Databox vs Geckoboard: KPI Answers or a Dashboard on the Wall

The short answer: if the numbers belong on a screen where a team acts on them within the hour, a support desk watching first reply times or a sales floor watching calls, Geckoboard is built for that: Essentials starts at $79 a month billed annually, $99 monthly, for 2 dashboards, 1 editor and 1 screen, with unlimited viewers (Geckoboard pricing). If a marketing lead wants KPIs held against goals, with an AI analyst explaining what moved, Databox fits better, starting free for 1 user and 3 data sources, with Team Core at $249 a month billed monthly or $199 billed annually for 3 users and 10 sources (Databox pricing). Both checked on 26 October 2026.

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Geckoboard answers what is happening right now and puts it where nobody can miss it. Databox answers whether the month is on track and why, with a definition and an owner on each metric (Databox).

Before you buy screens or seats:

1. Price the setup you would hang. For example, three dashboards on two office screens is Geckoboard Essentials plus one dashboard and one screen: $79 + $24 + $20 = $123 a month billed annually, or $99 + $30 + $25 = $154 monthly (Geckoboard pricing). On Databox, dashboards are not counted on paid plans; the Team Core price covers 3 users and 10 data sources (Databox pricing).
2. List the sources the dashboards read. Databox counts each property or account as a data source, so one Google Analytics connection with two properties is two (pricing FAQ). Geckoboard lets you connect as many data sources as you like, and names data volume limits for Aircall, Shopify and Zendesk Support (Geckoboard pricing).
3. Write down the decision each number should change. A screen earns its place if someone acts on it the same day; a goal earns its place if someone changes a budget when it slips. After four weeks, check which numbers were acted on and drop the rest.

Where each one puts the number

The differences that matter

Live, or on track

Geckoboard's dashboards refresh on their own, most metrics instantly or within minutes, and Performance adds alerts in Slack or Teams when a metric crosses a success or warning threshold, plus drilldown to the tickets or calls behind a number (pricing). Its integrations lean towards the support and sales desk: Zendesk, Aircall, Intercom, HubSpot, Salesforce. Databox leans towards the monthly question. Goals track a metric against a target on every plan (goal article), anomaly detection flags the odd day, and Genie answers in plain language with the reasoning shown (homepage).

Who pays, and for what

Geckoboard bills the people who build and the places it is shown: dashboards, editors and screens, while viewers cost nothing (pricing). Databox bills the people who log in, the sources and the AI: users per plan, data sources per plan and a monthly pool of AI credits, with the Free and Analyst plans limited to one user each (pricing FAQ). Ten people watching one wall screen is cheap on Geckoboard. Ten managers each asking their own questions is what Databox is priced for.

What the AI may touch

Geckoboard's Metrics MCP is read-only: it retrieves metrics, and individual records where available, and cannot change source data, dashboards or settings (MCP setup). Its MCP-enabled sources include Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Google Analytics and HubSpot (integrations). Databox's Genie builds metrics, dashboards and routines, and cannot connect data sources, create notifications or edit existing goals (Genie article). Its MCP server can also push new data into Databox, not only read it (MCP overview).

A Monday KPI note, written by Genie and checked by a person

On Team Core, ask Genie for a routine: every Monday at 8:00, compare last week's leads and cost per lead from Google Ads and HubSpot with the monthly goal, in three lines. Genie turns a request like that into a routine that runs on a schedule and delivers by email or Slack (Genie article). Send it to the marketing lead's inbox first, not the team channel. Databox's own note says to verify important numbers before acting on them, so the lead checks spend and leads against Google Ads and HubSpot, then forwards. For example, at the 12.6 credits Databox gives as the average for a deep analysis (AI credits article), five Mondays use 5 x 12.6 = 63 of the 500 credits a month on Team Core.

What each plan costs

Databox, in US dollars a month, from its pricing page on 26 October 2026, monthly billing first:

• Free: $0, 1 user, 3 data sources, 1 dashboard, 50 AI credits, daily sync (pricing).
• Analyst: $89, or $71 billed annually; 1 user, 5 sources, 150 credits, hourly sync, MCP server (pricing).
• Team Core: $249, or $199 billed annually; 3 users, 10 sources, 500 credits. Team Scale: $399; 10 users, 30 sources, 1,000 credits (pricing FAQ).
• Agency: from $99, or $79 billed annually, with unlimited users, 20 sources, and packs of 1 account, 5 sources and 50 credits at $25, or $20 billed annually. White-labeling is $100, or $80 billed annually (pricing).

Geckoboard prices its plans from a floor and adds units on top. Essentials is $99 a month, or $79 billed annually, with extra dashboards at $30 or $24, extra editors and screens at $25 or $20 each, and custom themes and logo for $50 or $40. Performance is $399, or $319 billed annually, for 20 dashboards, 3 editors and 5 screens. Enterprise is quoted. Read from the Geckoboard pricing page on the same date.

The free route first

Databox has a plan that costs nothing: connect your three most-watched sources, set one goal on each and use the 50 AI credits for questions (Databox pricing); the Databox how-to builds exactly that. Geckoboard has no free plan, so use its 14-day trial to put one dashboard on one real screen for two weeks and see who looks at it. Geckoboard's pricing page opens on annual billing, and the headline it prints, $79, is the price of paying for twelve months at once; month to month, the same Essentials plan is $99 and every added unit costs a quarter more (Geckoboard pricing).

Choose Databox if your job is explaining the month

• Marketing KPIs held against goals, with the reasons a figure moved written out by an AI analyst you can check.
• Several managers who each ask their own questions, rather than one shared view.
• Client reporting under your own brand, through the white-labeling add-on.

Choose Geckoboard if your job is acting within the hour

• A team that works from a live view on a wall screen: support, sales, operations.
• Many viewers and few builders, since viewers are free.
• An AI assistant that may read the metrics but must never change anything.

The Databox entry covers every Databox tier, and Databox vs Power BI sets it against a full BI tool.

FAQ

Does Geckoboard work for marketing dashboards?

Yes: Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Google Analytics and HubSpot are all listed and reachable through its MCP server (integrations), though its features lean towards live team screens.

Do Databox's AI credits roll over?

No. They come from one monthly pool that resets on the account's billing anchor date (AI credits article), and an organisation with several accounts shares that pool.

What happens when a Databox trial ends without payment?

Data stops syncing, and scheduled reports and notifications pause (pricing FAQ).