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Manufacturing · head to head

Authentise vs COPA-DATA zenon

Authentise logo

Authentise

Manufacturing

Modular MES and workflow automation for additive manufacturing, with ITAR-capable deployment options

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
COPA-DATA zenon logo

COPA-DATA zenon

Manufacturing

HMI, SCADA and energy automation platform licensed by I/O tag count

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Authentise nothing is published about price, and modular licensing means the quoted entry module rarely resembles the cost of a configuration that actually runs a production floor.; COPA-DATA zenon the I/O count that determines your licence band is a weighted calculation, not a variable tally, so projects sized from a tag list routinely land in a higher and more expensive band than budgeted.
  • They diverge on capability: Authentise covers Additive workflow automation, COPA-DATA zenon covers I/O-banded licensing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Authentise and COPA-DATA zenon actually diverge.

Attributes where Authentise and COPA-DATA zenon differ
AttributeAuthentiseCOPA-DATA zenon
PlatformsWeb, APIWindows, Linux, Web

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Manufacturing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Authentise

  • Additive workflow automation
  • Machine data capture
  • Traceability
  • Modular deployment
  • ITAR-capable hosting
  • Scheduling

Only in COPA-DATA zenon

  • I/O-banded licensing
  • IEC 61850 native
  • zenon Logic
  • Pharmaceutical compliance
  • Multi-project engineering
  • Redundancy

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Authentise

  • An additive service bureau tracking jobs across a mixed fleet of printers from several vendorsnot COPA-DATA zenon
  • An aerospace supplier that needs powder batch to part traceability as qualification evidencenot COPA-DATA zenon
  • A defence programme requiring export-controlled geometry handled under ITAR-compliant hostingnot COPA-DATA zenon
  • A corporate additive team standardising build preparation and post-processing steps across sitesnot COPA-DATA zenon

COPA-DATA zenon

  • A pharmaceutical plant needing audit trail and electronic signature in the SCADA layer without building a validation wrapper around a generic HMInot Authentise
  • A utility automating substations that wants IEC 61850 SCL import and DNP3 in the base product rather than as chargeable driver optionsnot Authentise
  • A machine builder shipping identical HMI applications to many customers who wants one engineering project reused across machine and line levelnot Authentise
  • A food and beverage site in German-speaking Europe where local integrator availability for zenon is strong and Rockwell coverage is notnot Authentise

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Authentise

  • Nothing is published about price, and modular licensing means the quoted entry module rarely resembles the cost of a configuration that actually runs a production floor.
  • It is additive-specific, so a shop with significant machining, casting or fabrication work still needs a second MES and an integration between them.
  • The ITAR-capable deployment that justifies the price is irrelevant to purely commercial shops, which then find the system expensive relative to general manufacturing software.
  • Integrating with the ERP and PLM systems that already hold part and order data is project work, and the burden falls on a small vendor rather than a large systems integrator ecosystem.
  • Company scale is modest against the industrial software incumbents, which is a real consideration for a system sitting in the traceability path of qualified aerospace parts.

COPA-DATA zenon

  • The I/O count that determines your licence band is a weighted calculation, not a variable tally, so projects sized from a tag list routinely land in a higher and more expensive band than budgeted.
  • The integrator and engineering talent pool is concentrated in German-speaking Europe; a North American or Asian site can find itself dependent on a single partner with no competitive quote available.
  • English-language documentation and community material lag the German equivalents, which slows engineers who are learning the product without formal COPA-DATA training.
  • The annual software maintenance contract is a percentage of licence value, so a large I/O estate carries a recurring cost that does not fall even when the plant is stable and nothing is changing.
  • Third-party ecosystem extensions are far fewer than for Ignition or FactoryTalk, so requirements outside the box tend to become custom engineering billed at partner day rates.

Pricing, plan by plan

Authentise

On request
  • Authentise Flows and MES modules$undefined/year
    • Modular licensing by function
    • Public cloud, private SaaS or ITAR-compliant deployment
    • Machine data capture and traceability

COPA-DATA zenon

On request
  • zenon$undefined/year
    • Runtime licensed in bands by calculated I/O count
    • Numeric variables weighted upward in the I/O calculation, binary counted singly
    • Engineering Studio licensed separately from runtime

Which should you pick?

Choose Authentise if

  • You need additive workflow automation.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want machine data capture.
Authentise review

Choose COPA-DATA zenon if

  • You need i/o-banded licensing.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, Web.
  • You also want iec 61850 native.
COPA-DATA zenon review

Questions people ask

Is Authentise or COPA-DATA zenon better?
Neither clearly leads. Authentise starts at On request and COPA-DATA zenon at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Authentise or COPA-DATA zenon?
Authentise starts at On request and COPA-DATA zenon at On request.
Does Authentise or COPA-DATA zenon run on more platforms?
Authentise runs on Web, API. COPA-DATA zenon runs on Windows, Linux, Web.
What is Authentise best used for?
Authentise is most often used for an additive service bureau tracking jobs across a mixed fleet of printers from several vendors, an aerospace supplier that needs powder batch to part traceability as qualification evidence, a defence programme requiring export-controlled geometry handled under itar-compliant hosting, a corporate additive team standardising build preparation and post-processing steps across sites. Of those, an additive service bureau tracking jobs across a mixed fleet of printers from several vendors and an aerospace supplier that needs powder batch to part traceability as qualification evidence are not what COPA-DATA zenon is typically brought in for.
What can Authentise do that COPA-DATA zenon cannot?
Authentise covers Additive workflow automation, Machine data capture, Traceability, Modular deployment. COPA-DATA zenon covers I/O-banded licensing, IEC 61850 native, zenon Logic, Pharmaceutical compliance.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Authentise: How is Authentise priced?

It is not published. Licensing is modular and quoted annually, with integration and onboarding priced separately.

COPA-DATA zenon: How is a zenon licence sized?

By calculated I/O count. Numeric variables are weighted upward in that calculation and binary values counted singly, so ask your partner for the calculated figure, not the variable count, before signing.

Authentise: Can it handle ITAR-controlled work?

Yes. It offers ITAR-compliant deployment alongside public cloud and private SaaS, which is a primary reason defence suppliers choose it.

COPA-DATA zenon: Is zenon only for factories?

No. A significant part of its installed base is electrical substation automation, where IEC 61850 support is native rather than an add-on.

Authentise: Does it work with printers from more than one manufacturer?

Yes. It is designed for mixed fleets and captures machine data across vendors, which single-vendor software will not do.

COPA-DATA zenon: Is there a free version?

There is a demo mode for evaluation and a free educational licence, but production runtime always needs a paid, I/O-banded licence.

Authentise: Is it a full MES for a general machine shop?

No. It is built around additive workflows; subtractive-heavy shops need a general MES as well.

COPA-DATA zenon: Can zenon replace a PLC?

zenon Logic is an IEC 61131-3 soft PLC and can control non-safety-critical processes, but most deployments keep a hardware PLC and use zenon for visualisation and supervision.

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