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Business Intelligence · head to head

Fabi vs Pigment

Fabi logo

Fabi

Business Intelligence

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Pigment logo

Pigment

Business Intelligence

Enterprise business planning platform for finance, sales and workforce modelling

From
On request
Rated
-

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.; Pigment no pricing is published and the structure has three moving parts, platform fee, use-case fees and tiered seats, so two companies of the same size can pay very different amounts and neither can benchmark the other.
  • They diverge on capability: Fabi covers Smartbooks, Pigment covers Dimensional modelling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fabi and Pigment actually diverge.

Attributes where Fabi and Pigment differ
AttributeFabiPigment
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer user per monthquote
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: platforms (Web), 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 Pigment

  • Dimensional modelling
  • Scenario planning
  • Data connectors
  • Application blocks
  • Reporting and boards
  • Access control
  • Audit trail
  • AI assistance

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 Pigment
  • An operations team that needs Python for a one-off analysis but has to hand the result to non-technical colleaguesnot Pigment
  • Replacing a set of scheduled Jupyter notebooks that nobody outside the data team can read or rerunnot Pigment
  • Exploratory work against a warehouse where building a semantic model first would cost more than the answer is worthnot Pigment

Pigment

  • A finance team retiring a fragile Excel consolidation that no one can audit and only one person can runnot Fabi
  • Sales operations modelling quota, territory and headcount capacity against a revenue plan in the same system finance usesnot Fabi
  • A company that needs monthly re-forecasting fast enough to run scenarios live in the leadership meetingnot Fabi
  • Replacing an ageing Anaplan estate where the model has become unmaintainable and per-workspace costs have crept upnot 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.

Pigment

  • No pricing is published and the structure has three moving parts, platform fee, use-case fees and tiered seats, so two companies of the same size can pay very different amounts and neither can benchmark the other.
  • Cost scales with planning processes rather than with company size, so a successful first deployment creates internal demand that directly increases the bill at renewal.
  • It requires a modelling owner. Without a person who understands dimensional design, teams rebuild spreadsheet patterns in Pigment and inherit all the maintenance problems they were trying to escape.
  • Implementation is partner-led and measured in months, so the payback horizon is long compared with lighter FP&A tools that a controller can configure alone.
  • The connector library covers major systems well but the long tail is thinner than the incumbents, and industry-specific source systems often need a warehouse or a file drop in between.

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

Pigment

On request
  • Pigment platform$undefined/year
    • Platform fee plus per use-case fees
    • Licences tiered as editor, contributor and explorer
    • No free tier and no self-service signup

Which should you pick?

Choose Fabi if

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

Choose Pigment if

  • You need dimensional modelling.
  • You also want scenario planning.

Questions people ask

Is Fabi or Pigment better?
Neither clearly leads. Fabi starts at Free and Pigment at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fabi or Pigment?
Fabi has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Fabi and On request for Pigment.
Does Fabi or Pigment run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Fabi for free?
Yes. Fabi has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Pigment 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 Pigment is typically brought in for.
What can Fabi do that Pigment cannot?
Fabi covers Smartbooks, Smart Reports, AI analysis, Scheduled runs. Pigment covers Dimensional modelling, Scenario planning, Data connectors, Application blocks.

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.

Pigment: Does Pigment publish prices?

No. Expect a quote combining a platform fee, fees per planning use case, and seat licences split into editor, contributor and explorer tiers.

Fabi: Do viewers cost money?

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

Pigment: Is Pigment an alternative to Anaplan?

It is positioned directly against Anaplan and much of its customer base is migrating from it, mainly citing modelling readability and recalculation speed.

Fabi: Can I run arbitrary Python?

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

Pigment: Can we use it without consultants?

In practice most deployments use Pigment or a partner for the initial build. Ongoing model changes can be handled in-house once someone owns the modelling discipline.

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

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

Pigment: Where is data hosted?

Pigment is a European vendor with regional hosting options, which is often the deciding factor for EU buyers with data residency requirements.

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