head to head · open source
Mermaid vs Metabase
Mermaid has 90,293 GitHub stars, 9,266 forks, 1,781 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Metabase has 49,312 stars, 6,824 forks, 4,346 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Mermaid leads on adoption by 83% (90,293 vs 49,312 stars). Mermaid is written in TypeScript under MIT; Metabase is written in Clojure under a custom or non-standard licence. Mermaid has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Metabase 14%. Metabase was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Mermaid | Metabase | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 49K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | Clojure |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.3K | ⑂ 6.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Mermaid if
- You weight community size — 90K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Metabase if
- You want the Metabase feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Clojure
- You evaluated both and Metabase fits your workflow better
About Mermaid
Mermaid is a JavaScript based diagramming tool that renders diagrams from Markdown like text definitions. It lives in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem and operates both in the browser and in Node.js environments. The project’s core purpose is to eliminate the gap between software development and documentation by letting developers write diagrams alongside code, avoiding the rot and overhead of manual diagram maintenance.
read the full Mermaid overview →
About Metabase
Metabase is an open source business intelligence and embedded analytics tool, written in Clojure, that lets everyone in a company ask questions of their data and build dashboards without needing to know SQL.
read the full Metabase overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Mermaid or Metabase more popular?
Mermaid has 90,293 GitHub stars and Metabase has 49,312. Mermaid has the larger community by that measure.
Are Mermaid and Metabase free?
Both are open source. Mermaid is licensed under MIT, and Metabase has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Mermaid and Metabase?
Mermaid is written in TypeScript and Metabase in Clojure. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Mermaid or Metabase?
Choose Mermaid if you want the larger community (90,293 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Metabase if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.