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Business Intelligence · head to head

Cabin vs Zenlytic

Cabin logo

Cabin

Business Intelligence

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zenlytic logo

Zenlytic

Business Intelligence

Conversational analytics on a governed semantic layer that shows you the SQL it ran

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Cabin has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Zenlytic answer quality is bounded by the semantic model, so a team without a maintained dbt project and metric definitions must complete a modelling project before the AI is useful at all.
  • They diverge on capability: Cabin covers Cookieless tracking, Zenlytic covers Zoe conversational agent.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cabin and Zenlytic actually diverge.

Attributes where Cabin and Zenlytic differ
AttributeCabinZenlytic
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month by pageview volumequote
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 Cabin

  • Cookieless tracking
  • Carbon reporting
  • 1.2kb script
  • Custom events
  • Ad-blocker bypass
  • MCP access
  • Branded dashboards
  • EU data storage

Only in Zenlytic

  • Zoe conversational agent
  • YAML semantic layer
  • LookML import
  • Row and column permissions
  • Dashboards
  • dbt integration
  • Embedded analytics
  • Query transparency

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

Zenlytic

  • A data team of three fielding sixty ad hoc requests a week from operators who could answer them in chat insteadnot Cabin
  • An ecommerce company where merchandisers need cohort and margin questions answered without waiting for an analystnot Cabin
  • A Looker customer looking for an exit that can import existing LookML rather than remodel from scratchnot Cabin
  • A finance team that needs every AI-generated number to show its SQL before it goes in a board packnot 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.

Zenlytic

  • Answer quality is bounded by the semantic model, so a team without a maintained dbt project and metric definitions must complete a modelling project before the AI is useful at all.
  • It is a small venture-funded company in a category that Snowflake, Databricks and Microsoft are all building into natively, which is a real procurement risk on a multi-year contract.
  • Pricing is not published and is negotiated per deal, so small buyers have no benchmark and no leverage.
  • The visualisation and dashboard layer is thinner than established BI tools, so teams wanting pixel control over reporting will find it limiting.
  • It assumes a cloud data warehouse; organisations with data spread across operational databases and spreadsheets have to consolidate first, which is the expensive part of the project.

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

Zenlytic

On request
  • Zenlytic$undefined/year
    • Annual contract quoted by seats and deployment
    • Semantic layer, dashboards and Zoe included
    • Embedded analytics licensed separately

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 Zenlytic if

  • You need zoe conversational agent.
  • You also want yaml semantic layer.
Zenlytic review

Questions people ask

Is Cabin or Zenlytic better?
Neither clearly leads. Cabin starts at Free and Zenlytic at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cabin or Zenlytic?
Cabin has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cabin and On request for Zenlytic.
Does Cabin or Zenlytic run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Cabin for free?
Yes. Cabin has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Zenlytic starts at On request.
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 Zenlytic is typically brought in for.
What can Cabin do that Zenlytic cannot?
Cabin covers Cookieless tracking, Carbon reporting, 1.2kb script, Custom events. Zenlytic covers Zoe conversational agent, YAML semantic layer, LookML import, Row and column permissions.

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.

Zenlytic: Does Zenlytic publish pricing?

No. Contracts are quoted annually based on seats and deployment scope.

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.

Zenlytic: Can it read my Looker model?

Yes, it imports LookML, which is the main reason Looker customers evaluate it.

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.

Zenlytic: Does it write arbitrary SQL against my warehouse?

No. Queries are constrained to the semantic layer, and the generated SQL is shown with every answer.

Cabin: Can it replace Google Analytics entirely?

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

Zenlytic: Do I need dbt?

Not strictly, but the product is designed around a modelled warehouse and works poorly without one.

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