Desk Booking & Hybrid Workplace · head-to-head
Joan vs Robin
As of 6 Nov 2026, the panel rates Joan 3/5 and Robin 3/5 in Desk Booking & Hybrid Workplace. Weighted by what each judge cares about, 3 of the 6 judges pick Joan and 3 pick Robin. Joan scores higher on 2 of 6 criteria (European sovereignty and Integrations, identity & administration). Robin scores higher on 3 of 6 criteria (Hybrid work coordination, Desk, room & parking booking and Occupancy analytics & employee privacy). Provenance — Joan: EU-Made; Robin: Rest of world. Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: how scores are made.
The short answer
The bench splits, and the split is the answer. Robin leads booking and floorplans (7.7 to 6.7, five judges leaning Robin) and hybrid coordination (5.8 to 4.0, six leaning Robin); occupancy analytics is 6.7 to 6.0, three lean Robin and three tie. Joan leads integration and administration (7.0 to 6.7, two leaning Joan, four ties), sovereignty (7.2 to 4.0, six leaning Joan — its verdict records data hosted in Belgium on Google Cloud, with the stated commitment that no data leaves the European Union; Robin's data residency is non-EU, with United States servers by default) and pricing transparency (5.8 to 0.5; Robin's verdict records no public prices). Check-in and rules is level at 6.8, with four ties. Weighted totals split three judges to three: Robin ahead for the workplace manager, people lead and skeptic; Joan ahead for the IT admin, works council and office manager. No overall winner.
Choose Joan if
- You need customer data hosted inside the European Union — Joan's verdict records hosting in Belgium on Google Cloud with the stated commitment that no data leaves the European Union, and six judges lean Joan on sovereignty, 7.2 to 4.0.
- Your team provisions users through Okta SCIM and signs in with Azure AD, Okta or OneLogin — each documented in Joan's verdict, with integration and administration at 7.0 to 6.7 and two judges leaning Joan.
- Your works council must approve the platform — the works-council judge's weighted total favors Joan, 6.2 to 5.9.
- You need a published price before a purchase order can be raised — Joan's verdict records published prices, and pricing transparency sits at 5.8 to 0.5 with six judges leaning Joan.
- Your IT admin or office manager holds the final call — their judges' weighted totals each favor Joan, 6.4 to 6.3.
Choose Robin if
- Your teams coordinate office days across hybrid staff — hybrid coordination is 5.8 to 4.0 with six judges leaning Robin, and its verdict documents office-visit policies, which nudge rather than enforce.
- Your staff books desks, rooms, parking and lockers from Teams, Slack, Outlook, web and mobile — booking and floorplans is 7.7 to 6.7 with five judges leaning Robin.
- You report utilisation by building, floor, space and desk — occupancy analytics is 6.7 to 6.0, with three judges leaning Robin and three tying.
- Your workplace manager, people lead or skeptic makes the purchase decision — their judges' weighted totals favor Robin: 6.7 to 6.4 for the workplace manager, and 6.2 to 6 for the people lead and the skeptic.
Read this comparison as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.
The bench's picks
Same scores, different priorities: each judge's weighting applied to both products. The split is the finding.
- The Workplace Manager Joan Robin picks Robin
- The People Lead Joan Robin picks Robin
- The Microsoft 365 Administrator Joan Robin picks Joan
- The Works Council Member Joan Robin picks Joan
- The Office Manager Joan Robin picks Joan
- The Skeptic Joan Robin picks Robin
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Joan | Robin |
|---|---|---|
| Desk, room & parking booking | 3.5 of 5 | 4 of 5 |
| Check-in, auto-release & booking rules | 3.5 of 5 | 3.5 of 5 |
| Hybrid work coordination | 2 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| Occupancy analytics & employee privacy | 3 of 5 | 3.5 of 5 |
| Integrations, identity & administration | 3.5 of 5 | 3.5 of 5 |
| European sovereignty | 3.5 of 5 | 2 of 5 |
| Criterion | Joan | Robin | The bench leans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desk, room & parking booking | Robin, 5 of 6 judges | ||
| Check-in, auto-release & booking rules | split 1–1 | ||
| Hybrid work coordination | Robin, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| Occupancy analytics & employee privacy | Robin, 3 of 6 judges | ||
| Integrations, identity & administration | Joan, 2 of 6 judges | ||
| European sovereignty | Joan, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| Pricing transparency | no published price | not comparable |
Stars show the bench average per criterion; the lean counts which product each judge scored higher. Open a judge's tab for their reasoning on both sides.
Sovereignty, side by side
| Dimension | Joan | Robin |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | Not determined |
| Hosting location | Not determined | Outside the EU |
| Hosting options | Not determined | Not determined |
| Open source | Not determined | Not determined |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined | Not determined |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | Not determined |
Facts, side by side
Only facts both products carry under the same definition — anything else would not be a fair row.
| Compliance · Breach notification | 72 · 331 | notification of security incidents involving unauthorized access to sensitive information2 |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance · Encryption | yes · yes1 | encryption or equivalent measures for transfers involving personal information2 |
| Compliance · ISO 27001 | ISO/IEC 27001:2022 · yes3 | yes · ISO 270014 |
| Integrations · API | yes5 | Robin API available for internal development of interoperable applications2 |
| Integrations · Crestron | Joan meeting room booking on Crestron devices6 | yes7 |
| Integrations · Google calendar | Create meetings and display them on Joan devices6 | yes7 |
| Integrations · Google workspace | Create meetings and display them on Joan devices6 | yes7 |
| Integrations · Microsoft 365 | yes8 | Microsoft 3659 |
| Integrations · Microsoft teams | Create meetings, chatbot for bookings, display on Joan devices6 | Microsoft Teams9 |
| Integrations · Okta | User directory sync with Okta6 | Robin · Okta10 |
| Integrations · Outlook | Create meetings and display them on Joan devices6 | yes7 |
| Integrations · Slack | Book a room using Joan Bot on Slack6 | Slack9 |
| Integrations · Zoom | Display Zoom Room calendar events on Joan devices6 | communication11 |
| Legal · Company name | Visionect d.o.o.12 | Robin Powered, Inc.13 |
| Legal · Copyright holder | Visionect d.o.o.14 | Robin Powered, Inc.15 |
| Legal · Entity | Visionect d.o.o. · Tržaška cesta 118, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia · Slovenia · 2007 · Slovenia1 | Robin Powered, Inc.16 |
| Product · Calendar sync | Google Calendar · Outlook · Exchange17 | yes15 |
| Product · Desk booking | real-time desk availability filtered by floor or neighborhood18 | Desk booking9 |
| Product · Mobile app | mobile app for booking rooms, parking, desks, assets19 | yes7 |
| Product · Platform modules | MyJoan Portal · room booking · desk booking · visitor management · workplace digital signage17 | Resource booking · Space management · Workplace services · Visitor management · Desk booking · Room scheduling · Workplace analytics · Employee experience · Room displays · Wayfinding · Access control9 |
| Product · Platform scope | all-in-one platform for rooms, desks, assets, visitors, digital signage19 | spaces · services · deliveries · visitors15 |
| Product · Visitor management | visitor management module, add-on18 | yes9 |
| Product · Workplace services | MyJoan · Room Booking · Desk Booking · Visitor Management · Joan AI1 | yes20 |
| Support · Help center | yes21 | Help center · Product updates · Recommended hardware · Developers · Status · App downloads9 |
Questions about Joan and Robin
Which is better, Joan or Robin?
As of 6 Nov 2026, the panel rates both 3/5. Weighted by what each judge cares about, 3 of the 6 judges pick Joan and 3 pick Robin. Which one fits depends on the criteria that matter to you; the table on this page shows both side by side, and each judge’s reading has its own page. Both were scored by the same AI bench under the same rubric, from public evidence only, as the methodology describes.
Is Joan or Robin European?
Joan is European (EU-Made). Robin is not European by provenance (Rest of world). Provenance is read from each company’s own legal pages: who builds it and who owns it.
Where do Joan and Robin store customer data?
Per the vendors’ own pages as captured — Joan: its pages as captured do not say. Robin: Outside the EU by default.