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ThingsBoard

Open-source IoT platform for device management, telemetry, dashboards, and rule engines with cloud and on-prem options.

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US Est. 2017 Active Backend-as-a-Service

Our Verdict

Solid open-source IoT platform with real scale, but you inherit the ops burden unless you pay for PE.

Pros

  • Open-source core with self-host option
  • Built-in rule engine and dashboards
  • Supports MQTT, CoAP, HTTP, LwM2M out of box
  • Strong device-provisioning workflows

Cons

  • UI feels dated compared to modern IoT SaaS
  • Scaling requires tuning Cassandra/Postgres yourself
  • PE (commercial) features gated behind licenses
  • Steep learning curve for rule chains
Best for: Teams that need self-hosted IoT with device mgmt, telemetry and rule chains Not for: Small teams wanting a polished managed IoT SaaS with zero ops

When to Use ThingsBoard

Good fit if you need

  • Open-source IoT platform with device management and dashboards
  • MQTT and CoAP device data ingestion with rule engine
  • Real-time telemetry visualization for IoT deployments
  • Self-hosted IoT backend for smart city and industrial use cases
  • Edge computing with ThingsBoard Edge for local processing

Lock-in Assessment

Low 5/5
Lock-in Score
5/5

ThingsBoard Pricing

Pricing Model
freemium
Free Tier
Yes
Entry Price
Enterprise Available
No
Transparency Score

Beta — estimates may differ from actual pricing

1,000
1001K10K100K1M

Estimated Monthly Cost

$25

Estimated Annual Cost

$300

Estimates are approximate and may not reflect current pricing. Always check the official pricing page.

Project Health

A

Health Score

21.6k 6.2k
Bus Factor

10

Last Commit

today

Release Freq

14d

Open Issues

214

Issue Response

0d

License

Apache-2.0

Last checked: 2026-04-21

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