Apache Superset vs Evidence
| Tagline | Enterprise-ready BI web app for data exploration and dashboards | Code-based BI: build data reports and dashboards with SQL and Markdown |
| Category | BI & Dashboards | BI & Dashboards |
| Replaces | Tableau, Looker, Power BI | Tableau, Looker, Power BI |
| GitHub stars | 75k | 6.9k |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Kubernetes Manual | Docker Manual One-Click |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | yesterday | 4 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Apache Superset
- No native desktop authoring app like Tableau Desktop; all work happens in the browser
- Visualization customization is less polished and flexible than Tableau's drag-and-drop canvas
- No built-in semantic/modeling layer comparable to Looker's LookML (relies on external tools)
- Steeper learning curve and heavier infrastructure (Celery, Redis, metadata DB) for production
Evidence
- Code-first workflow excludes non-technical, point-and-click business users
- Not designed for interactive ad-hoc exploration; reports are authored, not browsed freely
- No drag-and-drop visual builder or pivot-table exploration like Tableau/Power BI
- Limited governance, permissions, and live-querying features compared to enterprise BI
Bottom line
Choose Evidence if you want the lower-effort setup; choose Apache Superset for the larger community and ecosystem. Apache Superset has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.