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Manufacturing · head to head

GENESIS Version 11 vs VTScada

GENESIS Version 11 logo

GENESIS Version 11

Manufacturing

Iconics SCADA and visualisation under Mitsubishi Electric, now sold with unlimited tag licensing

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
VTScada logo

VTScada

Utilities

SCADA software for water, wastewater and remote telemetry with a published price list

From
$3395/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: GENESIS Version 11 the name has changed twice, from GENESIS64 to GENESIS Version 11 with an Iconics-to-Mitsubishi ownership shift, so documentation, forum answers and integrator experience are split across three product identities.; VTScada licences are per installed PC rather than per system, so a redundant pair plus a development machine means paying three times unless you buy the discounted multi-server bundles.
  • They diverge on capability: GENESIS Version 11 covers Unlimited tag licensing, VTScada covers Automatic version control.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GENESIS Version 11 and VTScada actually diverge.

Attributes where GENESIS Version 11 and VTScada differ
AttributeGENESIS Version 11VTScada
Starting priceOn request$3395/one-time
Pricing modelquoteOne-time purchase
PlatformsWindows, Web, iOS, AndroidWindows
CategoryManufacturingUtilities

Identical on both: 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 GENESIS Version 11

  • Unlimited tag licensing
  • GraphWorX
  • Hyper Historian
  • AnalytiX
  • Web and mobile clients
  • BACnet and building protocols
  • Alarm and notification
  • Energy AnalytiX

Only in VTScada

  • Automatic version control
  • Bundled historian
  • Alarm notification
  • Driver set included
  • Redundancy and sync
  • Thin clients
  • Idea Studio
  • Slippy maps

What people use each for

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

GENESIS Version 11

  • A university or hospital estate adding buildings every year that no longer wants a licence negotiation for each expansionnot VTScada
  • A data centre operator needing power and cooling status overlaid on a 3D floor model rather than a line diagramnot VTScada
  • A water utility wanting pump station status on a GIS map alongside historised flow and pressure datanot VTScada
  • A Mitsubishi Electric factory automation site wanting supervisory visualisation from the same vendor as the controllersnot VTScada

VTScada

  • A municipal water authority with 60 remote pump stations on licensed radio that needs DNP3 polling and regulator-facing change recordsnot GENESIS Version 11
  • An oil and gas gathering operator polling wellsite RTUs over intermittent cellular links with store and forwardnot GENESIS Version 11
  • A small utility that must produce a defensible budget number before going to council for capital approvalnot GENESIS Version 11
  • An integrator standardising on one product where historian, alarming and dialler costs are inside the licence rather than quoted separatelynot GENESIS Version 11

Where each one falls short

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

GENESIS Version 11

  • The name has changed twice, from GENESIS64 to GENESIS Version 11 with an Iconics-to-Mitsubishi ownership shift, so documentation, forum answers and integrator experience are split across three product identities.
  • Unlimited licensing sets a high floor: a small site with a few hundred points pays for capacity it cannot use, and tag-priced competitors remain cheaper below a few thousand points.
  • It is a Windows and Microsoft-stack product, depending on SQL Server and Windows services, so Linux-first or containerised deployment strategies do not apply to it.
  • Mitsubishi Electric now owns it outright, and roadmap priorities follow that group’s factory automation strategy rather than the independent building-automation direction Iconics previously set.
  • The 3D and GIS visualisation that distinguishes it takes real modelling effort to populate, and estates that skip that work end up with an expensive licence driving conventional 2D screens.

VTScada

  • Licences are per installed PC rather than per system, so a redundant pair plus a development machine means paying three times unless you buy the discounted multi-server bundles.
  • Thin client licensing is by concurrent connection and is priced steeply at scale: unlimited thin clients on a 50,000 tag system costs 59,395 USD on top of the base licence, more than the base licence itself.
  • It is Windows only with no Linux or container deployment, which rules it out of modern edge and virtualised architectures that other SCADA products now support.
  • SupportPlus at 15 percent of the original software price must be maintained continuously; if you let it lapse you cannot simply resume, and reinstatement is negotiated rather than published.
  • The scripting environment and the integrator pool are both proprietary and small, so finding a second-source integrator in a region where Trihedral has thin coverage is genuinely difficult.

Pricing, plan by plan

GENESIS Version 11

On request
  • GENESIS Version 11$undefined/year
    • Unlimited tags, users and connected devices within a licence
    • Licensed by product module rather than by point count
    • Sold and configured through Mitsubishi Electric and Iconics system integrators

VTScada

$3395/one-time
  • Base licence up to 1,000 I/O$3395/one-time
    • Runtime and full historian
    • All I/O drivers included
    • Alarms and events
  • Base licence up to 5,000 I/O$4295/one-time
    • Runtime and full historian
    • Development add-on 4,100 USD
    • Alarm notification add-on 2,895 USD
  • Single Server bundle, 5,000 I/O$19095/one-time
    • Development node
    • Alarm notification
    • 2 thin clients
  • Single Server bundle, 50,000 I/O$32495/one-time
    • Development node
    • Alarm notification
    • 2 thin clients

Which should you pick?

Choose GENESIS Version 11 if

  • You need unlimited tag licensing.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want graphworx.
GENESIS Version 11 review

Choose VTScada if

  • You need automatic version control.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want bundled historian.
VTScada review

Questions people ask

Is GENESIS Version 11 or VTScada better?
Neither clearly leads. GENESIS Version 11 starts at On request and VTScada at $3395/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GENESIS Version 11 or VTScada?
GENESIS Version 11 starts at On request and VTScada at $3395/one-time.
Does GENESIS Version 11 or VTScada run on more platforms?
GENESIS Version 11 runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android. VTScada runs on Windows.
What is GENESIS Version 11 best used for?
GENESIS Version 11 is most often used for a university or hospital estate adding buildings every year that no longer wants a licence negotiation for each expansion, a data centre operator needing power and cooling status overlaid on a 3d floor model rather than a line diagram, a water utility wanting pump station status on a gis map alongside historised flow and pressure data, a mitsubishi electric factory automation site wanting supervisory visualisation from the same vendor as the controllers. Of those, a university or hospital estate adding buildings every year that no longer wants a licence negotiation for each expansion and a data centre operator needing power and cooling status overlaid on a 3d floor model rather than a line diagram are not what VTScada is typically brought in for.
What can GENESIS Version 11 do that VTScada cannot?
GENESIS Version 11 covers Unlimited tag licensing, GraphWorX, Hyper Historian, AnalytiX. VTScada covers Automatic version control, Bundled historian, Alarm notification, Driver set included.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

GENESIS Version 11: Is GENESIS64 discontinued?

It has been superseded. GENESIS Version 11 is the current release and the name GENESIS64 is retired.

VTScada: Is VTScada perpetual or subscription?

Perpetual. Licences are one-time purchases per installed PC, with an optional annual SupportPlus contract at 15 percent of the original software price.

GENESIS Version 11: Does version 11 really have no tag limits?

Yes, tag, user and device counting was removed in version 11. Licensing is by module instead.

VTScada: Are drivers extra?

No. Standard and proprietary I/O drivers, the historian, trending, reporting and security are all included in the base licence.

GENESIS Version 11: Who owns Iconics now?

Mitsubishi Electric, which took full ownership. Iconics continues to operate under its own name from Massachusetts.

VTScada: What does support actually cost?

Annual SupportPlus is 15 percent of total software purchase price. Adding 24/7 emergency support is a further 5 percent with a 1,540 USD minimum.

GENESIS Version 11: Can it act as a building management system on its own?

It is the supervisory and analytics layer. It reads BACnet and building controllers but does not replace field-level plant controllers.

VTScada: Does it run on Linux?

No. VTScada is Windows only.

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