Borrow, Don't Build · Reporting
Metabase, built into your software
Charts, dashboards and reports inside your own system, without paying to build a reporting module from scratch.
Open-source reporting that people actually use
Metabase connects to your database and lets people ask questions of the data with a point-and-click builder, or SQL for those who want it. The answers become charts and dashboards that update themselves.
It is open source under the AGPL licence, outside its separate paid enterprise features, and runs as its own small service next to your system. It works with MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and many other databases.
Embedding comes in tiers. The free edition supports simple guest embeds of charts and dashboards. Embedding where each of your users sees their own data with full interactive features needs a paid Pro or Enterprise plan. Details checked against Metabase's own documentation on 9 October 2026; we check again before every job.
How we build it in
A safe connection to your data
A read-only connection, often to a reporting copy of your database, so reports can never change or slow down your live system.
The reports you manage by
We start with the five or six numbers you actually look at every week and build those properly, before anything else.
Dashboards inside your system
Charts and dashboards shown on your own screens, so people never have to open a separate tool.
Each customer sees their own data
Where your customers or branches log in to your system, they see only their own figures. This uses Metabase's paid embedding.
Scheduled reports by email
Dashboards sent to the right people every Monday morning, or alerts when a number crosses a line.
Set up for your team
So the people who know the business can build their own reports, instead of queuing for a developer.
Metabase runs as its own service and talks to your database. We never change Metabase itself, so it updates cleanly. More on the approach in borrow, don't build.
Is Metabase right for you?
A good fit when
- Your system needs more than a couple of fixed reports
- People keep asking a developer for data exports
- You want customers or branches to see their own figures
- You would rather spend your budget on features than charts
Think twice when
- Two or three fixed reports would do: we can just build those
- Your finance team needs accounting reports: those belong in your accounts software
- Nobody can run another small service alongside your system
- You need fully interactive embedding but not the cost of a paid plan
The honest summary: for a handful of fixed reports, building them into your system is simpler. Once people want to explore the data for themselves, Metabase is far cheaper than building that ability yourself.
Metabase embedding, self-hosted pricing, and getting help
Metabase embedding
Metabase embedding comes in two levels. The free edition can embed charts and dashboards as simple guest embeds. Embedding where each customer or branch sees only their own figures, with full interactivity, multi-tenant setup and your own branding, needs Pro or Enterprise.
Metabase pricing, self-hosted
On Metabase pricing, self hosted options exist on every plan. The open-source edition is free. Pro and Enterprise can also run on your own server, switched on with a licence token that has to check in with Metabase over the internet. When we checked metabase.com/pricing on 11 October 2026, Pro was $575 a month including 10 users, then $12 per extra user a month ($6,210 a year paid annually), and Enterprise started at $20,000 a year.
Metabase consultant or Metabase partner?
Metabase lists partner experts on its own website, and they are a sensible call for a large analytics rollout. We are not a Metabase partner. We are independent developers who build Metabase into business systems, which is a slightly different job: the safe database connection, the embedding in your own screens and the access rules behind it. Our sister company, Adept Data Services, builds Metabase into its own publishing software, so we know how it behaves in a real product. If you need a Metabase consultant to get reporting working inside your system, that is us.
What people ask us
The open-source edition is, and it covers internal dashboards and simple guest embeds. Showing each logged-in user their own data with full interactive features needs a paid plan. We will tell you which you need before you start.
It should not. We point Metabase at a read-only copy of the database where that makes sense, and keep heavy reports away from the busiest times.
Your own team, if you want. Metabase is designed for non-developers to ask their own questions. We set up the first dashboards and show people how.
Yes. Metabase Pro and Enterprise can run on your own server as well as on Metabase Cloud. A licence token switches the paid features on, and the server needs to reach Metabase over the internet to check it. If the check fails, Metabase carries on as the free edition.
Fed up with exporting spreadsheets?
Tell us what you need to see.
What system the data lives in, who needs to see it, and which numbers you check every week. If a couple of fixed reports would do, we will say so.
We reply within one working day.
