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Business Intelligence · head to head

Cabin vs Harness

Cabin logo

Cabin

Business Intelligence

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit CabinFull review
Harness logo

Harness

Developer Tools

Software delivery platform across CI, CD, security testing and cost management

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit HarnessFull review

The short version

  • Cabin is a privacy-first analytics tool.
  • Harness is free; Cabin starts at $14/mo.
  • Where Harness falls short: essentials and Enterprise pricing requires sales contact; no published rates.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cabin and Harness actually diverge.

Attributes where Cabin and Harness differ
AttributeCabinHarness
Pricing modelPer month by pageview volumeFreemium
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web).

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 Cabin

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

Only in Harness

Nothing recorded that Cabin does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Cabin

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

Harness

  • Deploying apps to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud with rollbacksnot Cabin
  • Integrating security scanners throughout build pipelines before productionnot Cabin
  • Automating cloud cost reduction and tracking unit-level expensesnot Cabin
  • Enabling developers to provision infrastructure without operations bottlenecksnot Cabin
  • Assessing deployment frequency and lead time productivity metricsnot Cabin

Where each one falls short

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

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

Harness

  • Essentials and Enterprise pricing requires sales contact; no published rates
  • DevOps Essentials has no on-premises deployment option
  • Internal Developer Portal requires minimum 20 developer licenses
  • Pipeline execution history retention 6 months (Essentials) vs 25 months as add-on (Enterprise)

Pricing, plan by plan

Cabin

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

Harness

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Starter platform for software delivery lifecycle
    • Open source options available (Harness Open Source, Litmus Chaos)
  • EssentialsOn request
    • Growing organizations with small to mid-size teams
    • Packaged DevOps Essentials bundle
    • Continuous software delivery capabilities
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Large-scale organizations
    • Pick any modules based on needs
    • Advanced features

Which should you pick?

Choose Cabin if

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

Choose Harness if

  • You want to start without paying.
Harness review

Questions people ask

Is Cabin or Harness better?
Neither clearly leads. Cabin starts at Free and Harness at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cabin or Harness?
Cabin starts at Free and Harness at Free.
Does Cabin or Harness run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Cabin for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Cabin best used for?
Cabin is most often used for replacing google analytics on a site where a cookie consent banner is hurting conversion and you do not need behavioural advertising data, an organisation with a published sustainability commitment that needs a reportable figure for its website emissions, an agency managing many client sites that wants unlimited domains and branded client dashboards for a flat $45 a month, a developer who wants to query site analytics conversationally through an mcp-connected assistant rather than reading a dashboard. Of those, replacing google analytics on a site where a cookie consent banner is hurting conversion and you do not need behavioural advertising data and an organisation with a published sustainability commitment that needs a reportable figure for its website emissions are not what Harness is typically brought in for.
What can Cabin do that Harness cannot?
Cabin covers Cookieless tracking, Carbon reporting, 1.2kb script, Custom events.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Harness: Is there a free Harness plan?

Yes, Harness offers a free plan for individual developers and small teams with open source options including Harness Open Source and Litmus Chaos.

Source
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.

Harness: What are Harness's paid pricing tiers?

Harness offers Essentials for growing teams and Enterprise for large-scale organizations. Both require contacting sales for custom pricing. Pricing is based on modules and features selected.

Source
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.

Harness: Can Harness be deployed on-premises?

Enterprise plans include self-managed platform deployment option. DevOps Essentials bundle does not offer on-premises deployment.

Source
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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