August 2026 · Guide

Glenigan vs Barbour ABI: an honest head-to-head

Two names dominate UK construction project intelligence, and if you have got as far as comparing them you already know that neither publishes a price. This guide puts Glenigan and Barbour ABI side by side on the things a buyer can actually check before a sales call: what subscriptions cost, what the contracts commit you to, and where each is strong. Everything about the two platforms here is drawn from their own published pages and terms, referenced at the bottom.

One thing to declare first: we build a competing tool, SiteLens, and it appears as a third column near the end. It is built for a different job, and we say plainly below when the enterprise platforms are the better buy.

The short answer

They are close substitutes. Both sell researcher-validated intelligence on named construction projects: scheme details, values, timelines and the decision-makers attached, aimed at sales, marketing and BD teams. Both are sold through a sales team on annual subscriptions that continue automatically unless cancelled. If you are choosing between them, the feature grids will not settle it, because the grids look nearly identical. What you can compare from the outside is the entry price, where Barbour ABI publishes a figure and Glenigan does not, and the renewal mechanics, where the two differ in a way worth knowing before you sign either.

How much does Glenigan cost?

Glenigan does not publish prices. Its pricing page invites you to book a demo and get a quote scaled to your team. Buyers report roughly £5,000 to £10,000 a year for typical packages, with larger accounts substantially more. Treat those figures as the shape of the market rather than a quote, because that is all a reported number can be. Subscriptions are typically sold with around five user logins.

How much does Barbour ABI cost?

Barbour ABI publishes more. Its own ROI page says “average subscription costs range from £4k and can be altered to fit the needs of your team”, and its worked ROI example uses “an average annual Barbour ABI subscription of around £7,500” (both as at August 2026). So a realistic budget is £4,000 to get in and something nearer £7,500 for a typical team.

What do the contracts commit you to?

This is the section to read twice, because it is where renewals catch people. Both platforms run 12-month subscriptions that continue automatically past the initial term, and both require 90 days’ written notice to leave. The detail differs:

• Glenigan (General Terms of Business, clause 3.1, as at August 2026): the contract “will automatically extend for further 12 month periods” unless a party gives “at least 90 days’ written notice”. Notice is only valid by email to a named contract address, and the terms state you cannot cancel autorenewal “using any other method of communication including a telephone call”.
• Barbour ABI (Client Terms, clauses 3.2, 11.4 and 14.12, as at August 2026): an initial 12-month subscription period, after which the agreement “shall automatically continue on a rolling basis”. Termination takes “not less than 90 (ninety) days’ prior written notice”, and that notice must be sent “either by (i) registered post; or (ii) by couriered letter”.

Neither clause is unusual for enterprise software, and neither is a reason on its own to avoid either platform. But if you sign one, diarise the notice window on day one: with a 12-month term and 90 days’ notice, your real decision point is month nine, and the notice has to travel by the one channel that vendor accepts.

How do coverage and research differ?

Both claim national UK coverage and both invest heavily in human research: teams who phone projects to confirm scope, timing and the people behind them, ahead of what the public record shows. On their own published numbers, as at August 2026, Glenigan’s homepage counts around 590,000 live projects, and Barbour ABI’s describes a database of 1.6 million projects and calls its research team the largest in the UK. Those are the vendors’ own claims, so weigh them accordingly.

Vendor numbers will not settle the choice either, because what matters is coverage of your schemes. The only reliable test is the one we suggest for any project-intelligence buy: take ten schemes you already know about, in your sector and your patch, and ask each provider to show you their records. Whichever knew about more of them first is the one that would have helped you.

When to pick Glenigan

You are an enterprise BD, sales or marketing team chasing named major schemes, you want the longest-established name in the category, and your team will actually phone the decision-makers its researchers confirm. The research service is the expensive part of what you are buying, and it pays for itself on the largest projects or not at all.

When to pick Barbour ABI

Same category, same test. Points in its favour: it publishes an entry price where Glenigan publishes none, that price is lower than anything reported for Glenigan, and its market-analysis output suits teams that want sector intelligence alongside leads. If you are torn, run the ten-schemes test and compare the two quotes, because the platforms are closer to each other than either is to anything else on the market.

When neither is the right shape

Both are project-intelligence platforms priced for enterprise teams. If your work is supply-chain, meaning you want to know quickly which new planning applications across your patch mean work for your trade, then bid-level dossiers on megaprojects are the wrong shape and the wrong price, whichever vendor sells them. That job is what SiteLens is built for: every application across 380+ UK councils, classified by trade and value, typically searchable and alertable the morning after the council publishes it. It is self-serve with published pricing, Pro from £29/mo billed annually (£39 monthly) and Team from £79/mo billed annually (£99 monthly), with a free tier and no contract. We compare ourselves to each in detail on SiteLens vs Glenigan and SiteLens vs Barbour ABI.

Side by side

(Competitor figures and clauses are from the sources below, as at August 2026. Always confirm current terms with the vendor before signing.)

Quick answers

Still weighing the wider field? Our guide to the main UK planning data tools covers the land platforms and the lighter alert tools too, and Glenigan alternatives goes deeper on the self-serve end of the market.

Sources

• Glenigan: homepage, live project count
• Barbour ABI: homepage, project database size and research team claims
• Glenigan: pricing, quote-based, no published price list
• Glenigan: General Terms of Business, clause 3.1 on automatic extension, notice period and the notice email address
• Barbour ABI: Your ROI, average subscription cost figures
• Barbour ABI: Client Terms and Conditions, clauses 3.2, 11.4 and 14.12 on renewal and notice
• SiteLens pricing: Pro from £29/mo billed annually (£39 monthly), Team from £79/mo billed annually (£99 monthly)