Apache Superset is an open-source data exploration and visualization platform originally created at Airbnb. It's one of the most feature-rich open-source BI tools, offering SQL Lab for exploration and a wide variety of visualization types.
Key Features
✓SQL Lab: Powerful SQL IDE with results caching
✓50+ Visualizations: Charts, maps, time series
✓Semantic Layer: Define metrics and dimensions
✓Dashboards: Interactive, filterable dashboards
✓Access Control: Role-based permissions
✓Alerting: Schedule reports and alerts
Pros
👍Feature-rich for open-source
👍Strong SQL exploration tools
👍Wide database support
👍Active Apache community
👍Preset offers managed cloud
Cons
👎Steeper learning curve than Metabase
👎Can be complex to configure
👎Some visualizations dated
👎Performance tuning needed at scale
Best For
Organizations wanting powerful open-source BI with self-hosting control. Good for teams with SQL-savvy analysts.
