Metabase vs Shaper
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Metabase
Open-source business intelligence and dashboards
VS
Shaper
Build Data Dashboards all in SQL
| Feature | Metabase | Shaper |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Clojure | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 48,597 | ★ 1,165 |
| First released | 2015 | 2026 |
| Replaces | 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
Choose Shaper if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Metabase or Shaper 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 Metabase and Shaper free and open-source?
Yes. Metabase is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Shaper under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Metabase and Shaper with Docker?
Metabase: yes. Shaper: yes.