# Metabase on Render

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/stacks/metabase-on-render/

Render publishes its own guide for deploying Metabase.

Open-source business intelligence server running on the JVM, keeping its own application database separate from the databases it queries.

## What Metabase needs

Every host claims to run Metabase, so the claim on its own decides nothing. These are the things Metabase requires from the platform underneath it, and what Render publishes about each. Render documents 4 of the 4.

| Requirement | Render | Why it matters |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Managed databases | Supported | Metabase stores its own questions, dashboards and users in an application database, separate from whatever it queries. The bundled H2 default is not for production, so a managed Postgres is the first thing an install needs. |
| Memory (entry plan) | 512 MB RAM (with 0.5 CPU) on the `0.5c-512mb` instance type, the cheapest paid web service compute plan (legacy name: Starter) | Metabase runs on the JVM and holds query results in heap. Memory rather than CPU is what rules out the smallest instances, and an under-sized one dies mid-query rather than running slowly. |
| Persistent processes | Supported | A long-running server that also fires scheduled dashboard subscriptions on its own clock. Nothing about it fits a per-request model. |
| Docker deployment | Supported | The official distribution is a JAR or a Docker image, and every provider guide starts from one of the two. |

- Managed databases source: https://render.com/docs/postgresql
- Memory (entry plan) source: https://render.com/docs/compute-plans
- Persistent processes source: https://render.com/docs/background-workers
- Docker deployment source: https://render.com/docs/docker

## What Render documents

> You can deploy Metabase on Render in under 5 minutes. It is backed by Render's fully managed PostgreSQL and can be used to gain insights from any supported database including PostgreSQL, MySQL, Google Analytics, and MongoDB. [...] Create a new PostgreSQL database on Render and copy the internal DB URL to use below.

Source: https://render.com/docs/deploy-metabase

## What it costs to run there

|  | Render |
| --- | --- |
| Pricing model | The Hobby plan does not have a monthly fee, so you only pay for usage. |
| When you exceed a cap | Pipeline minutes: overage is auto-purchased, but with no payment method or once the monthly spend limit is hit, Render stops all pipeline tasks including service builds for the rest of the month (platform-wide, all plans) |
| Regions | Oregon, USA; Ohio, USA; Virginia, USA; Frankfurt, Germany; Singapore |

- Pricing model source: https://render.com/docs/new-workspace-plans
- When you exceed a cap source: https://render.com/docs/build-pipeline
- Regions source: https://render.com/docs/regions

## Whether it suits you

Workloads that need real background workers and persistent processes alongside web services, deployed from a repository or a Dockerfile. Managed Postgres and static sites run on the same platform.

Consider something else if: Free web services spin down after 15 minutes without traffic, which makes the free tier unsuitable for anything that must answer immediately.

Written by Palash Bagchi on 2026-09-05. This is a recommendation, not a sourced fact — it carries no citation because it is an opinion.

## Related

- Best hosting for Metabase: https://inetgeek.com/stacks/metabase/
- Render: https://inetgeek.com/hosting/render/