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Databases · head to head

Canary Labs vs Firestore

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
Firestore logo

Firestore

Databases

Flexible, scalable NoSQL cloud database from Firebase

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Firestore has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Firestore the no-cost Spark plan caps Standard edition at 50,000 document reads, 20,000 writes and 20,000 deletes per day
  • They diverge on capability: Canary Labs covers Loss-less compression, Firestore covers Document Model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Canary Labs and Firestore actually diverge.

Attributes where Canary Labs and Firestore differ
AttributeCanary LabsFirestore
Starting price$3000/yearFree
Pricing modelPer tag band per yearfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, WebWeb, Ios, Android, Flutter
FoundedUnknown2011

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Databases).

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 Canary Labs

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

Only in Firestore

  • Document Model
  • Real-time Updates
  • Offline Support
  • ACID Transactions
  • Expressive Queries
  • Multi-region
  • Security Rules
  • Firebase Auth

What people use each for

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

Canary Labs

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

Firestore

  • Storing structured application data with realtime listenersnot Canary Labs
  • Backing mobile and web apps with a serverless document databasenot Canary Labs
  • Building offline first apps that sync when connectivity returnsnot Canary Labs

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Firestore

  • The no-cost Spark plan caps Standard edition at 50,000 document reads, 20,000 writes and 20,000 deletes per day
  • The Spark plan caps storage at 1 GiB and network egress at 10 GiB per month
  • Charging is per document read, so a query returning many documents bills for every one of them
  • Going beyond the free thresholds requires the pay as you go Blaze plan billed at Google Cloud rates with no fixed monthly ceiling

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Firestore

Free
  • SparkFree
    • 1GB storage
    • 50K reads/day
    • 20K writes/day
  • BlazeFree
    • Pay as you go
    • Unlimited operations
    • Multi-region

Which should you pick?

Choose Canary Labs if

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

Choose Firestore if

  • You need document model.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Flutter.
  • You also want real-time updates.
Firestore review

Questions people ask

Is Canary Labs or Firestore better?
Neither clearly leads. Canary Labs starts at $3000/year and Firestore at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Canary Labs or Firestore?
Firestore has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $3000/year for Canary Labs and Free for Firestore.
Does Canary Labs or Firestore run on more platforms?
Canary Labs runs on Windows, Web. Firestore runs on Web, Ios, Android, Flutter.
Can I use Firestore for free?
Yes. Firestore has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Canary Labs starts at $3000/year.
What is Canary Labs best used for?
Canary Labs is most often used for a manufacturer that needs a compliant historian but cannot justify a pi system enterprise agreement, a water utility replacing scada-embedded logging with a historian that survives the next scada replacement, an ignition site that wants long-term storage and trending without paying per-client for dashboards, a plant with regulatory data-retention obligations where swinging-door compression would not survive an audit. Of those, a manufacturer that needs a compliant historian but cannot justify a pi system enterprise agreement and a water utility replacing scada-embedded logging with a historian that survives the next scada replacement are not what Firestore is typically brought in for.
What can Canary Labs do that Firestore cannot?
Canary Labs covers Loss-less compression, Unlimited clients, Store and forward, Views service. Firestore covers Document Model, Real-time Updates, Offline Support, ACID Transactions.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Firestore: What are the free limits on Cloud Firestore?

The Spark Plan includes 1 GiB of stored data, 50,000 reads per day, 20,000 writes per day, and 20,000 deletes per day at no cost.

Source
Canary Labs: Are client licences extra?

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

Firestore: What happens when I exceed the Spark Plan free tier?

Exceeding the free tier requires upgrading to the Blaze Plan, which bills based on actual usage through Google Cloud pricing. Charges apply for reads, writes, deletes, and data storage.

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.

Firestore: Can I use Firestore without a credit card?

Yes, you can use the Spark Plan indefinitely without a credit card. To use the Blaze Plan (pay-as-you-go), a credit card is required.

Source
Canary Labs: Does it use lossy compression?

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

Firestore: Is there a trial period for Cloud Firestore?

No trial period is specified. The Spark Plan free tier serves as the trial, with no time limit.

Source
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