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Managed Metabase hosting

Workflow and dataOn-prem or your region

Dashboards and questions on your own databases, run next to the data in Switzerland, the EU or your datacentre, with no per-viewer licence for the open-source edition. Pilae runs it on your own servers, or in Zurich, Switzerland, and eleven other Pilae Cloud regions.

Talk to us about Metabase

Licence
AGPL-3.0
Runs on
Your own hardware, or any of 10+ Pilae regions — six of them in Switzerland and the EU
Upgrades
Pinned, tested against your configuration, applied in your window
Upstream
www.metabase.com

Running Metabase in production: what it takes

  1. Deploy on PostgreSQL

    A pinned open-source build with a PostgreSQL application database from day one, so a restore brings back every question and dashboard.

  2. Connect sources read-only

    Dedicated accounts per source, scoped to the schemas people need, reached over the private network. Heavy reporting points at replicas.

  3. Set permissions by group

    Groups mapped from your directory decide who sees which collections and which data, instead of per-person grants that drift.

  4. Back up and restore on a schedule

    The application database goes offsite daily, encrypted. Once a month we restore it into a scratch instance and open a dashboard there.

  5. Upgrade in your window

    Each Metabase release runs migrations on the application database. The Pilae Agent tests the upgrade on a copy, waits for your approval, applies it in your window and keeps the previous version ready.

What Metabase is, and who runs it

Self-hosted Metabase for dashboards and reporting

Metabase is a business intelligence tool that people outside the data team actually use. Anyone can ask a question with the query builder, analysts write SQL where they need it, and the answers become dashboards, alerts and scheduled reports. It covers most of what teams use Tableau or Looker for day to day.

We run it next to the data. Metabase sits on a dedicated machine in any of 10+ Pilae Cloud regions, six of them in Switzerland and the EU, or on your own hardware, and reaches each database over your private network with a read-only account. Your figures never pass through a reporting vendor to reach a browser.

Metabase in production: PostgreSQL, permissions and upgrades

The embedded H2 database Metabase starts with is fine for a trial and wrong for production, so we start on PostgreSQL. Permissions follow groups from your directory. Heavy dashboards point at a replica, often a managed PostgreSQL standby, so month-end reporting does not slow down the system that takes orders.

The application database is backed up daily, encrypted, to an offsite location in your chosen country, and restored every month into a scratch instance. Probes check the instance every 60 seconds. Upgrades go through the Pilae Agent: tested on a copy, approved by you, applied in your window and recorded in the console.

Metabase editions and licence

The open-source edition has no per-viewer fee. We tell you which edition your requirements need before deployment, not after. Our operation follows the published plans. Talk to us about the dashboards you want to move.

The open-source edition, the metabase/metabase image, is AGPL-3.0. Code in the enterprise directory, and the Pro and Enterprise builds, are under the Metabase Commercial License. SAML and JWT single sign-on, SCIM and row-level permissions are in the paid editions. If you need them, we deploy the paid build under a licence you hold from Metabase and say so in the proposal.

Metabase system requirements

Before anything is deployed, this is what has to exist. We size it with you in the first session, and we say so when your own hardware is already enough.

CPU and memory
2 vCPU · 4 GBMetabase runs on the Java virtual machine and keeps its heap in memory. More viewers and heavier dashboards want more memory before more CPU.
Application database
PostgreSQLHolds users, questions, dashboards and permissions. The default embedded H2 file is not for production and makes restores fragile.
Data sources
Read-only accountsOne per warehouse or database, with only the schemas people should see. Heavy queries go to a replica, not the primary.
Sign-in
LDAP or Google, SAML on ProThe open-source edition federates with LDAP or Google sign-in. SAML and JWT single sign-on need a paid Metabase licence.
DNS and TLS
1 hostnameBehind the Pilae gate on port 443. Public sharing links and embeds stay off unless you turn them on.

Migrating from Tableau to Metabase

Tableau workbooks do not import into Metabase, so dashboards are rebuilt. Most of the work is in the queries, not the charts. Calculated fields and extracts become SQL questions or models in Metabase, reading the warehouse live instead of a copy refreshed overnight. Pixel-precise layouts and some advanced chart types have no direct equivalent, and we say which ones before you commit. The move is also a chance to prune: we start from the views that were opened in the last ninety days and rebuild those, and let the rest go with the licence renewal.

  1. Rank the dashboards by use

    View counts from Tableau or Looker for the last ninety days decide what is rebuilt first and what is retired.

  2. Rebuild the logic as models

    Calculated fields, LookML dimensions and extract filters become Metabase models and SQL questions, reviewed against the numbers in the old tool.

  3. Connect read-only

    Each data source gets a dedicated read-only account on the private network, so Metabase can query the data and never change it.

  4. Run both, then switch

    Owners compare the figures in both tools for one reporting cycle. The old dashboards stay readable until month-end closes on Metabase.

What a Metabase instance connects to

metabase-appPostgreSQLread-write, app onlyn/a
erp-replicaPostgreSQLread-only, schema financehourly
warehouseClickHouseread-only, schema martsnightly 02:00
crmMySQLread-only, 12 tablesnightly 02:15
An example layout: every source is reached over the private network with a read-only account, and the application database is backed up and restore-tested like any other.

What Pilae is responsible for

A pinned version

A version we have run, not whatever latest resolves to that day.

A runbook

What it depends on, how it fails, what to do about it. In your repository.

A restore drill

Backups restored on a schedule. A backup nobody has restored is a file.

A patch window

Security updates in a window you agreed, with a rollback ready.

Someone watching

Every endpoint probed on the minute. An alert reaches a person, not a dashboard nobody opens.

Where it runs
zur1, fra1, fal1, gra1, ams1, hel1, lon1, ash1, hil1, sin1, tok1, syd1, on-premZurich, Frankfurt, Falkenstein, Gravelines, Amsterdam, Helsinki, London, Ashburn, Hillsboro, Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, Your own hardware
Who holds the credentials
You do. Ours are separate, named, logged and revocable with one command. We ask before anything changes outside an agreed window.
If you leave
The machine, the data, the compose files and the runbook are already yours. Nothing stops when our access does.

What running Metabase costs

On Starter, Metabase runs in Pilae Cloud for CHF 449EUR 479USD 559 a month, hosting and onboarding included. On Business, it is one of up to three apps for CHF 1,590EUR 1,690USD 1,990 a month, on your own servers or in Pilae Cloud. Enterprise is quoted. The plans set what each includes; these are the inputs that move the price around them.

Instance size
The CPU, memory and, where a model runs, the GPUs the app needs for your users and your data.
High availability
One machine with tested restores, or a replicated setup that keeps serving when a node fails.
Storage and backups
How much data it holds, how long backups are kept, and point-in-time recovery for its database.
Plan and support
Starter, Business or Enterprise: support hours, response times in the contract and how often we review the service with you.
Region
Your own hardware, where the infrastructure is already yours, or a Pilae Cloud region, where machines are priced per month. On Starter, Pilae chooses the site.
Sign-on and integrations
Single sign-on, directory sync, mail relays and the other systems the app has to reach.

Metabase: common questions

Is Metabase open source?

The open-source edition is AGPL-3.0 and has no per-user fee. Pro and Enterprise add features such as SAML single sign-on, row-level permissions and SCIM under the Metabase Commercial License, which you license from Metabase if you need them.

Can Metabase replace Tableau?

For operational dashboards, self-service questions and scheduled reports, yes. For highly designed visual analytics or offline extracts, some work does not carry over directly. We list those cases during the inventory, before the rebuild starts.

Does Metabase copy our data?

No. It queries your databases live and caches results only if you turn caching on. It stores metadata about tables and columns in its application database, which is backed up with everything else.

Which databases can Metabase connect to?

PostgreSQL, MySQL and MariaDB, SQL Server, ClickHouse, Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift and others through official and community drivers. Connections run over the private network with read-only accounts.

Where does it run?

On dedicated machines in the Pilae Cloud region you choose, from 10+ regions, six of them in Switzerland and the EU, in ISO 27001-certified datacentres or on your own hardware next to the data it reads.

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Replaces Zapier, Make

NocoDB

A spreadsheet interface over a real database, so a department can build the tool it needs without anyone provisioning a new system.

Replaces Airtable

Directus

A data platform and headless CMS over your own SQL database. Editors get an admin app, and every table gets an API.

Replaces Contentful, Airtable

Back to apps

Bring us your Metabase. We will tell you what it takes.

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