Cube vs Metabase
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Cube
Semantic layer and headless BI for building data apps
VS
Metabase
Open-source business intelligence and dashboards
| Feature | Cube | Metabase |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Web Analytics |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Clojure |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, source | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 20,572 | ★ 48,597 |
| First released | 2019 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Looker, AtScale | Tableau, Looker |
Why pick each one
Choose Metabase if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 48.6k GitHub stars
- Written in Clojure
Frequently asked questions
Is Cube or Metabase better?
Neither is universally better. Metabase has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Cube and Metabase free and open-source?
Yes. Cube is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Metabase under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cube and Metabase with Docker?
Cube: yes. Metabase: yes.