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Business Intelligence · head to head

Cabin vs pnpm

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
pnpm logo

pnpm

Developer Tools

Fast, disk space efficient package manager

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit pnpmFull review

The short version

  • Cabin is a privacy-first analytics tool; pnpm is a fast, disk space efficient package manager.
  • pnpm is free; Cabin starts at $14/mo.
  • Where pnpm falls short: requires command-line proficiency to use.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cabin and pnpm actually diverge.

Attributes where Cabin and pnpm differ
AttributeCabinpnpm
PlatformsWebLinux, Windows, macOS
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDeveloper Tools

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

Not yet recorded: pricing model for pnpm, founded for Cabin.

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 pnpm

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

pnpm

  • Installing dependencies faster than npm in monorepo workspacesnot Cabin
  • Sharing common dependencies across multiple projects to save disk spacenot Cabin
  • Preventing dependency version conflicts in workspace environmentsnot Cabin
  • Managing workspaces with many interdependent packagesnot 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

pnpm

  • Requires command-line proficiency to use
  • Community-driven support only

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

pnpm

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the pnpm review.

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 pnpm if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS.
pnpm review

Questions people ask

Is Cabin or pnpm better?
Neither clearly leads. Cabin starts at Free and pnpm at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cabin or pnpm?
Cabin starts at Free and pnpm at Free.
Does Cabin or pnpm run on more platforms?
Cabin runs on Web. pnpm runs on Linux, Windows, macOS.
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 pnpm is typically brought in for.
What can Cabin do that pnpm 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.

pnpm: Is pnpm free and open source?

Yes. pnpm is free and open source software developed for Node.js. Version 10 and 11 are currently available.

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.

pnpm: How does pnpm save disk space?

pnpm uses a content-addressable store with hard linking and symlinks to avoid duplication. All files are saved in a single place on disk and hard-linked to individual projects, dramatically reducing storage requirements compared to npm.

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.

pnpm: Is pnpm faster than npm?

Yes. pnpm performs installation in three stages: dependency resolution, directory structure calculation, and linking. Packages are fetched and linked as soon as possible, making it significantly faster than npm's sequential approach.

Source
Cabin: Can it replace Google Analytics entirely?

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

pnpm: Does pnpm support monorepos?

Yes. pnpm has built-in support for monorepositories. You can create a workspace using pnpm-workspace.yaml to unite multiple projects in a single repository.

Source
pnpm: How does pnpm handle node_modules differently than npm?

pnpm uses symlinks to add only direct dependencies to node_modules root, preventing accidental access to undeclared dependencies. This encourages more explicit dependency management compared to npm's flattened node_modules structure.

Source
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