Metabase

Metabase is a long-running open-source business intelligence tool: connect a database or warehouse, and anyone on the team can build questions with a visual query builder or the SQL editor, assemble dashboards, drill through charts and upload CSVs. It can be self-hosted for free with unlimited users, or run on Metabase Cloud.

Its AI assistant, Metabot, works on top of the models, metrics and permissions a team has already defined in Metabase rather than on raw tables. It answers questions in chat and reads the results back as an answer, generates and debugs SQL, writes one-click summaries of charts and dashboards, and powers semantic search that finds existing questions by meaning. Every answer shows which models and metrics it used and can be opened in the notebook editor or as SQL. Queries run against the team's own warehouse with each user's permissions, and Metabot can be reached in Slack, through an official MCP server and through an agent API.

Teams bring their own AI provider and pay it directly, including a self-hosted open model; Metabase Cloud also offers a managed AI service. Admins choose which groups can use AI features, set usage limits and system prompts, and see AI usage analytics. Release 65 (November 2026) added a Research mode that runs metrics across every relevant dimension and ranks the most interesting results, beta data apps built from a coding agent on the semantic layer, and per-group MCP tool access.

Open Source is free. Cloud Starter is $100 per month with five users included and Pro is $575 per month with ten, with additional users billed per seat and a 14-day free trial.