Deploy Metabase in one click.
The open-source BI tool the whole company can use. We review it, secure it and run it in production for you. Pick a region in Switzerland, France or Germany, or bring your own machines through a secure tunnel. We keep it patched, backed up and online. You just ask questions.
★ 47k stars · AGPL-3.0 · Clojure · tested versions · shipped with a runbook
What is Metabase?
One of the most widely deployed open-source BI tools: dashboards for everyone, not just the SQL crowd.
Metabase is an open-source business intelligence tool. It connects to the databases you already run, like Postgres, MySQL, BigQuery and Snowflake, and lets anyone build charts and dashboards through a point-and-click question builder, while analysts drop into a full SQL editor when they need to. Dashboards can be shared across the team and delivered on a schedule.
A BI tool sees everything. To be useful, Metabase holds credentials to your production databases and warehouses, and its dashboards describe revenue, customers and operations in plain terms. Self-hosting keeps those credentials, and every result set, on infrastructure you control instead of a third-party cloud.
The catch: self-hosting means someone has to run it. Reverse proxy, TLS, authentication, a steady release cadence to track, security patches, backups of the application database that holds every question and dashboard your team has built. That someone is usually you, at the worst possible time.
Metabase, without the ops.
Everything below is what you’d otherwise build and babysit yourself.
Your queries stay where you put them.
Deploy to ch-zh1 (Zurich), fr-pa1 (Paris) or de-fr1 (Frankfurt). Dashboards, questions and warehouse credentials stay in the region you choose, under Swiss or EU law and in line with GDPR.
Reviewed before it ships.
Our Metabase package is reviewed, secured and locked to versions we have tested, and it ships with a runbook. We track CVEs upstream and patch them fast.
Sits next to your data.
Deploy Metabase in the same region as the databases it queries, or run it on your own machines through our secure tunnel, so credentials and result sets never leave your own network.
TLS, upgrades, scaling: handled.
Certificates issued and renewed, rolling zero-downtime updates, instant rollback, health checks. Metabase ships releases on a steady cadence; we keep you current without breaking your team’s dashboards.
Backups you can actually restore.
Offsite backups of your questions, dashboards and settings. We run restore drills, not just snapshots.
Leave whenever you want.
Metabase is open source and so is your exit: your data leaves with you, in usable form. Pilae runs it for you. It never owns it.
Self-hosting Metabase: DIY vs Pilae.
Both paths end with Metabase in production. Only one of them ends there this afternoon.
| Self-hosted DIY | On Pilae | |
|---|---|---|
| Initial setup | Docker, reverse proxy, DNS, auth. An afternoon if nothing fights back | One click, live in minutes |
| TLS certificates | Issue, wire up, remember to renew | Issued and renewed automatically |
| Upgrades | Frequent releases to track, test and apply yourself | Tested versions, rolled out with instant rollback |
| Security patching | You watch the CVE feed | Upstream tracked, CVEs prioritized |
| Backups | cron + object storage + hope | Offsite, verified with restore drills |
| Data residency | Wherever your VPS happens to be | You pick: Zurich, Paris, Frankfurt, or your own racks |
| 3 a.m. failures | Yours | Ours |
| Warehouse credentials | Stored on whatever VPS you found | Encrypted, pinned to the region you choose |
| Reaching private databases | Open your warehouse to the internet, carefully | Secure tunnel; databases stay inside your own network |
From catalog to production in three steps.
No servers to set up, no configuration to write. The platform work is already done.
Pick Metabase.
Find it in the catalog: reviewed, secured, locked to tested versions, runbook included.
Choose where it runs.
A Pilae region in Switzerland, France or Germany, or your own machine connected through a secure tunnel. Same console either way.
Deploy and connect your databases.
One click to production with TLS and backups from day one. Point Metabase at Postgres, MySQL or your warehouse, invite your team, done.
BI is your business in plain text. Keep it close.
Every Metabase deployment is pinned to the region you choose. Encryption, dedicated VLANs, and the option to hold your own encryption keys for regulated workloads. Or skip our regions entirely and run it on-prem.
Deploying Metabase: the questions we get.
If yours isn’t here, reach out and we’ll answer it, usually the same day.
What’s the easiest way to self-host Metabase?
Deploying it through a managed platform. On Pilae you pick Metabase from the catalog, choose a region, and click deploy. TLS, backups, patching and upgrades are handled for you from the first minute. You get self-hosting’s control without its ops.
Which databases can Metabase connect to?
The ones you already run. Metabase ships official drivers for Postgres, MySQL, BigQuery and Snowflake, among many others. With Pilae you deploy it in the region closest to your data, or reach databases inside your own network through our secure tunnel.
Do I need to know SQL to use Metabase?
No. The question builder is point-and-click, so anyone on the team can build charts and dashboards. Analysts who want more get a full SQL editor in the same tool.
Where do my Metabase dashboards and database credentials live?
In the region you choose: Zurich, Paris or Frankfurt, or on your own infrastructure. Questions, dashboards and connection credentials stay there, encrypted. For regulated workloads you can hold your own encryption keys.
How do Metabase updates and security patches work on Pilae?
We track upstream, prioritize CVEs, and ship updates locked to versions we have tested, rolled out with zero downtime and instant rollback. You stay current without watching the release feed.
Can I move my Metabase deployment off Pilae later?
Yes, and that’s by design. Metabase is open source and your data exits with you in usable form: questions, dashboards, configuration. No proprietary formats, no lock-in.
Runs well next to.
Build your stack from the same catalog. One console, one click each.
Postgres-based development platform. Auth, storage, edge functions.
Turn any SQL database into a smart spreadsheet. Airtable, self-hosted.
Metrics, logs and traces in one place. Dashboards pre-wired per pod.
Single sign-on, OIDC and SAML. The identity layer for the rest of the stack.
Metabase, without the ops.
Deploy it in minutes, keep your data in the country you choose, and leave whenever you want. Your data goes with you.