Softwr

Manufacturing · head to head

JobBOSS² vs PTC Windchill

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
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: 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.; 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.
  • They diverge on capability: JobBOSS² covers Estimating and quoting, PTC Windchill covers Part and BOM management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which JobBOSS² and PTC Windchill actually diverge.

Attributes where JobBOSS² and PTC Windchill differ
AttributeJobBOSS²PTC Windchill
PlatformsWindows, WebWeb, Windows, On-premise, Cloud, API

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 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.

JobBOSS²

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

PTC Windchill

  • A medical device manufacturer needing a design history file and audit-ready change control for FDA and MDR submissionsnot JobBOSS²
  • An aerospace supplier reconciling engineering and plant-specific manufacturing BOMs across multiple factoriesnot JobBOSS²
  • An industrial equipment firm managing configurable product families where every unit shipped has a different option setnot JobBOSS²
  • A company standardising on Creo that wants CAD data management and PLM from one vendor rather than twonot 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.

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

JobBOSS²

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

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 JobBOSS² if

  • You need estimating and quoting.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want order and job management.
JobBOSS² 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 JobBOSS² or PTC Windchill better?
Neither clearly leads. JobBOSS² starts at On request and PTC Windchill at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, JobBOSS² or PTC Windchill?
JobBOSS² starts at On request and PTC Windchill at On request.
Does JobBOSS² or PTC Windchill run on more platforms?
JobBOSS² runs on Windows, Web. PTC Windchill runs on Web, Windows, On-premise, Cloud, API.
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 PTC Windchill is typically brought in for.
What can JobBOSS² do that PTC Windchill cannot?
JobBOSS² covers Estimating and quoting, Order and job management, Shop floor data collection, Scheduling. PTC Windchill covers Part and BOM management, Change and configuration management, CAD data management, Variant and options management.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Share

Related pages

More on JobBOSS²

More on PTC Windchill

Keep looking

Other head to heads