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Business Intelligence · head to head

Cabin vs Zebra BI

Cabin logo

Cabin

Business Intelligence

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zebra BI logo

Zebra BI

Business Intelligence

IBCS-based charting add-ins that replace native visuals in Power BI, Excel and PowerPoint

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.; Zebra BI every viewer needs a licence, not only report authors, so distributing a report to fifty managers means buying the fifty-user bracket regardless of how few people build reports.
  • They diverge on capability: Cabin covers Cookieless tracking, Zebra BI covers IBCS-compliant visuals.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cabin and Zebra BI actually diverge.

Attributes where Cabin and Zebra BI differ
AttributeCabinZebra BI
Pricing modelPer month by pageview volumePer year by licensed user count
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows, macOS

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 Zebra BI

  • IBCS-compliant visuals
  • Variance analysis
  • Small multiples
  • Integrated commentary
  • Excel and PowerPoint add-in
  • Free personal edition

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

Zebra BI

  • A controlling function standardising every management report on IBCS notation so variance is read the same way across divisionsnot Cabin
  • Monthly board packs where actual against budget against forecast must appear in one chart without three separate visualsnot Cabin
  • An Excel-first finance team that wants IBCS charts without migrating to Power BInot Cabin
  • A PowerPoint deck that needs charts to refresh from the underlying model rather than being pasted imagesnot 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.

Zebra BI

  • Every viewer needs a licence, not only report authors, so distributing a report to fifty managers means buying the fifty-user bracket regardless of how few people build reports.
  • Power BI and Office are licensed separately, so a finance team using both Excel and Power BI pays two subscriptions for the same chart grammar.
  • The visuals deliberately restrict chart types to enforce IBCS, which makes Zebra BI unsuitable for exploratory analysis or any team that wants unconventional visualisations.
  • List prices rise after the first year on the discounted tiers, so the second-year renewal is materially higher than the figure that got the purchase approved.
  • As a third-party custom visual it depends on Microsoft not changing the Power BI visuals API, and organisations with locked-down tenants often need IT approval before a custom visual can be used at all.

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

Zebra BI

Free
  • PersonalFree
    • Single user
    • Zebra BI branding on visuals
    • Limited sharing and collaboration
  • Power BI Starter$50/month
    • Ten users
    • No watermark
    • Standard support
  • Power BI Business$316/month
    • Fifty users
    • Business feature set
    • Priority support
  • Office Starter$68/month
    • Ten users
    • Excel and PowerPoint add-ins
    • Billed annually

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 Zebra BI if

  • You need ibcs-compliant visuals.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want variance analysis.
Zebra BI review

Questions people ask

Is Cabin or Zebra BI better?
Neither clearly leads. Cabin starts at Free and Zebra BI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cabin or Zebra BI?
Cabin starts at Free and Zebra BI at Free.
Does Cabin or Zebra BI run on more platforms?
Cabin runs on Web. Zebra BI runs on Web, 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 Zebra BI is typically brought in for.
What can Cabin do that Zebra BI cannot?
Cabin covers Cookieless tracking, Carbon reporting, 1.2kb script, Custom events. Zebra BI covers IBCS-compliant visuals, Variance analysis, Small multiples, Integrated commentary.

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.

Zebra BI: Do report viewers need a licence?

Yes. All users, designers and viewers, need one. Only anonymous viewers of publicly published reports are exempt.

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.

Zebra BI: Is there a free version?

Yes, a single-user personal edition with Zebra BI branding and limited sharing.

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.

Zebra BI: Are Excel and Power BI covered by one licence?

No. The Office add-in and the Power BI visuals are separate subscriptions.

Cabin: Can it replace Google Analytics entirely?

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

Zebra BI: What is IBCS?

International Business Communication Standards, a notation standard for business charts that Zebra BI implements by default.

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