In the world of modern data-driven decision making, companies are prioritizing analytics more than ever. Yet balancing the power of cloud-based analytics platforms with the need for data sovereignty and security is no small task. Teams handling sensitive user information—whether in health tech, fintech, or enterprise SaaS—are often caught between the innovation of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tools and the privacy of on-premises systems.
TL;DR: If your company must keep sensitive data local but still wants beautiful, interactive dashboards available in the cloud, hybrid analytics suites are the answer. These tools allow you to host data on-prem or in a private cloud while syncing metadata or query results to SaaS services for visualization. This setup effectively balances regulatory compliance with the scalability and functionality of SaaS. Below, we explore seven of the best hybrid analytics platforms that teams are using in 2024.
Why Hybrid Analytics?
Companies today face increasing pressure to comply with regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA. That often means they can’t simply upload their data to third-party analytics platforms for processing. But teams also want visually rich dashboards, intuitive interfaces, and the collaborative features that cloud SaaS analytics platforms bring to the table.
Hybrid analytics offers the best of both worlds. It allows teams to:
- Keep sensitive data on-premises or in a secure private cloud
- Leverage powerful SaaS-based visualization tools
- Maintain compliance with regional and industry-specific data protection laws
- Collaborate seamlessly with cloud-based tools without data exposure
Here’s a look at seven hybrid cloud + self-host analytics suites that are changing the way teams approach analytics and data privacy.
1. Redash + Self-Hosted PostgreSQL/Data Warehouse
Redash is a lightweight and powerful querying and dashboard tool that supports dozens of data sources. When teams connect it to a locally hosted database like PostgreSQL or a private Redshift instance, they can execute queries securely, with only metadata and visualization components ever touching the cloud.
Benefits:
- Open-source with active community development
- Supports plug-and-play for most SQL-based backends
- Can be deployed fully on-prem or linked to SaaS for dashboard viewing
If you’re looking for flexibility and SQL-native functionality, Redash is an excellent starting point.
2. Apache Superset + S3 or On-Premise Data Warehouse
Developed by Airbnb and incubated by the Apache Foundation, Superset is an open-source data exploration and visualization tool. Superset can be self-hosted completely, yet companies often use it in a hybrid model—connecting it to remote data warehouses (even S3) while running it inside their private cloud or VPC.
Benefits:
- Supports fine-grained access control for users and roles
- Dozens of visualization styles including advanced geospatial charting
- Works naturally with Kubernetes and containerized environments
3. Metabase + Local Data Source
Metabase is a beloved tool among teams who want simple, no-code interfaces for exploring data. When self-hosted and connected to an internal MySQL, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, or BigQuery dataset, Metabase allows teams to maintain full control over their data while serving dashboard views in their own environment—or opting into Metabase Cloud only for users who need remote visualization access.
Benefits:
- User-friendly UI accessible even for non-technical teams
- Flexible deployment on-premise or hybrid cloud
- Embedding support for secure analytics access from internal tools
Metabase also provides the peace of mind that query execution and sensitive data handling can all take place within a secured infrastructure.
4. Looker (SaaS) + Federated Query to On-Prem Data
Looker, now part of Google Cloud, allows teams to design rich, interactive dashboards and data models in the cloud. However, a major feature is its Looker Data Platform’s federated query engine, which means it can execute queries against on-prem or cloud-hosted databases (like Snowflake, BigQuery, or Redshift) without moving the data into Looker itself.
Benefits:
- Model-driven semantic layer for analytics consistency
- Enterprise-grade governance
- Visual output remains in the cloud while data stays local
Enterprises love Looker for its governance-first approach while still enabling a hybrid pipeline for compliance and collaboration.
5. Preset.io (SaaS) + Secure Tunnel to Apache Superset Deployment
Preset.io is a fully-managed SaaS deployment of Apache Superset, but what makes it uniquely hybrid is its support for secure connectors or tunnels to private data. Teams can host databases locally or within a VPC, and Preset enables querying and dashboard building without moving the raw data to the cloud.
Benefits:
- No infrastructure maintenance overhead for Superset
- Hybrid deployment allows data to remain behind a firewall
- Granular access control and secure role permissions
Preset offers the convenience of SaaS with the security of a hybrid data architecture.
6. Holistics.io + Private Database Integration
Holistics brands itself as a modern BI platform that’s focused on transforming SQL analysts into data engineers. It integrates with private data sources via secure credential storage and encryptions, allowing query processing to happen securely inside your environment while only sending the summarized insights to the Holistics Cloud visualization layer.
Benefits:
- Model-based reporting using re-usable SQL snippets
- Automation of data exports and email reports
- No raw data transfer to SaaS unless explicitly configured
This tool appeals to teams with SQL experience who want reusable and maintainable data logic within a secure system.
7. Grafana + On-Prem Metrics or Logs
While often associated with DevOps use cases, Grafana doubles as a robust general-purpose analytics and visualization tool when paired with plugins for relational or time-series databases. Companies self-host Grafana and feed it metrics from Prometheus, InfluxDB, or even PostgreSQL—all housed within secure deployments.
Benefits:
- Flexible plugin architecture
- Highly performant with real-time monitoring and alerting
- Supports complete air-gapped usage or hybrid dashboards through Grafana Cloud
Grafana is often the top pick for those integrating analytics into application monitoring or IoT environments while keeping data control in-house.
Final Thoughts
Bouncing between compliance concerns and engineering resource constraints can feel like a tightrope walk. But with hybrid analytics stacks, companies get the benefit of SaaS interfaces and collaboration alongside the peace of mind that no sensitive data is venturing beyond trusted boundaries.
In 2024, it’s no longer a choice between control and convenience. With the right hybrid analytics solution, teams can have both—seamlessly.
Whether you’re a startup building your first data reporting layer or an enterprise modernizing your data infrastructure, consider these seven platforms as reliable paths to hybrid analytics success.
