Lightdash vs Metabase

Detailed comparison across 10 dimensions

Lightdash and Metabase score closely across Staquest's six weighted dimensions, with no decisive overall winner. Both offer a free tier. Paid plans start at $800/mo for Lightdash and $100/mo for Metabase.

Quick Overview

Overview	LightdashOpen-source BI that turns your dbt project into a full-stack BI.	MetabaseOpen-source BI tool for data exploration
Type	hybrid	saas tool
Company	Lightdash	-
Free Tier
Has API
Open Source
Learning Curve	-	easy
Integration	-	low
Trending	Stable	Stable
GitHub Stars	-	-
Industries	Data & AnalyticsDevelopment	Data & Analytics
Categories	business-intelligence	analyticsbusiness-intelligence
Website	Visit	Visit

Dimension Scores

Winners by Dimension

Pricing Value

Lightdash15% weight

Lightdash

5.0

Metabase

1.0

Features

Tie15% weight

Lightdash

3.0

Metabase

3.0

Free Tier

Lightdash10% weight

Lightdash

7.0

Metabase

6.0

Ease of Use

Metabase10% weight

Lightdash

5.0

Metabase

10.0

Scalability

Metabase10% weight

Lightdash

4.0

Metabase

5.6

Integrations

Metabase10% weight

Lightdash

8.0

Metabase

10.0

API Quality

Tie10% weight

Lightdash

6.0

Metabase

6.0

Momentum

Tie10% weight

Lightdash

3.0

Metabase

3.0

Community

Tie5% weight

Lightdash

3.0

Metabase

3.0

Open Source

Tie5% weight

Lightdash

7.0

Metabase

7.0

Pricing Comparison

Lightdash

Open Source

Free

View pricing

open source

Core BI features
Self-hosted
Access to Lightdash OSS

Cloud Starter

~$800/mo

View pricing

flat

Unlimited users
Native dbt integration
Data explorer and report builder UI
Scheduled deliveries
Alerting
Google Sheets sync
+4 more

Cloud Pro

~$2400/mo

View pricing

flat

Everything in Cloud Starter
SSO (via Okta)
Advanced usage analytics
Smart caching
30 days of version history
1-day support SLA
+1 more

Enterprise

Contact sales

View pricing

custom

Deployment flexibility (Cloud or On-Prem)
Advanced security (SSO + SAML + SCIM 2.0)
Advanced user management with custom roles
8-hour response SLA
Dedicated account manager
Training calls
+2 more

Metabase

Pro

~$575/mo

View pricing

per user

Everything in Starter
Granular row- and column-level permissions
SSO/SCIM support
Advanced caching controls
Environment management (staging/production)
Usage analytics
+1 more

Enterprise

Contact sales

View pricing

custom

Everything in Pro
Assistance with procurement
Dedicated success engineer
1-day email SLA
Optional air-gapped or single-tenant hosting
Access to additional professional services

Open Source

Free

View pricing

open source

Core BI experience
Unlimited queries
Unlimited charts
Unlimited dashboards
Connection to any supported data source
Community support

Starter

~$100/mo

View pricing

per user

Fully managed cloud-hosted instance
Automatic upgrades
Patches
Backups
Monitoring
3-day support via Slack, Teams, or email

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper, Lightdash or Metabase?

Lightdash's paid plans start at $800/mo and Metabase's start at $100/mo, so Metabase is the lower entry price. Check the pricing comparison for higher tiers and per-seat costs.

Does Lightdash or Metabase have a free tier?

Both Lightdash and Metabase offer a free tier.

Which is better for pricing value, Lightdash or Metabase?

Lightdash scores higher on pricing value in Staquest's analysis. It is the highest-weighted dimension in this comparison.

View Lightdash View Metabase