Metabase Pricing 2026
Complete pricing guide with plans, hidden costs, and cost analysis
Metabase has a free plan. Paid plans start at $85/user/month (Cloud Starter) and go up to $85/user/month.
Metabase costs Free to $85 per user/month as of March 2026, with 2 plans available including a free tier. Plans: Open Source (free), and Cloud Starter at $85/user/month. The median contract is $39,000/year based on 4 verified purchases.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: Yes
Metabase offers 2 pricing tiers: Open Source, Cloud Starter. A free plan is available. Paid plans include Cloud Starter at $85/user/month. The Cloud Starter plan is small teams.
Compared to other business intelligence software, Metabase is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.
- Median contract: $39,000/yr from 4 purchases 0
- 6 documented hidden costs beyond list price
How much does Metabase cost?
Metabase Pricing Overview
Metabase has 2 pricing plans, including a free tier. Paid plans range from $0 to $85/user/month. The Open Source plan is free and is best for self-hosting teams. The Cloud Starter plan costs $85/user/month, best for small teams.
The median Metabase customer pays $39,000/year based on 4 verified purchases.
There are at least 6 documented hidden costs beyond Metabase's list price, including implementation, training, and add-on fees.
This pricing was last verified in January 23, 2026 from 4 independent sources.
Metabase offers a free Open Source plan at $0/month for self-hosting, or a Cloud Starter plan at $85/month with managed hosting. The Open Source version provides full BI functionality but requires you to manage your own infrastructure. Enterprise pricing is custom-quoted for larger deployments.
How Metabase Pricing Compares
Compare Metabase pricing against top alternatives in Business Intelligence.
All Metabase Plans & Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Source | Free | Free | Self-hosting teams |
| Cloud Starter | $85 /user/month | $85 /user/year | Small teams |
View all features by plan
Open Source
- Unlimited users
Cloud Starter
- Managed hosting
Compare Metabase vs Alternatives
Before committing to Metabase, compare pricing with these 3 alternatives in the same category.
Microsoft-heavy organizations with existing Office 365 licenses
Full comparisonOrganizations requiring sophisticated data visualization and extensive training resources
Full comparisonEnterprises needing code-based data modeling with Google Cloud integration
Compare pricingWhat Companies Actually Pay for Metabase
The median Metabase buyer pays $39,000/year based on 4 verified purchase transactions.
Metabase Year 1 Total Cost by Company Size
Real deployment costs including licenses, implementation, training, and admin — not just the sticker price.
A solo user or very small team getting started with Metabase on the free plan
A mid-size organization scaling their use of Metabase
A large organization using Metabase on the Cloud Starter plan
How Metabase Pricing Compares
| Software | Starting Price | Top Price |
|---|---|---|
| Metabase | Free | $85/user/month |
| Alteryx Analytics Cloud | $250/user/month | $4950/user/month |
| Databricks SQL Analytics | $500/month | $5000/month |
| Domo | $83/user/month | $300/user/month |
| Grafana Enterprise | $25000/annual | $150000/annual |
| IBM Cognos Analytics | $10.6/user/month | $42.4/user/month |
Detailed pricing comparisons:
Metabase Pricing FAQ
01 Is Metabase really free?
Yes, the Metabase Open Source Edition is completely free forever with unlimited users and dashboards. However, you must self-host it on your own infrastructure (AWS, Digital Ocean, etc.), which carries infrastructure costs ($50-500/month) and requires DevOps resources for maintenance.
02 How much does Metabase Cloud cost?
Metabase Cloud Starter costs $85/user/month for fully managed hosting. For 10 users, that's $850/month ($10,200/year). Pro and Enterprise tiers have custom pricing based on your needs. The Cloud offering eliminates self-hosting complexity but costs significantly more than free open-source.
03 Should I use open-source Metabase or pay for Cloud?
Use open-source if you have DevOps resources and want to minimize costs (good for startups and technical teams). Use Metabase Cloud if you lack infrastructure expertise, want guaranteed uptime, and prefer predictable costs. Break-even is roughly 5-10 users depending on your infrastructure costs.
04 What's the difference between Metabase Starter and Pro?
Starter ($85/user/month) includes managed hosting and basic features with 5 database connections. Pro (custom pricing) adds unlimited databases, interactive embedding, SSO, advanced permissions, and priority support. Most teams start with Starter and upgrade when needing embedding or SSO.
05 Can Metabase handle large datasets?
Yes, Metabase queries your database directly (not importing data), so performance depends on your database (Postgres, Snowflake, BigQuery, etc.). Metabase includes caching and query optimization, but very large datasets (100M+ rows) may require careful query design and database tuning.
06 How does Metabase compare to Tableau on price?
Metabase is dramatically cheaper. Open-source Metabase is free vs Tableau Creator at $75/user/month. Even Metabase Cloud Starter ($85/user/month) is comparable to Tableau Creator but includes unlimited viewers for free in the open-source version. For budget-conscious teams, Metabase offers exceptional value.
07 Does Metabase require SQL knowledge?
No, Metabase's visual query builder allows non-technical users to explore data without SQL. However, advanced users can write custom SQL queries. This makes Metabase accessible to business users while still powerful for analysts - a key differentiator from code-heavy tools like Looker.
08 Can I embed Metabase dashboards in my app?
Yes, but embedding requires Metabase Pro (custom pricing, likely $500-2,000+/month minimum). The open-source and Starter editions support public sharing but not interactive embedding with SSO. If embedding is critical, budget for Pro tier.
09 Does Metabase have a free version?
Yes, Metabase offers a free Open Source plan at $0/month that you can self-host. This gives you full access to the core BI functionality, though you'll need to manage your own hosting and infrastructure.
10 How does Metabase pricing compare to other BI tools?
Metabase is positioned in the lower pricing bracket alongside Tableau, Power BI, and Holistics, compared to enterprise tools like Looker, Sisense, ThoughtSpot, and Domo which cost significantly more. For small teams, Metabase's $85/month starting price is considerably cheaper than alternatives that can run into hundreds of thousands for implementation.
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