Softwr

Manufacturing · head to head

JobBOSS² vs LabVIEW

JobBOSS² logo

JobBOSS²

Manufacturing

ECI shop control system formed by merging JobBOSS and E2 Shop System into one product line

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
LabVIEW logo

LabVIEW

Manufacturing

Graphical dataflow programming for automated test, measurement and instrument control

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: JobBOSS² the product is a merger of two legacy systems, so existing JobBOSS and E2 customers face a migration and retraining project whose cost is negotiated case by case and is easy to underestimate.; LabVIEW nI is now part of Emerson, completing in 2023, so LabVIEW sits inside an industrial automation conglomerate rather than being the flagship of a dedicated test company; roadmap priorities and support pricing follow the parent, not the user base.
  • They diverge on capability: JobBOSS² covers Estimating and quoting, LabVIEW covers Graphical dataflow programming.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which JobBOSS² and LabVIEW actually diverge.

Attributes where JobBOSS² and LabVIEW differ
AttributeJobBOSS²LabVIEW
PlatformsWindows, WebWindows, Linux, macOS

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 JobBOSS²

  • Estimating and quoting
  • Order and job management
  • Shop floor data collection
  • Scheduling
  • Job costing
  • Integrated accounting

Only in LabVIEW

  • Graphical dataflow programming
  • Front panels
  • Instrument driver library
  • Hardware integration
  • Real-time and FPGA targets
  • Analysis and signal processing
  • Application builder
  • Nigel AI assistant

What people use each for

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

JobBOSS²

  • A job shop quoting from spreadsheets that wants estimating, routing and costing in one systemnot LabVIEW
  • An existing JobBOSS or E2 Shop System customer evaluating whether to migrate or replacenot LabVIEW
  • A make to order fabricator that needs accounting inside the manufacturing system rather than alongside itnot LabVIEW
  • A shop that wants operator time capture at work centres to make job costing reflect what actually happenednot LabVIEW

LabVIEW

  • An automotive supplier building an end-of-line test rig that must drive a power supply, read a scope and log pass/fail against a serial numbernot JobBOSS²
  • A semiconductor lab characterising devices across a PXI chassis where deterministic timing between instruments mattersnot JobBOSS²
  • A medical device manufacturer needing a validated, documented test system with an operator front panel a technician can run unsupervisednot JobBOSS²
  • A research group prototyping a control loop on CompactRIO where part of the logic must compile down to an FPGAnot JobBOSS²

Where each one falls short

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

JobBOSS²

  • The product is a merger of two legacy systems, so existing JobBOSS and E2 customers face a migration and retraining project whose cost is negotiated case by case and is easy to underestimate.
  • ECI is a private equity owned portfolio company with many vertical products, and buyers should read renewal, uplift and support tier terms carefully because the commercial model is built around long term contracted revenue.
  • Machine connectivity is limited, so shop floor data comes from operators clocking in and out rather than from controllers, and any automatic utilisation measurement needs a separate monitoring product.
  • Reporting is rigid compared with a modern system and most shops end up exporting to Excel for anything beyond the supplied reports, which reintroduces the spreadsheets the system was bought to eliminate.
  • The user interface carries its lineage and takes longer to learn than a current generation web application, which matters most for occasional users such as estimators and purchasing staff.

LabVIEW

  • NI is now part of Emerson, completing in 2023, so LabVIEW sits inside an industrial automation conglomerate rather than being the flagship of a dedicated test company; roadmap priorities and support pricing follow the parent, not the user base.
  • No prices appear anywhere on the NI site for commercial editions; Base, Full, Professional and the LabVIEW+ suite are all quoted through NI or a reseller, so a buyer cannot compare cost against a Python-plus-PyVISA alternative without opening a sales conversation.
  • Graphical source code diffs badly. Merging two engineers’ changes to the same virtual instrument in git is impractical without NI’s own comparison tools, so team development on LabVIEW is slower and more serialised than on text-based languages.
  • The pool of engineers who write LabVIEW is small and ageing relative to the pool who write Python, so hiring a replacement for the person who built your test rig is materially harder and more expensive than replacing a general software engineer.
  • The environment pulls you toward NI hardware and NI add-on toolkits, and licences for real-time, FPGA and vision modules are sold separately on top of the base edition, so the quoted LabVIEW price is rarely the delivered cost of a working test system.

Pricing, plan by plan

JobBOSS²

On request
  • JobBOSS²$undefined/year
    • Quoting through invoicing for job shops
    • Shop floor data collection and scheduling
    • Hosted or on premises deployment

LabVIEW

On request
  • LabVIEW Community EditionFree
    • Free for personal, non-commercial use only
    • Full LabVIEW feature set for hobbyists
    • No commercial deployment rights
  • LabVIEW Base$undefined/year
    • Core acquisition, control and user interface capability
    • Suited to simple test and measurement applications
    • Available as subscription or perpetual licence
  • LabVIEW Full$undefined/year
    • Adds advanced analysis and signal processing
    • Recommended where mathematics and filtering are required
    • Available as subscription or perpetual licence
  • LabVIEW Professional$undefined/year
    • Adds application builder, source control and deployment tooling
    • Includes the Nigel AI assistant
    • Available as subscription or perpetual licence

Which should you pick?

Choose JobBOSS² if

  • You need estimating and quoting.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want order and job management.
JobBOSS² review

Choose LabVIEW if

  • You need graphical dataflow programming.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, macOS.
  • You also want front panels.
LabVIEW review

Questions people ask

Is JobBOSS² or LabVIEW better?
Neither clearly leads. JobBOSS² starts at On request and LabVIEW at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, JobBOSS² or LabVIEW?
JobBOSS² starts at On request and LabVIEW at On request.
Does JobBOSS² or LabVIEW run on more platforms?
JobBOSS² runs on Windows, Web. LabVIEW runs on Windows, Linux, macOS.
What is JobBOSS² best used for?
JobBOSS² is most often used for a job shop quoting from spreadsheets that wants estimating, routing and costing in one system, an existing jobboss or e2 shop system customer evaluating whether to migrate or replace, a make to order fabricator that needs accounting inside the manufacturing system rather than alongside it, a shop that wants operator time capture at work centres to make job costing reflect what actually happened. Of those, a job shop quoting from spreadsheets that wants estimating, routing and costing in one system and an existing jobboss or e2 shop system customer evaluating whether to migrate or replace are not what LabVIEW is typically brought in for.
What can JobBOSS² do that LabVIEW cannot?
JobBOSS² covers Estimating and quoting, Order and job management, Shop floor data collection, Scheduling. LabVIEW covers Graphical dataflow programming, Front panels, Instrument driver library, Hardware integration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

JobBOSS²: What happened to E2 Shop System?

ECI acquired it and merged it with JobBOSS into the combined JobBOSS² line. Legacy customers are directed towards migration.

LabVIEW: Who owns LabVIEW now?

NI, formerly National Instruments, was acquired by Emerson in an acquisition that completed in 2023. LabVIEW is now an Emerson product.

JobBOSS²: Is it cloud based?

It is offered hosted and on premises. Hosted is not the same as a cloud native architecture, and performance expectations should be set accordingly.

LabVIEW: Can I still buy a perpetual licence?

Yes. NI offers both subscription and perpetual licences and states there are no functional or feature-level differences between them.

JobBOSS²: Does it include accounting?

Yes, accounting is part of the product, which is one of the main reasons small shops choose it over an ERP plus separate finance package.

LabVIEW: Is there a free version?

LabVIEW Community Edition is free for personal, non-commercial use. It carries no commercial deployment rights.

JobBOSS²: Can it read data from my CNC machines?

Not natively in any meaningful way. Data collection is operator driven, so shops wanting spindle level data buy a monitoring platform alongside it.

LabVIEW: How much does it cost?

NI does not publish commercial edition prices. Base, Full, Professional and LabVIEW+ are all quoted through NI or a reseller.

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