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Manufacturing · head to head

COPA-DATA zenon vs OSIsoft PI System

COPA-DATA zenon logo

COPA-DATA zenon

Manufacturing

HMI, SCADA and energy automation platform licensed by I/O tag count

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OSIsoft PI System logo

OSIsoft PI System

Energy

Real-time operational intelligence for industrial operations

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: COPA-DATA zenon the I/O count that determines your licence band is a weighted calculation, not a variable tally, so projects sized from a tag list routinely land in a higher and more expensive band than budgeted.; OSIsoft PI System oSIsoft is now AVEVA and osisoft.com redirects to the AVEVA PI System pages
  • They diverge on capability: COPA-DATA zenon covers I/O-banded licensing, OSIsoft PI System covers Real-time data collection.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which COPA-DATA zenon and OSIsoft PI System actually diverge.

Attributes where COPA-DATA zenon and OSIsoft PI System differ
AttributeCOPA-DATA zenonOSIsoft PI System
PlatformsWindows, Linux, WebWindows, Web, Api
CategoryManufacturingEnergy
FoundedUnknown1980

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 COPA-DATA zenon

  • I/O-banded licensing
  • IEC 61850 native
  • zenon Logic
  • Pharmaceutical compliance
  • Multi-project engineering
  • Redundancy

Only in OSIsoft PI System

  • Real-time data collection
  • Time-series data storage
  • Advanced analytics
  • Asset framework
  • Visualization tools
  • Event frames
  • Data compression
  • Notifications and alerts

What people use each for

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

COPA-DATA zenon

  • A pharmaceutical plant needing audit trail and electronic signature in the SCADA layer without building a validation wrapper around a generic HMInot OSIsoft PI System
  • A utility automating substations that wants IEC 61850 SCL import and DNP3 in the base product rather than as chargeable driver optionsnot OSIsoft PI System
  • A machine builder shipping identical HMI applications to many customers who wants one engineering project reused across machine and line levelnot OSIsoft PI System
  • A food and beverage site in German-speaking Europe where local integrator availability for zenon is strong and Rockwell coverage is notnot OSIsoft PI System

OSIsoft PI System

  • Collecting and historising high frequency industrial process and sensor datanot COPA-DATA zenon
  • Operations dashboards and trend analysis for plants and utilitiesnot COPA-DATA zenon
  • Feeding real time operational data into analytics and digital twin applicationsnot COPA-DATA zenon

Where each one falls short

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

COPA-DATA zenon

  • The I/O count that determines your licence band is a weighted calculation, not a variable tally, so projects sized from a tag list routinely land in a higher and more expensive band than budgeted.
  • The integrator and engineering talent pool is concentrated in German-speaking Europe; a North American or Asian site can find itself dependent on a single partner with no competitive quote available.
  • English-language documentation and community material lag the German equivalents, which slows engineers who are learning the product without formal COPA-DATA training.
  • The annual software maintenance contract is a percentage of licence value, so a large I/O estate carries a recurring cost that does not fall even when the plant is stable and nothing is changing.
  • Third-party ecosystem extensions are far fewer than for Ignition or FactoryTalk, so requirements outside the box tend to become custom engineering billed at partner day rates.

OSIsoft PI System

  • OSIsoft is now AVEVA and osisoft.com redirects to the AVEVA PI System pages
  • No pricing is published; osisoft.com/pricing resolves to AVEVA product pages with no rate, minimum or cost driver
  • Licensing runs through the AVEVA Flex Subscription Program rather than a published per-seat or per-tag price
  • The PI System is split across separately listed products including PI Server, PI Vision, PI Data Infrastructure and Edge Data Store

Pricing, plan by plan

COPA-DATA zenon

On request
  • zenon$undefined/year
    • Runtime licensed in bands by calculated I/O count
    • Numeric variables weighted upward in the I/O calculation, binary counted singly
    • Engineering Studio licensed separately from runtime

OSIsoft PI System

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the OSIsoft PI System review.

Which should you pick?

Choose COPA-DATA zenon if

  • You need i/o-banded licensing.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, Web.
  • You also want iec 61850 native.
COPA-DATA zenon review

Choose OSIsoft PI System if

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

Questions people ask

Is COPA-DATA zenon or OSIsoft PI System better?
Neither clearly leads. COPA-DATA zenon starts at On request and OSIsoft PI System at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, COPA-DATA zenon or OSIsoft PI System?
COPA-DATA zenon starts at On request and OSIsoft PI System at On request.
Does COPA-DATA zenon or OSIsoft PI System run on more platforms?
COPA-DATA zenon runs on Windows, Linux, Web. OSIsoft PI System runs on Windows, Web, Api.
What is COPA-DATA zenon best used for?
COPA-DATA zenon is most often used for a pharmaceutical plant needing audit trail and electronic signature in the scada layer without building a validation wrapper around a generic hmi, a utility automating substations that wants iec 61850 scl import and dnp3 in the base product rather than as chargeable driver options, a machine builder shipping identical hmi applications to many customers who wants one engineering project reused across machine and line level, a food and beverage site in german-speaking europe where local integrator availability for zenon is strong and rockwell coverage is not. Of those, a pharmaceutical plant needing audit trail and electronic signature in the scada layer without building a validation wrapper around a generic hmi and a utility automating substations that wants iec 61850 scl import and dnp3 in the base product rather than as chargeable driver options are not what OSIsoft PI System is typically brought in for.
What can COPA-DATA zenon do that OSIsoft PI System cannot?
COPA-DATA zenon covers I/O-banded licensing, IEC 61850 native, zenon Logic, Pharmaceutical compliance. OSIsoft PI System covers Real-time data collection, Time-series data storage, Advanced analytics, Asset framework.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

COPA-DATA zenon: How is a zenon licence sized?

By calculated I/O count. Numeric variables are weighted upward in that calculation and binary values counted singly, so ask your partner for the calculated figure, not the variable count, before signing.

OSIsoft PI System: How much does the AVEVA PI System cost?

AVEVA PI System (formerly OSIsoft PI System) operates on a subscription-based commercial model with customized pricing. The company structures subscriptions to match specific use cases and business needs, requiring direct contact with account representatives.

Source
COPA-DATA zenon: Is zenon only for factories?

No. A significant part of its installed base is electrical substation automation, where IEC 61850 support is native rather than an add-on.

OSIsoft PI System: What is AVEVA PI System's pricing model?

AVEVA offers subscription-based licensing for software components running on-premises or in the cloud. Subscriptions are customized per customer use case, and pricing is determined through consultation with local account representatives.

Source
COPA-DATA zenon: Is there a free version?

There is a demo mode for evaluation and a free educational licence, but production runtime always needs a paid, I/O-banded licence.

COPA-DATA zenon: Can zenon replace a PLC?

zenon Logic is an IEC 61131-3 soft PLC and can control non-safety-critical processes, but most deployments keep a hardware PLC and use zenon for visualisation and supervision.

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