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Manufacturing · head to head

LabVIEW vs Petasense

LabVIEW logo

LabVIEW

Manufacturing

Graphical dataflow programming for automated test, measurement and instrument control

From
On request
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: 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.; 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: LabVIEW covers Graphical dataflow programming, Petasense covers Vibration Mote.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LabVIEW and Petasense actually diverge.

Attributes where LabVIEW and Petasense differ
AttributeLabVIEWPetasense
PlatformsWindows, Linux, macOSWeb, Cloud, iOS, Android

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 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

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.

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 Petasense
  • A semiconductor lab characterising devices across a PXI chassis where deterministic timing between instruments mattersnot Petasense
  • A medical device manufacturer needing a validated, documented test system with an operator front panel a technician can run unsupervisednot Petasense
  • A research group prototyping a control loop on CompactRIO where part of the logic must compile down to an FPGAnot Petasense

Petasense

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

Where each one falls short

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

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.

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

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

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 LabVIEW if

  • You need graphical dataflow programming.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, macOS.
  • You also want front panels.
LabVIEW 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 LabVIEW or Petasense better?
Neither clearly leads. LabVIEW starts at On request and Petasense at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LabVIEW or Petasense?
LabVIEW starts at On request and Petasense at On request.
Does LabVIEW or Petasense run on more platforms?
LabVIEW runs on Windows, Linux, macOS. Petasense runs on Web, Cloud, iOS, Android.
What is LabVIEW best used for?
LabVIEW is most often used for 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 number, a semiconductor lab characterising devices across a pxi chassis where deterministic timing between instruments matters, a medical device manufacturer needing a validated, documented test system with an operator front panel a technician can run unsupervised, a research group prototyping a control loop on compactrio where part of the logic must compile down to an fpga. Of those, 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 number and a semiconductor lab characterising devices across a pxi chassis where deterministic timing between instruments matters are not what Petasense is typically brought in for.
What can LabVIEW do that Petasense cannot?
LabVIEW covers Graphical dataflow programming, Front panels, Instrument driver library, Hardware integration. Petasense covers Vibration Mote, Transmitter range, ARO cloud, VFD-specific monitoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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.

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.

LabVIEW: Is there a free version?

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

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.

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.

Petasense: How is it priced?

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

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