Apache Superset overview covering features, self-hosting, pricing, and how this open-source BI platform compares to managed alternatives like Preset.
Apache Superset is an open-source data exploration and visualization platform capable of handling data at large scale. It began as a three-day hackathon project called Caravel built by Maxime Beauchemin at Airbnb in 2015, was open sourced soon after, and entered the Apache Software Foundation Incubator in 2017 before becoming a fully independent top-level Apache project in 2021.
Unlike closed-source BI tools sold as a subscription, Superset is free to download, self-host, and modify under the Apache License 2.0. It is written primarily in Python and TypeScript and connects to virtually any SQL-speaking database or data warehouse, making it popular with engineering-led data teams.
Superset supports building interactive dashboards and charts using a no-code chart builder or a SQL Lab query editor for more advanced analysis. It ships with dozens of visualization types and integrates with Apache ECharts, plus a plugin system for adding custom visualizations.
It includes a lightweight semantic layer for defining metrics and dimensions once and reusing them across charts, and it supports enterprise-grade authentication through OAuth, OpenID Connect, and LDAP, along with row-level security for controlling what data different users can see.
Superset itself is entirely free and open source; there is no license fee for self-hosting it on your own servers or cloud infrastructure, only the underlying compute and storage costs. Organizations that want a managed, hosted version without operating the infrastructure themselves can instead use Preset, a commercial SaaS built on Superset by its original creator, which is priced separately from the open-source project.
Because pricing for Preset's managed offering is set by a separate company and changes over time, teams evaluating a hosted option should check Preset's own pricing page rather than assuming it matches any figures published for the open-source project.
Yes, Apache Superset is free and open source under the Apache License 2.0; you only pay for the infrastructure you host it on.
Superset was created by Maxime Beauchemin at Airbnb in 2015 as a hackathon project originally named Caravel.
Superset is the free, open-source project governed by the Apache Software Foundation, while Preset is a separate commercial company that sells a managed, hosted version of Superset as a paid SaaS product.
Superset connects to most SQL-speaking databases and data warehouses, including Postgres, MySQL, BigQuery, Snowflake, and Amazon Redshift, among many others.
Yes, Superset is designed to handle data exploration and visualization at large scale, including petabyte-scale datasets when connected to an appropriate warehouse.
Yes, Superset supports enterprise authentication methods including OAuth, OpenID Connect, and LDAP.
Yes, Superset graduated from the Apache Incubator and became a top-level Apache Software Foundation project in 2021.
Basic dashboard building can be done through the no-code chart builder, but self-hosting, advanced SQL queries, and custom visualizations typically require technical skills.