Kibana vs Apache Superset
A data-driven comparison of two Open-source dashboards & BI tools: popularity, development activity, licensing and installation. Updated .
KibanaVisualization and dashboard UI for data stored in Elasticsearch.
Apache SupersetData exploration and visualization platform with a no-code chart builder, SQL IDE and dashboards.
Key differences
- Apache Superset has 3.5× as many GitHub stars as Kibana (75K vs 21.3K).
- Kibana had more development activity over the last 12 months: 21,018 commits vs 5,646.
- Kibana is licensed under Other; Apache Superset under Apache-2.0.
- Kibana is written primarily in TypeScript, Apache Superset in Python.
- Kibana is the older project: its repository was created in 2013, Apache Superset's in 2015.
By the numbers
- Kibana
- Apache Superset
Show data as a table
| Metric | Kibana | Apache Superset |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 21,305 | 75,035 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 21,018 | 5,646 |
| Contributors | 374 | 420 |
| Forks | 8,631 | 18,428 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- Kibana
- Apache Superset
Show data as a table
| Month | Kibana | Apache Superset |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 1,452 | 221 |
| Nov 2025 | 1,090 | 162 |
| Dec 2025 | 1,229 | 256 |
| Jan 2026 | 1,234 | 343 |
| Feb 2026 | 1,647 | 330 |
| Mar 2026 | 2,050 | 322 |
| Apr 2026 | 2,224 | 410 |
| May 2026 | 1,761 | 474 |
| Jun 2026 | 1,448 | 751 |
| Jul 2026 | 2,314 | 808 |
| Aug 2026 | 2,148 | 728 |
| Sep 2026 | 2,421 | 841 |
Side by side
| Attribute | Kibana | Apache Superset |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Visualization and dashboard UI for data stored in Elasticsearch. | 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 | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Latest release | v9.5.4 () | 6.1.0 () |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 11,919 | 141 |
| Install | – | 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.
-
Kibana
Visualization and dashboard UI for data stored in Elasticsearch.
-
Apache Superset
Data exploration and visualization platform with a no-code chart builder, SQL IDE and dashboards.