4.9/5
Product Hunt rating
24 reviews
Report
Should I Use Metabase?
Metabase grounds every answer in your semantic layer — your metrics and business logic — so you can inspect the query behind it.
Depends
DependsBuy it if someone on your team can host it, patch it fast, and write SQL — the free open-source core is genuinely capable BI.
Powerful free open-source BI — but only if you can self-host, patch fast, and tolerate export/dashboard rough edges.
Confidence: Medium
49.4k
GitHub stars
Shown on Metabase's own site
2014
Founded
$51.05M raised
Yes
Free tier
Open-source core
Value for money
5
Free open-source core; paid only for cloud/enterprise
Ease of use
4
Reviewed as genuinely easy for non-technical business users
Feature depth
4
Semantic layer, SQL editor, embedding SDK, granular permissions
Security posture
2
Four critical 2026 CVEs, one unauthenticated
Pros
- Open-source core is free to self-host and use⁵
- Semantic layer keeps metrics and business logic consistent across every answer⁶
- Query builder plus SQL editor serve non-technical and technical users alike⁹
- Embedded analytics SDK for white-label, customer-facing analytics⁶
- Connects directly to your databases and warehouses10
Cons
Gotchas
- highSelf-hosting means you own patching; 2026 fixes spanned 55.13, 56.3, 57.1 and later
- highCVE-2026-72898 requires no authentication — never expose Metabase directly to the internet¹
- mediumEven paid Enterprise had an authenticated-admin RCE via the serialization endpoint⁴
- mediumSelf-hosted instances need regular app-database backups; users report connections disappearing⁷
Best for
- Startups wanting free BI on existing databases
- Product teams embedding analytics in their app
- SQL-comfortable data teams
- Self-hosters with patching discipline
Not for
- Teams with nobody to own hosting and patching
- Security-sensitive orgs handling regulated data
- Non-technical teams needing polished exports and dashboards
- Analysts on huge datasets where query speed matters
Pricing
Free tier: Yes
Security
Active 2026 vulnerability stream — four critical CVEs including an unauthenticated SQL injection; prompt patching is non-optional.
- CVE-2026-72898 — unauthenticated SQL injectionCritical; attackers need no account. Internet-exposed instances are directly at risk.¹
- CVE-2026-50148 — arbitrary file write via Snowflake driverUsers who can edit Snowflake connections pointing at attacker-controlled servers could write files anywhere on the host.²
- CVE-2026-33725 — Enterprise RCEAuthenticated administrators could exploit the POST /api/ee/serialization endpoint for remote code execution.⁴
- CVE-2026-59826Affected 1.55.0 through 1.58.15.1 and other branches; fixed in 1.59.12, 1.60.6.3, and 1.61.2.³
What users say
Users like the query builder and SQL access; recurring gripes are exports, dashboard customization, and slow queries on big datasets.
“The main complaints are around exporting and dashboard customization”
“Common complaints about slow dashboards or queries on large datasets.”
“may i know if the free version of metabase also affected by this vulnerability or just the paid/pro/ee version?”
Alternatives
Compare Metabase with each alternative.
Apache Superset
Free open-source BI; steeper setup, similar power.
Metabase vs Apache SupersetGoogle Looker Studio
Free, simpler dashboards for non-technical teams.
Metabase vs Google Looker StudioPower BI
Cheap per-seat reporting if you're on Microsoft stacks.
Metabase vs Power BITableau
Pricier, but polished visualization depth.
Metabase vs TableauFull analysis
Based on 20+ public sources; evidence names no specific customer companies and contains no verified pricing figures.
Sources
- Horizon3 — CVE-2026-72898 SQL injectionhorizon3.aisecurity
- OpenCVE — CVE-2026-50148app.opencve.iosecurity
- Tenable — CVE-2026-59826tenable.comsecurity
- SentinelOne — CVE-2026-33725 Enterprise RCEsentinelone.comsecurity
- GitHub — metabase/metabasegithub.comofficial
- Metabase product security pagemetabase.comofficial
- Metabase Discourse — free version CVE questiondiscourse.metabase.comofficial
- Product Hunt — Metabaseproducthunt.comreview
review
- Work-management.org — Metabase Review 2026work-management.orgreview
- Bouncewatch — Metabase funding and foundingbouncewatch.comnews
Rate this review
Anonymous. You can change your vote.
Loading votes…
Ask a follow-up
Ask if a use case fits. Answers stay inside this report and its sources.
Comments
One queue. No replies. Give a display name first. Limit: 7 comments per day.
No comments yet.