Softwr

Manufacturing · head to head

Litmus Edge vs Samotics

Litmus Edge logo

Litmus Edge

Manufacturing

Industrial edge platform that collects, normalises and forwards OT data to cloud and enterprise systems

From
$1500/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Samotics logo

Samotics

Manufacturing

Condition monitoring of motor-driven assets using electrical signature analysis from the motor control cabinet

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Litmus Edge pricing is by site and data point, so a large tag count at one plant can cost more than a modest tag count spread over several, which is the opposite of how most manufacturers plan a rollout.; Samotics sAM4 only sees what reaches the motor electrically, so it covers the driven train and misses un-driven equipment, structures, process conditions and anything downstream of a mechanical decoupling.
  • They diverge on capability: Litmus Edge covers Prebuilt driver library, Samotics covers Electrical signature analysis.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Litmus Edge and Samotics actually diverge.

Attributes where Litmus Edge and Samotics differ
AttributeLitmus EdgeSamotics
Starting price$1500/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer site by data point countquote
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, On-premiseWeb, Cloud

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 Litmus Edge

  • Prebuilt driver library
  • Unified data model
  • Litmus Edge Manager
  • Edge applications
  • Store and forward
  • Cloud and broker outputs

Only in Samotics

  • Electrical signature analysis
  • Switchroom installation
  • Energy and efficiency measurement
  • Submersible and hazardous area coverage
  • Fault classification
  • Fleet view

What people use each for

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

Litmus Edge

  • A manufacturer with twenty plants and five PLC brands that needs one data acquisition standard rather than twenty bespoke integrationsnot Samotics
  • Feeding a cloud data warehouse or lakehouse with normalised production data without asking the controls team to write cloud connectorsnot Samotics
  • Retrofitting data collection onto old CNC machines and robots where the protocol support is the hard part, not the analyticsnot Samotics
  • Adding local buffering and computation at sites with unreliable WAN links so cloud outages do not create gaps in production historynot Samotics

Samotics

  • A water utility monitoring submersible and borehole pumps that no vibration sensor can be fitted to without lifting the pumpnot Litmus Edge
  • A chemical plant with assets in ATEX zones where certifying and maintaining in-field sensors is more expensive than the monitoring itselfnot Litmus Edge
  • A food plant that wants pump and mixer condition data without opening guarding or taking a hygiene-critical line down to fit sensorsnot Litmus Edge
  • A site building an energy reduction case, where measured motor efficiency and waste give the business case a payback that reliability alone would notnot Litmus Edge

Where each one falls short

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

Litmus Edge

  • Pricing is by site and data point, so a large tag count at one plant can cost more than a modest tag count spread over several, which is the opposite of how most manufacturers plan a rollout.
  • The entry package sits around $1,500 per month, an awkward number for a single-site pilot given that the product is infrastructure with no visible output of its own until something downstream consumes it.
  • Litmus does no analytics, so the business case always depends on a second purchase; the platform on its own produces no result a plant manager can see.
  • Full pricing beyond the entry tier is not published and the Growth and Scale packages are quoted, so scaling costs are unknown at the point you commit to the architecture.
  • A capable controls team can approximate a single-site deployment with an open-source broker and a driver gateway for a fraction of the cost, so the value case depends entirely on how many sites you are managing centrally.

Samotics

  • SAM4 only sees what reaches the motor electrically, so it covers the driven train and misses un-driven equipment, structures, process conditions and anything downstream of a mechanical decoupling.
  • Each monitored motor needs hardware installed in the motor control centre by a qualified electrician, and in older switchrooms that installation, including any required outage, can cost more than a year of the subscription.
  • Per-asset subscription pricing means the cost scales linearly with the number of motors, so a plant with a thousand small motors faces a bill that a fixed-price plant-wide vibration system would not impose.
  • Electrical signature analysis on variable-speed drives is harder than on direct-on-line motors, and results vary with drive type, so a heavily VSD estate should insist on a pilot on its own drives before committing.
  • Nothing is published on price, contract length or minimum deployment size, and the vendor sells multi-year subscriptions, so early exit terms are a negotiation you have to raise yourself.

Pricing, plan by plan

Litmus Edge

$1500/month
  • Foundation$1500/month
    • Entry package sized by site count and data points
    • Core driver library and edge runtime
    • Store and forward to cloud and brokers
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Larger site and data point allowance
    • Litmus Edge Manager fleet management
    • Priced on application
  • Scale$undefined/month
    • Enterprise multi-site deployment
    • Higher data point ceilings and support tier
    • Priced on application

Samotics

On request
  • SAM4$undefined/year
    • Subscription priced per monitored asset
    • SAM4 sensor hardware required in each motor control centre
    • Electrical installation by a qualified electrician, quoted separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Litmus Edge if

  • You need prebuilt driver library.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, On-premise.
  • You also want unified data model.
Litmus Edge review

Choose Samotics if

  • You need electrical signature analysis.
  • You work on Web, Cloud.
  • You also want switchroom installation.
Samotics review

Questions people ask

Is Litmus Edge or Samotics better?
Neither clearly leads. Litmus Edge starts at $1500/month and Samotics at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Litmus Edge or Samotics?
Litmus Edge starts at $1500/month and Samotics at On request.
Does Litmus Edge or Samotics run on more platforms?
Litmus Edge runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, On-premise. Samotics runs on Web, Cloud.
What is Litmus Edge best used for?
Litmus Edge is most often used for a manufacturer with twenty plants and five plc brands that needs one data acquisition standard rather than twenty bespoke integrations, feeding a cloud data warehouse or lakehouse with normalised production data without asking the controls team to write cloud connectors, retrofitting data collection onto old cnc machines and robots where the protocol support is the hard part, not the analytics, adding local buffering and computation at sites with unreliable wan links so cloud outages do not create gaps in production history. Of those, a manufacturer with twenty plants and five plc brands that needs one data acquisition standard rather than twenty bespoke integrations and feeding a cloud data warehouse or lakehouse with normalised production data without asking the controls team to write cloud connectors are not what Samotics is typically brought in for.
What can Litmus Edge do that Samotics cannot?
Litmus Edge covers Prebuilt driver library, Unified data model, Litmus Edge Manager, Edge applications. Samotics covers Electrical signature analysis, Switchroom installation, Energy and efficiency measurement, Submersible and hazardous area coverage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Litmus Edge: Does Litmus Edge do analytics or dashboards?

Only lightweight edge computation and basic visualisation. It is a data acquisition and normalisation layer; the analysis happens in whatever you send the data to.

Samotics: Does Samotics replace vibration monitoring?

For motor-driven assets it often does, and it reaches assets vibration cannot. For un-driven equipment and structures it does not apply at all.

Litmus Edge: How is it priced?

By number of sites and number of data points, in packages. The entry package starts around $1,500 per month; larger tiers are quoted.

Samotics: Do I have to buy Samotics hardware?

Yes. SAM4 requires the vendor's sensors fitted in the motor control centre; there is no software-only option.

Litmus Edge: Can it replace my historian?

No. It buffers and forwards but is not a long-term historian. Most deployments send data into a historian, warehouse or lakehouse.

Samotics: Does it work on variable-speed drives?

It can, but performance depends on the drive and the operating profile. Pilot it on your own VSD assets rather than accepting a reference from a direct-on-line site.

Litmus Edge: Does it need Litmus hardware?

No. It runs on standard industrial PCs, virtual machines or containers; there is no proprietary appliance requirement.

Samotics: How is it priced?

Subscription per monitored asset, quoted, typically on a multi-year term, with hardware and electrical installation on top.

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