TDengine Historian:
The Modern PI System Alternative
Why stay locked into legacy PI System when you can move to an AI-powered data historian with predictable costs and faster innovation? TDengine Historian delivers 95% of PI System features, plus an AI Copilot, at one-third of the cost.
Problems with PI System
Industrial enterprises have relied on PI System for decades, but today it’s holding them back.
High costs with no perpetual licensing
Rising subscription fees and costly add-on charges
Inconsistent edge and cloud solutions
Legacy design that complicates cross-site deployment
Lack of AI/LLM support
No built-in AI or LLM capabilities, requiring external integration
Vendor lock-in
Proprietary formats that block data export and integration
Why TDengine?
TDengine Historian is a modern alternative to PI System, delivering AI-driven intelligence, a unified user experience, and the freedom to use your data how you want, all at an affordable price.
Reasonable pricing with perpetual option
Perpetual and annual licensing available at one-third the cost of PI System
Unified experience across platforms
Deploy the same product on-premises, hybrid, or cloud with full synchronization capabilities
AI copilot
Optional AI-based anomaly detection, predictive analytics, and LLM-powered insights out of the box
No vendor lock-in
Ingest from OPC UA, MQTT, and more at no extra cost, connect easily to BI and AI tools, and export your data to other systems whenever you want
Feature Comparison: PI System vs. TDengine Historian
See a detailed comparison here, or view the tables below to find specific features
| PI System | TDengine | |
|---|---|---|
| Tree structure | Yes | Yes |
| Element references | Yes | Yes |
| Process model | Yes | No |
| Traits for attributes | Yes | Yes |
| Data reference setting | Yes | Yes |
| Units of measurement | Yes | Yes |
| Templates & base templates | Yes | Yes |
| Search/Filter | Yes | Yes |
| Version control | Yes | Yes |
| PI System | TDengine | |
|---|---|---|
| Triggers | Data input, periodic | Data input, periodic, and more |
| Expression analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Rollup analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Event frame analysis | Yes | Yes |
| SQC analysis | Yes | No |
| Backfill and recalculation | Yes | Yes |
| PI System | TDengine | |
|---|---|---|
| Value capture | Yes | Yes |
| Acknowledge event frames | Yes | Yes |
| Transfer | Yes | No |
| Data reference to elements | Yes | Yes |
| Event templates | Yes | Yes |
| PI System | TDengine | |
|---|---|---|
| Notification templates | Yes | Yes |
| Trigger criteria | Yes | Only based on severity level |
| Delivery endpoints | Yes | Yes |
| Escalation | Yes | Yes |
| PI System | TDengine | |
|---|---|---|
| Symbols supported | Trend, value, table, gauge, bar chart, XY plot, asset comparison table | Trend, value, table, gauge, bar chart, XY plot, map, rich text |
| Display (Canvas) | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Partially matched |
| PI System | TDengine | |
|---|---|---|
| OPC | Yes | Yes |
| MQTT | Yes | Yes |
| Kafka | No | Yes |
| Relational databases | Yes | Yes |
| CSV files | Yes | Yes |
| Other industrial protocols | Yes | No |
| PI System | TDengine | |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | Yes | Yes |
| Kafka | No | Yes |
| MQTT | No | Yes |
| PI System | TDengine | |
|---|---|---|
| Role-based access control (RBAC) | Yes | Yes |
| Single sign-on (SSO) | Yes | Yes |
| Data encryption | Yes | Yes |
| SOC 2 certification | Yes | Yes |
| ISO 27001 certification | Yes | Yes |
| PI System | TDengine | |
|---|---|---|
| Server access | Dedicated client program on windows | Browser |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | No | Yes |
| Installation package | Yes | Yes |
| Ansible deployment | No | Yes |
| Helm deployment | No | Yes |
| Cloud service | Not the same as on-prem solution | Same as on-prem |
| Supported cloud platforms | Azure | Azure, AWS, and GCP |
| PI System | TDengine | |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | Yes | Yes |
| JDBC and ODBC | Yes | Yes |
| Power BI | Yes | Yes |
| Tableau | Yes | Yes |
| Seeq | Yes | Yes |
| Grafana | Yes | Yes |
| Excel | Yes | Yes |
| PI System | TDengine | |
|---|---|---|
| Chat BI | No | Yes |
| Zero-Query Intelligence | No | Yes |
| AI-based time-series forecasting | No | Yes |
| AI-based anomaly detection | No | Yes |
| Integration with third-party AI applications | Hard | Easy |
| PI System | TDengine | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Asset Modeling | Tree structure | Yes | Yes |
| Element references | Yes | Yes | |
| Process model | Yes | No | |
| Traits for attributes | Yes | Yes | |
| Data reference setting | Yes | Yes | |
| Units of measurement | Yes | Yes | |
| Templates & base templates | Yes | Yes | |
| Search/Filter | Yes | Yes | |
| Version control | Yes | Yes | |
| Asset Analytics | Triggers | Data input, periodic | Data input, periodic, and more |
| Expression analysis | Yes | Yes | |
| Rollup analysis | Yes | Yes | |
| Event frame analysis | Yes | Yes | |
| SQC analysis | Yes | No | |
| Backfill and recalculation | Yes | Yes | |
| Event Frames | Value capture | Yes | Yes |
| Acknowledge event frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Transfer | Yes | No | |
| Data reference to elements | Yes | Yes | |
| Event templates | Yes | Yes | |
| Notifications | Notification templates | Yes | Yes |
| Trigger criteria | Yes | Only based on severity level | |
| Delivery endpoints | Yes | Yes | |
| Escalation | Yes | Yes | |
| Visualizations | Symbols supported | Trend, value, table, gauge, bar chart, XY plot, asset comparison table | Trend, value, table, gauge, bar chart, XY plot, map, rich text |
| Display (Canvas) | Yes | Yes | |
| Events | Yes | Partially matched | |
| Data Ingestion | OPC | Yes | Yes |
| MQTT | Yes | Yes | |
| Kafka | No | Yes | |
| Relational databases | Yes | Yes | |
| CSV files | Yes | Yes | |
| Other industrial protocols | Yes | No | |
| Data Distribution | REST API | Yes | Yes |
| Kafka | No | Yes | |
| MQTT | No | Yes | |
| Security | Role-based access control (RBAC) | Yes | Yes |
| Single sign-on (SSO) | Yes | Yes | |
| Data encryption | Yes | Yes | |
| SOC 2 certification | Yes | Yes | |
| ISO 27001 certification | Yes | Yes | |
| Application | Server access | Dedicated client program on windows | Browser |
| Platforms & Deployment | Windows | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | No | Yes | |
| Installation package | Yes | Yes | |
| Ansible deployment | No | Yes | |
| Helm deployment | No | Yes | |
| Cloud service | Not the same as on-prem solution | Same as on-prem | |
| Supported cloud platforms | Azure | Azure, AWS, and GCP | |
| Integrations | REST API | Yes | Yes |
| JDBC and ODBC | Yes | Yes | |
| Power BI | Yes | Yes | |
| Tableau | Yes | Yes | |
| Seeq | Yes | Yes | |
| Grafana | Yes | Yes | |
| Excel | Yes | Yes | |
| AI | Chat BI | No | Yes |
| Zero-Query Intelligence | No | Yes | |
| AI-based time-series forecasting | No | Yes | |
| AI-based anomaly detection | No | Yes | |
| Integration with third-party AI applications | Hard | Easy |
Transparent, Predictable Pricing
With PI System, costs explode as you add more tags. TDengine Historian is different.
Our pricing plans are based on resource usage, so you pay only for what you need.
Annual Plans
| Tags | Annual License (US$) |
|---|---|
| 2,500 | $5,000 |
| 5,000 | $9,000 |
| 7,500 | $12,500 |
| 10,000 | $15,500 |
| 15,000 | $19,000 |
| 20,000 | $22,000 |
| 25,000 | $24,000 |
| 30,000 | $26,000 |
| 40,000 | $28,000 |
| 50,000 | $31,000 |
| 75,000 | $38,000 |
| 100,000 | $46,000 |
| 150,000 | $56,000 |
| 200,000 | $64,000 |
| 250,000 | $72,000 |
| 300,000 | $79,000 |
| 400,000 | $92,000 |
| 500,000 | $110,000 |
Perpetual Plans
| Tags | Perpetual License (US$) | Annual Support (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| 2,500 | $12,500 | $1,875 |
| 5,000 | $22,500 | $3,375 |
| 7,500 | $31,250 | $4,688 |
| 10,000 | $38,750 | $5,813 |
| 15,000 | $47,500 | $7,125 |
| 20,000 | $55,000 | $8,250 |
| 25,000 | $60,000 | $9,000 |
| 30,000 | $65,000 | $9,750 |
| 40,000 | $70,000 | $10,500 |
| 50,000 | $77,500 | $11,625 |
| 75,000 | $95,000 | $14,250 |
| 100,000 | $115,000 | $17,250 |
| 150,000 | $140,000 | $21,000 |
| 200,000 | $160,000 | $24,000 |
| 250,000 | $180,000 | $27,000 |
| 300,000 | $197,500 | $29,625 |
| 400,000 | $230,000 | $34,500 |
| 500,000 | $275,000 | $41,250 |
The number of tags is an estimate based on a sampling rate of 1 data point per second per tag. Click below for details.
Trusted by Industry Leaders
Organizations in energy, manufacturing, and life sciences already rely on TDengine technology to manage billions of data points every day.
By combining TDengine’s scalable time-series engine with semantic integration, we’ve created a unified view of machine operations and domain knowledge that is both high-performance and explainable. This semantic approach lets us ask cross-domain questions and combine expert logic with real-time data — without building fragile custom pipelines.
Stefan Bischof
Senior Research Scientist
Siemens
TDengine has been a game-changer for us. Its features designed for industrial use cases, such as native replication and HA, as well as stream processing, have far exceeded our expectations. Of course, the performance is also brilliant, capable of running well on the edge and in the cloud. The support from the TDengine team has been exceptional, making our transition seamless and ensuring our success from day one.
Alex Tolenaar
Technical Specialist
Extracellular
Seamless Migration
Switching doesn’t have to be painful. TDengine offers:
Flexible deployment: on-prem, hybrid, or cloud.
Proven migration tools for PI data and models.
Fast time-to-value: pilots in weeks, full rollout in 8–12 weeks.
Learn More
This article compares TDengine and PI System to help you make informed decisions about your data management strategy.
Compare PI System with TDengine
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August 28, 2025
TDengine makes digital transformation easier by offering a zero-code data connector for PI System.
Integrate PI System Deployments with TDengine
by Jim Fan
September 3, 2025
Data sharing plays a crucial role in driving digital transformation, fostering innovation, and improving overall efficiency in industrial operations.
Share Industrial Data Easily and Securely
by Jeff Tao
September 4, 2025
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PI System and why look for an alternative?
PI System is a long-established data historian widely used in industrial operations. However, it can be expensive, closed, and challenging to scale in modern, cloud-native environments. Many organizations are exploring alternatives that offer better performance, lower cost, and easier integration.
How does TDengine compare to PI System?
TDengine is a modern time-series database designed for IoT and industrial data. Unlike PI System’s traditional architecture, TDengine is cloud-native and AI-native, horizontally scalable, and built on an open-source core.
Can TDengine replace PI System entirely?
In new deployments, yes. TDengine can ingest, store, and analyze the same industrial time-series data that PI System handles. TDengine also provides a zero-code data connector so that you don’t need to rip and replace existing PI System deployments.
Can TDengine IDMP replace PI AF and PI Vision?
Yes. TDengine IDMP offers equivalent modeling (Elements, Templates, Attributes) and built-in dashboards with AI-powered analytics.
How does TDengine integrate with existing industrial tools and standards?
TDengine supports industry-standard protocols and interfaces such as MQTT, OPC, JDBC, and ODBC. This makes it easy to integrate with data collection systems as well as visualization, analytics, and BI platforms—similar to how PI System connects, but with more openness and less vendor lock-in.
What are the cost advantages of TDengine vs. PI System?
TDengine’s core-based pricing model is more flexible that PI System’s tag-based licensing, and you only pay for the resources you use. Many customers report dramatic reductions in infrastructure and licensing costs compared to PI System.
What makes TDengine more scalable than PI System?
TDengine uses a distributed, cloud-native architecture that scales horizontally—just add more nodes to handle more devices or higher data frequency. PI System’s architecture is more centralized, which can make scaling complex and costly.
How does TDengine support AI and machine learning compared to PI System?
TDengine is an AI-driven platform that includes AI functionality out of the box, most notably zero-query intelligence, which uses AI to generate visualizations and real-time analysis tasks without requiring prompts or queries. TDengine TDgpt also enables AI/ML-based forecasting and anomaly detection. By contrast, PI System does not provide native AI capabilities—users typically need to purchase and integrate external analytics modules or rely on third-party platforms.
Take the Next Step
TDengine is the clear choice for PI users who want to modernize without overpaying.
