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Business Intelligence · head to head

Amazon QuickSight vs Metabase

Amazon QuickSight logo

Amazon QuickSight

Business Intelligence

Scalable, serverless BI by AWS

From
$3/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Metabase logo

Metabase

Spreadsheets

Fast analytics with the friendly UX

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Metabase has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Amazon QuickSight reader and Reader Pro roles charged separately at $3 and $20/month; Metabase aI Service charges $3.75 per 1 million tokens (after 1M free tokens included)
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon QuickSight covers SPICE In-memory Engine, Metabase covers No-code Query Builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon QuickSight and Metabase actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon QuickSight and Metabase differ
AttributeAmazon QuickSightMetabase
Starting price$3/monthFree
Pricing modelper-userfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsAWSWeb, Self-hosted cloud
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceSpreadsheets
Founded20062014

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amazon QuickSight

  • SPICE In-memory Engine
  • ML Insights
  • Natural Language Queries
  • Embedded Analytics
  • Pay-per-session
  • S3
  • Athena
  • Aurora

Only in Metabase

  • No-code Query Builder
  • SQL Editor
  • Interactive Dashboards
  • Alerts
  • Embedding
  • PostgreSQL
  • MySQL
  • MongoDB

Both cover

  • Redshift
  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amazon QuickSight

  • Business intelligencenot Metabase
  • Dashboard creationnot Metabase
  • Data visualizationnot Metabase

Metabase

  • Business intelligence and data exploration for non-technical usersnot Amazon QuickSight
  • Embedded analytics for SaaS applicationsnot Amazon QuickSight
  • Self-service reporting and dashboard creationnot Amazon QuickSight
  • Integration with 40+ data sources including cloud warehousesnot Amazon QuickSight

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amazon QuickSight

  • Reader and Reader Pro roles charged separately at $3 and $20/month
  • Author and Author Pro roles charged at $24 and $40/month
  • $250/month infrastructure fee required if Pro users or Q&A enabled
  • SPICE storage charged at $0.38/GB monthly (10 GB included)
  • Pixel-perfect reports start at $500/month for 500 monthly units
  • Alerts charged at $0.05-$0.50 per 1,000 metrics evaluated

Metabase

  • AI Service charges $3.75 per 1 million tokens (after 1M free tokens included)
  • Transforms cost $0.01 per run after 1,000 included runs per month
  • Advanced Transforms cost $0.02 per run after included allocation
  • Storage overages start at $2 per 1M rows (1M rows free)
  • All yearly plans offer 10% discount versus monthly, incentivizing annual commitment

Pricing, plan by plan

Amazon QuickSight

$3/month
  • Reader$3/month
    • Dashboard viewing only
  • Reader Pro$20/month
    • Enhanced reader capabilities
  • Author$24/month
    • Dashboard creation and editing
  • Author Pro$40/month
    • Advanced authoring features

Metabase

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited questions and dashboards
    • AI-powered query generation
  • Starter$90/month
    • Email and chat support
    • $100/month standard monthly billing
    • 20+ data connectors
  • Pro$517.5/month
    • $575/month standard monthly
    • Row/column-level permissions
    • SSO
  • Enterprise$20000/year
    • Dedicated success engineer
    • 1-day support response SLA
    • Air-gapped deployment

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon QuickSight if

  • You need spice in-memory engine.
  • You work on AWS.
  • You also want ml insights.
Amazon QuickSight review

Choose Metabase if

  • You need no-code query builder.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted cloud.
  • You also want sql editor.
Metabase review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon QuickSight or Metabase better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon QuickSight starts at $3/month and Metabase at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon QuickSight or Metabase?
Metabase has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $3/month for Amazon QuickSight and Free for Metabase.
Does Amazon QuickSight or Metabase run on more platforms?
Amazon QuickSight runs on AWS. Metabase runs on Web, Self-hosted cloud.
Can I use Metabase for free?
Yes. Metabase has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Amazon QuickSight starts at $3/month.
What is Amazon QuickSight best used for?
Amazon QuickSight is most often used for business intelligence, dashboard creation, data visualization. Of those, business intelligence and dashboard creation are not what Metabase is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon QuickSight do that Metabase cannot?
Amazon QuickSight covers SPICE In-memory Engine, ML Insights, Natural Language Queries, Embedded Analytics. Metabase covers No-code Query Builder, SQL Editor, Interactive Dashboards, Alerts. Both handle Redshift, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amazon QuickSight: What does Amazon QuickSight cost per user?

QuickSight pricing varies by user role. Readers start at $3/month, Reader Pro at $20/month, Authors at $24/month, and Author Pro at $40/month. All prices are per user per month.

Source
Metabase: How much does Metabase cost?

Metabase Open Source is free for self-hosted deployments with unlimited users and dashboards. Cloud-hosted Starter tier costs $90/month annually ($100/month monthly) with Pro at $517.50/month annually ($575/month monthly). Enterprise plans start at $20,000 per year.

Source
Amazon QuickSight: Does QuickSight charge an infrastructure fee?

Yes, QuickSight charges an infrastructure fee of $250/month per account if the account has at least one Pro user, has Q&A enabled via topics, or has dashboard Q&A enabled.

Source
Metabase: Does Metabase charge for additional users?

Yes, Metabase charges per-user fees beyond included users. Starter includes 5 users at $6 per additional user per month. Pro includes 10 users at $12 per additional user per month. Enterprise pricing is custom.

Source
Amazon QuickSight: What are QuickSight's session capacity pricing options?

Session capacity pricing starts at $250/month for 500 sessions. Annual plans range from $20,000/year for 50,000 sessions to $258,000/year for 1,600,000 sessions, with volume discounts reducing unit costs from $0.50 to $0.16 per additional session.

Source
Metabase: What usage-based fees does Metabase charge?

Metabase charges $3.75 per 1 million tokens for AI services (after 1M free tokens), $0.01 per transform run after 1,000 included per month, $0.02 for advanced transforms, and storage overages at $2 per 1M rows beyond the included 1M rows.

Source
Amazon QuickSight: How much does additional SPICE storage cost?

Additional SPICE storage beyond the included 10 GB costs $0.38 per GB per month. Authors receive 10 GB included, but Readers do not.

Source
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