Looker vs Metabase Open Source Edition

Fit:

Migration notes

Self-service database questions and dashboards; vendor migration guidance explicitly discusses Looker. Rebuild LookML metrics, joins and access policies in SQL/dataset definitions; validate semantic equivalence and drill paths. Audit dashboards and subscriptions, centralize shared calculation logic, then rebuild and compare metrics. Data source support must be checked; embedded interactivity/SSO and subscription-specific filters require paid editions.

Sources: www.metabase.com, www.metabase.com, www.metabase.com, www.metabase.com · checked 2026-10-21

LookerPaid incumbent

Entry priceNot established

Pricing modelmixed, billed quote

OwnerAlphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL)

Annual platform price requires sales quote; named user licensing also applies. Looker, distinct from Looker Studio. Source

Looker plans reviewed
Standard	entry	Quote only
Standard	business	Quote only
Enterprise	enterprise	Quote only

Metabase Open Source EditionOpen-source alternative

Fit for Looker

License

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 Permissions of this strongest copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications, which include larger works using a licensed work, under the same license. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. When a modified version is used to provide a service over a network, the complete source code of the modified version must be made available. May Commercial useModificationDistributionPatent usePrivate use Must License and copyright noticeState changesDisclose sourceNetwork use is distributionSame license No LiabilityWarranty Summary from GitHub's choosealicense.com

Paid-feature tier C

Self-host

Paid-feature limits3 noted

Metabase Open Source Edition plans reviewed
Open Source	free self-hosted OSS edition	Free
Pro	paid self-host license	USD 575 / organization / mo
Enterprise	paid commercial edition	USD 20,000 / organization / yr

What you may give up

Pro/Enterprise: row and column permissions, JWT/SAML/OIDC SSO, caching controls and usage analytics/auditing. Google Sign-In and LDAP are separate authentication options; not all authentication is paid.
Interactive/SSO embedding, React modular embedding SDK, and whitelabel branding are Pro/Enterprise features; guest/view-only embedding remains possible under the stated license terms.
Per-subscription dashboard filter customization is Pro/Enterprise; basic scheduled email/Slack subscriptions are available.

Cloud hosting manages setup, backups and upgrades for a fee; self-hosting requires your infrastructure and email/Slack setup.

Tier C: Tier C because routine tailored report subscriptions and interactive embedded analytics are paid, beyond enterprise administration. OSI status covers AGPL Open Source Edition only; top-level enterprise code and enterprise binaries use Metabase Commercial License, not OSI OSS. Cloud managed operations are separate from software gates. License source

What running it takes

Java 25 JRE standalone JAR
or

Hover or focus an icon for its name. Dashed means not established; struck through means no; grouped icons are alternatives.

Current v 0.64 runtime/app-db docs; JAR/Docker routes. Production requires external supported app DB, service supervision/backups; default H 2 evaluation only. Elastic Beanstalk now explicitly not recommended, so obsolete one-click route excluded. Infrastructure and staff time are not priced here; this page does not compare total cost.