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Manufacturing · head to head

IBM Maximo Application Suite vs Petasense

IBM Maximo Application Suite logo

IBM Maximo Application Suite

Manufacturing

Enterprise asset management suite licensed by a shared pool of AppPoints rather than by named user

From
$3150/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Petasense logo

Petasense

Manufacturing

Wireless vibration and asset reliability monitoring, now owned by AssetWatch

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: IBM Maximo Application Suite appPoints are consumed by users, applications and environments at once, so a routine decision like adding a test environment or enabling Health quietly eats pool capacity and can trigger a true-up nobody budgeted for.; Petasense petasense is now owned by AssetWatch, whose business is monitoring delivered as a managed service, so a buyer wanting self-service software should get the delivery model written into the contract rather than assume it.
  • They diverge on capability: IBM Maximo Application Suite covers AppPoint pooling, Petasense covers Vibration Mote.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which IBM Maximo Application Suite and Petasense actually diverge.

Attributes where IBM Maximo Application Suite and Petasense differ
AttributeIBM Maximo Application SuitePetasense
Starting price$3150/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer year by AppPoint poolquote
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, On-premise, iOS, Android, LinuxWeb, Cloud, iOS, Android

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 IBM Maximo Application Suite

  • AppPoint pooling
  • Maximo Manage
  • Maximo Health and Predict
  • Maximo Visual Inspection
  • Industry solutions
  • OpenShift deployment

Only in Petasense

  • Vibration Mote
  • Transmitter range
  • ARO cloud
  • VFD-specific monitoring
  • Reliability workflow
  • Mixed wired and wireless

What people use each for

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

IBM Maximo Application Suite

  • A transmission utility managing hundreds of thousands of linear and point assets with regulatory reporting that a mid-market CMMS cannot producenot Petasense
  • An airline or rail operator needing configuration control and maintenance history depth that survives a regulator audit going back yearsnot Petasense
  • A manufacturer wanting condition-based maintenance and work order execution in the same system rather than integrating a predictive tool to a separate CMMSnot Petasense
  • A defence or nuclear estate where the industry solution and long-term vendor viability matter more than the licence costnot Petasense

Petasense

  • A reliability team wanting continuous vibration data on assets currently covered by a quarterly walkaround routenot IBM Maximo Application Suite
  • A plant with variable frequency drive assets where generic vibration analytics produce too many false alarmsnot IBM Maximo Application Suite
  • Mixing battery sensors on accessible pumps with wired sensors on the handful of assets that would stop productionnot IBM Maximo Application Suite
  • A manufacturer with no in-house vibration analyst that wants the analysis delivered as a service rather than as a dashboardnot IBM Maximo Application Suite

Where each one falls short

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

IBM Maximo Application Suite

  • AppPoints are consumed by users, applications and environments at once, so a routine decision like adding a test environment or enabling Health quietly eats pool capacity and can trigger a true-up nobody budgeted for.
  • Pools are commonly sized from headcount rather than concurrency and application mix, and licence reviews frequently find them over-provisioned by a large margin, meaning organisations pay for entitlement they never consume.
  • Implementation, data migration, customisation and integrator fees routinely cost two to three times the first-year licence, so a business case built on the subscription figure will be materially wrong.
  • MAS requires Red Hat OpenShift, which for a customer-hosted deployment adds a container platform, its licensing and the specialist administration skills to run it, none of which the previous standalone Maximo needed.
  • Maximo is deep and slow to change; configuration is a specialist skill, upgrades are projects rather than updates, and organisations without a dedicated Maximo team end up permanently dependent on an implementation partner.

Petasense

  • Petasense is now owned by AssetWatch, whose business is monitoring delivered as a managed service, so a buyer wanting self-service software should get the delivery model written into the contract rather than assume it.
  • Hardware is required per measurement point and gateways are required per area, so the up-front capital for a plant-wide deployment is substantial and separate from the subscription.
  • Per-asset subscription pricing scales linearly, which makes full coverage of a large population of low-value motors uneconomic compared with route-based monitoring.
  • Nothing is published on sensor cost, subscription rate, gateway requirements or contract length, so a total cost of ownership figure requires a full sales engagement before you can compare it against anything.
  • Battery-powered wireless sensors trade measurement richness for battery life, so the sampling rate and resolution are lower than a wired analyser would give, which limits diagnosis of high-frequency bearing defects on critical machines.

Pricing, plan by plan

IBM Maximo Application Suite

$3150/month
  • Essentials (SaaS)$3150/month
    • Entry SaaS tier for a small user population
    • One production environment
    • Core Manage functionality
  • Standard (SaaS)$undefined/month
    • Larger AppPoint pool
    • Additional applications and environments
    • Priced on application
  • Premium (SaaS)$undefined/month
    • Full application set including Predict and Visual Inspection
    • Multiple environments
    • Priced on application
  • Customer hosted$undefined/year
    • AppPoint entitlement bought outright and run on your own OpenShift cluster
    • Infrastructure, OpenShift and administration costs are yours
    • Annual support and subscription contract required

Petasense

On request
  • Petasense ARO$undefined/year
    • Subscription priced per monitored asset
    • Vibration Mote or Transmitter hardware required per measurement point
    • Gateway hardware required for wireless deployments

Which should you pick?

Choose IBM Maximo Application Suite if

  • You need apppoint pooling.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, On-premise, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want maximo manage.
IBM Maximo Application Suite review

Choose Petasense if

  • You need vibration mote.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, iOS, Android.
  • You also want transmitter range.
Petasense review

Questions people ask

Is IBM Maximo Application Suite or Petasense better?
Neither clearly leads. IBM Maximo Application Suite starts at $3150/month and Petasense at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, IBM Maximo Application Suite or Petasense?
IBM Maximo Application Suite starts at $3150/month and Petasense at On request.
Does IBM Maximo Application Suite or Petasense run on more platforms?
IBM Maximo Application Suite runs on Web, Cloud, On-premise, iOS, Android, Linux. Petasense runs on Web, Cloud, iOS, Android.
What is IBM Maximo Application Suite best used for?
IBM Maximo Application Suite is most often used for a transmission utility managing hundreds of thousands of linear and point assets with regulatory reporting that a mid-market cmms cannot produce, an airline or rail operator needing configuration control and maintenance history depth that survives a regulator audit going back years, a manufacturer wanting condition-based maintenance and work order execution in the same system rather than integrating a predictive tool to a separate cmms, a defence or nuclear estate where the industry solution and long-term vendor viability matter more than the licence cost. Of those, a transmission utility managing hundreds of thousands of linear and point assets with regulatory reporting that a mid-market cmms cannot produce and an airline or rail operator needing configuration control and maintenance history depth that survives a regulator audit going back years are not what Petasense is typically brought in for.
What can IBM Maximo Application Suite do that Petasense cannot?
IBM Maximo Application Suite covers AppPoint pooling, Maximo Manage, Maximo Health and Predict, Maximo Visual Inspection. Petasense covers Vibration Mote, Transmitter range, ARO cloud, VFD-specific monitoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

IBM Maximo Application Suite: Is Maximo still sold per user?

No. The Maximo Application Suite licenses a shared AppPoint pool consumed by users, applications and environments. Per-seat Maximo is the old model.

Petasense: Is Petasense still a separate product?

Yes. It trades under its own name with its own product line, but the owner since January 2024 is AssetWatch.

IBM Maximo Application Suite: What does the entry SaaS tier cost?

The Essentials package starts around $3,150 per month for a small user population and one production environment. Larger tiers are quoted.

Petasense: Do I have to buy Petasense hardware?

Yes. The platform is built around its own Motes and Transmitters; it is not a bring-your-own-sensor analytics product.

IBM Maximo Application Suite: Do non-production environments cost AppPoints?

Yes. Development, test and training environments draw from the same pool, which is the most common sizing surprise.

Petasense: Can I get monitoring as a service?

Yes, through parent AssetWatch, whose model is condition monitoring engineers reviewing your data. Clarify which model your quote covers.

IBM Maximo Application Suite: Can I run MAS without OpenShift?

No. OpenShift is the deployment platform whether you host it yourself or consume MAS as a service from IBM.

Petasense: How is it priced?

Per monitored asset on subscription, plus sensors and gateways. Nothing is published.

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