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Business Intelligence · head to head

Cabin vs Lightdash

Cabin logo

Cabin

Business Intelligence

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lightdash logo

Lightdash

Business Intelligence

Open-source BI for dbt users

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Lightdash requires existing dbt infrastructure, not suitable for teams without data models
  • They diverge on capability: Cabin covers Cookieless tracking, Lightdash covers dbt Integration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cabin and Lightdash actually diverge.

Attributes where Cabin and Lightdash differ
AttributeCabinLightdash
Pricing modelPer month by pageview volumeUnknown
PlatformsWebWeb, Cloud (managed), Self-hosted (on-premise)
FoundedUnknown2021

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Cabin

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

Only in Lightdash

  • dbt Integration
  • Metrics Layer
  • Dashboards
  • Scheduling
  • Version Control
  • dbt
  • BigQuery
  • Snowflake

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 Lightdash
  • An organisation with a published sustainability commitment that needs a reportable figure for its website emissionsnot Lightdash
  • An agency managing many client sites that wants unlimited domains and branded client dashboards for a flat $45 a monthnot Lightdash
  • A developer who wants to query site analytics conversationally through an MCP-connected assistant rather than reading a dashboardnot Lightdash

Lightdash

  • Self-service analyticsnot Cabin
  • Data explorationnot Cabin
  • Ad-hoc reportingnot Cabin
  • Collaborative analysisnot Cabin
  • Embedded analyticsnot 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.

Lightdash

  • Requires existing dbt infrastructure, not suitable for teams without data models
  • Enterprise features and AI agents unavailable in open-source MIT-licensed core

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Lightdash

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • MIT-licensed core
    • Self-hostable
    • dbt integration
  • Cloud Managed$undefined/mo
    • Managed hosting
    • Premium features
    • AI agent capabilities

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 Lightdash if

  • You need dbt integration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud (managed), Self-hosted (on-premise).
  • You also want metrics layer.
Lightdash review

Questions people ask

Is Cabin or Lightdash better?
Neither clearly leads. Cabin starts at Free and Lightdash at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cabin or Lightdash?
Cabin starts at Free and Lightdash at Free.
Does Cabin or Lightdash run on more platforms?
Cabin runs on Web. Lightdash runs on Web, Cloud (managed), Self-hosted (on-premise).
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 Lightdash is typically brought in for.
What can Cabin do that Lightdash cannot?
Cabin covers Cookieless tracking, Carbon reporting, 1.2kb script, Custom events. Lightdash covers dbt Integration, Metrics Layer, Dashboards, Scheduling.

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.

Lightdash: Is Lightdash free?

Yes. Lightdash is free and open source under the MIT license. Self-hosting is completely free. Managed cloud services and enterprise features require separate licensing.

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.

Lightdash: How does Lightdash integrate with dbt?

Lightdash reads dbt models and metric definitions directly. A team defines metrics once in dbt and reuses them across dashboards, exploration, and AI agents without redefinition.

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.

Lightdash: Does Lightdash support SQL queries?

Yes. As a modern BI platform for analysts, Lightdash supports full SQL capabilities alongside dbt model exploration and visual query builders.

Source
Cabin: Can it replace Google Analytics entirely?

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

Lightdash: What are Lightdash AI agents?

Lightdash AI agents, available on paid plans, allow natural language queries against your data, generating SQL and visualizations automatically from questions.

Source
Lightdash: Can Lightdash be self-hosted?

Yes. Lightdash's MIT-licensed core is completely self-hostable and free. Enterprise features and AI agents ship under separate licensing.

Source
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