head to head · open source
Metabase vs G6
Metabase has 50,114 GitHub stars, 6,968 forks, 4,346 open issues and last shipped yesterday. G6 has 12,371 stars, 1,652 forks, 333 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Metabase leads on adoption by 305% (50,114 vs 12,371 stars). Metabase is written in Clojure under a custom or non-standard licence; G6 is written in TypeScript under MIT. Metabase has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, G6 13%. Metabase was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (data-visualization), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| Metabase | G6 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 50K | ★ 12K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Clojure | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.0K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Metabase if
- You weight community size — 50K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Clojure
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick G6 if
- You want the G6 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and G6 fits your workflow better
About Metabase
Metabase Metabase is the easy, open source way for everyone in your company to ask questions and learn from data. Get started The easiest way to get started with Metabase is to sign up for a free trial of Metabase Cloud. You get expert support, backups, upgrades, an SMTP server, SSL certificate, SoC2 Type 2 security auditing, and more (plus your money goes toward improving a major open source project). Check out our quick overview of cloud vs self hosting. If you need to, you can always switch to self hosting Metabase at any time (or vice versa). Key Features Set up in five minutes (we're not kidding), or have…
read the full Metabase overview →
About G6
English 简体中文 G6: A Graph Visualization Framework in TypeScript Introduction • Examples • Quick Start • API G6 is a graph visualization engine. It provides basic capabilities for graph visualization and analysis such as drawing, layout, analysis, interaction, animation, themes, and plugins. With G6, users can quickly build their own graph visualization and analysis applications, making relational data simple, transparent, and meaningful. ✨ Features G6, as a professional graph visualization engine, boasts the following features: Rich Elements : It comes with a variety of built in node, edge, and Combo UI elements…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Metabase or G6 more popular?
Metabase has 50,114 GitHub stars and G6 has 12,371. Metabase has the larger community by that measure.
Are Metabase and G6 free?
Both are open source. Metabase has no licence declared in this registry, and G6 is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Metabase and G6?
Metabase is written in Clojure and G6 in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Metabase or G6?
Choose Metabase if you want the larger community (50,114 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose G6 if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.