IoTFlows vs MachineMetrics The whole floor, not just the CNCs.

IoTFlows reads every machine from the outside with a magnetic sensor, so any machine reports uptime, stops and parts within minutes, with no PLC, control access or network work. MachineMetrics connects to each machine’s control or PLC over the plant network, and its own launch post says its deepest fit is automated machining. IoTFlows also includes maintenance work orders and spare-parts inventory, and publishes its prices; MachineMetrics has no CMMS of its own: work orders go to MaintainX, Fiix or UpKeep through an integration, inventory stays in the ERP, and its website shows no price.

No. SenseAi attaches magnetically in seconds and calibrates in under five minutes. It reads the machine’s vibration from the outside and never connects to the PLC or the control, so it cannot change anything on the machine. It joins 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, or the IoTFlows 4G/LTE router, which keeps it off the plant network.

Its Quick Start Checklist and Network Requirements pages list a network drop at each machine, static IP addresses, any control options such as OPC-UA licenses or MTConnect agents, edge and I/O hardware, and outbound firewall ports 443, 7422, 53 and 123, with IT support and maintenance staff who know the controls. The same checklist puts first contact to a first machine collecting data at 2 to 4 weeks, and full deployment at 1 to 3 months depending on the size of the shop floor.

Yes, on Enterprise. The IoTFlows edge device reads controls and PLCs over MTConnect, OPC UA, Modbus TCP, EtherNet/IP, Profinet and MQTT, and IoTFlows writes the driver when one is missing. Controller signals feed the same event rules as the sensors, so a control alarm can alert people and open a work order. A project typically takes one week to a month and is priced by scope.

Yes. The same sensor reads presses, injection molding machines, grinders, pumps and packaging equipment, and BeamTracker counts units on a line, so every machine reports on the same scale. MachineMetrics’ docs send press brakes, injection molding machines, grinders and assembly equipment to an I/O connection, which they call “a fallback, not a preferred path”.

Yes. Maintain opens a work order from a downtime, a machine event, a meter or a request from the floor, and Inventory tracks the spare parts, which leave stock when the work order closes. Technicians work them on the web or in the iOS and Android apps.

IoTFlows is $149 per SenseAi, once, plus a subscription per machine: Pro is $119 a month billed monthly, less on annual and three-year terms and from 10 machines. For 13 machines on an annual plan paid upfront, the first year comes to about $15,837 with the sensors. MachineMetrics shows no price on its website; its AWS Marketplace listing prices the Core Platform at $29,000 a year for up to 13 machines, and its hardware shop lists the Edge Kit at $1,462.50, about $30,463 for the first year.

No. MachineMetrics’ drag-and-drop scheduling comes in its MES Module, which its AWS Marketplace listing sells as a separate unit on top of the Core Platform: $16,000 for a 12-month contract per unit of up to 13 machines, adding job and production order tracking, operator clock in-out, labor tickets to the ERP, projected completion dates and drag-and-drop scheduling. The IoTFlows Production Scheduler is also an add-on, from $1,500 a month, with Gantt and Kanban views, an optimizer, simulation and ERP import.

Yes. The sensor mounts on the outside of the machine and never connects to the control or the PLC, so it cannot interfere with a controller connection, and on the 4G/LTE router it stays off the plant network. A pilot puts IoTFlows on 10 to 25 machines for four weeks with no commitment to buy, so both sets of numbers can be compared shift by shift.

Its hardware shop sells an OnLogic industrial PC as the edge device, Sealevel I/O modules, Greystone current transducers and a Moxa serial server, and its docs describe the edge as Intel NUC-based, running balenaOS. IoTFlows designs SenseAi, SenseAi Embedded and BeamTracker itself, the electronics, housing and firmware, with signed updates over the air.

MachineMetrics now presents itself as an AI-powered manufacturing operations platform and renamed its platform MaximaOS at IMTS on September 14, 2026; its chief revenue officer wrote on its blog that basic machine monitoring “is becoming harder to justify as a standalone purchase”. This page compares the monitoring both sell, and the maintenance, inventory and scheduling around it.

Yes, on Enterprise: SAML single sign-on (SSO) sends an email address to your company’s identity provider instead of asking for a password, and every account can use multi-factor authentication (MFA). MachineMetrics’ docs say it supports SSO through OpenID Connect and that SAML is not supported.