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Manufacturing · head to head

Litmus Edge vs SOS Inventory

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
-
SOS Inventory logo

SOS Inventory

Inventory

Inventory management for QuickBooks Online

From
$69.95/month
Rated
-

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.; SOS Inventory the Companion plan at $69.95 per month is limited to a single location and 1 custom field
  • They diverge on capability: Litmus Edge covers Prebuilt driver library, SOS Inventory covers Lot tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Litmus Edge and SOS Inventory actually diverge.

Attributes where Litmus Edge and SOS Inventory differ
AttributeLitmus EdgeSOS Inventory
Starting price$1500/month$69.95/month
Pricing modelPer site by data point countsubscription
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, On-premiseWeb, Cloud-based
CategoryManufacturingInventory
FoundedUnknown2011

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 SOS Inventory

  • Lot tracking
  • Serial numbers
  • Manufacturing
  • Multi-location
  • QuickBooks Online
  • Shopify
  • BigCommerce
  • ShipStation

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 SOS Inventory
  • Feeding a cloud data warehouse or lakehouse with normalised production data without asking the controls team to write cloud connectorsnot SOS Inventory
  • Retrofitting data collection onto old CNC machines and robots where the protocol support is the hard part, not the analyticsnot SOS Inventory
  • Adding local buffering and computation at sites with unreliable WAN links so cloud outages do not create gaps in production historynot SOS Inventory

SOS Inventory

  • Inventory managementnot Litmus Edge
  • Job costingnot Litmus Edge
  • Manufacturing automationnot 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.

SOS Inventory

  • The Companion plan at $69.95 per month is limited to a single location and 1 custom field
  • Serial and lot number tracking, barcoding and unlimited locations require the Plus plan at $139.95 per month
  • Phone support is excluded from the Companion plan
  • Job costing, advanced manufacturing and the customer portal require the Pro plan at $194.95 per month
  • Each plan includes only 2 to 5 users and additional users cost $25 each per month
  • The 2 months free discount requires paying a year up front

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

SOS Inventory

$69.95/month
  • Companion$69.95/month
    • Basic inventory management
    • 2 included users
    • Additional users $25/month each
  • Plus$139.95/month
    • Labeled most popular
    • Unlimited locations
    • Serial and lot tracking
  • Pro$194.95/month
    • Advanced automation
    • Job costing
    • Advanced manufacturing

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.

Choose SOS Inventory if

  • You need lot tracking.
  • You work on Web, Cloud-based.
  • You also want serial numbers.

Questions people ask

Is Litmus Edge or SOS Inventory better?
Neither clearly leads. Litmus Edge starts at $1500/month and SOS Inventory at $69.95/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Litmus Edge or SOS Inventory?
Litmus Edge starts at $1500/month and SOS Inventory at $69.95/month.
Does Litmus Edge or SOS Inventory run on more platforms?
Litmus Edge runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, On-premise. SOS Inventory runs on Web, Cloud-based.
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 SOS Inventory is typically brought in for.
What can Litmus Edge do that SOS Inventory cannot?
Litmus Edge covers Prebuilt driver library, Unified data model, Litmus Edge Manager, Edge applications. SOS Inventory covers Lot tracking, Serial numbers, Manufacturing, Multi-location.

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.

SOS Inventory: How much does SOS Inventory cost?

SOS Inventory offers monthly plans from $69.95 for Companion to $194.95 for Pro. Annual billing saves approximately two months of fees. Additional users cost $25/month, and external connections are $25/month each.

Source
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.

SOS Inventory: Does SOS Inventory offer a free trial?

Yes, SOS Inventory offers 14 days to explore its full range of features. Users can upgrade or downgrade plans easily through account settings.

Source
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.

SOS Inventory: What is the difference between SOS Inventory plans?

Companion includes 2 users and basic management. Plus is marked most popular and adds unlimited locations and lot tracking with 3 users. Pro adds advanced automation and manufacturing with 5 users.

Source
Litmus Edge: Does it need Litmus hardware?

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

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