What is Superset used for?

Superset is a web-based business intelligence platform from the Apache project with a no-code chart builder, SQL editor and dashboards that connects to most SQL databases. It is a good fit for self-hosted BI dashboards for analysts, exploring data warehouse tables and replacing proprietary BI tools.

Is Superset open source?

Yes. Superset is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at apache/superset and is written mainly in Python.

Yes. Superset is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Superset?

Yes. Superset can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Superset an alternative to?

Superset is an open-source alternative to Tableau, Qlik, ThoughtSpot and Data Studio. Other open-source alternatives to Tableau include Metabase, Lightdash and DataEase.

Is Superset actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Superset was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 6.1.0, published on 13 May 2026. The project has 75k stars on GitHub.

Superset: open-source alternative to Tableau, Qlik

About Superset

Apache Superset is a data exploration and visualization platform that runs as a web application. Analysts and business users can connect it to a database, build charts without code, assemble them into dashboards and share them, so it can augment or replace proprietary business intelligence tools for many teams.

The no-code chart builder sits next to a web-based SQL editor for advanced queries, and a lightweight semantic layer lets teams define reusable dimensions and metrics. Visualizations range from simple bar charts to geospatial views. Superset can query any SQL datastore or engine provided a matching Python database driver and SQLAlchemy dialect exist, including Presto, Trino and Athena. A configurable caching layer reduces database load, and security roles and authentication options are extensible.

The stack is Python with Flask on the back end and React on the front end, under the Apache-2.0 license. A REST API and extension framework allow programmatic control and customization. Documentation is split into guides for users, administrators and developers, and it is a typical choice for organizations that want a self-managed BI layer.

Key features

No-code chart builder
Web-based SQL editor
Shareable interactive dashboards
Lightweight semantic layer for metrics
Connects to any SQL database with a driver
Caching layer and security roles
REST API for programmatic customization

Good fit for

→Self-hosted BI dashboards for analysts
→Exploring data warehouse tables
→Replacing proprietary BI tools

Built with: Python; React; Flask
Tags: business-intelligence; data-visualization; dashboards; sql; analytics; apache; python; self-hosted

Superset: questions and answers

What is Superset used for?: Superset is a web-based business intelligence platform from the Apache project with a no-code chart builder, SQL editor and dashboards that connects to most SQL databases. It is a good fit for self-hosted BI dashboards for analysts, exploring data warehouse tables and replacing proprietary BI tools.
Is Superset open source?: Yes. Superset is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at apache/superset and is written mainly in Python.
Is Superset free?: Yes. Superset is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Superset?: Yes. Superset can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Superset an alternative to?: Superset is an open-source alternative to Tableau, Qlik, ThoughtSpot and Data Studio. Other open-source alternatives to Tableau include Metabase, Lightdash and DataEase.
Is Superset actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Superset was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 6.1.0, published on 13 May 2026. The project has 75k stars on GitHub.