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Energy · head to head

AVEVA PI System vs Canary Labs

AVEVA PI System logo

AVEVA PI System

Energy

Industrial data infrastructure for real-time insights

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Canary Labs logo

Canary Labs

Databases

Industrial process historian with published per-tag pricing and no client licence fees

From
$3000/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: AVEVA PI System pricing is not published and comes through an account representative; Canary Labs pricing steps by tag band rather than actual tags, so a site sitting just above a threshold pays the next band in full; growth from 3,400 to 3,600 tags is a licence purchase, not a rounding error.
  • They diverge on capability: AVEVA PI System covers Real-time data collection, Canary Labs covers Loss-less compression.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which AVEVA PI System and Canary Labs actually diverge.

Attributes where AVEVA PI System and Canary Labs differ
AttributeAVEVA PI SystemCanary Labs
Starting priceOn request$3000/year
Pricing modelone-timePer tag band per year
PlatformsDesktop, Web, Mobile, ApiWindows, Web
CategoryEnergyDatabases
Founded1967Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 AVEVA PI System

  • Real-time data collection
  • Time-series data storage
  • Asset framework
  • Visualization
  • Analytics
  • Event management
  • Notifications
  • Data integration

Only in Canary Labs

  • Loss-less compression
  • Unlimited clients
  • Store and forward
  • Views service
  • Sparkplug B
  • Calculation engine
  • Axiom
  • ODBC and REST

What people use each for

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

AVEVA PI System

  • Industrial data collection and storage for oil, gas, and chemical processingnot Canary Labs
  • Real-time operational data visualization and HMI dashboardsnot Canary Labs
  • Supply chain and asset performance monitoring across sitesnot Canary Labs
  • Compliance and audit trail management for regulated industriesnot Canary Labs
  • Integration with SCADA systems and manufacturing executionnot Canary Labs

Canary Labs

  • A manufacturer that needs a compliant historian but cannot justify a PI System enterprise agreementnot AVEVA PI System
  • A water utility replacing SCADA-embedded logging with a historian that survives the next SCADA replacementnot AVEVA PI System
  • An Ignition site that wants long-term storage and trending without paying per-client for dashboardsnot AVEVA PI System
  • A plant with regulatory data-retention obligations where swinging-door compression would not survive an auditnot AVEVA PI System

Where each one falls short

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

AVEVA PI System

  • Pricing is not published and comes through an account representative
  • The vendor is moving to a subscription commercial model, so perpetual licence expectations no longer hold
  • Made up of several separately named components, including PI Server, PI Vision, Edge Data Store and the adapters and connectors needed per data source

Canary Labs

  • Pricing steps by tag band rather than actual tags, so a site sitting just above a threshold pays the next band in full; growth from 3,400 to 3,600 tags is a licence purchase, not a rounding error.
  • CustomerCare at 18 percent of licence cost is effectively mandatory on perpetual licences because lapsing it removes upgrades, so the perpetual option is not really a one-time cost.
  • The storage format is proprietary; getting data out at volume means the ODBC connector, an additional 2,500 USD one-time or 1,000 USD a year, or writing against the REST API.
  • Canary is a small vendor with a limited partner network outside North America, so support coverage and integrator availability in Europe and Asia are thinner than for AVEVA or Ignition.
  • It is a Windows-only server product with no Linux or container deployment, which complicates placing collectors in modern edge estates.

Pricing, plan by plan

AVEVA PI System

On request
  • Data Archive$undefined/license
    • Time-series data storage
    • High-speed data collection
    • Data compression
  • Operations$undefined/license
    • PI Vision dashboards
    • AF analytics
    • Event frames
  • Enterprise$undefined/license
    • PI Integrator
    • Cloud connectivity
    • Advanced analytics

Canary Labs

$3000/year
  • Subscription, 3,500 tags$3000/year
    • Unlimited Axiom clients
    • Unlimited Excel clients
    • Support and upgrades included
  • Perpetual, 3,500 tags$8730/one-time
    • 7,400 USD licence plus 1,330 USD first-year CustomerCare
    • CustomerCare renews at 18 percent of licence cost per year
    • Unlimited clients
  • Private cloud, 3,500 tags$12320/year
    • Hosted by Canary
    • 1,500 USD one-time setup fee per system
    • Scales to around 58,684 USD per year at 60,000 tags
  • Enterprise unlimited$undefined/year
    • Unlimited tags
    • Negotiated licensing terms
    • Quoted pricing

Which should you pick?

Choose AVEVA PI System if

  • You need real-time data collection.
  • You work on Desktop, Web, Mobile, Api.
  • You also want time-series data storage.
AVEVA PI System review

Choose Canary Labs if

  • You need loss-less compression.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want unlimited clients.
Canary Labs review

Questions people ask

Is AVEVA PI System or Canary Labs better?
Neither clearly leads. AVEVA PI System starts at On request and Canary Labs at $3000/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, AVEVA PI System or Canary Labs?
AVEVA PI System starts at On request and Canary Labs at $3000/year.
Does AVEVA PI System or Canary Labs run on more platforms?
AVEVA PI System runs on Desktop, Web, Mobile, Api. Canary Labs runs on Windows, Web.
What is AVEVA PI System best used for?
AVEVA PI System is most often used for industrial data collection and storage for oil, gas, and chemical processing, real-time operational data visualization and hmi dashboards, supply chain and asset performance monitoring across sites, compliance and audit trail management for regulated industries. Of those, industrial data collection and storage for oil, gas, and chemical processing and real-time operational data visualization and hmi dashboards are not what Canary Labs is typically brought in for.
What can AVEVA PI System do that Canary Labs cannot?
AVEVA PI System covers Real-time data collection, Time-series data storage, Asset framework, Visualization. Canary Labs covers Loss-less compression, Unlimited clients, Store and forward, Views service.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

AVEVA PI System: What is AVEVA PI System pricing?

AVEVA does not list PI System pricing on its website. AVEVA markets industrial software through enterprise sales channels with custom quotes.

Source
Canary Labs: What does Canary cost?

8,730 USD for a 3,500 tag perpetual system including first-year CustomerCare, or 3,000 USD a year on subscription.

AVEVA PI System: Does AVEVA offer a Flex Subscription Program?

AVEVA mentions Flex Subscription Program on its site for flexible product access, but pricing and terms are not published publicly.

Source
Canary Labs: Are client licences extra?

No. Unlimited Axiom browser clients and unlimited Excel clients are included on every tier.

AVEVA PI System: Is AVEVA PI System available in the cloud?

AVEVA offers cloud options for its products, but per-seat or usage-based pricing for cloud deployments is not disclosed on the vendor website.

Source
Canary Labs: Is perpetual cheaper than subscription?

Canary states perpetual pays off after roughly three years, and after that you still pay 18 percent CustomerCare annually.

Canary Labs: Does it use lossy compression?

No. Canary stores every collected value rather than approximating the trend, which matters for regulated data retention.

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