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Crypto · head to head

Nansen vs Snowplow

Nansen logo

Nansen

Crypto

Blockchain analytics for smart money

From
$150/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Snowplow logo

Snowplow

Business Intelligence

Behavioural data pipeline you run in your own cloud, relicensed away from Apache 2.0 in 2024

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Nansen no pricing published on public pages; pricing details require app login; Snowplow the core pipeline was relicensed from Apache 2.0 on 8 January 2024 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement and a Confluent-derived community licence, so organisations that adopted it as permissively licensed software must now review their entitlement, buy a licence, or migrate.
  • They diverge on capability: Nansen covers Wallet Labels, Snowplow covers Own-cloud deployment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Nansen and Snowplow actually diverge.

Attributes where Nansen and Snowplow differ
AttributeNansenSnowplow
Starting price$150/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWebLinux, Web, Docker
CategoryCryptoBusiness Intelligence
Founded2019Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Nansen

  • Wallet Labels
  • Smart Money Tracking
  • Token God Mode
  • NFT Paradise
  • DeFi Analytics
  • Multi-chain
  • API
  • Web support

Only in Snowplow

  • Own-cloud deployment
  • Schema enforcement
  • Warehouse loading
  • Enrichment
  • Trackers
  • Streaming output
  • Data models
  • Snowplow BDP

What people use each for

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

Nansen

  • Analyticsnot Snowplow
  • On Chainnot Snowplow
  • Researchnot Snowplow

Snowplow

  • A data team that needs full-fidelity event data in its own warehouse to build attribution or machine learning features rather than to populate dashboardsnot Nansen
  • A regulated business that cannot send behavioural data to a third-party analytics vendor and must keep collection inside its own cloud accountnot Nansen
  • A product organisation tired of silently malformed events, which wants a schema contract enforced at collection timenot Nansen
  • A company modelling customer behaviour across web, mobile and server events that needs them in one consistent structurenot Nansen

Where each one falls short

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

Nansen

  • No pricing published on public pages; pricing details require app login

Snowplow

  • The core pipeline was relicensed from Apache 2.0 on 8 January 2024 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement and a Confluent-derived community licence, so organisations that adopted it as permissively licensed software must now review their entitlement, buy a licence, or migrate.
  • You run the pipeline in your own cloud, which means the infrastructure bill, the on-call rota and the upgrade work are yours, and at high event volume that operational cost frequently exceeds what a hosted product would have charged.
  • Schema enforcement is the main benefit and the main friction, because every new event requires a schema to be authored and versioned, and teams without discipline around that end up blocked on their own governance process.
  • There is no analysis layer: Snowplow delivers data to your warehouse and nothing else, so you still need modelling, a BI tool and the people to run them before anyone sees a number.
  • The licence change fractured the community, spawning an Apache 2.0 fork, which means community contributions and third-party tooling are now split across two codebases with uncertain long-term maintenance.

Pricing, plan by plan

Nansen

$150/month
  • Pioneer$150/month
    • Smart Money
    • Token Flows
    • NFT analytics
  • Standard$750/month
    • All Pioneer features
    • API access
    • Advanced queries

Snowplow

On request
  • Snowplow BDP$undefined/year
    • Commercial pricing quoted by event volume and deployment
    • Core pipeline components under the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement, not Apache 2.0
    • Trackers, analytics SDKs and Iglu SDKs remain Apache 2.0

Which should you pick?

Choose Nansen if

  • You need wallet labels.
  • You also want smart money tracking.
Nansen review

Choose Snowplow if

  • You need own-cloud deployment.
  • You work on Linux, Web, Docker.
  • You also want schema enforcement.
Snowplow review

Questions people ask

Is Nansen or Snowplow better?
Neither clearly leads. Nansen starts at $150/month and Snowplow at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Nansen or Snowplow?
Nansen starts at $150/month and Snowplow at On request.
Does Nansen or Snowplow run on more platforms?
Nansen runs on Web. Snowplow runs on Linux, Web, Docker.
What is Nansen best used for?
Nansen is most often used for analytics, on chain, research. Of those, analytics and on chain are not what Snowplow is typically brought in for.
What can Nansen do that Snowplow cannot?
Nansen covers Wallet Labels, Smart Money Tracking, Token God Mode, NFT Paradise. Snowplow covers Own-cloud deployment, Schema enforcement, Warehouse loading, Enrichment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Nansen: How much does Nansen cost?

Nansen does not publish pricing on its public website. The site mentions 'Low Fees, Optimized Pricing' and references a tier system that 'unlocks lower fees' through platform activity, but specific costs require logging into the Nansen app to view.

Source
Snowplow: Is Snowplow still open source?

Not in the permissive sense. On 8 January 2024 the core pipeline moved from Apache 2.0 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement, with version 1.1 following in December 2024, alongside a community licence based on the Confluent Community Licence. Trackers and analytics SDKs remain Apache 2.0.

Nansen: What pricing model does Nansen use?

Nansen uses a tier-based fee structure where users accumulate Stack Points through trading activity to climb tiers and unlock reduced fees. Exact fee percentages and tier thresholds are not disclosed on the public website.

Source
Snowplow: Can we still run it for free in production?

Free use of the relicensed core components is materially constrained and commercial use generally requires an agreement. Read the current licence text against your intended use rather than relying on older documentation.

Snowplow: Is there an Apache 2.0 alternative?

Yes, a fork called OpenSnowcat was created in response to the relicensing and continues under Apache 2.0.

Snowplow: What does Snowplow BDP cost?

Not published. It is quoted by event volume and deployment, and your own cloud infrastructure costs are separate and additional.

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