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Energy · head to head

OSIsoft PI System vs VTScada

OSIsoft PI System logo

OSIsoft PI System

Energy

Real-time operational intelligence for industrial operations

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
VTScada logo

VTScada

Utilities

SCADA software for water, wastewater and remote telemetry with a published price list

From
$3395/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: OSIsoft PI System oSIsoft is now AVEVA and osisoft.com redirects to the AVEVA PI System pages; VTScada licences are per installed PC rather than per system, so a redundant pair plus a development machine means paying three times unless you buy the discounted multi-server bundles.
  • They diverge on capability: OSIsoft PI System covers Real-time data collection, VTScada covers Automatic version control.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which OSIsoft PI System and VTScada actually diverge.

Attributes where OSIsoft PI System and VTScada differ
AttributeOSIsoft PI SystemVTScada
Starting priceOn request$3395/one-time
Pricing modelquoteOne-time purchase
PlatformsWindows, Web, ApiWindows
CategoryEnergyUtilities
Founded1980Unknown

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 OSIsoft PI System

  • Real-time data collection
  • Time-series data storage
  • Advanced analytics
  • Asset framework
  • Visualization tools
  • Event frames
  • Data compression
  • Notifications and alerts

Only in VTScada

  • Automatic version control
  • Bundled historian
  • Alarm notification
  • Driver set included
  • Redundancy and sync
  • Thin clients
  • Idea Studio
  • Slippy maps

What people use each for

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

OSIsoft PI System

  • Collecting and historising high frequency industrial process and sensor datanot VTScada
  • Operations dashboards and trend analysis for plants and utilitiesnot VTScada
  • Feeding real time operational data into analytics and digital twin applicationsnot VTScada

VTScada

  • A municipal water authority with 60 remote pump stations on licensed radio that needs DNP3 polling and regulator-facing change recordsnot OSIsoft PI System
  • An oil and gas gathering operator polling wellsite RTUs over intermittent cellular links with store and forwardnot OSIsoft PI System
  • A small utility that must produce a defensible budget number before going to council for capital approvalnot OSIsoft PI System
  • An integrator standardising on one product where historian, alarming and dialler costs are inside the licence rather than quoted separatelynot OSIsoft PI System

Where each one falls short

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

OSIsoft PI System

  • OSIsoft is now AVEVA and osisoft.com redirects to the AVEVA PI System pages
  • No pricing is published; osisoft.com/pricing resolves to AVEVA product pages with no rate, minimum or cost driver
  • Licensing runs through the AVEVA Flex Subscription Program rather than a published per-seat or per-tag price
  • The PI System is split across separately listed products including PI Server, PI Vision, PI Data Infrastructure and Edge Data Store

VTScada

  • Licences are per installed PC rather than per system, so a redundant pair plus a development machine means paying three times unless you buy the discounted multi-server bundles.
  • Thin client licensing is by concurrent connection and is priced steeply at scale: unlimited thin clients on a 50,000 tag system costs 59,395 USD on top of the base licence, more than the base licence itself.
  • It is Windows only with no Linux or container deployment, which rules it out of modern edge and virtualised architectures that other SCADA products now support.
  • SupportPlus at 15 percent of the original software price must be maintained continuously; if you let it lapse you cannot simply resume, and reinstatement is negotiated rather than published.
  • The scripting environment and the integrator pool are both proprietary and small, so finding a second-source integrator in a region where Trihedral has thin coverage is genuinely difficult.

Pricing, plan by plan

OSIsoft PI System

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the OSIsoft PI System review.

VTScada

$3395/one-time
  • Base licence up to 1,000 I/O$3395/one-time
    • Runtime and full historian
    • All I/O drivers included
    • Alarms and events
  • Base licence up to 5,000 I/O$4295/one-time
    • Runtime and full historian
    • Development add-on 4,100 USD
    • Alarm notification add-on 2,895 USD
  • Single Server bundle, 5,000 I/O$19095/one-time
    • Development node
    • Alarm notification
    • 2 thin clients
  • Single Server bundle, 50,000 I/O$32495/one-time
    • Development node
    • Alarm notification
    • 2 thin clients

Which should you pick?

Choose OSIsoft PI System if

  • You need real-time data collection.
  • You work on Windows, Web, Api.
  • You also want time-series data storage.
OSIsoft PI System review

Choose VTScada if

  • You need automatic version control.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want bundled historian.
VTScada review

Questions people ask

Is OSIsoft PI System or VTScada better?
Neither clearly leads. OSIsoft PI System starts at On request and VTScada at $3395/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, OSIsoft PI System or VTScada?
OSIsoft PI System starts at On request and VTScada at $3395/one-time.
Does OSIsoft PI System or VTScada run on more platforms?
OSIsoft PI System runs on Windows, Web, Api. VTScada runs on Windows.
What is OSIsoft PI System best used for?
OSIsoft PI System is most often used for collecting and historising high frequency industrial process and sensor data, operations dashboards and trend analysis for plants and utilities, feeding real time operational data into analytics and digital twin applications. Of those, collecting and historising high frequency industrial process and sensor data and operations dashboards and trend analysis for plants and utilities are not what VTScada is typically brought in for.
What can OSIsoft PI System do that VTScada cannot?
OSIsoft PI System covers Real-time data collection, Time-series data storage, Advanced analytics, Asset framework. VTScada covers Automatic version control, Bundled historian, Alarm notification, Driver set included.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

OSIsoft PI System: How much does the AVEVA PI System cost?

AVEVA PI System (formerly OSIsoft PI System) operates on a subscription-based commercial model with customized pricing. The company structures subscriptions to match specific use cases and business needs, requiring direct contact with account representatives.

Source
VTScada: Is VTScada perpetual or subscription?

Perpetual. Licences are one-time purchases per installed PC, with an optional annual SupportPlus contract at 15 percent of the original software price.

OSIsoft PI System: What is AVEVA PI System's pricing model?

AVEVA offers subscription-based licensing for software components running on-premises or in the cloud. Subscriptions are customized per customer use case, and pricing is determined through consultation with local account representatives.

Source
VTScada: Are drivers extra?

No. Standard and proprietary I/O drivers, the historian, trending, reporting and security are all included in the base licence.

VTScada: What does support actually cost?

Annual SupportPlus is 15 percent of total software purchase price. Adding 24/7 emergency support is a further 5 percent with a 1,540 USD minimum.

VTScada: Does it run on Linux?

No. VTScada is Windows only.

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