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Manufacturing · head to head

COPA-DATA zenon vs Tulip

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
Tulip logo

Tulip

Manufacturing

Frontline operations platform for manufacturing

From
$100/month
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.; Tulip minimum 10 interface commitment increases entry cost
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which COPA-DATA zenon and Tulip actually diverge.

Attributes where COPA-DATA zenon and Tulip differ
AttributeCOPA-DATA zenonTulip
Starting priceOn request$100/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWindows, Linux, WebWeb

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Manufacturing).

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 Tulip

Nothing recorded that COPA-DATA zenon does not also cover.

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 Tulip
  • A utility automating substations that wants IEC 61850 SCL import and DNP3 in the base product rather than as chargeable driver optionsnot Tulip
  • A machine builder shipping identical HMI applications to many customers who wants one engineering project reused across machine and line levelnot Tulip
  • A food and beverage site in German-speaking Europe where local integrator availability for zenon is strong and Rockwell coverage is notnot Tulip

Tulip

  • Production floor apps and dashboardsnot COPA-DATA zenon
  • Quality and assembly workflowsnot COPA-DATA zenon
  • Sensor data integrationnot COPA-DATA zenon
  • Regulated industry manufacturingnot COPA-DATA zenon
  • Multi-site operational dashboardsnot 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.

Tulip

  • Minimum 10 interface commitment increases entry cost
  • Enterprise and Regulated pricing not transparent
  • Complex per-interface billing model

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

Tulip

$100/month
  • Essentials$100/month
    • Apps, Tulip AI, Tables, Analytics
    • Mobile/desktop/touchscreen access
    • USB device integrations
  • Professional$250/month
    • All Essentials features
    • Advanced edge connectivity
    • SSO/SAML/LDAP
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • All Professional features
    • Workspaces, app approval workflows
    • Custom roles, multilingual apps
  • Regulated Industries$null/month
    • eSignatures (21 CFR Part 11)
    • Auditable record history
    • Zero data loss protection

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 Tulip if

Nothing in the data separates Tulip from COPA-DATA zenon on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Tulip review

Questions people ask

Is COPA-DATA zenon or Tulip better?
Neither clearly leads. COPA-DATA zenon starts at On request and Tulip at $100/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, COPA-DATA zenon or Tulip?
COPA-DATA zenon starts at On request and Tulip at $100/month.
Does COPA-DATA zenon or Tulip run on more platforms?
COPA-DATA zenon runs on Windows, Linux, Web. Tulip runs on Web.
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 Tulip is typically brought in for.
What can COPA-DATA zenon do that Tulip cannot?
COPA-DATA zenon covers I/O-banded licensing, IEC 61850 native, zenon Logic, Pharmaceutical compliance.

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.

Tulip: How is Tulip pricing calculated?

Tulip pricing is based on 'Monthly Active Interfaces (MAI)', the number of devices running Tulip Player applications with activity during at least one day per month. Minimum commitment is 10 interfaces.

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.

Tulip: Does Tulip offer a free tier or trial?

No free plan is mentioned on the Tulip pricing page. All pricing tiers require direct contact with sales for quotes and requires a minimum 10 interface commitment.

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.

Tulip: What is the difference between Essentials and Professional tiers?

Professional ($250/MAI/month) adds advanced edge connectivity, SSO/SAML/LDAP, 3rd-party HTTP/SQL integrations, custom widgets, and higher AI Action/automation task limits compared to Essentials ($100/MAI/month).

Source
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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