Metabase vs Redash vs Superset: What are the differences?

Comparison of Metabase, Redash, and Superset

Metabase, Redash, and Superset are popular open-source business intelligence tools that allow users to easily explore, visualize, and share their data. Despite having similar capabilities, there are several key differences between these three platforms.

1. Data source connectivity: Metabase enables users to connect to various databases using a simple point-and-click interface, making it beginner-friendly. Redash, on the other hand, offers a wider range of data source connectivity options, including SQL databases, cloud storage, NoSQL databases, and more. Superset excels in this aspect, supporting a vast number of data sources, including SQL-based databases, data lakes, Druid, and many more.

2. Visualization options: Metabase offers a straightforward set of visualization options, providing basic charts like bar graphs, line graphs, and pie charts. Redash provides a similar range of visualizations, with the addition of heatmaps, pivot tables, and more advanced charting capabilities. Superset stands out with its extensive collection of visualizations, including geospatial charts, bubble charts, treemaps, and sankey diagrams, allowing users to create more complex and sophisticated visualizations.

3. Data exploration capabilities: Metabase offers a user-friendly data exploration experience, allowing non-technical users to easily navigate and analyze data. Redash provides a more advanced data exploration environment, incorporating features like ad-hoc queries, parameterized queries, and interactive dashboards. Superset excels in this area, offering advanced exploration features such as filtering, drilling down, data slicing, and dicing, empowering users to dive deeper into their data.

4. Collaboration and sharing: Metabase allows simple sharing of dashboards and reports by generating shareable links. Redash takes collaboration a step further by providing team collaboration features, allowing users to work together and share queries, dashboards, and visualizations within a team or organization. Superset offers extensive collaboration features, including dashboards versioning, annotation layers, and granular access controls, enabling seamless collaboration and information sharing within large organizations.

5. Extensibility and customization: Metabase allows limited customization options, primarily focusing on configuring dashboards and email schedules. Redash provides more flexibility, allowing users to customize visualizations with custom SQL queries, create custom alerts, and integrate with external services through webhooks and API. Superset excels in extensibility, offering a rich set of customizable options through its plugin architecture, allowing users to extend and modify the platform to suit their specific needs.

6. Community support and development: Metabase has a large and active community with regular updates and bug fixes. Redash has a smaller community but offers regular updates and features driven by the community. Superset has a strong community support and development, backed by companies like Airbnb, Lyft, and Twitter, ensuring regular updates, bug fixes, and new feature additions.

In summary, Metabase is a beginner-friendly tool with easy data connectivity; Redash offers more advanced features for data exploration and collaboration; and Superset stands out with its extensive visualization options, sophisticated exploration capabilities, and strong community support. Ultimately, the choice among these three platforms depends on the specific needs and requirements of your organization.