{"id":29487,"date":"2025-11-04T18:10:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T02:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/?p=29487"},"modified":"2026-03-09T12:10:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:10:41","slug":"pricing-comparison-tdengine-vs-pi-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/pricing-comparison-tdengine-vs-pi-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Pricing Comparison: TDengine Historian vs. PI System"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #141414;color:#141414\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #141414;color:#141414\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/pricing-comparison-tdengine-vs-pi-system\/#Transparency_vs_Secrecy\" >Transparency vs. Secrecy<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/pricing-comparison-tdengine-vs-pi-system\/#Reasonable_Pricing_vs_High_Costs\" >Reasonable Pricing vs. High Costs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/pricing-comparison-tdengine-vs-pi-system\/#All-Inclusive_Value_vs_Piecemeal_Pricing\" >All-Inclusive Value vs. Piecemeal Pricing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/pricing-comparison-tdengine-vs-pi-system\/#Licensing_Flexibility_vs_Forced_Subscription_Model\" >Licensing Flexibility vs. Forced Subscription Model<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/pricing-comparison-tdengine-vs-pi-system\/#Choosing_the_Right_Path_Forward\" >Choosing the Right Path Forward<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>When it comes to managing industrial <a href=\"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/what-is-a-time-series-database\/\">time-series data<\/a>, few platforms are as established as AVEVA <a href=\"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/pi-system\/\">PI System<\/a>. It\u2019s a proven solution used across industries for decades &#8212; but one that comes at a steep price. When organizations evaluate modern alternatives like TDengine, one question consistently arises: How do the pricing models compare?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The difference goes far beyond the numbers on a quote sheet. PI System relies on opaque pricing, legacy cost structures, and add-on fees that make total costs difficult to predict. TDengine, by contrast, delivers flexible deployment options and all-inclusive value, giving enterprises full control without hidden charges or forced subscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-text\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Transparency_vs_Secrecy\"><\/span>Transparency vs. Secrecy<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>AVEVA <strong>does not publish official pricing<\/strong> for PI System. Instead, its costs are tailored for each customer based on multiple factors, and customers must contact a sales representative to get a quote no matter the size of their deployments. This forces enterprises to engage in time-consuming sales negotiations for all projects and prevents them from easily comparing the value of different vendors\u2019 solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, TDengine makes <strong>all prices public information<\/strong> &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/pricing\/\">details here<\/a> &#8212; so that potential customers can decide whether TDengine fits in their budget without wasting time talking to account managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-text\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reasonable_Pricing_vs_High_Costs\"><\/span>Reasonable Pricing vs. High Costs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although PI System&#8217;s prices are not public, it is common knowledge that the product is often a large financial burden on industrial enterprises. Typically, customers can expect pricing similar to the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-149\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-149\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Tags<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Annual PI System Cost (US$)<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Annual TDengine Cost (US$)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">5,000<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">over $25,000<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">$9,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">10,000<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">over $45,000<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">$15,500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">50,000<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">over $90,000<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">$31,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-149 from cache -->\n\n\n<p>Note that these PI System only offers <strong>yearly subscriptions with limited users<\/strong> &#8212; perpetual licenses are <strong>no longer available<\/strong> for the majority of customers. TDengine&#8217;s annual pricing plans come in 3x lower and include standard support and all capabilities at no additional charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Legacy industrial software vendors like AVEVA know that their products are essential parts of data infrastructure, and customers cannot migrate away easily. Once customers are locked in to the PI ecosystem, the difficulty of changing to another platform is so high that many feel forced to continue paying whatever prices are asked of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-text\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"All-Inclusive_Value_vs_Piecemeal_Pricing\"><\/span>All-Inclusive Value vs. Piecemeal Pricing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the exorbitantly priced core component PI Server, PI System customers are <strong>forced to pay extra for add-ons that many consider essential<\/strong>, such as PI Interfaces and &#8212; without which customers cannot even ingest data using their preferred protocols. In addition, some PI System features such as Coresight and Datalink are <strong>charged per seat<\/strong> &#8212; meaning that your costs increase as your team grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TDengine includes all components within the base package instead of \u201cnickel and diming\u201d them like legacy industrial software vendors. With TDengine, <strong>simply purchasing a license is enough for you to use all TDengine features<\/strong>, and <strong>an unlimited number of team members<\/strong> can access TDengine at no extra charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-text\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Licensing_Flexibility_vs_Forced_Subscription_Model\"><\/span>Licensing Flexibility vs. Forced Subscription Model<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In recent years, AVEVA has <strong>moved to a subscription model<\/strong> for its products, including PI System. Customers are now <strong>required to purchase &#8220;Flex credits&#8221;<\/strong> to pay for their software, making budgeting more difficult and disrupting long-term planning. Instead of predictable, straightforward licensing, organizations must navigate a complex credit system that obscures true costs and limits flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TDengine <strong>continues to offer perpetual licenses<\/strong> with an optional annual support plan for all enterprise customers. Annual plans are also available for enterprises that prefer structuring costs in this manner, as well as monthly or annual cloud service plans for our fully managed <a href=\"https:\/\/cloud.tdengine.com\">TDengine Cloud<\/a>. With TDengine, enterprises can choose the pricing model best suited for them without being forced into a SaaS plan for their core infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-text\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Choosing_the_Right_Path_Forward\"><\/span>Choosing the Right Path Forward<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>TDengine takes a modern, transparent approach to pricing built for today\u2019s data-driven operations. TDengine provides commercial support and advanced features at a clear, scalable rate, with perpetual and annual licenses both available, and without the hidden costs associated with users, connectors, or interfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The result is a historian that offers <strong>95% of the features of PI System at a third of the price<\/strong>, using a simpler, fairer pricing model that meets the needs of modern industrial enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your organization values predictability, openness, and scalability, the pricing difference between PI System and TDengine is more than a matter of dollars &#8212; it reflects a shift toward modern, flexible infrastructure for industrial data. By combining enterprise-grade performance with a transparent cost structure, TDengine has become an ideal choice for teams looking to modernize their data architecture at an affordable price.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By combining enterprise-grade performance with a transparent cost structure, TDengine has become an ideal choice for teams looking to modernize their data architecture at an affordable price.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[278],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[261],"class_list":["post-29487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pi"],"authors":[{"term_id":261,"user_id":127,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jfan","display_name":"Jim Fan","avatar_url":"https:\/\/eujqw4hwudm.exactdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/jfan-profile-new.jpg?strip=all&#038;sharp=1&#038;resize=96%2C96","1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29487"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31058,"href":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29487\/revisions\/31058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29487"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tdengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=29487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}