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Energy · head to head

AVEVA PI System vs Cognite Data Fusion

AVEVA PI System logo

AVEVA PI System

Energy

Industrial data infrastructure for real-time insights

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Cognite Data Fusion logo

Cognite Data Fusion

Energy

Industrial data platform that contextualises OT, IT and engineering data into an asset-centric knowledge graph

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: AVEVA PI System pricing is not published and comes through an account representative; Cognite Data Fusion the platform is only as good as the contextualisation work, and that mapping effort is a consulting project that regularly costs more than the first-year subscription.
  • They diverge on capability: AVEVA PI System covers Real-time data collection, Cognite Data Fusion covers Asset-centric data model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which AVEVA PI System and Cognite Data Fusion actually diverge.

Attributes where AVEVA PI System and Cognite Data Fusion differ
AttributeAVEVA PI SystemCognite Data Fusion
Pricing modelone-timequote
PlatformsDesktop, Web, Mobile, ApiWeb, Cloud
Founded1967Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Energy).

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 Cognite Data Fusion

  • Asset-centric data model
  • Entity matching
  • P&ID parsing
  • 3D contextualisation
  • Cognite Atlas AI
  • Data workflows
  • Open SDKs
  • Extractors

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 Cognite Data Fusion
  • Real-time operational data visualization and HMI dashboardsnot Cognite Data Fusion
  • Supply chain and asset performance monitoring across sitesnot Cognite Data Fusion
  • Compliance and audit trail management for regulated industriesnot Cognite Data Fusion
  • Integration with SCADA systems and manufacturing executionnot Cognite Data Fusion

Cognite Data Fusion

  • An operator that wants engineers to find the drawing, the sensor trend and the last work order for a valve from one searchnot AVEVA PI System
  • A company standardising asset data across sites so an analytics team can build once and deploy to many plantsnot AVEVA PI System
  • An upstream operator building a production-optimisation model that needs sensor data joined to equipment metadatanot AVEVA PI System
  • A team replacing a stalled internal data-lake project where nobody could reconstruct what the tag names meantnot 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

Cognite Data Fusion

  • The platform is only as good as the contextualisation work, and that mapping effort is a consulting project that regularly costs more than the first-year subscription.
  • Pricing is consumption-based and unpublished, so costs move with data volume and usage patterns you cannot forecast well until a year in.
  • It does not replace your historian, your ERP or your maintenance system, so Cognite is an additional recurring cost layered on systems you still pay for.
  • The reference base and data model lean heavily towards Norwegian and wider oil, gas and process industries; discrete manufacturing fit is weaker and the local partner network thinner outside energy.
  • Getting value out requires in-house Python and data engineering skill; organisations without a data team end up dependent on Cognite professional services for every new use case.

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

Cognite Data Fusion

On request
  • Cognite Data Fusion$undefined/year
    • Consumption-based pricing on data volume, compute and users
    • Available through cloud marketplaces with private offers
    • Contextualisation and onboarding quoted as a separate engagement

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 Cognite Data Fusion if

  • You need asset-centric data model.
  • You work on Web, Cloud.
  • You also want entity matching.
Cognite Data Fusion review

Questions people ask

Is AVEVA PI System or Cognite Data Fusion better?
Neither clearly leads. AVEVA PI System starts at On request and Cognite Data Fusion at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, AVEVA PI System or Cognite Data Fusion?
AVEVA PI System starts at On request and Cognite Data Fusion at On request.
Does AVEVA PI System or Cognite Data Fusion run on more platforms?
AVEVA PI System runs on Desktop, Web, Mobile, Api. Cognite Data Fusion runs on Web, Cloud.
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 Cognite Data Fusion is typically brought in for.
What can AVEVA PI System do that Cognite Data Fusion cannot?
AVEVA PI System covers Real-time data collection, Time-series data storage, Asset framework, Visualization. Cognite Data Fusion covers Asset-centric data model, Entity matching, P&ID parsing, 3D contextualisation.

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
Cognite Data Fusion: Is Cognite a historian?

No. It reads from historians such as PI System and adds context. You still need the historian underneath.

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
Cognite Data Fusion: How is it priced?

Consumption-based on data, compute and users, quoted per customer. Nothing is published.

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
Cognite Data Fusion: How long does a deployment take?

First useful graph in a few months is realistic; full plant contextualisation across a site is typically a year or more.

Cognite Data Fusion: Can we do the contextualisation ourselves?

Technically yes, the SDKs and matching tools are open, but most customers use Cognite or a partner for the first site.

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