Embedded analytics comparison — 2026
Metabase vs Luzmo for Embedded Analytics
Metabase is a BI tool that can also embed. Luzmo is an embed tool that is not much use for internal BI. If your team needs internal dashboards and a customer-facing embed, Metabase does both — at the cost of embed polish. If embedded analytics is the product feature and appearance matters, Luzmo is purpose-built for it.
At a glance
Quick comparison
Pricing shown is list pricing as of mid-2026 for standard plans. Enterprise tiers on both sides are custom-quoted — treat those figures as directional.
| Dimension | Metabase (Pro / Enterprise) | Luzmo (formerly Cumul.io) |
|---|---|---|
| Core approach | Open-source BI with embedding features (iframe + SDK) | Purpose-built embedded analytics (white-label first) |
| Pricing | Free (OSS, limited embed) / Pro $85/mo (5 users) / Enterprise ~$500+/mo | From ~$250/mo, scales with end-users/dashboards |
| White-labeling | Limited in Pro (branding removed) / full in Enterprise | Full (custom CSS, branded domains, theming API) |
| Multi-tenancy | Sandboxing (row-level security per group) in Pro tier | Native multi-tenant (data separated per customer by design) |
| Chart customization | Pre-built chart types, limited styling | Extensive (custom themes, chart interactions, responsive layouts) |
| Self-hosting | Yes (Docker, any cloud) | No (SaaS only) |
| SDK / API | Interactive embedding SDK, static embed (iframe) | JavaScript SDK, React/Vue components, REST API |
| Data sources | 20+ databases directly | 15+ databases, REST API sources |
| Best for | Teams that want BI internally AND embed externally | SaaS companies where embedded analytics IS the product |
Different tools, different jobs
This is not really a feature-for-feature comparison
Metabase is a BI tool that can also embed
Metabase started as a self-serve BI tool for internal teams — ask a question, build a dashboard, share it with a coworker. Embedding was added on top of that: a signed iframe URL or, more recently, an interactive SDK. The internal BI experience is the core product; the embed is a feature of it. That shows up in the embed itself, which still carries some of the "internal tool" DNA in its chrome and interaction patterns even once branding is stripped.
Luzmo is an embed tool that is not useful for internal BI
Luzmo (formerly Cumul.io) was built from day one to be dropped inside someone else's product. There is no internal workspace, no ad hoc SQL editor for your own analysts, no concept of "our team explores data here." Every dashboard, theme, and permission model assumes the end viewer is your customer, not your colleague. That focus is why the white-labeling and multi-tenancy are more thorough — it is the only thing the product does.
The decision usually reduces to one question
Do you need one tool that does internal BI and customer-facing embed reasonably well, or two tools that each do one job very well? Most CTOs already answer this before comparing feature lists — the honest framing is buy-one-do-both versus buy-two-do-each-well, not "which embed SDK is better."
The details that actually change the decision
White-labeling, multi-tenancy, pricing at scale, and developer experience
White-labeling
Pro removes the badge. Enterprise removes the tool.
Metabase
Metabase Pro strips the "Powered by Metabase" watermark, which covers the minimum bar most SaaS teams need. But the underlying UI chrome — the question builder, the filter widgets, the visual language — still reads as Metabase to anyone who has used it before. Full custom CSS, branded domains, and deeper theming require Enterprise, and even then you are skinning a BI tool rather than starting from a blank canvas.
Luzmo
Luzmo's white-labeling is closer to a design system than a branding toggle: custom CSS at the component level, branded/custom domains, and a theming API meant to be driven from your own design tokens. Because the product was never meant to be seen as a standalone tool, there is no chrome to hide — you are styling components, not disguising an app.
Multi-tenancy
Sandboxing vs. tenant isolation as a first-class concept
Metabase
Metabase Pro and Enterprise support sandboxing: row-level security rules scoped to user groups, enforced through SQL variables or table permissions. It works, but you configure it — tenant isolation is a permissions feature you build on top of a shared data model, and it is easy to misconfigure in a way that leaks rows across a group boundary if the rule is not airtight.
Luzmo
Luzmo treats each customer's data as inherently separate. Multi-tenancy is closer to the data model itself than a permission layer bolted onto it, which is a meaningfully different risk profile if a security review is part of your embed rollout.
Pricing at scale
Seat-based vs usage-based changes the math fast
Metabase
Metabase licenses your internal team, not your embed viewers — a signed-URL embed does not consume a seat. That means the bill barely moves whether you have 50 or 50,000 end-users viewing embedded dashboards; Enterprise sits around $500+/mo (custom-quoted) regardless of embed volume. The tradeoff is that internal seats for your own analysts add up separately.
Luzmo
Luzmo prices on usage tied to end-users, data volume, or dashboard count depending on plan, starting from roughly $250/mo. That model scales with your product's growth in a predictable "cost grows with revenue" way, but it also means a successful embed feature becomes a growing line item. At around 1,000 monthly active end-users, directional estimates put Luzmo well past entry pricing into a custom quote, plausibly $1,000-2,000+/mo, versus Metabase Enterprise holding closer to ~$500/mo because embed viewers are not billed seats. Get both vendors to quote your actual volume before committing either number to a budget.
Developer experience
iframe-and-SDK vs. component-first integration
Metabase
Metabase's static embed is a signed iframe URL — fast to wire up, limited in how deeply you can control the resulting UI. The newer interactive embedding SDK (React) gives more control over layout and interaction, but it is a newer surface with a smaller community than the iframe path most existing integrations use.
Luzmo
Luzmo ships a JavaScript SDK plus React and Vue components, so dashboards and individual charts can be composed directly into your frontend rather than dropped in as a frame. The REST API also lets you pull metric values programmatically outside the visual layer. The integration surface is more component-oriented, which suits teams that want the embed to behave like part of their own app rather than a foreign frame.
How to choose
Pick based on whether embed is a feature or the product
Choose Metabase when
Choose Luzmo when
A third option: skip the chart UI
An API-first alternative to embedding a dashboard at all
Both Metabase and Luzmo assume the end goal is a rendered chart UI inside your product. If what your customers actually need is numbers — a metric on their own page, a value in an email, a webhook that fires when something changes — that is a narrower problem than either tool is built to solve. Fastero takes an API-first approach: turn a SQL query into a REST endpoint or a webhook directly, without building or licensing a visualization layer. It is simpler than either Metabase or Luzmo and intentionally less visual — a fit when your product needs the data, not a dashboard tab.
FAQ
Common questions
Does Metabase support embedded analytics for a SaaS product?
Yes. Metabase supports static iframe embedding on every tier, including the free open-source edition, and an interactive embedding SDK on Pro and Enterprise. The catch is branding and sandboxing: the free tier shows a "Powered by Metabase" badge and has no row-level tenant isolation, Pro ($85/mo for 5 users) removes the badge and adds basic sandboxing, and full white-labeling with custom domains and SSO needs Enterprise (custom-quoted, typically $500+/mo).
Is Luzmo good for internal BI, not just customer-facing dashboards?
Not really. Luzmo has no concept of an internal workspace for your own team to explore data, write ad hoc SQL, or build one-off reports the way Metabase, Looker Studio, or a spreadsheet would. It is built entirely around the assumption that every dashboard is shipped inside your product to an end customer. Teams that need both internal BI and embedded analytics usually end up running two tools, or picking Metabase for both jobs at the cost of embed polish.
What's the real cost difference between Metabase and Luzmo at scale?
Metabase's pricing is seat-based for your internal team, not metered by embed viewers, so a 1,000-end-user embed still lands around $500+/mo on Enterprise because signed-URL embed viewers are not licensed seats. Luzmo prices on usage — active end-users, data rows, or dashboard count depending on the plan — so the same 1,000 monthly active end-users typically pushes well past the $250/mo entry tier into custom-quoted territory, often $1,000-2,000+/mo directionally. Treat both figures as estimates: get a quote before budgeting either one precisely.
Do I need Luzmo if I already use Metabase internally?
Depends on how much the embed needs to look native. If your customers are internal-facing or tolerant of an obviously third-party UI, Metabase Enterprise can cover both internal BI and the embed with one tool and one bill. If the embedded dashboard is a paid feature tier and needs to look like it was built in-house — custom themes, branded domains, chart-level interaction control — Luzmo's white-labeling is more thorough out of the box, and you'll run it alongside whatever you already use for internal reporting.
Related paths
Continue into the embedded analytics decision your team is actually making
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The fuller shortlist for teams outgrowing Metabase for embedding, monitoring, or workflow needs beyond dashboards.
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