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Metabase Review

Depends

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. - metabase.com

· 1 month ago

Buy it if someone on your team can host it, patch it fast, and write SQL — the free open-source core is genuinely capable BI. Avoid it if you can't respond to urgent security updates or need polished exports and fast dashboards out of the box.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 20+ public sources; evidence names no specific customer companies and contains no verified pricing figures.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support-quality evidence in sources
  • Security posture

Pricing

Not disclosed

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

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

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Self-hosting means you own patching; 2026 fixes spanned 55.13, 56.3, 57.1 and later

high

CVE-2026-72898 requires no authentication — never expose Metabase directly to the internet

medium

Even paid Enterprise had an authenticated-admin RCE via the serialization endpoint

medium

Self-hosted instances need regular app-database backups; users report connections disappearing

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Open-source core is free to self-host and use
  • Semantic layer keeps metrics and business logic consistent across every answer
  • Query builder plus SQL editor serve non-technical and technical users alike
  • Embedded analytics SDK for white-label, customer-facing analytics
  • Connects directly to your databases and warehouses

Cons

  • Four critical 2026 CVEs, including unauthenticated SQL injection
  • Users complain exporting and dashboard customization fall short
  • Dashboards and queries run slow on large datasets
  • Users uncertain whether free tier receives security fixes

Sources & method

- 11 sources - Active 2026 vulnerability stream — four critical CVEs including an unauthenticated SQL injection; prompt patching is non-optional.

official x3review x3security x4news x1
  • CVE-2026-72898 — unauthenticated SQL injection, Critical; attackers need no account. Internet-exposed instances are directly at risk.
  • CVE-2026-50148 — arbitrary file write via Snowflake driver, Users who can edit Snowflake connections pointing at attacker-controlled servers could write files anywhere on the host.
  • CVE-2026-33725 — Enterprise RCE, Authenticated administrators could exploit the POST /api/ee/serialization endpoint for remote code execution.
  • CVE-2026-59826, Affected 1.55.0 through 1.58.15.1 and other branches; fixed in 1.59.12, 1.60.6.3, and 1.61.2.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Not disclosed

    Starting price

  • 11

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free open-source core; paid only for cloud/enterprise
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Reviewed as genuinely easy for non-technical business users
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Semantic layer, SQL editor, embedding SDK, granular permissions
  • Support quality. No support-quality evidence in sources
  • Security posture: 2/5. Four critical 2026 CVEs, one unauthenticated
  • 4.9/5 Product Hunt rating 24 reviews
  • 49.4k GitHub stars Shown on Metabase's own site
  • 2014 Founded $51.05M raised
  • Yes Free tier Open-source core

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”
Product Hunt review summary
“Common complaints about slow dashboards or queries on large datasets.”
RFP.wiki, Metabase vs Looker
“may i know if the free version of metabase also affected by this vulnerability or just the paid/pro/ee version?”
Metabase Discourse forum
Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources; evidence names no specific customer companies and contains no verified pricing figures.

Powerful free open-source BI — but only if you can self-host, patch fast, and tolerate export/dashboard rough edges.

Methodology

Based on 20+ public sources; evidence names no specific customer companies and contains no verified pricing figures.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Horizon3 — CVE-2026-72898 SQL injectionhorizon3.ai
    security
  2. OpenCVE — CVE-2026-50148app.opencve.io
    security
  3. Tenable — CVE-2026-59826tenable.com
    security
  4. SentinelOne — CVE-2026-33725 Enterprise RCEsentinelone.com
    security
  5. GitHub — metabase/metabasegithub.com
    official
  6. Metabase product security pagemetabase.com
    official
  7. Metabase Discourse — free version CVE questiondiscourse.metabase.com
    official
  8. Product Hunt — Metabaseproducthunt.com
    review
  9. RFP.wiki — Metabase vs Looker 2026rfp.wiki
    review
  10. Work-management.org — Metabase Review 2026work-management.org
    review
  11. Bouncewatch — Metabase funding and foundingbouncewatch.com
    news

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