Datacake vs ThingsBoard
Datacake
datacake.co
ThingsBoard
thingsboard.ioSide by side
| Figure | Datacake | ThingsBoard |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | €25/mo | $39/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 7 | 25 |
| Spec score · IoT Device Management Platforms | 8.5 (#5) | 8.7 (#4) |
| Spec score · IoT Analytics Software | 8.5 (#7) | 8.8 (#4) |
| Dashboards | Users can build real-time sensor dashboards without coding. | Dashboards provide responsive pages with charts, tables, maps, controls, aliases, time windows, actions, sharing and embedding. |
| Integrations | Data can be streamed to external systems through MQTT, HTTPS webhooks, and a REST API. | Documented integrations include AWS IoT, Azure IoT Hub, Google Pub/Sub, MQTT brokers, Kafka, OPC-UA and LoRaWAN network servers. |
| Support | The pricing page lists free best-effort support and paid Standard and Premium support packages with stated first-response targets of under five hours and under 60 minutes during working hours, respectively. | Paid subscriptions provide access to the ThingsBoard Support Portal, and Startup and Business plans include priority support. |
Plans
Datacake
- FreeFree
- FreeFree
- Hobby€25 a month
- Light€159 a month
- Standard€399 a month
- Plus€659 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
ThingsBoard
- FreeFree
- Prototype$49 a month
- Pilot$149 a month
- Startup$399 a month
- Business$749 a month
- Free (On-premises)Free
- Free (ThingsBoard Cloud)Free
- Free (ThingsBoard Cloud)Free
- Prototype (ThingsBoard Cloud)$39 a month
- Prototype (ThingsBoard Cloud)$49 a month
In their own words
Datacake
Datacake is an IoT platform that turns sensor data into live dashboards, alerts, and reports. Its monitoring use cases include cold chains, temperature and humidity, indoor air quality, soil moisture, and industrial noise. Users can build real-time dashboards without coding and set thresholds and rules that send alerts by email, SMS, or webhook. Datacake lists more than 400 LoRaWAN device templates across over 125 manufacturers, with payload decoders and dashboards. Every plan includes its managed LoRaWAN Network Server, with unlimited gateways and no per-gateway fees. Data can be streamed to other systems through MQTT, HTTPS webhooks, and a REST API. Native iOS and Android apps support dashboards, device onboarding, alert creation, and push notifications. Its OpenAI-powered assistant can analyze sensor data and help create dashboards, rules, and decoders; changes require confirmation. White-label branding and multi-tenancy are offered for system integrators, distributors, and OEMs. The free plan supports five devices. Hobby costs €25 a month and covers up to 25 devices, with one year of retention.
ThingsBoard
ThingsBoard is an IoT platform for managing devices and collecting, processing, and visualizing their data. Its real-time IoT and SCADA dashboards include more than 300 built-in widgets and support custom widgets. Native connectivity covers MQTT, CoAP, HTTP, LwM2M, and SNMP; an IoT Gateway adds protocols such as Modbus, BACnet, CAN bus, BLE, and OPC-UA. Rule Engine nodes support data processing and platform customization, while integrations connect external services and gateways including AWS IoT, Azure IoT Hub, Google Cloud Pub/Sub, LoRaWAN servers, MQTT brokers, and OPC-UA servers. Deployment options include cloud, dedicated Private Cloud, and on-premises installations, including fully offline self-managed setups. Security choices include two-factor authentication, OAuth 2.0/SSO, JWT tokens, API keys, and HTTPS/TLS configuration. ThingsBoard Cloud is hosted on infrastructure stated to comply with SOC II and ISO 27001, with North America and EU data regions. Cloud plans have device and data-point limits. Listed cloud plans include free and paid options, with Prototype at $39 a month.