Metabase vs Tableau
Metabase
metabase.comTableau
tableau.comSide by side
| Figure | Metabase | Tableau |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $6/mo | $15/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 12 |
| Spec score · Data Visualization Software | 9.0 (#7) | 9.1 (#5) |
| Spec score · Business Intelligence Tools | 8.9 (#11) | 9.1 (#3) |
| Deployment | hybrid | hybrid |
| Deployment options | Metabase can be self-hosted or deployed on Metabase Cloud. | Tableau offers hosted cloud and self-hosted server deployments. |
| Embedded analytics | Metabase supports embedded dashboards, visualizations, self-serve reporting, and customizable SDK components. | Yes |
| Founded | 2015 | 2003 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Natural-language queries | Yes | Yes |
| Refresh frequency | real-time | real-time |
| Row-level security | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled reports | Yes | Yes |
| Paid from | 6 | 15 |
| Team collaboration | Teams can explore data, share reports, create insights, and collaborate through Documents and comments. | Tableau supports publishing, authoring, sharing, subscriptions, and notifications. |
Plans
Metabase
- Open SourceFree
- Starter$6 a month
- Pro$12 a month
- EnterprisePrice not published
- Starter annual$1,080 a year
- Pro annual$6,210 a year
Tableau
- Creator$75 a month
- Explorer$42 a month
- Viewer$15 a month
- Enterprise Creator$115 a month
- Enterprise Explorer$70 a month
- Enterprise Viewer$35 a month
- Tableau+Priced on request
- Tableau+Price not published
- Tableau CreatorPriced on request
- Tableau DesktopFree
In their own words
Tableau
Tableau is a data analytics platform for dashboards, visualizations, and data apps. It offers hosted cloud and self-hosted server deployments, with hybrid deployment listed. Tableau Creator can connect to any type of data. Users can ask natural-language questions for AI-powered insights, while Tableau Agent provides conversational analytics inside dashboards. A knowledge engine and semantic layer support consistent metrics. Teams can publish, author, share, schedule subscriptions, and send notifications. Tableau Cloud supports secure sharing; row-level security, embedded analytics, and real-time refresh are listed. Viewer includes mobile access. Dashboards and data apps can operate across Slack, Teams, Claude, ChatGPT, CRM, and agent surfaces. Tableau has a free plan and free trial, and Tableau Desktop is free to download. Listed annual-billing prices are $15 a month for Viewer, $42 a month for Explorer, and $75 a month for Creator. Enterprise prices are also listed, while some paid pricing requires contacting sales.