Metabase API vs Shields API

Two free Open Source Projects APIs compared on access, reliability and developer ratings, using data from our daily health checks.

The verdict

Choose Metabase API if you want to call it from browser JavaScript.
Choose Shields API if its data fits your use case better; on access and reliability it's level with Metabase API.

	Metabase API	Shields API
What it does	An open source Business Intelligence server to share data and analytics inside your company.	Concise, consistent, and legible badges in SVG and raster format.
Provider	Metabase	Shields.io
API key	Not needed	Not needed
HTTPS	Yes	Yes
CORS (browser calls)	Yes	Unknown
Status today	Online · 650 ms	Online · 791 ms
Uptime (30 days)	Up	Up
Developer rating	Not rated yet	Not rated yet
Price	Free / free tier	Free / free tier

An open source Business Intelligence server to share data and analytics inside your company.

Metabase grounds every answer in your semantic layer — your metrics and business logic — so you can inspect the query behind it.

Strengths

Concise, consistent, and legible badges in SVG and raster format.

Concise, consistent, and legible badges

Strengths

Prototyping or a tutorial? Pick the one that needs no API key (both qualify).
Calling from a web page? You need CORS. Otherwise route requests through your own server or a serverless function.
Going to production? Favour HTTPS, a strong uptime record and a provider with clear rate limits and terms. Check each API's docs before you commit.
Still unsure? Both are free to try: send one request to each and compare the data you get back.

Neither needs an API key; you can call both straight away.

Metabase API supports CORS, so front-end JavaScript can call it directly. Call the other from a server.