Kribana: an Orb alternative.
Orb is a developer-first usage metering and pricing API.Here’s how Kribana compares if you’re evaluating both.
Updated August 2026| Feature | Orb | Kribana |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | − OrbMetering and pricing API for engineering teams to build on | ✓ KribanaMetering, wallets, invoicing and portal finished out of the box |
| Revenue automation | − OrbNone — you build alerting and recovery yourself | ✓ KribanaAn agent that recovers payments and flags expansion automatically |
| Payment processing | − OrbYou integrate a processor separately | ✓ KribanaProcessor-neutral — Stripe, Razorpay, Adyen or Braintree, built in |
| Pricing changes | − OrbPricing logic lives in code — changes need an engineering PR | ✓ KribanaPricing configured in a dashboard — reprice without shipping code |
| Time to launch | − OrbWeeks of integration work before your first invoice | ✓ KribanaConnect one event stream and launch pricing the same week |
Bottom line
Orb gives engineering teams a strong metering primitive. Kribana gives GTM teams the whole billing surface — metering included — without a build project.
See the features above in context on the full platform overview or check exact rates on pricing or browse every Orb alternative.
Why teams switch from Orb
- ✕Every price change becomes an engineering ticket, not a dashboard edit
- ✕No portal, invoicing or dunning — you're still building the rest of billing yourself
- ✕Payment recovery is entirely DIY on top of the metering layer
How the switch works
Questions about switching
Will my historical usage data carry over from Orb?
Yes. During onboarding we import your historical usage events and invoice history from Orb so the Kribana ledger and customer portal show continuity from day one — customers see their full usage timeline, not a balance that appears to reset. Import runs alongside your live Orb account, so nothing about current billing changes until you're ready to cut over. If Orb exposes usage via API or export, we map it directly into the append-only ledger; if it only offers CSV exports, we handle that transformation during onboarding as well.
Do I need to switch payment processors to move off Orb?
No — Kribana is processor-neutral by design, so you keep whichever of Stripe, Razorpay, Adyen or Braintree you already use, or run more than one at once if you serve multiple regions. Pricing, wallets, invoicing and the customer portal all sit above the processor layer, so switching billing platforms and switching payment rails are two separate decisions. This also means you can change processors later — say, adding a second rail for a new region — without another billing migration.
What happens if I'm still under contract with Orb?
Most teams run Kribana in parallel with Orb until the existing contract lapses, validating a full billing cycle side-by-side before cutting traffic over. Because onboarding doesn't require switching payment processors or changing what customers see, there's no customer-facing disruption while both systems run. When the contract ends, billing cuts over at the start of the next cycle with no gap in invoicing and no re-signup required from customers.
How long does switching from Orb actually take?
Most teams go live in one to two weeks. Week one is connecting your event stream and mirroring your current pricing structure in the dashboard — tiers, commits, credit bundles, whatever Orb has you running today. The second week is validation: running a full billing cycle side-by-side and confirming invoices match line-for-line before cutting over. Teams with simpler pricing (a single tier or flat overage rate) often finish in days rather than weeks; teams migrating complex enterprise commits usually take the full two weeks to validate.