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Manufacturing · head to head

Authentise vs Flow Software

Authentise logo

Authentise

Manufacturing

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Flow Software logo

Flow Software

Manufacturing

Manufacturing KPI and OEE calculation engine with published list prices, licensed by measure count

From
$11390/one-time
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.; Flow Software the 11,390 dollar Starter licence caps at 250 measures and events, which a multi-line plant exhausts quickly once each line contributes a dozen calculations, forcing a jump to the 62,230 dollar tier.
  • They diverge on capability: Authentise covers Additive workflow automation, Flow Software covers Calculation engine.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Authentise and Flow Software actually diverge.

Attributes where Authentise and Flow Software differ
AttributeAuthentiseFlow Software
Starting priceOn request$11390/one-time
Pricing modelquoteOne-time purchase
PlatformsWeb, APIWindows, Web

Identical on both: 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 Flow Software

  • Calculation engine
  • Measure model
  • Historian connectors
  • Manual data entry
  • Event framing
  • Excel and Power BI output
  • Flow dashboards
  • AI Gateway

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 Flow Software
  • An aerospace supplier that needs powder batch to part traceability as qualification evidencenot Flow Software
  • A defence programme requiring export-controlled geometry handled under ITAR-compliant hostingnot Flow Software
  • A corporate additive team standardising build preparation and post-processing steps across sitesnot Flow Software

Flow Software

  • A brewery replacing a fragile network of OEE spreadsheets with governed calculations from the same historian datanot Authentise
  • Reporting specific energy consumption per tonne against an ISO 50001 audit where the calculation method must be documentednot Authentise
  • Feeding Power BI plant dashboards from a historian without giving analysts direct tag-level accessnot Authentise
  • A site that needs lab results typed in and combined with automated tag data in the same yield calculationnot 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.

Flow Software

  • The 11,390 dollar Starter licence caps at 250 measures and events, which a multi-line plant exhausts quickly once each line contributes a dozen calculations, forcing a jump to the 62,230 dollar tier.
  • The Unlimited licence requires every engine on a single server or VM, so any multi-server or multi-site topology goes straight to Distributed at roughly double the price with no intermediate option.
  • Maintenance renews at about fifteen percent of the installed base annually, so a large perpetual estate carries a five-figure recurring cost that the headline perpetual price hides.
  • It is a Windows product with a Microsoft data stack, so Linux or container-native deployment strategies do not apply and the server has to be managed on the plant Windows estate.
  • It calculates and reports but does not collect from equipment itself, so an existing historian or OPC layer is a prerequisite and Flow adds cost on top of that rather than replacing it.

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

Flow Software

$11390/one-time
  • Starter$11390/one-time
    • 250 KPI measures and events
    • Single server deployment
    • First year of software maintenance included
  • Unlimited$62230/one-time
    • Unlimited KPI measures and events
    • All engines must run on one server or dedicated VM
    • First year of maintenance included
  • Distributed$128450/one-time
    • Unlimited measures with engines distributed across multiple servers
    • Required for multi-server and multi-site deployments
    • Available as an annual subscription at 34,250 USD instead

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 Flow Software if

  • You need calculation engine.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want measure model.
Flow Software review

Questions people ask

Is Authentise or Flow Software better?
Neither clearly leads. Authentise starts at On request and Flow Software at $11390/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Authentise or Flow Software?
Authentise starts at On request and Flow Software at $11390/one-time.
Does Authentise or Flow Software run on more platforms?
Authentise runs on Web, API. Flow Software runs on Windows, 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 Flow Software is typically brought in for.
What can Authentise do that Flow Software cannot?
Authentise covers Additive workflow automation, Machine data capture, Traceability, Modular deployment. Flow Software covers Calculation engine, Measure model, Historian connectors, Manual data entry.

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.

Flow Software: Does Flow publish real prices?

Yes. Starter is 11,390 USD perpetual for 250 measures, Unlimited is 62,230 USD perpetual or 16,595 USD a year, and Distributed is 128,450 USD perpetual or 34,250 USD a year.

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.

Flow Software: Is perpetual licensing still offered?

Yes, at every tier, with the first year of maintenance included and renewal at roughly fifteen percent per year. Subscription is available on Unlimited and Distributed only.

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.

Flow Software: Do I need a historian as well?

Effectively yes. Flow reads from historians, databases and OPC sources; it is a calculation layer, not a data collector.

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.

Flow Software: What counts as a measure?

Each configured KPI or event definition. A single line typically consumes ten to thirty, which is what makes the 250 Starter cap tighter than it looks.

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