Manufacturing · head to head
Fulcrum vs Ignition
Fulcrum
Manufacturing
Field operations management for installing, inspecting and maintaining physical work
- From
- $39/month
- Rated
- -
Ignition
Manufacturing
Industrial automation platform for SCADA, HMI and MES
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Fulcrum monthly pricing only available for first 12 months; after that, annual commitment required; Ignition requires real engineering to implement; it is a platform rather than a finished application
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Fulcrum and Ignition actually diverge.
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 Fulcrum
Nothing recorded that Ignition does not also cover.
Only in Ignition
- Unlimited-client licensing
- SCADA and HMI
- Historian
- MES modules
- Web-based clients
- Wide PLC support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Fulcrum
- Capturing inspection photos and data completely offlinenot Ignition
- Collecting field data in areas without cell coveragenot Ignition
- Tagging asset locations with geospatial coordinatesnot Ignition
- Automating asset maintenance work order workflowsnot Ignition
Ignition
- Plants where per-tag licensing has made expansion a budget conversationnot Fulcrum
- Replacing installed operator terminals with browser-based clientsnot Fulcrum
- Connecting plant floor data to SQL and business systemsnot Fulcrum
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Fulcrum
- Monthly pricing only available for first 12 months; after that, annual commitment required
- Additional storage costs $2.20 USD per month per 20 GB block
- Enterprise plan requires minimum of 5 users
Ignition
- Requires real engineering to implement; it is a platform rather than a finished application
- Steep learning curve, and Inductive Automation runs its own training programme because of it
- Self-hosted and self-supported by default, so plant IT carries the availability burden
- Module-based pricing means the entry figure is rarely the final one
Pricing, plan by plan
Fulcrum
$39/month- Professional$43/month
- 100 GB storage
- 10 data shares
- Standard email and in-app support
- Elite$39/month
- 500 GB storage
- 50 data shares
- Priority email, in-app, and phone support
- Enterprise$null/mo
- Custom pricing
- Unlimited users minimum 5
- Unlimited storage
Ignition
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Ignition review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Fulcrum if
Nothing in the data separates Fulcrum from Ignition on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.
Choose Ignition if
- You need unlimited-client licensing.
- You work on Windows, Linux, macOS, Web.
- You also want scada and hmi.
Questions people ask
- Is Fulcrum or Ignition better?
- Neither clearly leads. Fulcrum starts at $39/month and Ignition at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Fulcrum or Ignition?
- Fulcrum starts at $39/month and Ignition at On request.
- Does Fulcrum or Ignition run on more platforms?
- Fulcrum runs on Web. Ignition runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, Web.
- What is Fulcrum best used for?
- Fulcrum is most often used for capturing inspection photos and data completely offline, collecting field data in areas without cell coverage, tagging asset locations with geospatial coordinates, automating asset maintenance work order workflows. Of those, capturing inspection photos and data completely offline and collecting field data in areas without cell coverage are not what Ignition is typically brought in for.
- What can Fulcrum do that Ignition cannot?
- Ignition covers Unlimited-client licensing, SCADA and HMI, Historian, MES modules.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Fulcrum: How much does Fulcrum cost per user?
Professional and Elite plans cost $43 per month for monthly billing or $55 per user per month when billed annually. Enterprise pricing is custom and requires contacting Fulcrum.
SourceIgnition: What does Ignition cost?
It publishes per-server module pricing with unlimited clients, tags and connections, so cost does not scale with how many people use it.
Fulcrum: What is Fulcrum's storage limit?
Professional includes 100 GB storage, Elite includes 500 GB storage, and Enterprise includes unlimited storage. Additional storage blocks of 20 GB cost $2.20 USD per month.
SourceIgnition: Why does unlimited-client licensing matter?
Traditional SCADA is licensed per tag or per screen, which turns adding an operator terminal into a purchase. Ignition removes that ceiling.
Fulcrum: Are there restrictions on monthly billing for Fulcrum?
Monthly pricing is only available during the first 12 months as a Fulcrum customer. After 12 months, the company learns your usage pattern and offers pricing with an annual commitment required.
SourceIgnition: Is it a finished application?
No, it is a platform. Screens, tags and logic are built for the specific plant, which is real engineering work.