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Manufacturing · head to head

ABB 800xA vs TrendMiner

ABB 800xA logo

ABB 800xA

Manufacturing

Distributed control system and process automation platform for continuous and hybrid process plants

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
TrendMiner logo

TrendMiner

Manufacturing

Search-driven time series analytics for process engineers, now owned by Proemion rather than Software AG

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ABB 800xA licensing is by I/O count, controller count and workplace clients, and none of it is published, so two plants of similar size can be quoted very differently with no external benchmark to argue against.; TrendMiner ownership moved from Software AG to Proemion in a 47 million euro sale during the Silver Lake break-up, so the integration roadmap tied to webMethods and Cumulocity is gone and the new owner is far smaller.
  • They diverge on capability: ABB 800xA covers Extended Automation, TrendMiner covers Pattern search.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ABB 800xA and TrendMiner actually diverge.

Attributes where ABB 800xA and TrendMiner differ
AttributeABB 800xATrendMiner
PlatformsWindowsWeb, Windows, Linux

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 ABB 800xA

  • Extended Automation
  • AC 800M controllers
  • Connectivity servers
  • Safety integration
  • IEC 61850 electrical
  • Batch management
  • Information management
  • Asset optimisation

Only in TrendMiner

  • Pattern search
  • Value-based search
  • Monitors
  • Soft sensors
  • Context items
  • Dashboards
  • Machine learning models
  • ContextHub

What people use each for

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

ABB 800xA

  • A refinery replacing operator consoles and control room infrastructure while keeping working field controllers in placenot TrendMiner
  • A pulp and paper mill consolidating process, electrical and safety monitoring into a single operator workplacenot TrendMiner
  • A mining operation that needs SIL 3 safety functions on the same network as process control rather than a separate safety systemnot TrendMiner
  • A marine or offshore platform where ABB already supplies the electrical distribution and IEC 61850 integration removes a second systemnot TrendMiner

TrendMiner

  • Finding every prior occurrence of a heat exchanger fouling signature to estimate cleaning frequency from history rather than from a rule of thumbnot ABB 800xA
  • Comparing golden batches against off-spec ones in a pharmaceutical process without exporting to a data science teamnot ABB 800xA
  • Building a monitor that flags the early temperature signature that preceded the last three compressor tripsnot ABB 800xA
  • Giving a process engineer a way to answer a question in an afternoon that previously required a historian export and a spreadsheet weeknot ABB 800xA

Where each one falls short

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

ABB 800xA

  • Licensing is by I/O count, controller count and workplace clients, and none of it is published, so two plants of similar size can be quoted very differently with no external benchmark to argue against.
  • Engineering and commissioning typically cost more than the software and controller hardware together, and that share is not visible in the initial ABB quotation, which prices the system rather than the project.
  • It is Windows only for servers and workplaces, so the operating system lifecycle drives forced upgrade cycles that have nothing to do with your process.
  • Once configured, the aspect object model and the specific integrator conventions used make handing the system to a different service provider expensive; ABB service contracts are effectively sticky.
  • Software maintenance is an annual contract on top of the licence and lapsing it means you cannot take version upgrades, so the system quietly ages out of security support if the plant skips renewals to save money.

TrendMiner

  • Ownership moved from Software AG to Proemion in a 47 million euro sale during the Silver Lake break-up, so the integration roadmap tied to webMethods and Cumulocity is gone and the new owner is far smaller.
  • It is built for continuous time series and handles discrete manufacturing, relational quality data and event-driven production poorly, so plants that are not continuous process get limited value.
  • Value depends entirely on historian data quality and tag naming; sites with inconsistent tag descriptions and missing asset context spend months on data preparation before the search features are usable.
  • Licensing is by named analyst user, and the population who genuinely use pattern search is small, so organisations that buy broadly pay for seats that log in occasionally.
  • It reads history but does not fix it: there is no data collection layer, so an existing historian is mandatory and TrendMiner is always an additional cost on top of it.

Pricing, plan by plan

ABB 800xA

On request
  • ABB Ability System 800xA$undefined/year
    • Licensed by I/O count, controller count and workplace clients
    • Sold as a project through ABB or a certified partner
    • Annual software maintenance contract priced separately

TrendMiner

On request
  • TrendMiner$undefined/year
    • Annual subscription sized by named users and connected historian tag volume
    • Separate licence tiers for full analyst users and view-only dashboard consumers
    • Historian connectors quoted per source system

Which should you pick?

Choose ABB 800xA if

  • You need extended automation.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want ac 800m controllers.
ABB 800xA review

Choose TrendMiner if

  • You need pattern search.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Linux.
  • You also want value-based search.
TrendMiner review

Questions people ask

Is ABB 800xA or TrendMiner better?
Neither clearly leads. ABB 800xA starts at On request and TrendMiner at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ABB 800xA or TrendMiner?
ABB 800xA starts at On request and TrendMiner at On request.
Does ABB 800xA or TrendMiner run on more platforms?
ABB 800xA runs on Windows. TrendMiner runs on Web, Windows, Linux.
What is ABB 800xA best used for?
ABB 800xA is most often used for a refinery replacing operator consoles and control room infrastructure while keeping working field controllers in place, a pulp and paper mill consolidating process, electrical and safety monitoring into a single operator workplace, a mining operation that needs sil 3 safety functions on the same network as process control rather than a separate safety system, a marine or offshore platform where abb already supplies the electrical distribution and iec 61850 integration removes a second system. Of those, a refinery replacing operator consoles and control room infrastructure while keeping working field controllers in place and a pulp and paper mill consolidating process, electrical and safety monitoring into a single operator workplace are not what TrendMiner is typically brought in for.
What can ABB 800xA do that TrendMiner cannot?
ABB 800xA covers Extended Automation, AC 800M controllers, Connectivity servers, Safety integration. TrendMiner covers Pattern search, Value-based search, Monitors, Soft sensors.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ABB 800xA: Is 800xA sold as a perpetual licence?

Yes, the system licence is perpetual, but a separate annual software maintenance agreement is required to receive updates and version upgrades.

TrendMiner: Who owns TrendMiner now?

Proemion, a German industrial analytics company backed by Battery Ventures, which bought it from Software AG for 47 million euros in 2024.

ABB 800xA: Can 800xA control non-ABB field hardware?

Yes. Connectivity servers front third-party PLC and DCS systems and legacy ABB families, which is the main reason it wins brownfield projects.

TrendMiner: Does it replace my historian?

No. It connects to PI, IP.21, PHD, Exaquantum and others and reads from them. The historian remains the system of record.

ABB 800xA: Does it replace a separate electrical SCADA?

It can. IEC 61850 substation integration is native, so many plants drop a separate electrical monitoring system.

TrendMiner: Do I need a data scientist to use it?

No, and that is the point. The pattern search and soft sensor tooling are aimed at process engineers with no coding background.

ABB 800xA: What is the realistic implementation timeline?

A full plant migration is measured in years, not months; phased cutovers of one unit at a time are the norm.

TrendMiner: Is pricing per user?

Yes, largely, with tiers for analyst and view-only access plus charges for historian connectors and data volume.

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