What UBI Center does

UBI Center is a U.S.-based nonprofit open-source think tank founded in June 2019 by Max Ghenis, dedicated to producing rigorous, reproducible analysis of Universal Basic Income (UBI) and related cash-transfer policies. The organization operates as a computational policy research shop, using microsimulation modeling built on the Open Source Policy Center's Tax-Calculator combined with Census Bureau Current Population Survey data to project distributional, poverty, and fiscal effects of UBI proposals across the U.S. and U.K.

Its product surface consists of four interactive, web-based tools — Plan Explorer (household-level UBI proposal exploration), UBI Poll Tracker (global opinion aggregation), Basic Income Builder (real-time budget-neutral UBI design), and PolicyEngine (a broader U.S./U.K. tax and benefit microsimulation platform). All tools and analytical code are published open-source on GitHub, positioning UBI Center as what its founder describes as the first open-source think tank. The research library contains over 30 published works (as of 2021) covering UBI design choices, child allowances, carbon dividends, state-level proposals (Maryland, California), and demographic-specific analyses (race, veterans, mothers, indigenous populations).

The organization is funded through donations and grants, with no disclosed revenue, no paid product offering, and no institutional investor backing. Its primary audiences are policymakers, academic researchers, and UBI advocates, and it distributes output through its website, email newsletter, social media, GitHub, and presentations at conferences such as the Basic Income Guarantee Conference and the Basic Income Earth Network Congress. Max Ghenis works full-time as founder and president; approximately 15 additional contributors participate as authors on analyses.

Name

UBI Center

Legal name

UBI Center

Website

https://ubicenter.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

UBI Center is a U.S.-based nonprofit open-source think tank founded in 2019 that produces computational microsimulation analysis of universal basic income and related cash-transfer policies for policymakers, academic researchers, and the public, distributing all tools and code freely.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Donations and grants: UBI Center is a nonprofit organization funded through donations. The website features a 'Donate' link and accepts contributions to support their research mission of producing open-source research to inform UBI policy debate.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

UBI Center is a nonprofit open-source think tank that produces computational policy analysis of universal basic income (UBI) and related tax-and-benefit policies. It combines microsimulation modeling using Tax-Calculator and Census Bureau survey data with a suite of interactive web tools (Plan Explorer, Basic Income Builder, UBI Poll Tracker, PolicyEngine) that allow users to explore how UBI and related policies would affect household income, poverty, inequality, and government budgets.

Product overview

UBI Center is a think tank that produces open-source computational policy analysis focused on universal basic income (UBI). Their product portfolio consists of four interactive web-based analytical tools: Plan Explorer for exploring UBI policy effects on household profiles, UBI Poll Tracker for monitoring global public opinion on basic income, Basic Income Builder for designing budget-neutral UBI policies, and PolicyEngine for broader tax and benefit microsimulation analysis. All tools are available via web browsers and emphasize open-source, reproducible research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PolicyEngine: Interactive tax and benefit policy analysis tool that models how different UBI and fiscal policies would affect households, poverty, and inequality.
• UBI Poll Tracker
• Basic Income Builder
• Plan Explorer

Products and services

• Plan Explorer

Quantifiable outcome

• 87% of Americans come out ahead under Yang's Freedom Dividend, including 90% of those earning under $50,000
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Open Source Policy CentercoreTechnology or IntegrationOSPC builds the models (Tax-Calculator) that underlie UBI Center's analyses. UBI Center uses their open-source tax simulation software combined with Census data to model UBI policy distributional effects.
• USBIG (US Basic Income Guarantee)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUSBIG leaders share expertise in the UBI policy space, contributing to the intellectual foundation of UBI Center's research approach.
• AJ&SmartminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAJ&Smart generously design-sprinted toward credible economic research, helping develop the visual presentation and user experience of UBI Center's research outputs.
• GiveDirectlyminorOthersGiveDirectly is mentioned as a charity providing unconditional cash transfers that UBI Center references in their research on cash transfer literature. Not a formal partnership but a related organization in the UBI/cash transfer space.
• Social Liberal Forum (UK)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUBI Center published their first UK report ('Blank slate UBI') jointly with the Social Liberal Forum, simulating UBI-centered reforms to the UK tax and benefit systems.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Brookings Institution: Brookings is a leading public policy think tank producing economic and social policy research including work on UBI and cash transfers. While covering much broader topics, its Hamilton Project and economic studies divisions directly overlap with UBI Center's analytical remit.
• RAND Corporation: RAND is a major policy research institution producing rigorous economic and social policy analyses including income support and welfare program evaluation. Its scope and resources are far broader, but its analytical methodology and policy audience overlap with UBI Center's work.
• Economic Policy Institute: EPI is a nonprofit think tank producing economic policy analysis with focus on inequality, wages, and antipoverty programs. Its quantitative policy work and advocacy orientation make it a broadly comparable incumbent in the policy analysis space.
• Urban Institute: Urban Institute is a major economic and social policy research organization that conducts distributional analyses of tax, transfer, and antipoverty programs. It addresses overlapping questions to UBI Center but with far broader scope, deeper funding, and more established government relationships.
• Niskanen Center: Niskanen Center is a policy think tank that has produced work on universal basic income, carbon dividends, and related distributional analyses. Its use of economic modeling and centrist policy positioning makes it a comparable think tank with similar methodological approach.

Emerging players

• GiveDirectly: GiveDirectly operates large-scale unconditional cash transfer programs with rigorous impact evaluation research. While focused on program delivery rather than policy modeling, it is a directly relevant UBI/cash-transfer organization that UBI Center references in its research.
• Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN): BIEN is a global network advocating for basic income that UBI Center has presented at. It operates as an advocacy and research network rather than a quantitative modeling organization, making it an adjacent rather than direct peer in the UBI space.

Direct peers

• Open Source Policy Center: OSPC builds the open-source Tax-Calculator microsimulation engine that UBI Center relies on. The two organizations share an open-source ethos and tax-benefit modeling focus, making OSPC both a technology partner and the most methodologically aligned peer.
• Tax Foundation: Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan policy research organization focused on tax policy analysis, including distributional modeling and microsimulation. Like UBI Center, it produces quantitative analyses of how tax and benefit policies affect households, making it the closest direct peer in methodology and audience.
• PolicyEngine (organization): PolicyEngine is the open-source microsimulation platform that UBI Center operates and contributes to, covering both US and UK tax-benefit systems. As UBI Center's flagship product, it is directly comparable as a policy simulation tool serving both researchers and the general public.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheUBICenter
• GitHubgithub.com/UBICenter
• Facebookfacebook.com/UBICenter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about UBI Center