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.
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.
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.
