Is Fabi or Phocas better?

Neither clearly leads. Fabi starts at Free and Phocas at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Fabi or Phocas?

Fabi has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Fabi and On request for Phocas.

Does Fabi or Phocas run on more platforms?

Fabi runs on Web. Phocas runs on Web, iOS, Android.

Can I use Fabi for free?

Yes. Fabi has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Phocas starts at On request.

What is Fabi best used for?

Fabi is most often used for a single analyst at a startup fielding ad hoc questions faster than dashboards can be built for them, an operations team that needs python for a one-off analysis but has to hand the result to non-technical colleagues, replacing a set of scheduled jupyter notebooks that nobody outside the data team can read or rerun, exploratory work against a warehouse where building a semantic model first would cost more than the answer is worth. Of those, a single analyst at a startup fielding ad hoc questions faster than dashboards can be built for them and an operations team that needs python for a one-off analysis but has to hand the result to non-technical colleagues are not what Phocas is typically brought in for.

What can Fabi do that Phocas cannot?

Fabi covers Smartbooks, Smart Reports, AI analysis, Scheduled runs. Phocas covers ERP connectors, Pre-built distribution content, Grid-first analysis, Financial statements.

Business Intelligence · head to head

Fabi vs Phocas

Fabi

Business Intelligence

AI notebooks combining SQL, Python and no-code for small data teams

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Phocas

Business Intelligence

Pre-built BI and FP&A for wholesale distributors and manufacturers running mid-market ERPs

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Fabi has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Fabi fabi is an early-stage company with a small team, so the durability risk is real and there is no obvious migration path for Smartbooks if it stops trading.; Phocas the value is the pre-built vertical content, so a company outside distribution, manufacturing or retail pays premium prices for dashboards it must build itself anyway.
They diverge on capability: Fabi covers Smartbooks, Phocas covers ERP connectors.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fabi and Phocas actually diverge.

Attributes where Fabi and Phocas differ
Attribute	Fabi	Phocas
Starting price	Free	On request
Pricing model	Per user per month	quote
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web	Web, iOS, Android

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 Fabi

Smartbooks
Smart Reports
AI analysis
Scheduled runs
Database connectors
Viewer seats

Only in Phocas

ERP connectors
Pre-built distribution content
Grid-first analysis
Financial statements
Budgets and forecasts
Rebates module
Alerts and subscriptions
Mobile apps

What people use each for

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

Fabi

A single analyst at a startup fielding ad hoc questions faster than dashboards can be built for themnot Phocas
An operations team that needs Python for a one-off analysis but has to hand the result to non-technical colleaguesnot Phocas
Replacing a set of scheduled Jupyter notebooks that nobody outside the data team can read or rerunnot Phocas
Exploratory work against a warehouse where building a semantic model first would cost more than the answer is worthnot Phocas

Phocas

A wholesale distributor on Prophet 21 whose sales reps need per-customer margin and stock availability without waiting on a report writernot Fabi
A manufacturer that wants budgeting on the same data as its sales analysis rather than in a separate spreadsheetnot Fabi
A multi-branch retailer comparing branch and product performance daily without an internal BI teamnot Fabi
A private equity owner standardising reporting across several acquired distributors on different ERPsnot Fabi

Where each one falls short

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

Fabi

Fabi is an early-stage company with a small team, so the durability risk is real and there is no obvious migration path for Smartbooks if it stops trading.
There is no meaningful governance layer: no data catalogue, no certified metric definitions and limited lineage, so it does not scale to an organisation that needs a single agreed number.
The free and Builder tiers cap AI requests, and the daily cap on Starter is reached quickly during genuine exploratory work.
Connector counts are limited by tier, so the Builder plan at 39 dollars connects to exactly one data source, which is rarely enough in practice.
It overlaps heavily with what Snowflake, Databricks and Hex now ship natively, so a company already paying for one of those is buying a fourth notebook interface.

Phocas

The value is the pre-built vertical content, so a company outside distribution, manufacturing or retail pays premium prices for dashboards it must build itself anyway.
If your ERP is not on the maintained connector list you fall back to generic database extraction and lose the fast time to value that justifies the price.
The visualisation library is thin next to Power BI or Tableau, and analysts who want fine control over chart design will find it constraining.
Pricing is quoted per user and never published, and buyers routinely report large gaps between initial and renewal quotes with limited comparison leverage.
Modules are licensed separately, so a customer who bought Analytics and later wants Financial Statements or Rebates faces a new negotiation rather than an upgrade.

Pricing, plan by plan

Fabi

Free

StarterFree
- One builder seat
- Ten dashboard viewers
- Five Smartbooks
Builder$39/month
- Twenty-five Smart Report viewers
- Ten Smartbooks with workflows
- One data connector
Team$199/month
- Four builder seats, extra seats at 39 USD
- Fifty viewers
- Premium connector
Enterprise$undefined/year
- Unlimited builder seats
- Full connector access
- Custom security review

Phocas

On request

Phocas$undefined/year
- Annual subscription quoted by user count and modules
- Analytics, Financial Statements, Budgets and Rebates licensed separately
- One-off implementation and ERP connector setup fee

Which should you pick?

Choose Fabi if

You need smartbooks.
You want to start without paying.
You also want smart reports.

Fabi review

Choose Phocas if

You need erp connectors.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want pre-built distribution content.

Phocas review

Questions people ask

Is Fabi or Phocas better?: Neither clearly leads. Fabi starts at Free and Phocas at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fabi or Phocas?: Fabi has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Fabi and On request for Phocas.
Does Fabi or Phocas run on more platforms?: Fabi runs on Web. Phocas runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Fabi for free?: Yes. Fabi has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Phocas starts at On request.
What is Fabi best used for?: Fabi is most often used for a single analyst at a startup fielding ad hoc questions faster than dashboards can be built for them, an operations team that needs python for a one-off analysis but has to hand the result to non-technical colleagues, replacing a set of scheduled jupyter notebooks that nobody outside the data team can read or rerun, exploratory work against a warehouse where building a semantic model first would cost more than the answer is worth. Of those, a single analyst at a startup fielding ad hoc questions faster than dashboards can be built for them and an operations team that needs python for a one-off analysis but has to hand the result to non-technical colleagues are not what Phocas is typically brought in for.
What can Fabi do that Phocas cannot?: Fabi covers Smartbooks, Smart Reports, AI analysis, Scheduled runs. Phocas covers ERP connectors, Pre-built distribution content, Grid-first analysis, Financial statements.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fabi: Is there a free plan?

Yes, a Starter tier with one builder, ten viewers, five Smartbooks and ten AI requests a day.

Phocas: What does Phocas cost?

Nothing is published. It is quoted annually by user count and module, with a separate implementation fee, and varies by region.

Fabi: Do viewers cost money?

Viewers are bundled by tier rather than charged individually; builders are the priced seat.

Phocas: Is it worth it over Power BI?

Only if you are in its target verticals on a supported ERP. Power BI is far cheaper per seat but you supply the data model.

Fabi: Can I run arbitrary Python?

Yes, Smartbooks include Python cells alongside SQL and no-code steps.

Phocas: Does it replace my ERP reporting?

It replaces day-to-day analysis and sales reporting. Transactional and statutory reporting stays in the ERP.

Fabi: How many data connectors does the entry paid plan include?

One. Additional and premium connectors come with the Team tier.

Phocas: Can it do budgeting?

Yes, through a separately licensed Financial Statements and Budgets module on the same warehouse.

Fabi vs Phocas

Fabi

Phocas

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Fabi

Only in Phocas

What people use each for

Fabi

Phocas

Where each one falls short

Fabi

Phocas

Pricing, plan by plan

Fabi

Phocas

Which should you pick?

Choose Fabi if

Choose Phocas if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Fabi

More on Phocas

Keep looking

Other head to heads