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Business Intelligence · head to head

Board International vs Cabin

Board International logo

Board International

Business Intelligence

Unified planning, budgeting and BI on a single multidimensional model

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Cabin logo

Cabin

Business Intelligence

Cookieless web analytics that also reports the carbon footprint of your website

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Cabin has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Board International no pricing is published, and independent estimates put year-one total cost of ownership at 150,000 to 400,000 US dollars or more once implementation is included, so budget approval requires a sales process before any real evaluation.; Cabin the analytics are deliberately shallow: no funnels, no cohort retention, no session replay and no user-level journeys, so anything beyond traffic and event counts requires a second tool.
  • They diverge on capability: Board International covers Unified model, Cabin covers Cookieless tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Board International and Cabin actually diverge.

Attributes where Board International and Cabin differ
AttributeBoard InternationalCabin
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer month by pageview volume
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Windows, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Business Intelligence).

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 Board International

  • Unified model
  • Driver-based planning
  • Scenario analysis
  • Data reader and writeback
  • Predictive forecasting
  • Self-service dashboards

Only in Cabin

  • Cookieless tracking
  • Carbon reporting
  • 1.2kb script
  • Custom events
  • Ad-blocker bypass
  • MCP access
  • Branded dashboards
  • EU data storage

What people use each for

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

Board International

  • A finance function that wants budgeting and management reporting on one model rather than two integrated systemsnot Cabin
  • Supply chain and demand planning where the same dimensional model must serve finance and operationsnot Cabin
  • Rolling forecasts with many scenarios where spreadsheet consolidation has become the constraintnot Cabin
  • An organisation replacing a large collection of Excel models with something auditable and version-controllednot Cabin

Cabin

  • Replacing Google Analytics on a site where a cookie consent banner is hurting conversion and you do not need behavioural advertising datanot Board International
  • An organisation with a published sustainability commitment that needs a reportable figure for its website emissionsnot Board International
  • An agency managing many client sites that wants unlimited domains and branded client dashboards for a flat $45 a monthnot Board International
  • A developer who wants to query site analytics conversationally through an MCP-connected assistant rather than reading a dashboardnot Board International

Where each one falls short

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

Board International

  • No pricing is published, and independent estimates put year-one total cost of ownership at 150,000 to 400,000 US dollars or more once implementation is included, so budget approval requires a sales process before any real evaluation.
  • Implementation is heavy and normally delivered by Board professional services or a certified partner, which means the go-live date depends on a third party’s availability rather than your own team.
  • The platform requires a trained internal model owner to remain useful, and organisations that lose that person frequently find the model ossifies because nobody else can safely change it.
  • The interface is dated relative to newer planning tools, which shows up as slower adoption among business users who compare it with the consumer-grade software they use elsewhere.
  • Performance degrades on very large models, and the response to that is usually a modelling redesign delivered by a partner rather than something a customer can fix themselves.

Cabin

  • The analytics are deliberately shallow: no funnels, no cohort retention, no session replay and no user-level journeys, so anything beyond traffic and event counts requires a second tool.
  • Carbon figures are modelled from bytes transferred using CO2.js assumptions about grid intensity and device energy, not measured, so they are directionally useful and should never be presented as audited emissions data.
  • Cabin is a product of Normally, a design studio, rather than a company whose sole business is analytics, which puts a reasonable question mark over long-term roadmap investment and support depth.
  • The 30-day retention on the free tier and 12 months on Plus mean year-on-year comparison needs the $45 Scale plan, which is a large jump for a small site that only wanted longer history.
  • Because it does not use cookies or cross-site identifiers, returning-visitor and multi-session attribution are approximations, which matters if anyone in the business is trying to reconcile it with an ad platform's numbers.

Pricing, plan by plan

Board International

On request
  • Board Intelligent Planning Platform$undefined/year
    • Unified planning, reporting and analytics
    • Cloud or on-premises deployment
    • Named and concurrent user licence options

Cabin

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 domain
    • 10,000 pageviews per month
    • 30-day data retention
  • Plus$14/month
    • Up to 10 domains
    • 100,000 pageviews per month
    • 12-month retention
  • Scale$45/month
    • Unlimited domains
    • 5,000,000 pageviews per month
    • Unlimited retention

Which should you pick?

Choose Board International if

  • You need unified model.
  • You work on Web, Windows, iOS, Android.
  • You also want driver-based planning.
Board International review

Choose Cabin if

  • You need cookieless tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want carbon reporting.
Cabin review

Questions people ask

Is Board International or Cabin better?
Neither clearly leads. Board International starts at On request and Cabin at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Board International or Cabin?
Cabin has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Board International and Free for Cabin.
Does Board International or Cabin run on more platforms?
Board International runs on Web, Windows, iOS, Android. Cabin runs on Web.
Can I use Cabin for free?
Yes. Cabin has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Board International starts at On request.
What is Board International best used for?
Board International is most often used for a finance function that wants budgeting and management reporting on one model rather than two integrated systems, supply chain and demand planning where the same dimensional model must serve finance and operations, rolling forecasts with many scenarios where spreadsheet consolidation has become the constraint, an organisation replacing a large collection of excel models with something auditable and version-controlled. Of those, a finance function that wants budgeting and management reporting on one model rather than two integrated systems and supply chain and demand planning where the same dimensional model must serve finance and operations are not what Cabin is typically brought in for.
What can Board International do that Cabin cannot?
Board International covers Unified model, Driver-based planning, Scenario analysis, Data reader and writeback. Cabin covers Cookieless tracking, Carbon reporting, 1.2kb script, Custom events.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Board International: Does Board publish pricing?

No. Licensing and implementation are both quoted, and independent estimates put per-user licensing in the low thousands of dollars per year.

Cabin: Do I need a cookie consent banner with Cabin?

No. It sets no cookies and collects no cross-site identifiers, and data is stored in the EU, which is the specific reason most buyers switch to it.

Board International: Who owns Board?

Nordic Capital holds a majority stake, with founders and management retaining significant shareholdings.

Cabin: How accurate is the carbon measurement?

It is an estimate derived from data transfer using the CO2.js model. It is reliable for tracking change over time on your own site and unsuitable as an audited emissions figure.

Board International: Is Board a BI tool or a planning tool?

Both, on one multidimensional model, which is the main argument for choosing it over separate tools.

Cabin: Who makes Cabin?

It was built at Normally, a research and design studio in London, out of work on data, privacy and the carbon footprint of digital products.

Board International: Can it be deployed on premises?

Yes, both cloud and on-premises deployments are supported.

Cabin: Can it replace Google Analytics entirely?

For traffic, referrer and event reporting, yes. For advertising attribution, audience building and funnel analysis, no.

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