# Building the same dashboards in Metabase and Basedash

Tom Johnson · 2025-06-10

[Basedash](https://x.com/tomjohndesign/status/1932479840709427473)

This is what it takes to build the same two dashboards in Metabase and in [Basedash](https://www.tomjohn.design/content/basedash). Keep in mind I'm a non-technical user. I can't write SQL natively, so I'm very reliant on AI to write SQL queries [(0:09)](#t=9). I'd built the two I was copying from a template [(0:18)](#t=18): one tracks the KPIs of Dockhunt, total users, apps, user signups over time and some real quick metrics, and the other shows the details of one app that users have added [(0:22)](#t=22).

![The KPIs dashboard template in Basedash, captioned as I say: “Now, keep in mind, I'm a non-technical user, I can't write SQL natively. So I'm very reliant on AI to write SQL queries,”](https://nlzkl2bo0qmd3uti.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/talks/clips/metabase-vs-basedash/non-technical-cnXE6pQA43bvS18GeJQ8w82NBRE5GK.mp4 "Clip")

I did Metabase first [(0:41)](#t=41), with Claude open beside it to write the SQL, and that part of the video is sped up. I couldn't get the date range on the signups chart working, so I went back and forth with Claude on how to structure a start and end date inside Metabase [(1:00)](#t=60). Eventually we were making progress [(2:04)](#t=124), and that's how you build these two dashboards in Metabase, in half an hour [(2:27)](#t=147).

![The finished App details dashboard in Metabase, with Claude beside it, captioned as I say: “KPIs and app details in Metabase in half an hour.”](https://nlzkl2bo0qmd3uti.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/talks/clips/metabase-vs-basedash/half-an-hour-etBNSYDYs0igcZhK9SW7wrV3lufyt2.mp4 "Clip")

Then I did it in Basedash [(2:48)](#t=168). The two I'd just made took two minutes, and the other two were only there for reference [(3:10)](#t=190). It doesn't know about the other queries or anything else that's been added, so if they didn't exist it wouldn't matter. There's no smoke and mirrors and no custom context, it's just inspecting the schema, very similar to what Claude was doing [(3:20)](#t=200). Four minutes versus half an hour [(3:40)](#t=220).

![The KPIs dashboard rebuilt in Basedash, captioned as I say: “So just to repeat, this is the one I just these, these two I just made in two minutes. And these two I just used for reference.”](https://nlzkl2bo0qmd3uti.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/talks/clips/metabase-vs-basedash/two-minutes-iFodcsETYdmxerpwgLnvyEoCnBPhjH.mp4 "Clip")

When I posted it on X I wrote:

> 33 minutes in Metabase & Claude vs 2 minutes in Basedash.
>
> If you're using Metabase... we should talk.