diff --git a/dvc/command/experiments.py b/dvc/command/experiments.py
--- a/dvc/command/experiments.py
+++ b/dvc/command/experiments.py
@@ -426,43 +426,6 @@ def run(self):
         return 0
 
 
-def _show_diff(
-    diff,
-    title="",
-    markdown=False,
-    no_path=False,
-    old=False,
-    precision=DEFAULT_PRECISION,
-):
-    from dvc.utils.diff import table
-
-    rows = []
-    for fname, diff_ in diff.items():
-        sorted_diff = OrderedDict(sorted(diff_.items()))
-        for item, change in sorted_diff.items():
-            row = [] if no_path else [fname]
-            row.append(item)
-            if old:
-                row.append(_format_field(change.get("old"), precision))
-            row.append(_format_field(change["new"], precision))
-            row.append(
-                _format_field(
-                    change.get("diff", "diff not supported"), precision
-                )
-            )
-            rows.append(row)
-
-    header = [] if no_path else ["Path"]
-    header.append(title)
-    if old:
-        header.extend(["Old", "New"])
-    else:
-        header.append("Value")
-    header.append("Change")
-
-    return table(header, rows, markdown)
-
-
 class CmdExperimentsDiff(CmdBase):
     def run(self):
 
@@ -473,41 +436,43 @@ def run(self):
                 all=self.args.all,
                 param_deps=self.args.param_deps,
             )
-
-            if self.args.show_json:
-                import json
-
-                logger.info(json.dumps(diff))
-            else:
-                if self.args.precision is None:
-                    precision = DEFAULT_PRECISION
-                else:
-                    precision = self.args.precision
-
-                diffs = [("metrics", "Metric"), ("params", "Param")]
-                for key, title in diffs:
-                    table = _show_diff(
-                        diff[key],
-                        title=title,
-                        markdown=self.args.show_md,
-                        no_path=self.args.no_path,
-                        old=self.args.old,
-                        precision=precision,
-                    )
-                    if table:
-                        logger.info(table)
-                        logger.info("")
-
         except DvcException:
             logger.exception("failed to show experiments diff")
             return 1
 
+        if self.args.show_json:
+            import json
+
+            logger.info(json.dumps(diff))
+        else:
+            from dvc.compare import show_diff
+
+            precision = self.args.precision or DEFAULT_PRECISION
+            diffs = [("metrics", "Metric"), ("params", "Param")]
+            for idx, (key, title) in enumerate(diffs):
+                if idx:
+                    from dvc.ui import ui
+
+                    # we are printing tables even in `--quiet` mode
+                    # so we should also be printing the "table" separator
+                    ui.write(force=True)
+
+                show_diff(
+                    diff[key],
+                    title=title,
+                    markdown=self.args.show_md,
+                    no_path=self.args.no_path,
+                    old=self.args.old,
+                    on_empty_diff="diff not supported",
+                    precision=precision if key == "metrics" else None,
+                )
+
         return 0
 
 
 class CmdExperimentsRun(CmdRepro):
     def run(self):
-        from dvc.command.metrics import _show_metrics
+        from dvc.compare import show_metrics
 
         if self.args.checkpoint_resume:
             if self.args.reset:
@@ -538,7 +503,7 @@ def run(self):
         if self.args.metrics and results:
             metrics = self.repo.metrics.show(revs=list(results))
             metrics.pop("workspace", None)
-            logger.info(_show_metrics(metrics))
+            logger.info(show_metrics(metrics))
 
         return 0
 
diff --git a/dvc/command/metrics.py b/dvc/command/metrics.py
--- a/dvc/command/metrics.py
+++ b/dvc/command/metrics.py
@@ -11,64 +11,6 @@
 DEFAULT_PRECISION = 5
 
 
-def _show_metrics(
-    metrics,
-    markdown=False,
-    all_branches=False,
-    all_tags=False,
-    all_commits=False,
-    precision=None,
-):
-    from dvc.utils.diff import format_dict, table
-    from dvc.utils.flatten import flatten
-
-    # When `metrics` contains a `None` key, it means that some files
-    # specified as `targets` in `repo.metrics.show` didn't contain any metrics.
-    missing = metrics.pop(None, None)
-    with_rev = any([all_branches, all_tags, all_commits])
-    header_set = set()
-    rows = []
-
-    if precision is None:
-        precision = DEFAULT_PRECISION
-
-    def _round(val):
-        if isinstance(val, float):
-            return round(val, precision)
-        return val
-
-    for _branch, val in metrics.items():
-        for _fname, metric in val.items():
-            if not isinstance(metric, dict):
-                header_set.add("")
-                continue
-            for key, _val in flatten(format_dict(metric)).items():
-                header_set.add(key)
-    header = sorted(header_set)
-    for branch, val in metrics.items():
-        for fname, metric in val.items():
-            row = []
-            if with_rev:
-                row.append(branch)
-            row.append(fname)
-            if not isinstance(metric, dict):
-                row.append(str(metric))
-                rows.append(row)
-                continue
-            flattened_val = flatten(format_dict(metric))
-
-            for i in header:
-                row.append(_round(flattened_val.get(i)))
-            rows.append(row)
-    header.insert(0, "Path")
-    if with_rev:
-        header.insert(0, "Revision")
-
-    if missing:
-        raise BadMetricError(missing)
-    return table(header, rows, markdown)
-
-
 class CmdMetricsBase(CmdBase):
     UNINITIALIZED = True
 
@@ -83,60 +25,34 @@ def run(self):
                 all_commits=self.args.all_commits,
                 recursive=self.args.recursive,
             )
-
-            if self.args.show_json:
-                import json
-
-                logger.info(json.dumps(metrics))
-            else:
-                table = _show_metrics(
-                    metrics,
-                    self.args.show_md,
-                    self.args.all_branches,
-                    self.args.all_tags,
-                    self.args.all_commits,
-                    self.args.precision,
-                )
-                if table:
-                    logger.info(table)
         except DvcException:
             logger.exception("")
             return 1
 
-        return 0
-
-
-def _show_diff(diff, markdown=False, no_path=False, precision=None):
-    from collections import OrderedDict
-
-    from dvc.utils.diff import table
+        if self.args.show_json:
+            import json
 
-    if precision is None:
-        precision = DEFAULT_PRECISION
+            logger.info(json.dumps(metrics))
+        else:
+            from dvc.compare import show_metrics
 
-    def _round(val):
-        if isinstance(val, float):
-            return round(val, precision)
+            # When `metrics` contains a `None` key, it means that some files
+            # specified as `targets` in `repo.metrics.show` didn't contain any
+            # metrics.
+            missing = metrics.pop(None, None)
+            if missing:
+                raise BadMetricError(missing)
 
-        return val
-
-    rows = []
-    for fname, mdiff in diff.items():
-        sorted_mdiff = OrderedDict(sorted(mdiff.items()))
-        for metric, change in sorted_mdiff.items():
-            row = [] if no_path else [fname]
-            row.append(metric)
-            row.append(_round(change.get("old")))
-            row.append(_round(change["new"]))
-            row.append(_round(change.get("diff")))
-            rows.append(row)
-
-    header = [] if no_path else ["Path"]
-    header.append("Metric")
-    header.extend(["Old", "New"])
-    header.append("Change")
+            show_metrics(
+                metrics,
+                markdown=self.args.show_md,
+                all_branches=self.args.all_branches,
+                all_tags=self.args.all_tags,
+                all_commits=self.args.all_commits,
+                precision=self.args.precision or DEFAULT_PRECISION,
+            )
 
-    return table(header, rows, markdown)
+        return 0
 
 
 class CmdMetricsDiff(CmdMetricsBase):
@@ -149,25 +65,25 @@ def run(self):
                 recursive=self.args.recursive,
                 all=self.args.all,
             )
-
-            if self.args.show_json:
-                import json
-
-                logger.info(json.dumps(diff))
-            else:
-                table = _show_diff(
-                    diff,
-                    self.args.show_md,
-                    self.args.no_path,
-                    precision=self.args.precision,
-                )
-                if table:
-                    logger.info(table)
-
         except DvcException:
             logger.exception("failed to show metrics diff")
             return 1
 
+        if self.args.show_json:
+            import json
+
+            logger.info(json.dumps(diff))
+        else:
+            from dvc.compare import show_diff
+
+            show_diff(
+                diff,
+                title="Metric",
+                markdown=self.args.show_md,
+                no_path=self.args.no_path,
+                precision=self.args.precision or DEFAULT_PRECISION,
+            )
+
         return 0
 
 
diff --git a/dvc/command/params.py b/dvc/command/params.py
--- a/dvc/command/params.py
+++ b/dvc/command/params.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import argparse
 import logging
-from collections import OrderedDict
 
 from dvc.command import completion
 from dvc.command.base import CmdBase, append_doc_link, fix_subparsers
@@ -9,27 +8,6 @@
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def _show_diff(diff, markdown=False, no_path=False):
-    from dvc.utils.diff import table
-
-    rows = []
-    for fname, pdiff in diff.items():
-        sorted_pdiff = OrderedDict(sorted(pdiff.items()))
-        for param, change in sorted_pdiff.items():
-            row = [] if no_path else [fname]
-            row.append(param)
-            row.append(change["old"])
-            row.append(change["new"])
-            rows.append(row)
-
-    header = [] if no_path else ["Path"]
-    header.append("Param")
-    header.append("Old")
-    header.append("New")
-
-    return table(header, rows, markdown)
-
-
 class CmdParamsDiff(CmdBase):
     UNINITIALIZED = True
 
@@ -42,20 +20,25 @@ def run(self):
                 all=self.args.all,
                 deps=self.args.deps,
             )
-
-            if self.args.show_json:
-                import json
-
-                logger.info(json.dumps(diff))
-            else:
-                table = _show_diff(diff, self.args.show_md, self.args.no_path)
-                if table:
-                    logger.info(table)
-
         except DvcException:
             logger.exception("failed to show params diff")
             return 1
 
+        if self.args.show_json:
+            import json
+
+            logger.info(json.dumps(diff))
+        else:
+            from dvc.compare import show_diff
+
+            show_diff(
+                diff,
+                title="Param",
+                markdown=self.args.show_md,
+                no_path=self.args.no_path,
+                show_changes=False,
+            )
+
         return 0
 
 
diff --git a/dvc/command/repro.py b/dvc/command/repro.py
--- a/dvc/command/repro.py
+++ b/dvc/command/repro.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 
 from dvc.command import completion
 from dvc.command.base import CmdBase, append_doc_link
-from dvc.command.metrics import _show_metrics
 from dvc.command.status import CmdDataStatus
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -20,8 +19,10 @@ def run(self):
             )
 
         if self.args.metrics:
+            from dvc.compare import show_metrics
+
             metrics = self.repo.metrics.show()
-            logger.info(_show_metrics(metrics))
+            show_metrics(metrics)
 
         return 0
 
diff --git a/dvc/compare.py b/dvc/compare.py
--- a/dvc/compare.py
+++ b/dvc/compare.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from collections.abc import Mapping
 from itertools import chain, repeat, zip_longest
 from operator import itemgetter
 from typing import (
@@ -167,3 +168,137 @@ def render(self, **kwargs: Any):
     def as_dict(self):
         keys = self.keys()
         return [dict(zip(keys, row)) for row in self]
+
+
+def _format_field(val: Any, precision: int = None) -> str:
+    def _format(_val):
+        if isinstance(_val, float) and precision:
+            fmt = f"{{:.{precision}g}}"
+            return fmt.format(_val)
+        if isinstance(_val, Mapping):
+            return {k: _format(v) for k, v in _val.items()}
+        if isinstance(_val, list):
+            return [_format(x) for x in _val]
+        return _val
+
+    return str(_format(val))
+
+
+def diff_table(
+    diff,
+    title: str,
+    old: bool = True,
+    no_path: bool = False,
+    show_changes: bool = True,
+    precision: int = None,
+    on_empty_diff: str = None,
+) -> TabularData:
+    headers: List[str] = ["Path", title, "Old", "New", "Change"]
+    fill_value = "-"
+    td = TabularData(headers, fill_value=fill_value)
+
+    for fname, diff_in_file in diff.items():
+        for item, change in sorted(diff_in_file.items()):
+            old_value = with_value(change.get("old"), fill_value)
+            new_value = with_value(change.get("new"), fill_value)
+            diff_value = with_value(
+                change.get("diff", on_empty_diff), fill_value
+            )
+            td.append(
+                [
+                    fname,
+                    str(item),
+                    _format_field(old_value, precision),
+                    _format_field(new_value, precision),
+                    _format_field(diff_value, precision),
+                ]
+            )
+
+    if no_path:
+        td.drop("Path")
+
+    if not show_changes:
+        td.drop("Change")
+
+    if not old:
+        td.drop("Old")
+        td.rename("New", "Value")
+
+    return td
+
+
+def show_diff(
+    diff,
+    title: str,
+    old: bool = True,
+    no_path: bool = False,
+    show_changes: bool = True,
+    precision: int = None,
+    on_empty_diff: str = None,
+    markdown: bool = False,
+) -> None:
+    td = diff_table(
+        diff,
+        title=title,
+        old=old,
+        no_path=no_path,
+        show_changes=show_changes,
+        precision=precision,
+        on_empty_diff=on_empty_diff,
+    )
+    td.render(markdown=markdown)
+
+
+def metrics_table(
+    metrics,
+    all_branches: bool = False,
+    all_tags: bool = False,
+    all_commits: bool = False,
+    precision: int = None,
+):
+    from dvc.utils.diff import format_dict
+    from dvc.utils.flatten import flatten
+
+    td = TabularData(["Revision", "Path"], fill_value="-")
+
+    for branch, val in metrics.items():
+        for fname, metric in val.items():
+            row_data: Dict[str, str] = {
+                "Revision": branch,
+                "Path": fname,
+            }
+            flattened = (
+                flatten(format_dict(metric))
+                if isinstance(metric, dict)
+                else {"": metric}
+            )
+            row_data.update(
+                {k: _format_field(v, precision) for k, v in flattened.items()}
+            )
+            td.row_from_dict(row_data)
+
+    rev, path, *metrics_headers = td.keys()
+    td.project(rev, path, *sorted(metrics_headers))
+
+    if not any([all_branches, all_tags, all_commits]):
+        td.drop("Revision")
+
+    return td
+
+
+def show_metrics(
+    metrics,
+    markdown: bool = False,
+    all_branches: bool = False,
+    all_tags: bool = False,
+    all_commits: bool = False,
+    precision: int = None,
+) -> None:
+    td = metrics_table(
+        metrics,
+        all_branches=all_branches,
+        all_tags=all_tags,
+        all_commits=all_commits,
+        precision=precision,
+    )
+    td.render(markdown=markdown)

Good points, @skshetry.

As you pointed out, none of the silent examples implemented now (`metrics/params/plots`) make much sense. Interested to hear if there's a use case for being silent for those since their purpose is to show output.

Otherwise, it seems like we might consistently apply the first meaning to all of the commands. As you again noted, we can always add `--silent` if necessary.
@gcoter, could you please share more information about the docker container, and why is it running on `ascii` encoding?

`print` has the same behaviour with ASCII encoding, if you try to print other Unicode characters. If it's in your control, I'd suggest you use another `utf-8` encoding or set `PYTHONIOENCODING=utf-8` envvar inside docker. 

Here, the change is simple as we could detect them easily, but it might not always be the case (considering we have some big changes coming in the CLI/UI). What if the metrics themselves are in the unicode?
Hi @skshetry, `PYTHONIOENCODING=utf-8` did solve the problem! I don't know why ascii is being used by default, but I will use your trick :slightly_smiling_face: Thank you
I observed this error in one of our Katacoda containers as well. Related with iterative/katacoda-scenarios#55

This happens when `LANG` is not set to some `UTF-8` 

```
~/example-get-started$ locale
LANG=
LANGUAGE=
LC_CTYPE="POSIX"
LC_NUMERIC="POSIX"
LC_TIME="POSIX"
LC_COLLATE="POSIX"
LC_MONETARY="POSIX"
LC_MESSAGES="POSIX"
LC_PAPER="POSIX"
LC_NAME="POSIX"
LC_ADDRESS="POSIX"
LC_TELEPHONE="POSIX"
LC_MEASUREMENT="POSIX"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="POSIX"
LC_ALL=
```

when I set 

```
export LANG=C.UTF-8
```

I don't get this error. 

You can get possible values with

```
locale -a
```

and add all locales on a Debian/Ubuntu container with 

```
apt install locales-all
```

This may be a more general fix than setting `PYTHONIOENCODING`. 

You can also set these in your `Dockerfile`: 

```
...
ENV LANG C.UTF-8
ENV LC_ALL C.UTF-8
...
```

@gcoter 
Thank you @iesahin for the fix, I think it is indeed more general :slightly_smiling_face: 
diff --git a/tests/basic_env.py b/tests/basic_env.py
--- a/tests/basic_env.py
+++ b/tests/basic_env.py
@@ -192,10 +192,12 @@ def __init__(self, methodName):
         TestDvcFixture.__init__(self)
         TestCase.__init__(self, methodName)
         self._caplog = None
+        self._capsys = None
 
     @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
-    def inject_fixtures(self, caplog):
+    def inject_fixtures(self, caplog, capsys):
         self._caplog = caplog
+        self._capsys = capsys
 
 
 class TestDvcGit(TestDvcGitFixture, TestCase):
diff --git a/tests/func/metrics/test_diff.py b/tests/func/metrics/test_diff.py
--- a/tests/func/metrics/test_diff.py
+++ b/tests/func/metrics/test_diff.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import json
-import logging
 
 from dvc.main import main
 from dvc.utils.serialize import dump_yaml
@@ -185,15 +184,13 @@ def _gen(val):
     _gen(3.45678910111213)
 
     caplog.clear()
+    capsys.readouterr()  # clearing the buffer
     assert main(["metrics", "diff", "HEAD~2"]) == 0
-    (info,) = [
-        msg
-        for name, level, msg in caplog.record_tuples
-        if name.startswith("dvc") and level == logging.INFO
-    ]
-    assert info == (
-        "Path    Metric    Old      New      Change\n"
-        "m.yaml  foo       1.23457  3.45679  2.22222"
+
+    captured = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert captured.out == (
+        "Path    Metric    Old     New     Change\n"
+        "m.yaml  foo       1.2346  3.4568  2.2222\n"
     )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/func/test_repro.py b/tests/func/test_repro.py
--- a/tests/func/test_repro.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_repro.py
@@ -914,6 +914,7 @@ def test(self):
         self.assertEqual(0, ret)
 
         self._caplog.clear()
+        self._capsys.readouterr()  # clearing the buffer
 
         from dvc.dvcfile import DVC_FILE_SUFFIX
 
@@ -923,7 +924,8 @@ def test(self):
         self.assertEqual(0, ret)
 
         expected_metrics_display = f"Path\n{metrics_file}  {metrics_value}\n"
-        self.assertIn(expected_metrics_display, self._caplog.text)
+        actual, _ = self._capsys.readouterr()
+        self.assertIn(expected_metrics_display, actual)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/tests/unit/command/test_metrics.py b/tests/unit/command/test_metrics.py
--- a/tests/unit/command/test_metrics.py
+++ b/tests/unit/command/test_metrics.py
@@ -1,15 +1,10 @@
-import textwrap
+import json
 
 from dvc.cli import parse_args
-from dvc.command.metrics import (
-    CmdMetricsDiff,
-    CmdMetricsShow,
-    _show_diff,
-    _show_metrics,
-)
+from dvc.command.metrics import CmdMetricsDiff, CmdMetricsShow
 
 
-def test_metrics_diff(dvc, mocker):
+def test_metrics_diff(dvc, mocker, capsys):
     cli_args = parse_args(
         [
             "metrics",
@@ -18,25 +13,26 @@ def test_metrics_diff(dvc, mocker):
             "HEAD~1",
             "-R",
             "--all",
-            "--show-json",
             "--show-md",
             "--targets",
             "target1",
             "target2",
-            "--show-md",
             "--no-path",
-            "--precision",
-            "10",
         ]
     )
+
     assert cli_args.func == CmdMetricsDiff
 
     cmd = cli_args.func(cli_args)
-    m = mocker.patch("dvc.repo.metrics.diff.diff", return_value={})
+    diff = {"metrics.yaml": {"": {"old": 1, "new": 3}}}
+    metrics_diff = mocker.patch(
+        "dvc.repo.metrics.diff.diff", return_value=diff
+    )
+    show_diff_mock = mocker.patch("dvc.compare.show_diff")
 
     assert cmd.run() == 0
 
-    m.assert_called_once_with(
+    metrics_diff.assert_called_once_with(
         cmd.repo,
         targets=["target1", "target2"],
         a_rev="HEAD~10",
@@ -44,60 +40,51 @@ def test_metrics_diff(dvc, mocker):
         recursive=True,
         all=True,
     )
-
-
-def test_metrics_show_json_diff():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {"metrics.json": {"a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 3}}}
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path          Metric    Old    New    Change
-        metrics.json  a.b.c     1      2      3"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_show_raw_diff():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {"metrics": {"": {"old": "1", "new": "2"}}}
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path     Metric    Old    New    Change
-        metrics            1      2      —"""
+    show_diff_mock.assert_called_once_with(
+        diff, title="Metric", no_path=True, precision=5, markdown=True,
     )
 
 
-def test_metrics_diff_no_diff():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {"other.json": {"a.b.d": {"old": "old", "new": "new"}}}
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path        Metric    Old    New    Change
-        other.json  a.b.d     old    new    —"""
+def test_metrics_diff_json(dvc, mocker, caplog, capsys):
+    cli_args = parse_args(
+        [
+            "metrics",
+            "diff",
+            "HEAD~10",
+            "HEAD~1",
+            "-R",
+            "--all",
+            "--show-json",
+            "--targets",
+            "target1",
+            "target2",
+            "--no-path",
+            "--precision",
+            "10",
+        ]
     )
 
+    assert cli_args.func == CmdMetricsDiff
+    cmd = cli_args.func(cli_args)
 
-def test_metrics_diff_no_changes():
-    assert _show_diff({}) == ""
-
-
-def test_metrics_diff_new_metric():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {"other.json": {"a.b.d": {"old": None, "new": "new"}}}
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path        Metric    Old    New    Change
-        other.json  a.b.d     —      new    —"""
+    diff = {"metrics.yaml": {"": {"old": 1, "new": 3}}}
+    metrics_diff = mocker.patch(
+        "dvc.repo.metrics.diff.diff", return_value=diff
     )
+    show_diff_mock = mocker.patch("dvc.compare.show_diff")
 
-
-def test_metrics_diff_deleted_metric():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {"other.json": {"a.b.d": {"old": "old", "new": None}}}
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path        Metric    Old    New    Change
-        other.json  a.b.d     old    —      —"""
+    assert cmd.run() == 0
+    metrics_diff.assert_called_once_with(
+        cmd.repo,
+        targets=["target1", "target2"],
+        a_rev="HEAD~10",
+        b_rev="HEAD~1",
+        recursive=True,
+        all=True,
     )
+    show_diff_mock.assert_not_called()
+    assert json.dumps(diff) in caplog.text
+    assert capsys.readouterr() == ("", "")
 
 
 def test_metrics_show(dvc, mocker):
@@ -119,11 +106,7 @@ def test_metrics_show(dvc, mocker):
 
     cmd = cli_args.func(cli_args)
     m1 = mocker.patch("dvc.repo.metrics.show.show", return_value={})
-    m2 = mocker.patch(
-        "dvc.command.metrics._show_metrics",
-        spec=_show_metrics,
-        return_value="",
-    )
+    m2 = mocker.patch("dvc.compare.show_metrics", return_value="")
 
     assert cmd.run() == 0
 
@@ -145,243 +128,42 @@ def test_metrics_show(dvc, mocker):
     )
 
 
-def test_metrics_diff_precision():
-    diff = {
-        "other.json": {
-            "a.b": {
-                "old": 0.1234567,
-                "new": 0.765432101234567,
-                "diff": 0.641975401234567,
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
-    assert _show_diff(diff) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path        Metric    Old      New      Change
-        other.json  a.b       0.12346  0.76543  0.64198"""
-    )
-
-    assert _show_diff(diff, precision=10) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path        Metric    Old        New           Change
-        other.json  a.b       0.1234567  0.7654321012  0.6419754012"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_diff_sorted():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {
-            "metrics.yaml": {
-                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6, "diff": 1},
-                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4, "diff": 1},
-                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 1},
-            }
-        }
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path          Metric    Old    New    Change
-        metrics.yaml  a.b.c     1      2      1
-        metrics.yaml  a.d.e     3      4      1
-        metrics.yaml  x.b       5      6      1"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_diff_markdown_empty():
-    assert _show_diff({}, markdown=True) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        | Path   | Metric   | Old   | New   | Change   |
-        |--------|----------|-------|-------|----------|
-        """
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_diff_markdown():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {
-            "metrics.yaml": {
-                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6},
-                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4, "diff": 1},
-                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 1},
-            }
-        },
-        markdown=True,
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        | Path         | Metric   | Old   | New   | Change   |
-        |--------------|----------|-------|-------|----------|
-        | metrics.yaml | a.b.c    | 1     | 2     | 1        |
-        | metrics.yaml | a.d.e    | 3     | 4     | 1        |
-        | metrics.yaml | x.b      | 5     | 6     | —        |
-        """
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_diff_no_path():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {
-            "metrics.yaml": {
-                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6, "diff": 1},
-                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4, "diff": 1},
-                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 1},
-            }
-        },
-        no_path=True,
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Metric    Old    New    Change
-        a.b.c     1      2      1
-        a.d.e     3      4      1
-        x.b       5      6      1"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_show_with_valid_falsey_values():
-    assert _show_metrics(
-        {"branch_1": {"metrics.json": {"a": 0, "b": {"ad": 0.0, "bc": 0.0}}}},
-        all_branches=True,
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Revision    Path          a    b.ad    b.bc
-        branch_1    metrics.json  0    0.0     0.0"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_show_with_no_revision():
-    assert _show_metrics(
-        {"branch_1": {"metrics.json": {"a": 0, "b": {"ad": 0.0, "bc": 0.0}}}},
-        all_branches=False,
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path          a    b.ad    b.bc
-        metrics.json  0    0.0     0.0"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_show_with_non_dict_values():
-    assert _show_metrics(
-        {"branch_1": {"metrics.json": 1}}, all_branches=True,
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Revision    Path
-        branch_1    metrics.json  1"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_show_with_multiple_revision():
-    assert _show_metrics(
-        {
-            "branch_1": {"metrics.json": {"a": 1, "b": {"ad": 1, "bc": 2}}},
-            "branch_2": {"metrics.json": {"a": 1, "b": {"ad": 3, "bc": 4}}},
-        },
-        all_branches=True,
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Revision    Path          a    b.ad    b.bc
-        branch_1    metrics.json  1    1       2
-        branch_2    metrics.json  1    3       4"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_show_with_one_revision_multiple_paths():
-    assert _show_metrics(
-        {
-            "branch_1": {
-                "metrics.json": {"a": 1, "b": {"ad": 0.1, "bc": 1.03}},
-                "metrics_1.json": {"a": 2.3, "b": {"ad": 6.5, "bc": 7.9}},
-            }
-        },
-        all_branches=True,
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Revision    Path            a    b.ad    b.bc
-        branch_1    metrics.json    1    0.1     1.03
-        branch_1    metrics_1.json  2.3  6.5     7.9"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_show_with_different_metrics_header():
-    assert _show_metrics(
-        {
-            "branch_1": {"metrics.json": {"b": {"ad": 1, "bc": 2}, "c": 4}},
-            "branch_2": {"metrics.json": {"a": 1, "b": {"ad": 3, "bc": 4}}},
-        },
-        all_branches=True,
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Revision    Path          a    b.ad    b.bc    c
-        branch_1    metrics.json  —    1       2       4
-        branch_2    metrics.json  1    3       4       —"""
+def test_metrics_show_json(dvc, mocker, caplog, capsys):
+    cli_args = parse_args(
+        [
+            "metrics",
+            "show",
+            "--show-json",
+            "-R",
+            "--all-tags",
+            "--all-branches",
+            "--all-commits",
+            "target1",
+            "target2",
+            "--precision",
+            "8",
+        ]
     )
 
-
-def test_metrics_show_precision():
-    metrics = {
-        "branch_1": {
-            "metrics.json": {
-                "a": 1.098765366365355,
-                "b": {"ad": 1.5342673, "bc": 2.987725527},
-            }
-        }
+    assert cli_args.func == CmdMetricsShow
+    cmd = cli_args.func(cli_args)
+    d = {
+        "branch_1": {"metrics.json": {"b": {"ad": 1, "bc": 2}, "c": 4}},
+        "branch_2": {"metrics.json": {"a": 1, "b": {"ad": 3, "bc": 4}}},
     }
+    metrics_show = mocker.patch("dvc.repo.metrics.show.show", return_value=d)
+    show_metrics_mock = mocker.patch("dvc.compare.show_metrics")
 
-    assert _show_metrics(metrics, all_branches=True,) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Revision    Path          a        b.ad     b.bc
-        branch_1    metrics.json  1.09877  1.53427  2.98773"""
-    )
-
-    assert _show_metrics(
-        metrics, all_branches=True, precision=4
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Revision    Path          a       b.ad    b.bc
-        branch_1    metrics.json  1.0988  1.5343  2.9877"""
-    )
-
-    assert _show_metrics(
-        metrics, all_branches=True, precision=7
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Revision    Path          a          b.ad       b.bc
-        branch_1    metrics.json  1.0987654  1.5342673  2.9877255"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_metrics_show_default():
-    assert _show_metrics(
-        {
-            "metrics.yaml": {
-                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6},
-                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4, "diff": 1},
-                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 1},
-            }
-        },
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path    diff    new    old
-        x.b     —       6      5
-        a.d.e   1       4      3
-        a.b.c   1       2      1"""
-    )
-
+    assert cmd.run() == 0
 
-def test_metrics_show_md():
-    assert _show_metrics(
-        {
-            "metrics.yaml": {
-                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6},
-                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4, "diff": 1},
-                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 1},
-            }
-        },
-        markdown=True,
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        | Path   | diff   | new   | old   |
-        |--------|--------|-------|-------|
-        | x.b    | —      | 6     | 5     |
-        | a.d.e  | 1      | 4     | 3     |
-        | a.b.c  | 1      | 2     | 1     |
-        """
+    metrics_show.assert_called_once_with(
+        cmd.repo,
+        ["target1", "target2"],
+        recursive=True,
+        all_tags=True,
+        all_branches=True,
+        all_commits=True,
     )
+    show_metrics_mock.assert_not_called()
+    assert json.dumps(d) in caplog.text
+    assert capsys.readouterr() == ("", "")
diff --git a/tests/unit/command/test_params.py b/tests/unit/command/test_params.py
--- a/tests/unit/command/test_params.py
+++ b/tests/unit/command/test_params.py
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 import logging
-import textwrap
 
 from dvc.cli import parse_args
-from dvc.command.params import CmdParamsDiff, _show_diff
+from dvc.command.params import CmdParamsDiff
 
 
 def test_params_diff(dvc, mocker):
@@ -24,11 +23,12 @@ def test_params_diff(dvc, mocker):
     assert cli_args.func == CmdParamsDiff
 
     cmd = cli_args.func(cli_args)
-    m = mocker.patch("dvc.repo.params.diff.diff", return_value={})
+    params_diff = mocker.patch("dvc.repo.params.diff.diff", return_value={})
+    show_diff_mock = mocker.patch("dvc.compare.show_diff")
 
     assert cmd.run() == 0
 
-    m.assert_called_once_with(
+    params_diff.assert_called_once_with(
         cmd.repo,
         a_rev="HEAD~10",
         b_rev="HEAD~1",
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ def test_params_diff(dvc, mocker):
         all=True,
         deps=True,
     )
+    show_diff_mock.assert_not_called()
 
 
 def test_params_diff_from_cli(dvc, mocker):
@@ -43,80 +44,20 @@ def test_params_diff_from_cli(dvc, mocker):
     assert cli_args.func == CmdParamsDiff
 
     cmd = cli_args.func(cli_args)
-    m = mocker.patch("dvc.repo.params.diff.diff", return_value={})
+    params_diff = mocker.patch("dvc.repo.params.diff.diff", return_value={})
+    show_diff_mock = mocker.patch("dvc.compare.show_diff")
 
     assert cmd.run() == 0
 
-    m.assert_called_once_with(
+    params_diff.assert_called_once_with(
         cmd.repo, a_rev=None, b_rev=None, all=False, targets=None, deps=False,
     )
-
-
-def test_params_diff_changed():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {"params.yaml": {"a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2}}}
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path         Param    Old    New
-        params.yaml  a.b.c    1      2"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_params_diff_list():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {"params.yaml": {"a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": [2, 3]}}}
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path         Param    Old    New
-        params.yaml  a.b.c    1      [2, 3]"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_params_diff_unchanged():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {"params.yaml": {"a.b.d": {"old": "old", "new": "new"}}}
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path         Param    Old    New
-        params.yaml  a.b.d    old    new"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_params_diff_no_changes():
-    assert _show_diff({}) == ""
-
-
-def test_params_diff_new():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {"params.yaml": {"a.b.d": {"old": None, "new": "new"}}}
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path         Param    Old    New
-        params.yaml  a.b.d    —      new"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_params_diff_deleted():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {"params.yaml": {"a.b.d": {"old": "old", "new": None}}}
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path         Param    Old    New
-        params.yaml  a.b.d    old    —"""
+    show_diff_mock.assert_called_once_with(
+        {}, title="Param", markdown=False, no_path=False, show_changes=False
     )
 
 
-def test_params_diff_prec():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {"params.yaml": {"train.lr": {"old": 0.0042, "new": 0.0043}}}
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path         Param     Old     New
-        params.yaml  train.lr  0.0042  0.0043"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_params_diff_show_json(dvc, mocker, caplog):
+def test_params_diff_show_json(dvc, mocker, caplog, capsys):
     cli_args = parse_args(
         ["params", "diff", "HEAD~10", "HEAD~1", "--show-json"]
     )
@@ -124,73 +65,11 @@ def test_params_diff_show_json(dvc, mocker, caplog):
     mocker.patch(
         "dvc.repo.params.diff.diff", return_value={"params.yaml": {"a": "b"}}
     )
+    show_diff_mock = mocker.patch("dvc.compare.show_diff")
+
     with caplog.at_level(logging.INFO, logger="dvc"):
         assert cmd.run() == 0
         assert '{"params.yaml": {"a": "b"}}\n' in caplog.text
 
-
-def test_params_diff_sorted():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {
-            "params.yaml": {
-                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6},
-                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4},
-                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2},
-            }
-        }
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Path         Param    Old    New
-        params.yaml  a.b.c    1      2
-        params.yaml  a.d.e    3      4
-        params.yaml  x.b      5      6"""
-    )
-
-
-def test_params_diff_markdown_empty():
-    assert _show_diff({}, markdown=True) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        | Path   | Param   | Old   | New   |
-        |--------|---------|-------|-------|
-        """
-    )
-
-
-def test_params_diff_markdown():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {
-            "params.yaml": {
-                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6},
-                "a.d.e": {"old": None, "new": 4},
-                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": None},
-            }
-        },
-        markdown=True,
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        | Path        | Param   | Old   | New   |
-        |-------------|---------|-------|-------|
-        | params.yaml | a.b.c   | 1     | —     |
-        | params.yaml | a.d.e   | —     | 4     |
-        | params.yaml | x.b     | 5     | 6     |
-        """
-    )
-
-
-def test_params_diff_no_path():
-    assert _show_diff(
-        {
-            "params.yaml": {
-                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6},
-                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4},
-                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2},
-            }
-        },
-        no_path=True,
-    ) == textwrap.dedent(
-        """\
-        Param    Old    New
-        a.b.c    1      2
-        a.d.e    3      4
-        x.b      5      6"""
-    )
+    show_diff_mock.assert_not_called()
+    assert capsys.readouterr() == ("", "")
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_compare.py b/tests/unit/test_compare.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_compare.py
@@ -0,0 +1,455 @@
+import textwrap
+
+import pytest
+
+from dvc.compare import diff_table, metrics_table, show_diff, show_metrics
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("title", ["Metric", "Param"])
+def test_diff_table(title):
+    td = diff_table(
+        {"metrics.json": {"a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 3}}},
+        title=title,
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            title: "a.b.c",
+            "Old": "1",
+            "New": "2",
+            "Change": "3",
+        }
+    ]
+
+
+def test_diff_table_with_value_column():
+    td = diff_table(
+        {"metrics.json": {"a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 3}}},
+        title="Metric",
+        old=False,
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            "Metric": "a.b.c",
+            "Value": "2",
+            "Change": "3",
+        }
+    ]
+
+
+def test_no_path():
+    td = diff_table(
+        {"metrics.json": {"a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 3}}},
+        title="Metric",
+        no_path=True,
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {"Metric": "a.b.c", "Old": "1", "New": "2", "Change": "3"}
+    ]
+
+
+def test_do_not_show_changes():
+    td = diff_table(
+        {"metrics.json": {"a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 3}}},
+        title="Metric",
+        show_changes=False,
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {"Path": "metrics.json", "Metric": "a.b.c", "Old": "1", "New": "2"}
+    ]
+
+
+def test_diff_table_precision():
+    diff = {
+        "metrics.json": {
+            "a.b.c": {"old": 1.1234, "new": 2.2345, "diff": 3.3456}
+        }
+    }
+    td = diff_table(diff, title="Metric", precision=3,)
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            "Metric": "a.b.c",
+            "Old": "1.12",
+            "New": "2.23",
+            "Change": "3.35",
+        }
+    ]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "extra, expected", [({"on_empty_diff": "no diff"}, "no diff"), ({}, "-")]
+)
+def test_diff_unsupported_diff_message(extra, expected):
+    td = diff_table(
+        {"metrics.json": {"": {"old": "1", "new": "2"}}},
+        title="Metric",
+        **extra
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            "Metric": "",
+            "Old": "1",
+            "New": "2",
+            "Change": expected,
+        }
+    ]
+
+
+def test_diff_new():
+    td = diff_table(
+        {"param.json": {"a.b.d": {"old": None, "new": "new"}}}, title="Param"
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Path": "param.json",
+            "Param": "a.b.d",
+            "Old": "-",
+            "New": "new",
+            "Change": "-",
+        }
+    ]
+
+
+def test_diff_old_deleted():
+    td = diff_table(
+        {"metric.json": {"a.b.d": {"old": "old", "new": None}}}, title="Metric"
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Path": "metric.json",
+            "Metric": "a.b.d",
+            "Old": "old",
+            "New": "-",
+            "Change": "-",
+        }
+    ]
+
+
+def test_diff_sorted():
+    td = diff_table(
+        {
+            "metrics.yaml": {
+                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6, "diff": 1},
+                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4, "diff": 1},
+                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 1},
+            }
+        },
+        "Metric",
+    )
+    assert list(td) == [
+        ["metrics.yaml", "a.b.c", "1", "2", "1"],
+        ["metrics.yaml", "a.d.e", "3", "4", "1"],
+        ["metrics.yaml", "x.b", "5", "6", "1"],
+    ]
+
+
+def test_diff_falsey_values():
+    diff = {"metrics.yaml": {"x.b": {"old": 0, "new": 0.0, "diff": 0.0}}}
+    td = diff_table(diff, "Metric")
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Path": "metrics.yaml",
+            "Metric": "x.b",
+            "Old": "0",
+            "New": "0.0",
+            "Change": "0.0",
+        }
+    ]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "composite, expected",
+    [([2, 3], "[2, 3]"), ({"foo": 3, "bar": 3}, "{'foo': 3, 'bar': 3}")],
+)
+def test_diff_list(composite, expected):
+    td = diff_table(
+        {"params.yaml": {"a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": composite}}}, "Param"
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Path": "params.yaml",
+            "Param": "a.b.c",
+            "Old": "1",
+            "New": expected,
+            "Change": "-",
+        }
+    ]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("markdown", [True, False])
+def test_diff_mocked(mocker, markdown):
+    ret = mocker.MagicMock()
+    m = mocker.patch("dvc.compare.diff_table", return_value=ret)
+
+    show_diff({}, "metrics", markdown=markdown)
+
+    m.assert_called_once_with(
+        {},
+        title="metrics",
+        old=True,
+        no_path=False,
+        precision=None,
+        on_empty_diff=None,
+        show_changes=True,
+    )
+    ret.render.assert_called_once_with(markdown=markdown)
+
+
+def test_diff_default(capsys):
+    show_diff(
+        {
+            "metrics.yaml": {
+                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6},
+                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4, "diff": 1},
+                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 1},
+            }
+        },
+        "Metric",
+    )
+    out, _ = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert out == textwrap.dedent(
+        """\
+        Path          Metric    Old    New    Change
+        metrics.yaml  a.b.c     1      2      1
+        metrics.yaml  a.d.e     3      4      1
+        metrics.yaml  x.b       5      6      -
+        """
+    )
+
+
+def test_metrics_diff_md(capsys):
+    show_diff(
+        {
+            "metrics.yaml": {
+                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6},
+                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4, "diff": 1},
+                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 1},
+            }
+        },
+        "Metric",
+        markdown=True,
+    )
+    out, _ = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert out == textwrap.dedent(
+        """\
+        | Path         | Metric   | Old   | New   | Change   |
+        |--------------|----------|-------|-------|----------|
+        | metrics.yaml | a.b.c    | 1     | 2     | 1        |
+        | metrics.yaml | a.d.e    | 3     | 4     | 1        |
+        | metrics.yaml | x.b      | 5     | 6     | -        |
+
+        """
+    )
+
+
+def test_metrics_show_with_valid_falsey_values():
+    td = metrics_table(
+        {"branch_1": {"metrics.json": {"a": 0, "b": {"ad": 0.0, "bc": 0.0}}}},
+        all_branches=True,
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Revision": "branch_1",
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            "a": "0",
+            "b.ad": "0.0",
+            "b.bc": "0.0",
+        }
+    ]
+
+
+def test_metrics_show_with_no_revision():
+    td = metrics_table(
+        {"branch_1": {"metrics.json": {"a": 0, "b": {"ad": 0.0, "bc": 0.0}}}},
+        all_branches=False,
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {"Path": "metrics.json", "a": "0", "b.ad": "0.0", "b.bc": "0.0"}
+    ]
+
+
+def test_metrics_show_with_non_dict_values():
+    td = metrics_table({"branch_1": {"metrics.json": 1}}, all_branches=True,)
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {"Revision": "branch_1", "Path": "metrics.json", "": "1"}
+    ]
+
+
+def test_metrics_show_with_multiple_revision():
+    td = metrics_table(
+        {
+            "branch_1": {"metrics.json": {"a": 1, "b": {"ad": 1, "bc": 2}}},
+            "branch_2": {"metrics.json": {"a": 1, "b": {"ad": 3, "bc": 4}}},
+        },
+        all_branches=True,
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Revision": "branch_1",
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            "a": "1",
+            "b.ad": "1",
+            "b.bc": "2",
+        },
+        {
+            "Revision": "branch_2",
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            "a": "1",
+            "b.ad": "3",
+            "b.bc": "4",
+        },
+    ]
+
+
+def test_metrics_show_with_one_revision_multiple_paths():
+    td = metrics_table(
+        {
+            "branch_1": {
+                "metrics.json": {"a": 1, "b": {"ad": 0.1, "bc": 1.03}},
+                "metrics_1.json": {"a": 2.3, "b": {"ad": 6.5, "bc": 7.9}},
+            }
+        },
+        all_branches=True,
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Revision": "branch_1",
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            "a": "1",
+            "b.ad": "0.1",
+            "b.bc": "1.03",
+        },
+        {
+            "Revision": "branch_1",
+            "Path": "metrics_1.json",
+            "a": "2.3",
+            "b.ad": "6.5",
+            "b.bc": "7.9",
+        },
+    ]
+
+
+def test_metrics_show_with_different_metrics_header():
+    td = metrics_table(
+        {
+            "branch_1": {"metrics.json": {"b": {"ad": 1, "bc": 2}, "c": 4}},
+            "branch_2": {"metrics.json": {"a": 1, "b": {"ad": 3, "bc": 4}}},
+        },
+        all_branches=True,
+    )
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Revision": "branch_1",
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            "a": "-",
+            "b.ad": "1",
+            "b.bc": "2",
+            "c": "4",
+        },
+        {
+            "Revision": "branch_2",
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            "a": "1",
+            "b.ad": "3",
+            "b.bc": "4",
+            "c": "-",
+        },
+    ]
+
+
+def test_metrics_show_precision():
+    metrics = {
+        "branch_1": {
+            "metrics.json": {
+                "a": 1.098765366365355,
+                "b": {"ad": 1.5342673, "bc": 2.987725527},
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    td = metrics_table(metrics, all_branches=True, precision=4)
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Revision": "branch_1",
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            "a": "1.099",
+            "b.ad": "1.534",
+            "b.bc": "2.988",
+        }
+    ]
+
+    td = metrics_table(metrics, all_branches=True, precision=7)
+    assert td.as_dict() == [
+        {
+            "Revision": "branch_1",
+            "Path": "metrics.json",
+            "a": "1.098765",
+            "b.ad": "1.534267",
+            "b.bc": "2.987726",
+        }
+    ]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("markdown", [True, False])
+def test_metrics_show_mocked(mocker, markdown):
+    ret = mocker.MagicMock()
+    m = mocker.patch("dvc.compare.metrics_table", return_value=ret)
+
+    show_metrics({}, markdown=markdown)
+
+    m.assert_called_once_with(
+        {},
+        all_branches=False,
+        all_tags=False,
+        all_commits=False,
+        precision=None,
+    )
+    ret.render.assert_called_once_with(markdown=markdown)
+
+
+def test_metrics_show_default(capsys):
+    show_metrics(
+        {
+            "metrics.yaml": {
+                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6},
+                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4, "diff": 1},
+                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 1},
+            }
+        },
+    )
+    out, _ = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert out == textwrap.dedent(
+        """\
+        Path    diff    new    old
+        x.b     -       6      5
+        a.d.e   1       4      3
+        a.b.c   1       2      1
+        """
+    )
+
+
+def test_metrics_show_md(capsys):
+    show_metrics(
+        {
+            "metrics.yaml": {
+                "x.b": {"old": 5, "new": 6},
+                "a.d.e": {"old": 3, "new": 4, "diff": 1},
+                "a.b.c": {"old": 1, "new": 2, "diff": 1},
+            }
+        },
+        markdown=True,
+    )
+    out, _ = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert out == textwrap.dedent(
+        """\
+        | Path   | diff   | new   | old   |
+        |--------|--------|-------|-------|
+        | x.b    | -      | 6     | 5     |
+        | a.d.e  | 1      | 4     | 3     |
+        | a.b.c  | 1      | 2     | 1     |
+
+        """
+    )

ui: what should `--quiet` do for tabular outputs?
What does the `--quiet` mean for our DVC commands? 

It can have two different meanings:
1. Don't show up verbose error messages, but show messages that do matter (important warnings + what the user has asked for).
2. Display nothing at all.

I have seen a few tools using `--silent` instead for 2). But, I guess the most important thing is being consistent here.

The following are the ones that do print on `--quiet`:
1. `stage list`
2. `exp show`
3. `completion`
4. `remote default`

Other commands such as `metrics/params/plots` don't show anything at all (what's the use here of `--quiet`?).

P.S. What should `dvc repro` and `dvc exp run` do?
metrics show/diff: UnicodeEncodeError: 'ascii' codec can't encode character '\u2014'
# Bug Report

## Description

I have an encoding error on one of the remote server I use. I think it is linked to the default encoding which is configured on this machine. But I wanted to raise this issue just in case you didn't know that for some particular configuration, displaying metrics can fail. The problematic character is `—`, which is used when a metric value is missing. For the same project, `dvc metrics show` and `dvc metrics diff` display it normally on my local dev machine but on the remote server it fails with the encoding error.

### Reproduce

Basically, take a machine (or a docker container, see the image I used in the next section) with ascii encoding being used for the console and run `dvc metrics show` or `dvc metrics diff` in a context in which a metric value is missing.

For instance, make two metric files with different metric names. If you run `dvc metrics show`, it will try to display something like this:

```console
                                 Metric Name 1     Metric Name 2
metric_file_1.json               0.15833           —          
metric_file_2.json               —                 0.98103
```

If the default encoding is ascii, this will fail.

### Expected

I would expect the command to work in all contexts. For instance, the `—` character could be replaced with `-` or `NA` if it cannot be displayed.

### Environment information
I run my code in a docker container based on `nvidia/cuda:10.0-cudnn7-devel-ubuntu16.04`

**Output of `dvc doctor`:**

```console
$ dvc doctor
DVC version: 2.0.3 (pip)
---------------------------------
Platform: Python 3.6.12 on Linux-3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7.x86_64-x86_64-with-debian-stretch-sid
Supports: hdfs, http, https, ssh
Cache types: hardlink, symlink
Cache directory: overlay on overlay
Caches: local
Remotes: ssh
Workspace directory: overlay on overlay
Repo: dvc, git
```

**Additional Information (if any):**

```console
$ dvc metrics show --verbose
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/dvc/logger.py", line 136, in emit
    msg, file=self.stream, end=getattr(self, "terminator", "\n")
  File "/opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/tqdm/std.py", line 619, in write
    fp.write(s)
UnicodeEncodeError: 'ascii' codec can't encode character '\u2014' in position 301: ordinal not in range(128)

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/dvc/main.py", line 50, in main
    ret = cmd.run()
  File "/opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/dvc/command/metrics.py", line 100, in run
    logger.info(table)
  File "/opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/logging/__init__.py", line 1308, in info
    self._log(INFO, msg, args, **kwargs)
  File "/opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/logging/__init__.py", line 1444, in _log
    self.handle(record)
  File "/opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/logging/__init__.py", line 1454, in handle
    self.callHandlers(record)
  File "/opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/logging/__init__.py", line 1516, in callHandlers
    hdlr.handle(record)
  File "/opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/logging/__init__.py", line 865, in handle
    self.emit(record)
  File "/opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/dvc/logger.py", line 142, in emit
    self.handleError(record)
  File "/opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/dvc/logger.py", line 129, in handleError
    raise LoggingException(record)
dvc.logger.LoggingException: failed to log <LogRecord: dvc.command.metrics, 20, /opt/conda/envs/my-env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/dvc/command/metrics.py, 100
```

I cannot show the whole log because it contains confidential metrics but I think that with these information you will be able to understand where is the issue in the code of DVC. Otherwise, don't hesitate to ask me :wink: 

tests/func/metrics/test_diff.py::test_no_commits tests/func/test_repro.py::test_recursive_repro_recursive_missing_file tests/unit/command/test_metrics.py::test_metrics_diff tests/unit/command/test_metrics.py::test_metrics_diff_json tests/unit/command/test_metrics.py::test_metrics_show tests/unit/command/test_metrics.py::test_metrics_show_json tests/unit/command/test_params.py::test_params_diff tests/unit/command/test_params.py::test_params_diff_from_cli tests/unit/command/test_params.py::test_params_diff_show_json tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_table[Metric] tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_table[Param] tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_table_with_value_column tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_no_path tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_do_not_show_changes tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_table_precision tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_unsupported_diff_message[extra0-no tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_unsupported_diff_message[extra1--] tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_new tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_old_deleted tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_sorted tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_falsey_values tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_list[composite0-[2, tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_list[composite1-{'foo': tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_mocked[True] tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_mocked[False] tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_diff_default tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_diff_md tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_show_with_valid_falsey_values tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_show_with_no_revision tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_show_with_non_dict_values tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_show_with_multiple_revision tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_show_with_one_revision_multiple_paths tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_show_with_different_metrics_header tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_show_precision tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_show_mocked[True] tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_show_mocked[False] tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_show_default tests/unit/test_compare.py::test_metrics_show_md