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Databases · head to head

Canary Labs vs NATS

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
NATS logo

NATS

Databases

High-performance messaging system for cloud-native applications

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only NATS 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.; NATS core NATS has no persistence at all, so messages are lost if no subscriber is listening
  • They diverge on capability: Canary Labs covers Loss-less compression, NATS covers Very low latency.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Canary Labs and NATS differ
AttributeCanary LabsNATS
Starting price$3000/yearFree
Pricing modelPer tag band per yearOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, WebLinux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes

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 NATS

  • Very low latency
  • JetStream
  • Single binary
  • Request-reply

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 NATS
  • A water utility replacing SCADA-embedded logging with a historian that survives the next SCADA replacementnot NATS
  • An Ignition site that wants long-term storage and trending without paying per-client for dashboardsnot NATS
  • A plant with regulatory data-retention obligations where swinging-door compression would not survive an auditnot NATS

NATS

  • Service-to-service messaging where latency is the binding constraintnot Canary Labs
  • Edge and IoT messaging where a lightweight broker mattersnot Canary Labs
  • Replacing a heavier broker when the workload does not need its guaranteesnot 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.

NATS

  • Core NATS has no persistence at all, so messages are lost if no subscriber is listening
  • JetStream adds the durability but also the operational complexity NATS is chosen to avoid
  • A much smaller ecosystem than Kafka or RabbitMQ, with fewer connectors and integrations
  • Fewer people know it, so hiring and existing organisational knowledge favour the alternatives

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

NATS

Free
  • NATSFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

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 NATS if

  • You need very low latency.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want jetstream.
NATS review

Questions people ask

Is Canary Labs or NATS better?
Neither clearly leads. Canary Labs starts at $3000/year and NATS at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Canary Labs or NATS?
NATS has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $3000/year for Canary Labs and Free for NATS.
Does Canary Labs or NATS run on more platforms?
Canary Labs runs on Windows, Web. NATS runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
Can I use NATS for free?
Yes. NATS 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 NATS is typically brought in for.
What can Canary Labs do that NATS cannot?
Canary Labs covers Loss-less compression, Unlimited clients, Store and forward, Views service. NATS covers Very low latency, JetStream, Single binary, Request-reply.

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.

NATS: Is NATS free?

Yes, open source and CNCF-graduated. Synadia sells a managed service.

Canary Labs: Are client licences extra?

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

NATS: Does NATS persist messages?

Core NATS does not — it is fire-and-forget. JetStream adds persistence, streaming and replay when you need them.

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.

NATS: NATS or Kafka?

NATS is far lighter and lower latency, and much simpler to run. Kafka is the answer when you need a durable replayable log and a large connector ecosystem.

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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