Joan vs Robin 2026: Room Displays vs Platform

Joan and Robin show up next to each other in every meeting room booking comparison post ever written, and the comparison is almost always misleading. They are not the same kind of product. Joan is a hardware-first vendor that grew up around e-paper displays and has since broadened into a wider workplace platform. Robin is a workplace operations platform that grew up around desk booking and space management.

If you are evaluating both, you are probably solving two slightly different problems, and that affects which one is the right call. This post is the head-to-head with the part most reviews skip, plus an honest note on where Lobby fits if neither one is quite right.

All prices and product claims below are taken from each vendor's own published pages and are current as of 19 August 2026.

What they actually are

Joan, in one sentence: a vendor that makes its own e-paper room displays and sells a workplace platform around them, covering rooms, desks, parking, visitors, signage and analytics.

Robin, in one sentence: a workplace operations platform covering resource booking, space management, meeting management, visitor management and analytics, designed around hardware you buy elsewhere.

That difference shapes everything else.

Joan starts at the door of the room. Robin starts at the plan of the office.
Joan makes and sells the screen. Robin does not sell hardware at all and points you at equipment partners.
Joan publishes its rates. Robin does not publish rates and asks you to request a quote.

Both cover a lot of the same ground. The difference is emphasis, not feature checklists.

Hardware

This is the cleanest split.

Joan. Sells its own e-paper displays. As of 19 August 2026 the Joan shop, served in its EUR price zone, lists the Joan 6 RE from EUR 349, the Joan 6 Pro from EUR 649 and the Joan 13 Pro from EUR 899, all excluding tax, along with an ePaper badge at EUR 99. The Joan 6 RE is a 6-inch touch e-paper display that mounts magnetically with no cabling, and Joan states up to 3 months of battery life on a single charge. Mounts and extended warranties are priced separately. Joan also states on its pricing page that its software runs on other displays, including tablets, LCD TVs and other brands.
Robin. Does not sell hardware. Its pricing FAQ states that all hardware is sold separately and that it works with a number of equipment partners, with a published recommended-equipment list. You buy the tablets, set them up, and Robin renders the room view.

If you want a no-cables, mount-it-once display, Joan makes one and sells it to you directly. If you would rather run software on screens you source yourself, Robin is built that way, and so is Lobby.

Software scope

Both are broader than room displays, and both say so on their own sites. This is the part older comparison posts get wrong.

Joan lists meeting room booking, desk booking, parking and asset booking, visitor management, workplace digital signage and advanced analytics on its pricing page, plus floor-plan booking, a mobile app and an AI agent for Microsoft Teams.
Robin lists resource booking for desks, rooms, parking and lockers, space management with a map editor and move management, meeting management with catering and AV requests, workplace analytics, visitor management, and employee-experience features such as surveys and office announcements.

The overlap is heavy. Where they diverge is what the platform is organised around: Joan around the device at the door, Robin around planning and analysing the office as a whole, with scenario planning, neighbourhoods and access-control sync.

For an office that wants one system for desks, rooms, visitors and reporting, both are in scope and the decision comes down to fit and price.

For an office that wants the display outside the door to be right and nothing more, both bundle capability you will not use. That is a scope difference, not a fault, but you do pay for it.

Calendar integration

Both vendors integrate with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and the published integration lists are close. Joan lists Google, Microsoft 365, Exchange, Teams, ICS, Slack and Zoom on its device pages, with SSO via Google and Microsoft 365 and directory support for Azure AD, Okta and OneLogin. Robin lists Outlook, Google Calendar, Teams, Slack, Microsoft Entra and Okta.

The set-up of room mailboxes (M365) or resource calendars (Google) is the same regardless of which one you pick. If you have not done that cleanly, fix that first: the M365 mailboxes checklist and Google Workspace room resources checklist are the prerequisites for either vendor.

Robin additionally markets calendar-side meeting optimisation and space suggestions. Joan additionally markets a Teams AI agent. Test both against your own tenant rather than the feature list.

Pricing, the honest version

Prices verified 19 August 2026 from each vendor's own pricing page. The Joan figures below are the euro-zone list. Joan prices vary by region: the pricing page geolocates by IP and shows EUR, USD, GBP or AED with no manual selector, so what you see may differ from what is quoted here. Figures captured 29 August 2026. Lobby publishes in US dollars. Nothing below is currency-converted.

Joan. Plan-based. In its EUR price zone, Joan's pricing page states plans start at EUR 49 per month, with a set number of users and devices included. Beyond that it lists EUR 0.99 per additional user per month and EUR 9.99 per additional device licence per month on annually billed plans, and EUR 1.19 and EUR 12.99 respectively on monthly billing. In the USD zone the same base plan reads as USD 51 per month, with USD 1.09 per additional user and USD 10.99 per additional device licence on annual billing. Every device, including tablets and TVs, needs a device licence. Hardware is bought separately at the list prices above. Joan offers a 30-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee on device purchases.
Robin. Robin does not publish prices. Its pricing page asks you to complete a form and speak to its team for pricing tailored to your organisation, and states that all subscriptions are billed annually. We are not quoting a Robin per-user rate or a setup fee here, because Robin does not publish either. If you see one quoted elsewhere, treat it as second-hand.
Lobby. Free forever for up to 3 active displays, all features, no credit card. Unlimited is USD 30 per month billed yearly (USD 360 a year) against a USD 50 per month list price. Pro Unlimited is USD 60 per month billed yearly (USD 720 a year) against a USD 100 per month list price. Monthly or yearly billing, cancel any time.

The structural point holds even without a Robin number. Joan's published cost moves with the number of devices you register and the number of people who hold a Joan account, on top of the base plan. Robin's cost is set per deal, so the only way to compare like for like is to get a quote for your own headcount and room count and put it next to Joan's published rates and Lobby's published rates. Ask specifically how the Robin quote changes as headcount grows, because that is the variable you cannot see in advance.

Note also that Joan bills per user for people with a Joan account, and states you are not billed for employees who only book via Outlook or Google Calendar. That distinction matters a lot to the total and is easy to get wrong when modelling.

The full worked comparison including Skedda, Envoy and Lobby is in our pricing per room post.

The "which one for which office" rough guide

Approximate, but accurate often enough to be useful. As of 19 August 2026.

Office under 50 people, 3 to 10 rooms, just need displays: Joan if you want its own e-paper hardware and are happy to take the wider platform with it. Lobby if you want room displays only: free for up to 3 active displays, then USD 30 per month billed yearly for unlimited displays. Robin states on its own pricing page that if you are looking for a point solution such as software exclusively for room displays, there are better options for you.
Office 50 to 150 people, desks + rooms + visitors all need solving: A bundled workplace platform fits this shape, and both Joan and Robin cover desks, rooms and visitors in one product. Request a Robin quote, since it publishes none, and compare it against Joan's published rates for your device and user counts.
Office 150 to 500 people, hybrid heavy: Robin, Envoy or one of the other workplace platforms. Robin's pricing page states its platform is designed for companies with 500 employees or more, with at least a third of those using the office regularly, so ask where you sit against that.
Office over 500 people: Robin, Envoy, Eptura Engage (formerly Condeco) or one of the enterprise platforms. This is the band Robin itself describes as its design target.
Coworking space or flex office: Skedda or a coworking-specific tool. Joan markets multi-tenant room booking for shared buildings, and Robin covers multi-site space management, but neither is built specifically around the flex-office billing model.

Where Lobby fits

To be straightforward about our positioning, since this is our blog. Lobby is closer to Joan than to Robin in product shape. We do meeting room displays. We do not do desks, visitors, parking, signage or analytics dashboards.

The price difference against Joan, stated plainly rather than characterised. Lobby is free forever for up to 3 active displays, with all features and no credit card, and that is a free tier rather than a trial. Beyond 3 displays, Unlimited is USD 30 per month billed yearly and Pro Unlimited is USD 60 per month billed yearly. Joan's published rates in its EUR price zone are a base plan from EUR 49 per month plus EUR 9.99 per additional device licence per month on annual billing, and its e-paper displays are listed from EUR 349 excluding tax. Joan's 30-day free trial is a trial rather than a free tier.

What Lobby runs on. E-ink displays, which you buy direct from the manufacturer at USD 69 per device at 1 to 9 units, dropping to USD 62.99 at 10 or more. Lobby takes no markup on that hardware and does not resell it. Alternatively, Lobby runs on an iPad, Android tablet, TV or monitor you already own, at no hardware cost. Joan sells its own e-paper hardware and also states that its software runs on other displays, so both vendors support screens you bring yourself. More on our hardware option in the TRMNL post.

Where Joan does more than we do: a much wider product, covering desk booking, visitor management, parking and asset booking, digital signage and analytics; a longer track record and greater brand recognition; a more developed reporting layer at the higher tiers; and touch interaction on its own devices. If you need any of that, Joan is the better fit and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

Where we differ from Robin: we are not a workplace platform. If you need desks, visitors, analytics, space planning and integrations across the entire office, Robin is the right shape and we are not.

The five questions that decide it

If you only ask yourself these five, the answer will fall out.

Do you need desk booking and visitor management as well? If yes, Joan or Robin or another workplace platform, and the decision is about scope and quote. If no, you are paying for capability you will not use with either, and a room-display-only product such as Lobby is worth pricing up.
Do you want to buy hardware from your software vendor? Joan sells its own e-paper displays and also runs on other screens. Robin sells no hardware. Lobby sells no hardware and works with e-ink displays you buy direct, or with a tablet, TV or monitor you already own.
How big will your team be in 18 months? Joan publishes a per-user rate for people holding a Joan account. Robin quotes per deal, so ask explicitly how the quote moves with headcount before you sign anything.
Do you have time to set up calendar integration cleanly? If you skip the room mailbox cleanup (see M365 mailbox checklist), no product in this category will work properly. Plan an afternoon for this either way.
Is your office over 150 people? Robin's own pricing page describes its platform as designed for companies with 500 employees or more, with at least a third using the office regularly. Compare your numbers against that before you book the demo.

Put Lobby on the shortlist

Lobby is a meeting room display app that runs on e-ink hardware or on an iPad or Android tablet you already have, and it syncs with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace room calendars. If you are already running a vendor evaluation, it is worth adding a third option to the sheet: our side-by-side comparison of room display platforms lays out the specifics next to the other names in this post. You can get started on a single room first, mount one display outside one door, and see how it behaves before you commit to anything wider.

TL;DR

Joan and Robin are not really competitors in the narrow sense, and both are broader than room displays. Joan publishes plan-based pricing, quoted here from its EUR price zone: from EUR 49 per month, plus EUR 0.99 per additional user and EUR 9.99 per additional device licence per month on annual billing, with its own e-paper displays listed from EUR 349 excluding tax. Joan geolocates its pricing page by IP, so a visitor in the USD zone sees USD 51, USD 1.09 and USD 10.99 for the same plan. Robin publishes no prices at all; you request a quote and it bills annually, and it states its platform is designed for companies with 500 employees or more. Both bundle desks, visitors and analytics around rooms. If you want room displays only, Lobby is free for up to 3 active displays and USD 30 per month billed yearly for unlimited displays, running on e-ink hardware bought direct from the manufacturer or on a tablet, TV or monitor you already own. If you want what Robin does, you are in the workplace-platform category and should price it against Joan and the other platforms, not against a room display app. Figures as of 19 August 2026.

Sources

Joan pricing page — EUR price zone: base plan from EUR 49 per month, EUR 0.99 per additional user per month, EUR 9.99 per additional device licence per month on annual billing, 30-day free trial, support for third-party displays. The page geolocates by IP and serves EUR, USD, GBP or AED with no manual selector.
Joan shop — EUR price zone: Joan 6 RE from EUR 349, Joan 6 Pro from EUR 649, Joan 13 Pro from EUR 899, ePaper badge EUR 99, all excluding tax.
Joan 6 RE product page — EUR 349 excluding tax in the EUR price zone, up to 3 months battery life, calendar and integration list.
Robin pricing page — quote-based pricing, annual billing only, no hardware sold, stated design target of 500+ employees, stated guidance that room-display-only buyers have better options.
Robin recommended hardware — Robin's published equipment partner list.
Lobby pricing — free tier up to 3 active displays, Unlimited USD 30 per month billed yearly, Pro Unlimited USD 60 per month billed yearly.
Lobby hardware — e-ink display pricing from USD 69 at 1 to 9 units down to USD 62.99 at 10 or more.
G2: Joan vs Robin user reviews
Capterra: Joan vs Robin Powered

Prices verified 19 August 2026; Joan figures re-checked 29 August 2026. Tier-based and quote-based pricing changes — confirm directly with each vendor. Joan prices vary by region: the pricing page geolocates by IP and shows EUR, USD, GBP or AED with no manual selector, so what you see may differ from what is quoted here. Lobby publishes in US dollars; figures are quoted as published and are not currency-converted. Comparisons in this post are made under Directive 2006/114/EC on misleading and comparative advertising: objective, verifiable and about materially relevant features. Joan and Robin are trade marks of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.

Joan vs Robin: A Fair Head-to-Head for Teams Picking a Room Display Platform