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Manufacturing · head to head

OpenBOM vs Sight Machine

OpenBOM logo

OpenBOM

Manufacturing

Cloud bill of materials and part catalogue management priced per seat, with free read-only users

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sight Machine logo

Sight Machine

Manufacturing

Enterprise manufacturing data platform that builds a plant data model rather than a dashboard

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only OpenBOM has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: OpenBOM pricing has three axes, editing seats plus data record count plus per-seat CAD add-ins at $25 to $45 each, so the real annual cost is well above the advertised per-seat figure.; Sight Machine onboarding is a data engineering project measured in months per plant, so value arrives long after the contract starts and the internal sponsor needs the patience and budget to survive that gap.
  • They diverge on capability: OpenBOM covers Multi-level BOMs, Sight Machine covers Unified plant data model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which OpenBOM and Sight Machine actually diverge.

Attributes where OpenBOM and Sight Machine differ
AttributeOpenBOMSight Machine
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer user per monthquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, APIWeb, API

Identical on both: 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 OpenBOM

  • Multi-level BOMs
  • Part catalogue
  • CAD add-ins
  • Change management
  • Free read-only users
  • REST API

Only in Sight Machine

  • Unified plant data model
  • Broad ingestion
  • Cross plant benchmarking
  • Root cause analysis
  • Natural language querying
  • Cloud data platform delivery

What people use each for

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

OpenBOM

  • A hardware startup replacing a shared BOM spreadsheet before its first contract manufacturing runnot Sight Machine
  • A contract manufacturer sharing structured BOMs with customers who should see but not edit themnot Sight Machine
  • An electronics team pulling BOMs straight out of Altium and mechanical CAD instead of retyping themnot Sight Machine
  • A small manufacturer that needs part numbering and revision discipline but cannot fund a PLM projectnot Sight Machine

Sight Machine

  • A corporate operations team that cannot compare plant performance because every site defines a stoppage differentlynot OpenBOM
  • A manufacturer whose historian data is plentiful but has never been modelled into anything a business can querynot OpenBOM
  • A group standardising manufacturing reporting into a cloud data warehouse alongside finance and supply chain datanot OpenBOM
  • A quality organisation investigating a defect that appears at several plants with different equipmentnot OpenBOM

Where each one falls short

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

OpenBOM

  • Pricing has three axes, editing seats plus data record count plus per-seat CAD add-ins at $25 to $45 each, so the real annual cost is well above the advertised per-seat figure.
  • Paying yearly nearly halves the seat price, from $55 to $30 and $165 to $90, so monthly billing carries an unusually heavy penalty for teams that want flexibility.
  • Change management, revision control and CAD file management are absent from the entry Team plan, so the cheapest tier is a catalogue rather than a working PLM.
  • It lacks the approval workflows, effectivity dating and audit depth that regulated medical and aerospace suppliers need, so companies pursuing ISO 13485 or AS9100 typically migrate away.
  • Record count is metered separately and a large imported part library can push a small team into a higher data tier without adding a single user.

Sight Machine

  • Onboarding is a data engineering project measured in months per plant, so value arrives long after the contract starts and the internal sponsor needs the patience and budget to survive that gap.
  • It assumes the instrumentation already exists, so a plant whose machines produce no usable data gets nothing from a data platform and needs to solve connectivity first with a different class of product.
  • Pricing scales with plants and data volume and is never published, which puts it out of reach for single site manufacturers regardless of how relevant the capability sounds.
  • It is not an MES and does not control or execute anything, so it sits on top of the operational systems and adds a layer to maintain rather than replacing one.
  • Success depends on a central team that owns definitions and enforces them, and in groups where plants retain autonomy the standardisation the platform provides gets quietly ignored at site level.

Pricing, plan by plan

OpenBOM

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 2,000 data records
    • Basic BOM and catalogue management
    • Non-commercial and educational use
  • Professional Team$55/month
    • $30 per seat per month billed yearly
    • BOM management, part catalogue, inventory
    • RFQ and purchase orders
  • Company$165/month
    • $90 per seat per month billed yearly
    • Everything in Team
    • CAD file management and revision control
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Single sign-on
    • Custom integrations
    • Private or custom hosting

Sight Machine

On request
  • Sight Machine$undefined/year
    • Enterprise manufacturing data platform
    • Per plant onboarding and modelling services
    • Cross site analytics and benchmarking

Which should you pick?

Choose OpenBOM if

  • You need multi-level boms.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, API.
  • You also want part catalogue.
OpenBOM review

Choose Sight Machine if

  • You need unified plant data model.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want broad ingestion.
Sight Machine review

Questions people ask

Is OpenBOM or Sight Machine better?
Neither clearly leads. OpenBOM starts at Free and Sight Machine at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, OpenBOM or Sight Machine?
OpenBOM has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for OpenBOM and On request for Sight Machine.
Does OpenBOM or Sight Machine run on more platforms?
OpenBOM runs on Web, Windows, macOS, API. Sight Machine runs on Web, API.
Can I use OpenBOM for free?
Yes. OpenBOM has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sight Machine starts at On request.
What is OpenBOM best used for?
OpenBOM is most often used for a hardware startup replacing a shared bom spreadsheet before its first contract manufacturing run, a contract manufacturer sharing structured boms with customers who should see but not edit them, an electronics team pulling boms straight out of altium and mechanical cad instead of retyping them, a small manufacturer that needs part numbering and revision discipline but cannot fund a plm project. Of those, a hardware startup replacing a shared bom spreadsheet before its first contract manufacturing run and a contract manufacturer sharing structured boms with customers who should see but not edit them are not what Sight Machine is typically brought in for.
What can OpenBOM do that Sight Machine cannot?
OpenBOM covers Multi-level BOMs, Part catalogue, CAD add-ins, Change management. Sight Machine covers Unified plant data model, Broad ingestion, Cross plant benchmarking, Root cause analysis.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

OpenBOM: Is OpenBOM free?

There is a genuine free tier limited to 2,000 data records and aimed at non-commercial and educational use. Commercial teams start at $30 per seat per month billed yearly.

Sight Machine: Is this an OEE product?

It can produce OEE, but buying it for OEE alone is expensive. The reason to buy it is cross plant data standardisation.

OpenBOM: Do I pay for people who only look at BOMs?

No. Read-only users are unlimited and free on every paid plan, which is the main reason the total cost undercuts seat-for-seat PLM tools.

Sight Machine: Does it need a historian?

It reads from historians, control systems and MES. Some source of machine data is a prerequisite.

OpenBOM: Are the CAD add-ins included?

No. They are $25 per seat per month billed yearly, $45 monthly, and require an active Team or Company subscription.

Sight Machine: How long does a plant take to onboard?

Plan in months per plant, depending on how many sources and how inconsistent the existing definitions are.

OpenBOM: Can OpenBOM replace a full PLM?

For a startup, usually yes. For regulated manufacturing needing controlled workflows and full audit trails, no.

Sight Machine: Who is the buyer?

A corporate manufacturing, quality or digital function. It is rarely a plant level purchase.

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