source business intelligence platform for exploring data, answering ad-hoc questions, and building dashboards that can be shared across a team. It connects to many SQL databases and data warehouses, supports both a visual query builder and SQL, and can publish dashboards via embeds or public links.

Key Features

  • Visual query builder (“Notebook editor”) for non-technical users plus a full SQL editor for analysts
  • Interactive dashboards with drill-through, filtering, and parameterized questions
  • Saved questions/models and reusable query components for consistent metrics
  • Embedding options for charts/dashboards (including signed embeds in some editions)
  • Alerting and subscriptions to deliver results on a schedule (email/Slack integrations vary by setup/edition)
  • Permissions and governance features for organizing databases, schemas, and collections
  • Native caching and query performance controls (e.g., result caching, database-specific tuning)
  • Extensive database/warehouse support via built-in and JDBC drivers

Use Cases

  • Internal analytics portal for product, finance, or operations teams
  • Self-serve reporting for business users on top of PostgreSQL/MySQL and warehouses
  • Embedded analytics inside a customer-facing application

Limitations and Considerations

  • Some advanced governance/embedding capabilities are edition-dependent (open-source vs. paid)
  • Heavy, highly concurrent analytics workloads may require careful database tuning and caching strategy

Metabase is well-suited for teams that want fast time-to-value analytics with both no-code exploration and SQL power. It provides a pragmatic middle ground between lightweight charting tools and heavyweight enterprise BI suites, while remaining deployable on your own infrastructure.

45.5kstars
6.2kforks
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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running