Metabase

What it is for

Metabase is a question-and-dashboard desk: you ask a question on a connected table (visual steps or SQL), pin it to a dashboard, and you can start Cloud Starter at $100/month (5 users) or self-host the AGPL app at $0. Use it when the job is charts you start at $100 Cloud or OSS $0, not when you need a $20 chat seat.

What makes it unique: the cover is the official Metabase question editor (Data / Filter / Summarize / Visualize on Orders) from the questions docs — not a pricing card. The editor itself is ops of Questions.

Key features

• Questions — a visual or native-SQL ask on a table (questions; cover). One ask. Filter / Summarize / Join / Visualize are ops of this. Native SQL is an option on this ask, not a second product. The notebook editor is ops.
• Dashboards — a board you pin questions onto (pricing). A board, not an ask. Subscriptions and PDF attachments sit here as delivery of the board.
• Models — a curated table the team asks against, instead of a raw warehouse dump. A table you trust, not a one-off question. Metabot / hosted LLM tokens are SKU of Cloud, not a fifth surface.
• Embedding — drop a question or dashboard in your own product (Modular Embedding SDK; pricing Pro / Enterprise). A widget in your app, not a Metabase tab. OSS self-host does not include the full embed SKU.
• Self-host — the AGPL app you run yourself; Cloud is the hosted desk (pricing Open Source). A deploy, not a question. Cloud Starter starts at $100/month.

Seats are the Cloud meter after the included block (5 on Starter, 10 on Pro). Transforms (1,000 included runs, then $0.01) and AI tokens ($3.75/1M after 1M included) are SKU of Cloud.

Who it's for

Best fit: ops / data teams who will self-host OSS at $0 (unlimited internal users, no embed SKU) while they ask a first Orders question, or start the Cloud Starter 14-day trial and land on $100/month (5 users included, then $6/user) when they do not want to run the stack.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) from metabase.com/pricing. Cloud is seats. OSS self-host is $0. The cards we fetched print monthly and yearly dollars.

• Open Source (self-host) — $0. AGPL. Unlimited internal users. No embed SKU. You run it.
• Starter (Cloud) — $100/month ($90/month on the yearly toggle, $1,080/year). First 5 users included, then $6/user/month ($65/user/year). 14-day trial.
• Pro (Cloud or self-host license) — $575/month ($517.50/month yearly, $6,210/year). First 10 users included, then $12/user/month ($130/user/year). Embedding and branding. 14-day trial.
• Enterprise — from $20,000/year. Talk to sales.
• AI add-on — 1 million tokens included, then $3.75 per additional 1M tokens (as printed).
• Transforms — 1,000 included runs on Starter/Pro, then $0.01/run. Advanced transforms print $0.02/run after the included block on the page we fetched — confirm the live card.

Confirm checkout; taxes follow your location. Re-check the monthly/yearly toggle — do not invent a third card.

Limitations / costs

• Starter’s $100 includes 5 users. The sixth editor is $6/user/month.
• Embedding is Pro+. OSS $0 will not white-label a chart in your SaaS.
• A BI desk, not a warehouse. For a SQL notebook with compute see Hex. For DuckDB in the cloud see MotherDuck.

Alternatives

• Hex — a SQL / Python notebook when the job is a live compute cell, not a saved Metabase question.
• MotherDuck — hosted DuckDB when you will query a lake, not pin a dashboard.
• Rows — a spreadsheet desk when the “question” is a grid, not a BI tile.

Official tutorial

Official Metabase channel video: New in Metabase 64: Transform indexes, lookback windows, and more (oEmbed author: Metabase). First-party product walkthrough; the questions-docs editor still is the cover.

Written path: metabase.com/pricing plus the questions docs editor.

Website

https://www.metabase.com

Repository

https://github.com/metabase/metabase

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is the official Metabase question editor from the questions docs. Dollars checked on metabase.com/pricing (OSS $0; Starter $100/$90 yr + $6/user after 5; Pro $575/$517.50 yr + $12/user after 10; Enterprise from $20k/yr). Tutorial oEmbed author: Metabase.

Last verified

2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.