Metabase

Why deploy Metabase on Render?

Metabase is an open-source business intelligence tool that lets users query databases and build dashboards without writing SQL. It solves the problem of making data exploration accessible to non-technical team members while still offering advanced features for analysts.

This template deploys Metabase as a web service with a managed Postgres database (Elephant) already configured as the application database, so your dashboards and saved queries persist across restarts without any manual database setup. You skip the usual hassle of provisioning Postgres, configuring JDBC connection strings, and wiring up environment variables—it's all done for you. One click gets you a running Metabase instance backed by Render's managed Postgres with automatic daily backups.

Architecture

What you can build

After deploying, you'll have a running Metabase instance where you can connect your databases and build dashboards, charts, and queries without writing SQL. Your team can use it immediately to explore data and share visualizations. Metabase persists your questions and dashboards, so you get a self-service analytics tool your organization can grow into.

Key features

• One-click Metabase deployment: Deploy a full Metabase business intelligence instance using Render's deploy button with no manual configuration required.
• Managed PostgreSQL backend: Automatically provisions a PostgreSQL database to store Metabase application data and user configurations.
• Self-hosted BI platform: Run your own Metabase instance for SQL querying, dashboards, and data visualization without using Metabase Cloud.
• Pre-configured render.yaml: Includes infrastructure-as-code configuration defining the web service and database resources needed for deployment.

Use cases

• Startup founder tracks key metrics without managing infrastructure
• Data analyst creates shareable dashboards for non-technical stakeholders
• Marketing team monitors campaign performance with self-service queries
• Engineering lead visualizes database trends without writing custom code

What's included

Next steps

1. Open the Metabase URL from your Render dashboard and complete the setup wizard — You should see the welcome screen prompting you to create an admin account and connect your first database
2. Connect a data source by navigating to Admin > Databases and adding your database credentials — You should see a green 'Syncing' status followed by your tables appearing in the database schema
3. Test a query by clicking New > Question and selecting a table from your connected database — You should see your data displayed in a table or chart format within a few seconds

Resources

• Metabase official site