Superset is difficult for business users to self-serve on star schemas → Lightdash
“I honestly found it almost useless for self-serve BI by business users if you have existing star schema”
2 people say they left Apache Superset; what else pushes users away, and what its category peers report
Friction holds 15 sourced reports about Apache Superset (superset.apache.org) from 82 public source threads (as of 2026-10-15); only 2 of them say the author left. This page shows those reports, what its users say pushes them away, and the problem profile of Metabase.
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Where Apache Superset users say they went
Switching reports that name a destination. A count is the number of reports naming it, not a market share: Friction only holds what people say in public.
| Named alternative | Reports naming it | Newest report |
|---|---|---|
| Lightdash | 1 | 2024 |
| Metatron | 1 | 2019 (over 5 years old) |
The reports of leaving
No joins across datasets makes Superset hard for business users → Metatron
“this can actually be used by business people because it supports joins of datasets”
What pushes people away from Apache Superset
The most-reported open problems, worst severity first. Each links to the item with its source.
Float columns cannot be used to create histogram charts · Reporting & analytics · Blocks work
“Why i can't use float column type to create histogram chart in Superset 5.0.0?”
Postgres schema named pgsql is missing from datasets · Integrations · Blocks work
“All the schemas are listed except the schema name "pgsql”
Handlebars chart CSS appears as plain text · Customization · Blocks work
“CSS code defined in "CSS styles" section of Handlebars chart settings isn't applied to HTML template. It is shown as plain text on the chart”
Resetting a dashboard URL leaves its old URL usable · Permissions & security · Annoyance
“when I reset the URL in Dashboard properties, the original default generated URL (number) can still be used”
Dashboards remain stuck loading until manually refreshed · Reliability & bugs · Annoyance
“our dashboards are not showing any more and stay in loading state without showing the result”
See all 14 themes for Apache Superset
Other business intelligence tools on Friction, and what their users struggle with
Switching trades one set of problems for another. The same evidence, for each tool Friction covers in this category:
Metabase
31 reports · 111 source threads · most-discussed area: Reporting & analytics
- Upgrade migration fails when another schema has the same table
- JSON unfolding prevents restricted-column metadata from syncing
- Dashboard-filter click behavior overrides other table columns
Apache Superset vs Metabase: side by side · Metabase alternatives
Counts and reports reflect people who post in public (developers and technical buyers are over-represented). A tool with fewer reports is not a better tool; it may only be discussed less. How the data is built.