Softwr

Manufacturing · head to head

Duro PLM vs Flow Software

Duro PLM logo

Duro PLM

Manufacturing

Hosted PLM for hardware startups, sold in fixed user bands with no published price

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Flow Software logo

Flow Software

Manufacturing

Manufacturing KPI and OEE calculation engine with published list prices, licensed by measure count

From
$11390/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Duro PLM no pricing is published anywhere, so budgeting requires a sales conversation and buyers cannot compare against alternatives without entering a pipeline.; Flow Software the 11,390 dollar Starter licence caps at 250 measures and events, which a multi-line plant exhausts quickly once each line contributes a dozen calculations, forcing a jump to the 62,230 dollar tier.
  • They diverge on capability: Duro PLM covers Part library, Flow Software covers Calculation engine.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Duro PLM and Flow Software actually diverge.

Attributes where Duro PLM and Flow Software differ
AttributeDuro PLMFlow Software
Starting priceOn request$11390/one-time
Pricing modelquoteOne-time purchase
PlatformsWebWindows, Web

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 Duro PLM

  • Part library
  • Multi-level BOMs
  • Change orders
  • CAD integrations
  • Supplier and cost data
  • User band plans

Only in Flow Software

  • Calculation engine
  • Measure model
  • Historian connectors
  • Manual data entry
  • Event framing
  • Excel and Power BI output
  • Flow dashboards
  • AI Gateway

What people use each for

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

Duro PLM

  • A robotics startup imposing change control on a design before releasing it to a contract manufacturernot Flow Software
  • A consumer electronics team tracking supplier part numbers and costs against every item in the BOMnot Flow Software
  • A hardware company whose engineers keep overwriting each other's BOM spreadsheet versionsnot Flow Software
  • A venture-funded startup that needs a defensible change history before a first production buildnot Flow Software

Flow Software

  • A brewery replacing a fragile network of OEE spreadsheets with governed calculations from the same historian datanot Duro PLM
  • Reporting specific energy consumption per tonne against an ISO 50001 audit where the calculation method must be documentednot Duro PLM
  • Feeding Power BI plant dashboards from a historian without giving analysts direct tag-level accessnot Duro PLM
  • A site that needs lab results typed in and combined with automated tag data in the same yield calculationnot Duro PLM

Where each one falls short

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

Duro PLM

  • No pricing is published anywhere, so budgeting requires a sales conversation and buyers cannot compare against alternatives without entering a pipeline.
  • Plans are sold in fixed user bands rather than per seat, so hiring an eleventh engineer moves you to the next tier instead of adding one seat.
  • Storage allowances are capped at 25, 50 and 100 GB, which is tight for teams keeping native CAD files rather than only neutral formats.
  • There is no self-hosted or on-premises option, which rules Duro out for defence and some aerospace suppliers with data residency or ITAR handling constraints.
  • Scope stops at engineering data: no requirements management, no quality module and no manufacturing process planning, so it does not replace the systems a company needs at production scale.

Flow Software

  • The 11,390 dollar Starter licence caps at 250 measures and events, which a multi-line plant exhausts quickly once each line contributes a dozen calculations, forcing a jump to the 62,230 dollar tier.
  • The Unlimited licence requires every engine on a single server or VM, so any multi-server or multi-site topology goes straight to Distributed at roughly double the price with no intermediate option.
  • Maintenance renews at about fifteen percent of the installed base annually, so a large perpetual estate carries a five-figure recurring cost that the headline perpetual price hides.
  • It is a Windows product with a Microsoft data stack, so Linux or container-native deployment strategies do not apply and the server has to be managed on the plant Windows estate.
  • It calculates and reports but does not collect from equipment itself, so an existing historian or OPC layer is a prerequisite and Flow adds cost on top of that rather than replacing it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Duro PLM

On request
  • Team$undefined/year
    • Up to 10 users
    • 25 GB data storage
    • Part library, BOMs and change orders
  • Business$undefined/year
    • Up to 20 users
    • 50 GB data storage
    • CAD integrations
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • 20 or more users
    • 100 GB data storage
    • Extended support

Flow Software

$11390/one-time
  • Starter$11390/one-time
    • 250 KPI measures and events
    • Single server deployment
    • First year of software maintenance included
  • Unlimited$62230/one-time
    • Unlimited KPI measures and events
    • All engines must run on one server or dedicated VM
    • First year of maintenance included
  • Distributed$128450/one-time
    • Unlimited measures with engines distributed across multiple servers
    • Required for multi-server and multi-site deployments
    • Available as an annual subscription at 34,250 USD instead

Which should you pick?

Choose Duro PLM if

  • You need part library.
  • You also want multi-level boms.
Duro PLM review

Choose Flow Software if

  • You need calculation engine.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want measure model.
Flow Software review

Questions people ask

Is Duro PLM or Flow Software better?
Neither clearly leads. Duro PLM starts at On request and Flow Software at $11390/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Duro PLM or Flow Software?
Duro PLM starts at On request and Flow Software at $11390/one-time.
Does Duro PLM or Flow Software run on more platforms?
Duro PLM runs on Web. Flow Software runs on Windows, Web.
What is Duro PLM best used for?
Duro PLM is most often used for a robotics startup imposing change control on a design before releasing it to a contract manufacturer, a consumer electronics team tracking supplier part numbers and costs against every item in the bom, a hardware company whose engineers keep overwriting each other's bom spreadsheet versions, a venture-funded startup that needs a defensible change history before a first production build. Of those, a robotics startup imposing change control on a design before releasing it to a contract manufacturer and a consumer electronics team tracking supplier part numbers and costs against every item in the bom are not what Flow Software is typically brought in for.
What can Duro PLM do that Flow Software cannot?
Duro PLM covers Part library, Multi-level BOMs, Change orders, CAD integrations. Flow Software covers Calculation engine, Measure model, Historian connectors, Manual data entry.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Duro PLM: How much does Duro cost?

Duro does not publish prices. Plans are fixed annual subscriptions quoted by sales against a user band, billed Net 30.

Flow Software: Does Flow publish real prices?

Yes. Starter is 11,390 USD perpetual for 250 measures, Unlimited is 62,230 USD perpetual or 16,595 USD a year, and Distributed is 128,450 USD perpetual or 34,250 USD a year.

Duro PLM: Can I run Duro on my own servers?

No. It is cloud only, which is a hard blocker for organisations with data residency or export control requirements.

Flow Software: Is perpetual licensing still offered?

Yes, at every tier, with the first year of maintenance included and renewal at roughly fifteen percent per year. Subscription is available on Unlimited and Distributed only.

Duro PLM: What happens when we exceed our user band?

You move to the next tier rather than adding individual seats, so growth arrives as a step change in cost.

Flow Software: Do I need a historian as well?

Effectively yes. Flow reads from historians, databases and OPC sources; it is a calculation layer, not a data collector.

Duro PLM: Is Duro suitable for medical device work?

Its change control is real but the workflow configuration and audit depth are lighter than dedicated regulated-industry PLM, so most ISO 13485 programmes need more.

Flow Software: What counts as a measure?

Each configured KPI or event definition. A single line typically consumes ten to thirty, which is what makes the 250 Starter cap tighter than it looks.

Share

Related pages

More on Duro PLM

More on Flow Software

Keep looking

Other head to heads