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Energy · head to head

ABB Ability vs Wood Mackenzie Lens

ABB Ability logo

ABB Ability

Energy

Digital solutions for energy and automation

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Wood Mackenzie Lens logo

Wood Mackenzie Lens

Energy

Subscription research data and analytics covering oil, gas, power, renewables and mining assets

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ABB Ability the Internet Archive's capture of ABB Ability's page on 19 December 2021 showed it is sold only through a 'Find Your Sales Partner' channel across industry verticals (Automotive, Buildings, Data Centers, EV Charging, Manufacturing, Mining, Oil & Gas, Power, and others), with no price list published.; Wood Mackenzie Lens licensing is per named seat and per dataset, so sharing a login across an analyst team breaches the contract and licensing the team properly multiplies the fee rather than adding to it.
  • They diverge on capability: ABB Ability covers Asset health monitoring, Wood Mackenzie Lens covers Upstream asset data.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ABB Ability and Wood Mackenzie Lens actually diverge.

Attributes where ABB Ability and Wood Mackenzie Lens differ
AttributeABB AbilityWood Mackenzie Lens
PlatformsWeb, Mobile, ApiWeb, API
Founded1988Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Energy).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in ABB Ability

  • Asset health monitoring
  • Predictive maintenance
  • Performance optimization
  • Energy management
  • Grid automation
  • Remote diagnostics
  • Advanced analytics
  • Digital twin technology

Only in Wood Mackenzie Lens

  • Upstream asset data
  • Power and renewables
  • Metals and mining
  • Gas and LNG
  • Energy transition scenarios
  • Emissions data
  • Lens Direct
  • Scenario and portfolio tools

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

ABB Ability

  • Asset performance managementnot Wood Mackenzie Lens
  • Predictive maintenancenot Wood Mackenzie Lens
  • Grid optimizationnot Wood Mackenzie Lens
  • Energy efficiencynot Wood Mackenzie Lens

Wood Mackenzie Lens

  • A corporate development team screening acquisition targets against independent asset economicsnot ABB Ability
  • A lender or investor testing a project sponsor case against third-party cost and production estimatesnot ABB Ability
  • A strategy team building long-term scenarios that need consistent cross-commodity assumptionsnot ABB Ability
  • A trading or origination desk that needs asset level supply data pulled into its own models through the APInot ABB Ability

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

ABB Ability

  • The Internet Archive's capture of ABB Ability's page on 19 December 2021 showed it is sold only through a 'Find Your Sales Partner' channel across industry verticals (Automotive, Buildings, Data Centers, EV Charging, Manufacturing, Mining, Oil & Gas, Power, and others), with no price list published.

Wood Mackenzie Lens

  • Licensing is per named seat and per dataset, so sharing a login across an analyst team breaches the contract and licensing the team properly multiplies the fee rather than adding to it.
  • The content is analyst-modelled rather than operator-reported, so asset economics and reserve figures are estimates and can differ materially from what the owner of the asset publishes.
  • Modules are split by commodity and by region, and a question that spans gas and power, or Americas and EMEA, can require two or three separate subscriptions to answer.
  • Content refresh follows the research publication calendar, so individual asset records can lag a transaction or a project decision by a quarter or more, which matters on live deals.
  • Ownership passed from Verisk to Veritas Capital in 2023, so buyers signing multi-year terms are contracting with a private equity holding whose plans for pricing and packaging are not public.

Pricing, plan by plan

ABB Ability

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the ABB Ability review.

Wood Mackenzie Lens

On request
  • Lens subscription$undefined/year
    • Quoted per dataset and per named user
    • Regional variants of a module are priced as separate subscriptions
    • Lens Direct API access licensed on top of platform access

Which should you pick?

Choose ABB Ability if

  • You need asset health monitoring.
  • You work on Web, Mobile, Api.
  • You also want predictive maintenance.
ABB Ability review

Choose Wood Mackenzie Lens if

  • You need upstream asset data.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want power and renewables.
Wood Mackenzie Lens review

Questions people ask

Is ABB Ability or Wood Mackenzie Lens better?
Neither clearly leads. ABB Ability starts at On request and Wood Mackenzie Lens at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ABB Ability or Wood Mackenzie Lens?
ABB Ability starts at On request and Wood Mackenzie Lens at On request.
Does ABB Ability or Wood Mackenzie Lens run on more platforms?
ABB Ability runs on Web, Mobile, Api. Wood Mackenzie Lens runs on Web, API.
What is ABB Ability best used for?
ABB Ability is most often used for asset performance management, predictive maintenance, grid optimization, energy efficiency. Of those, asset performance management and predictive maintenance are not what Wood Mackenzie Lens is typically brought in for.
What can ABB Ability do that Wood Mackenzie Lens cannot?
ABB Ability covers Asset health monitoring, Predictive maintenance, Performance optimization, Energy management. Wood Mackenzie Lens covers Upstream asset data, Power and renewables, Metals and mining, Gas and LNG.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Wood Mackenzie Lens: Am I buying software or research?

Research. Lens is the delivery platform for Wood Mackenzie analysis, and the analysis is what the price reflects.

Wood Mackenzie Lens: Who owns Wood Mackenzie?

Veritas Capital, which acquired it from Verisk in 2023.

Wood Mackenzie Lens: Can a team share one licence?

No. Licences are per named user, and sharing breaches the subscription terms.

Wood Mackenzie Lens: Can I get the data into my own models?

Yes, through Lens Direct, which is licensed separately from platform access.

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