Grafana vs Apache Superset
A data-driven comparison of two Open-source dashboards & BI tools: popularity, development activity, licensing and installation. Updated .
GrafanaObservability and data visualization platform for metrics, logs and traces from many data sources.
Apache SupersetData exploration and visualization platform with a no-code chart builder, SQL IDE and dashboards.
Key differences
- Grafana and Apache Superset have a similar number of GitHub stars (77.1K vs 75K).
- Grafana had more development activity over the last 12 months: 11,330 commits vs 5,646.
- Grafana is licensed under AGPL-3.0; Apache Superset under Apache-2.0.
- Grafana is written primarily in TypeScript, Apache Superset in Python.
- Grafana is the older project: its repository was created in 2013, Apache Superset's in 2015.
By the numbers
- Grafana
- Apache Superset
Show data as a table
| Metric | Grafana | Apache Superset |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 77,071 | 75,035 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 11,330 | 5,646 |
| Contributors | 373 | 420 |
| Forks | 14,817 | 18,428 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- Grafana
- Apache Superset
Show data as a table
| Month | Grafana | Apache Superset |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 777 | 221 |
| Nov 2025 | 633 | 162 |
| Dec 2025 | 563 | 256 |
| Jan 2026 | 750 | 343 |
| Feb 2026 | 1,021 | 330 |
| Mar 2026 | 1,209 | 322 |
| Apr 2026 | 1,184 | 410 |
| May 2026 | 887 | 474 |
| Jun 2026 | 886 | 751 |
| Jul 2026 | 1,247 | 808 |
| Aug 2026 | 1,034 | 728 |
| Sep 2026 | 1,139 | 841 |
Side by side
| Attribute | Grafana | Apache Superset |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Observability and data visualization platform for metrics, logs and traces from many data sources. | Data exploration and visualization platform with a no-code chart builder, SQL IDE and dashboards. |
| Category | Open-source dashboards & BI tools | Open-source dashboards & BI tools |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Latest release | v13.2.3 () | 6.1.0 () |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 2,676 | 141 |
| Install | go get github.com/grafana/grafana | pip install apache-superset |
Which should you choose?
Popularity and activity are only part of the story. Consider which ecosystem you work in, the chart types and interactions you need, how much data you render, and whether the license fits your project. Both tool pages list alternatives if neither is quite right.
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Grafana
Observability and data visualization platform for metrics, logs and traces from many data sources.
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Apache Superset
Data exploration and visualization platform with a no-code chart builder, SQL IDE and dashboards.