01Beyond the box price
Hardware is the obvious delta but the smallest one. Programming-software licenses, proprietary I/O markup and the cost of every future change dominate a PLC's lifetime cost — and a Pi attacks all three with an open stack and OTA deploys.
02Run your own numbers
The honest comparison is your line, not a generic chart. Our TCO calculator models hardware, licenses, change cost and support over your ownership horizon — then we pressure-test it with you.
Common questions
The ones we're asked on every first call.
When you genuinely need hard real-time, SIL safety or 20-year availability — replicating those on a Pi can cost more than the PLC you were avoiding.
Want this run on your numbers?
Send us your current stack and what it needs to do. A controls engineer replies with a candid one-page teardown — no deck, no sales call.
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