Tableau vs Metabase Open Source Edition

Fit:

Migration notes

Self-service database questions and dashboards; vendor migration guidance explicitly discusses Tableau. Rebuild workbook layouts, calculated fields and extract-based preparation; validate dashboard interactions and supported data drivers. 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

TableauPaid incumbent

Entry priceUSD 15 / seat / month

Pricing modelper-seat, billed annual

OwnerSalesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM)

Tableau Standard advertised starting price; every deployment requires at least one Creator license, so this is not full deployment cost. Source

Tableau plans reviewed
Tableau Standard	entry	USD 180 / user / yr
Tableau Standard	business	USD 180 / user / yr
Tableau Enterprise	enterprise	USD 420 / user / yr

Metabase Open Source EditionOpen-source alternative

Fit for Tableau

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.