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Manufacturing · head to head

IBM Maximo Application Suite vs Kepware Server

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
Kepware Server logo

Kepware Server

Manufacturing

Industrial connectivity server translating 150-plus PLC protocols into OPC UA, formerly KEPServerEX

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.; Kepware Server the base server is the small part of the bill; driver suites are priced by protocol family, and a mixed-vendor plant buys several, which is how a connectivity layer alone reaches tens of thousands of dollars.
  • They diverge on capability: IBM Maximo Application Suite covers AppPoint pooling, Kepware Server covers 150-plus device drivers.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where IBM Maximo Application Suite and Kepware Server differ
AttributeIBM Maximo Application SuiteKepware Server
Starting price$3150/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer year by AppPoint poolquote
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, On-premise, iOS, Android, LinuxWindows, Linux

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 Kepware Server

  • 150-plus device drivers
  • OPC UA server
  • IoT Gateway
  • DataLogger
  • Redundancy Master
  • Security Policies
  • Configuration API
  • Kepware Edge

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 Kepware Server
  • An airline or rail operator needing configuration control and maintenance history depth that survives a regulator audit going back yearsnot Kepware Server
  • A manufacturer wanting condition-based maintenance and work order execution in the same system rather than integrating a predictive tool to a separate CMMSnot Kepware Server
  • A defence or nuclear estate where the industry solution and long-term vendor viability matter more than the licence costnot Kepware Server

Kepware Server

  • Feeding a historian from a mixed plant of Allen-Bradley and Siemens PLCs without writing per-protocol driversnot IBM Maximo Application Suite
  • Publishing CNC machine state from FANUC and Haas controls to an OEE system over MQTTnot IBM Maximo Application Suite
  • Bridging legacy serial Modbus devices into an OPC UA architecture during a phased controller replacementnot IBM Maximo Application Suite
  • Running redundant collection servers so a cloud analytics pipeline does not lose data during Windows patchingnot 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.

Kepware Server

  • The base server is the small part of the bill; driver suites are priced by protocol family, and a mixed-vendor plant buys several, which is how a connectivity layer alone reaches tens of thousands of dollars.
  • KEPServerEX to Kepware Server 7 is a migration rather than an in-place upgrade, and driver entitlements do not always transfer cleanly, so budget for revalidating every channel.
  • The full driver portfolio is Windows-only; the Linux product, Kepware Edge, supports a subset of drivers and is subscription-licensed by tag count, so an edge-first architecture cannot simply reuse the Windows configuration.
  • Three names have been in circulation for the same lineage, and quotes, forum answers and integrator experience still mix KEPServerEX, ThingWorx Kepware Server and Kepware Server, which produces mismatched proposals.
  • It is a translation layer with no storage, contextualisation or visualisation of its own, so it is always an addition to a historian or platform purchase rather than a substitute for one.

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

Kepware Server

On request
  • Kepware Server$undefined/year
    • Base server as a perpetual licence with annual maintenance, or subscription
    • Driver suites priced by protocol family and bought separately from the server
    • Advanced plug-ins such as IoT Gateway, DataLogger and Redundancy Master licensed individually

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 Kepware Server if

  • You need 150-plus device drivers.
  • You work on Windows, Linux.
  • You also want opc ua server.
Kepware Server review

Questions people ask

Is IBM Maximo Application Suite or Kepware Server better?
Neither clearly leads. IBM Maximo Application Suite starts at $3150/month and Kepware Server 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 Kepware Server?
IBM Maximo Application Suite starts at $3150/month and Kepware Server at On request.
Does IBM Maximo Application Suite or Kepware Server run on more platforms?
IBM Maximo Application Suite runs on Web, Cloud, On-premise, iOS, Android, Linux. Kepware Server runs on Windows, Linux.
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 Kepware Server is typically brought in for.
What can IBM Maximo Application Suite do that Kepware Server cannot?
IBM Maximo Application Suite covers AppPoint pooling, Maximo Manage, Maximo Health and Predict, Maximo Visual Inspection. Kepware Server covers 150-plus device drivers, OPC UA server, IoT Gateway, DataLogger.

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.

Kepware Server: Is KEPServerEX discontinued?

The name is. KEPServerEX and ThingWorx Kepware Server have been unified into Kepware Server, currently version 7, and the older names are being retired.

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.

Kepware Server: Is a perpetual licence still available?

Yes for the Windows server, with annual maintenance. Kepware Edge on Linux is subscription-only.

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.

Kepware Server: What drives the price?

The number and type of driver suites, not the number of tags on the Windows product. Kepware Edge is priced by tag count.

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.

Kepware Server: Can I evaluate it before buying?

Yes. The runtime works for two hours at a time without a licence, indefinitely, which is enough to prove connectivity but not to run production.

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