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Manufacturing · head to head

AVEVA System Platform vs Canary Labs

AVEVA System Platform logo

AVEVA System Platform

Manufacturing

Supervisory HMI and SCADA platform, formerly sold as Wonderware System Platform

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 System Platform wonderware is no longer a name you can buy; if you have inherited documentation, purchase orders or job specifications that say Wonderware, everything has to be re-mapped to AVEVA product names before you can quote it.; 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 System Platform covers ArchestrA object model, 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 System Platform and Canary Labs actually diverge.

Attributes where AVEVA System Platform and Canary Labs differ
AttributeAVEVA System PlatformCanary Labs
Starting priceOn request$3000/year
Pricing modelquotePer tag band per year
PlatformsWindowsWindows, Web
CategoryManufacturingDatabases

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 System Platform

  • ArchestrA object model
  • InTouch HMI
  • AVEVA Historian
  • Redundancy
  • Situational awareness graphics
  • OMI
  • Alarm management
  • Connectivity

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 System Platform

  • A multi-site food manufacturer standardising operator screens across plants that run different PLC brandsnot Canary Labs
  • A water utility with a decade of ArchestrA templates where rewriting to another platform cannot be justifiednot Canary Labs
  • A pharmaceutical line needing ISA-88 batch recipe handling above existing Rockwell and Siemens controllersnot Canary Labs
  • A plant modernising legacy InTouch applications without discarding the existing screens and scriptsnot Canary Labs

Canary Labs

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

Where each one falls short

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

AVEVA System Platform

  • Wonderware is no longer a name you can buy; if you have inherited documentation, purchase orders or job specifications that say Wonderware, everything has to be re-mapped to AVEVA product names before you can quote it.
  • AVEVA Flex converts licensing to a recurring subscription draw-down, so organisations that budgeted for a perpetual licence with a support percentage face a materially different cost model at renewal.
  • It is Windows only, and version compatibility between System Platform, Historian and InTouch is tight, so upgrades are coordinated projects rather than incremental patches.
  • The ArchestrA object model has a steep learning curve and small systems end up paying for structure they do not need, which is why integrators often deploy standalone InTouch instead.
  • Licence enforcement counts I/O aggressively and unexpected tag growth during commissioning can trigger a mid-project licence purchase at list price.

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 System Platform

On request
  • AVEVA System Platform$undefined/year
    • Licensed by I/O count, client count and platform nodes
    • Sold through AVEVA Flex subscription token pool or legacy perpetual licence
    • Legacy perpetual licences carry an annual customer FIRST support fee

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 System Platform if

  • You need archestra object model.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want intouch hmi.
AVEVA System Platform 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 System Platform or Canary Labs better?
Neither clearly leads. AVEVA System Platform 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 System Platform or Canary Labs?
AVEVA System Platform starts at On request and Canary Labs at $3000/year.
Does AVEVA System Platform or Canary Labs run on more platforms?
AVEVA System Platform runs on Windows. Canary Labs runs on Windows, Web.
What is AVEVA System Platform best used for?
AVEVA System Platform is most often used for a multi-site food manufacturer standardising operator screens across plants that run different plc brands, a water utility with a decade of archestra templates where rewriting to another platform cannot be justified, a pharmaceutical line needing isa-88 batch recipe handling above existing rockwell and siemens controllers, a plant modernising legacy intouch applications without discarding the existing screens and scripts. Of those, a multi-site food manufacturer standardising operator screens across plants that run different plc brands and a water utility with a decade of archestra templates where rewriting to another platform cannot be justified are not what Canary Labs is typically brought in for.
What can AVEVA System Platform do that Canary Labs cannot?
AVEVA System Platform covers ArchestrA object model, InTouch HMI, AVEVA Historian, Redundancy. Canary Labs covers Loss-less compression, Unlimited clients, Store and forward, Views service.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

AVEVA System Platform: Is Wonderware still sold?

No. The brand was retired; buy AVEVA System Platform, AVEVA InTouch HMI, AVEVA Historian or AVEVA Plant SCADA instead.

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 System Platform: Can I still buy a perpetual licence?

AVEVA steers new business to Flex subscriptions. Perpetual is increasingly restricted to existing agreements and renewals.

Canary Labs: Are client licences extra?

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

AVEVA System Platform: Do my old InTouch applications still run?

Yes, legacy InTouch applications are supported in System Platform, though the older graphics do not gain the newer situational-awareness features without rework.

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.

AVEVA System Platform: What is AVEVA Flex?

A subscription credit pool you draw against for any AVEVA product, which trades a fixed licence for a recurring balance you must keep topped up.

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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