Inductive Automation's Ignition and Trihedral's VTScada are two SCADA platforms that both publish their prices and sell perpetual licenses. They count very differently, though: Ignition is licensed per server with unlimited tags and clients, while VTScada is licensed per installed PC by I/O tag count, with historian, alarms and reports built into one install.
What you license
- Ignition: one license per server, then you add modules or suites as needed.
- VTScada: one license per installed PC (Runtime or Development Runtime), priced by I/O tag count.
Tags and clients
- Ignition includes unlimited tags and unlimited clients per server license.
- VTScada sells tag bands from 1,000 up to 2,500,000 I/O tags, and the count includes all applications on that PC. Thin clients are licensed per concurrent user (single, 5-pack or unlimited options).
Pricing (public lists, checked Oct 2026)
- Ignition has a full public price list, with the platform from US$1,200. Standard licenses are perpetual; Cloud Edition is usage-based. Modules are extra, for example Perspective (listed at US$11,225), plus Reporting, Historian and Alarm Notification suites.
- VTScada publishes a US price list and bundles as a PDF; the enterprise list (100,000+ I/O) is on request. License prices are one-time, and support and upgrades are optional yearly plans.
What's in the base product
- Ignition is a platform plus modules, built on SQL, Python, OPC UA and MQTT.
- VTScada ships HMI, historian, ISA 18.2 alarm management and reports in one install. Alarm notifications are an option priced by tag count, and version control comes with Development Runtime.
Platform and connectivity
- Ignition servers run on Windows, macOS and Linux.
- VTScada runs on a Windows PC, laptop or panel PC per license, with 100+ drivers (Modbus, DNP3, Siemens S7, Rockwell CIP/ENIP and more), plus MQTT 3.1.1 with Sparkplug B and an OPC UA client since v12.
Free options
- Ignition: a fully functional trial and a free, non-commercial Maker Edition.
- VTScada: VTScadaLIGHT, free up to 50 I/O on up to 10 PCs, and a 90-day trial.
Quick fit check
Pick Ignition if you want unlimited tags and clients from one server and to grow by adding modules, or your servers run Linux or macOS, or you want a usage-billed cloud option.
Pick VTScada if you want historian, alarm management and reporting in one install priced by tag count, especially for water, power or oil & gas telemetry, where its RTU and radio drivers (DNP3, MDS, Motorola ACE) are built in.
The full side-by-side table with every source link is on PlantWired: Ignition vs VTScada. Related: Ignition vs ICONICS GENESIS64, Ignition vs Node-RED, MES vs ERP vs SCADA, and all comparisons.
Prices and licensing terms change, and our data comes from public vendor pages, so it surely has gaps. If you run either in production and something's wrong, 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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