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Manufacturing · head to head

Fulcrum vs PTC Windchill

Fulcrum logo

Fulcrum

Manufacturing

Field operations management for installing, inspecting and maintaining physical work

From
$39/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PTC Windchill logo

PTC Windchill

Manufacturing

Enterprise PLM for regulated hardware, priced entirely by negotiation

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Fulcrum monthly pricing only available for first 12 months; after that, annual commitment required; PTC Windchill no pricing is published at any tier, and per-user rates are heavily negotiable on multi-year commitments, so the first quote a buyer receives is rarely the achievable price and small buyers without volume have little leverage.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fulcrum and PTC Windchill actually diverge.

Attributes where Fulcrum and PTC Windchill differ
AttributeFulcrumPTC Windchill
Starting price$39/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows, On-premise, Cloud, API

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 PTC Windchill does not also cover.

Only in PTC Windchill

  • Part and BOM management
  • Change and configuration management
  • CAD data management
  • Variant and options management
  • Quality management
  • Windchill Navigate
  • Service information

What people use each for

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

Fulcrum

  • Capturing inspection photos and data completely offlinenot PTC Windchill
  • Collecting field data in areas without cell coveragenot PTC Windchill
  • Tagging asset locations with geospatial coordinatesnot PTC Windchill
  • Automating asset maintenance work order workflowsnot PTC Windchill

PTC Windchill

  • A medical device manufacturer needing a design history file and audit-ready change control for FDA and MDR submissionsnot Fulcrum
  • An aerospace supplier reconciling engineering and plant-specific manufacturing BOMs across multiple factoriesnot Fulcrum
  • An industrial equipment firm managing configurable product families where every unit shipped has a different option setnot Fulcrum
  • A company standardising on Creo that wants CAD data management and PLM from one vendor rather than twonot 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

PTC Windchill

  • No pricing is published at any tier, and per-user rates are heavily negotiable on multi-year commitments, so the first quote a buyer receives is rarely the achievable price and small buyers without volume have little leverage.
  • Implementation dominates cost: data migration, configuration and training routinely account for the majority of three-year total cost of ownership, and large programmes run into seven figures of services.
  • Annual support and maintenance is charged as a percentage of licence value in the low-to-mid teens, so the bill continues indefinitely even in years when nothing is upgraded.
  • Upgrades between major releases are projects rather than updates, particularly where the deployment has been customised, and heavily customised sites often sit several versions behind.
  • The role-based licence tiers mean occasional participants such as purchasing or quality still consume paid seats unless you deploy Windchill Navigate, which is a further product to buy and configure.

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

PTC Windchill

On request
  • Windchill$undefined/year
    • Role-based seat tiers: Viewer, Contributor, Editor, Administrator
    • Modules for quality, variants, service and supplier collaboration priced separately
    • On-premise, customer cloud or PTC-hosted SaaS

Which should you pick?

Choose Fulcrum if

Nothing in the data separates Fulcrum from PTC Windchill on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Fulcrum review

Choose PTC Windchill if

  • You need part and bom management.
  • You work on Web, Windows, On-premise, Cloud, API.
  • You also want change and configuration management.
PTC Windchill review

Questions people ask

Is Fulcrum or PTC Windchill better?
Neither clearly leads. Fulcrum starts at $39/month and PTC Windchill at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fulcrum or PTC Windchill?
Fulcrum starts at $39/month and PTC Windchill at On request.
Does Fulcrum or PTC Windchill run on more platforms?
Fulcrum runs on Web. PTC Windchill runs on Web, Windows, On-premise, Cloud, API.
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 PTC Windchill is typically brought in for.
What can Fulcrum do that PTC Windchill cannot?
PTC Windchill covers Part and BOM management, Change and configuration management, CAD data management, Variant and options management.

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.

Source
PTC Windchill: Is a perpetual licence still available?

PTC has moved decisively to subscription and now positions Windchill as a subscription product. Existing perpetual estates are supported but new perpetual sales are not the default route and should not be assumed.

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.

Source
PTC Windchill: How much does Windchill cost?

PTC publishes nothing. Expect role-tiered per-user subscription plus modules, plus support at a percentage of licence value, plus implementation services that usually exceed the software.

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.

Source
PTC Windchill: Does it require Creo?

No. Creo integration is deepest, but connectors exist for SolidWorks, NX, CATIA and Inventor. Mixed-CAD sites are common.

PTC Windchill: Is it overkill for a hundred-person hardware company?

Usually yes, unless you are in a regulated sector. Below that scale a cloud-native PLM will reach useful state in weeks rather than quarters.

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