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Manufacturing · head to head

LabVIEW vs Waites Sensor Technologies

LabVIEW logo

LabVIEW

Manufacturing

Graphical dataflow programming for automated test, measurement and instrument control

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Waites Sensor Technologies logo

Waites Sensor Technologies

Manufacturing

Wireless multi-point vibration and temperature monitoring sold as a monitored service, not software

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.; Waites Sensor Technologies the radio protocol, gateways, sensors and analytics are a single proprietary stack, so the hardware investment cannot later be redirected at a different analytics vendor.
  • They diverge on capability: LabVIEW covers Graphical dataflow programming, Waites Sensor Technologies covers Multi-point nodes.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LabVIEW and Waites Sensor Technologies actually diverge.

Attributes where LabVIEW and Waites Sensor Technologies differ
AttributeLabVIEWWaites Sensor Technologies
PlatformsWindows, Linux, macOSWeb, 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 Waites Sensor Technologies

  • Multi-point nodes
  • Full-spectrum vibration
  • Long-range radio
  • Long battery life
  • High-temperature variant
  • Machine learning analysis
  • Analyst review
  • Stainless steel housing

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

Waites Sensor Technologies

  • A plant instrumenting hundreds of motor and pump trains where six-point nodes cut the battery and radio maintenance burdennot LabVIEW
  • A food processing site needing washdown-rated wireless sensors that survive daily sanitationnot LabVIEW
  • Monitoring high-temperature equipment where conventional wireless sensors fail before the bearing doesnot LabVIEW
  • A reliability team with no in-house vibration analyst that needs findings, not spectra, delivered as a servicenot 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.

Waites Sensor Technologies

  • The radio protocol, gateways, sensors and analytics are a single proprietary stack, so the hardware investment cannot later be redirected at a different analytics vendor.
  • No pricing is published while the marketing claims a fraction of competitors cost, so the central claim cannot be verified without entering a sales process.
  • A multi-point node is a single point of failure for six measurement points; when the node or its battery fails, six machines go dark rather than one.
  • Wired accelerometer runs back to the node reintroduce cable routing and mechanical protection work that single-sensor wireless products were meant to eliminate.
  • The company is small and its presence is concentrated in North America, so installation support, spares and analyst coverage outside that region depend on partners rather than direct service.

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

Waites Sensor Technologies

On request
  • Waites condition monitoring$undefined/year
    • Priced per monitored machine or measurement point on an annual programme
    • Hardware, gateways, platform access and analyst review bundled in the programme fee
    • Installation and sensor mounting quoted as a services engagement

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 Waites Sensor Technologies if

  • You need multi-point nodes.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want full-spectrum vibration.
Waites Sensor Technologies review

Questions people ask

Is LabVIEW or Waites Sensor Technologies better?
Neither clearly leads. LabVIEW starts at On request and Waites Sensor Technologies at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LabVIEW or Waites Sensor Technologies?
LabVIEW starts at On request and Waites Sensor Technologies at On request.
Does LabVIEW or Waites Sensor Technologies run on more platforms?
LabVIEW runs on Windows, Linux, macOS. Waites Sensor Technologies runs on Web, 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 Waites Sensor Technologies is typically brought in for.
What can LabVIEW do that Waites Sensor Technologies cannot?
LabVIEW covers Graphical dataflow programming, Front panels, Instrument driver library, Hardware integration. Waites Sensor Technologies covers Multi-point nodes, Full-spectrum vibration, Long-range radio, Long battery life.

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.

Waites Sensor Technologies: How many points does one node monitor?

Up to six, using wired accelerometers back to a single wireless node.

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.

Waites Sensor Technologies: Is analyst review included?

Waites includes analyst review in its programme model rather than selling it as separate consultancy, which is the main structural difference from sensor-only vendors.

LabVIEW: Is there a free version?

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

Waites Sensor Technologies: What is the wireless range?

Around 3,000 feet line of sight, which usually means fewer gateways per plant than short-range mesh alternatives.

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.

Waites Sensor Technologies: Can I export the raw data?

There is an API, but the sensors and radio are proprietary, so the data path runs through the Waites platform.

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