Picking a SCADA/HMI platform usually starts with the PLCs you already own and ends with a licensing spreadsheet. Here are the comparisons we maintain on PlantWired for that choice. Each page lists vendor, category, pricing model and documented integrations, and the newer ones add sourced head-to-head tables.
Licensing is where they differ most
- Ignition vs VTScada: both publish prices and sell perpetual licenses, but count differently. Ignition is licensed per server with unlimited tags and clients; VTScada is licensed per installed PC by I/O tag count, with historian, alarm management and reporting in one install. VTScadaLIGHT is free up to 50 I/O.
- Ignition vs ICONICS GENESIS64: ICONICS GENESIS (version 11, successor to GENESIS64) uses five license tiers from tag-limited Pure to unlimited-tag Plus and above, and runs on Windows with IIS and SQL Server. Ignition servers run on Windows, macOS and Linux.
- Ignition vs Node-RED: different jobs that often coexist. Node-RED is a free, Apache-2.0 flow tool for wiring devices and APIs at the edge; Ignition is a commercial SCADA/HMI platform with operator screens, alarming and history.
Staying inside your PLC vendor's ecosystem
- Ignition vs SIMATIC WinCC: WinCC is Siemens' SCADA/HMI family, tightly integrated with TIA Portal and SIMATIC controllers.
- Ignition vs FactoryTalk View: FactoryTalk View is Rockwell's HMI software (Machine and Site editions), designed around Logix controllers.
- WinCC vs FactoryTalk View: the Siemens and Rockwell defaults side by side, useful for mixed plants.
- Ignition vs AVEVA InTouch HMI: InTouch (formerly Wonderware InTouch) is a long-established HMI for operator screens and alarming.
- Proficy iFIX vs WinCC: iFIX is GE Vernova's Proficy HMI/SCADA, common in process and utilities.
The next generation
- WinCC vs WinCC Unified: WinCC Unified is the web-based successor generation, engineered in TIA Portal for panels and PC stations.
- WinCC Unified vs FactoryTalk Optix: Siemens' and Rockwell's newer, browser-friendly HMI platforms.
Where SCADA fits
If you're still drawing the boundaries between SCADA, MES and ERP, start with MES vs ERP vs SCADA: who does what in a factory. All 65 comparisons live at plantwired.vercel.app/compare.
Our data comes from public vendor sources and surely has gaps. If you run one of these in production and something's wrong or missing, tell us in the comments and we'll fix it.
PlantWired is a free, vendor-neutral map of factory software. A short weekly brief on new integrations is at plantwired.vercel.app.
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