Tool profile
ThingsBoard: cost, fit and limits
ThingsBoard is an IoT platform made by ThingsBoard, Inc. that collects device telemetry, runs a rule engine, draws dashboards and manages fleets of devices, offered as a hosted cloud with a free tier and priced subscription plans.
What to know first
ThingsBoard Cloud sells five subscription plans sized by devices, assets and monthly data points, from a free tier with 5 devices to a Business plan with 1,000 devices. Prices appear in USD for North America and in EUR for Europe, and hosting is included. The site also describes an AI Assistant, an AI credits pack, an edge product and a customizable mobile application sold as add-ons.
ThingsBoard at a glance
| Maker | ThingsBoard, Inc. (named in the newsletter line on the vendor site), Not stated on the vendor pages |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes |
| Entry price | Free for 5 devices; Prototype USD 49 per month |
| API access | Yes |
| Category | Best AI IoT Platforms in 2026, rank 1 of 13 |
| Website | thingsboard.io/ |
Who ThingsBoard is best for
Startups moving from prototype to pilot
The free tier holds 5 devices and the Prototype plan 50, so a team can grow in printed steps without a negotiation or a rewrite of the data model.
European buyers with residency rules
ThingsBoard Cloud lets the customer pick Frankfurt or N. Virginia, and the pricing page says EU data is stored in the European Union, which answers a question most vendors leave open.
Integrators connecting devices to existing clouds
The rule engine has nodes for REST, MQTT, Kafka, RabbitMQ, AWS SQS, SNS and Lambda, Azure IoT Hub and GCP Pub/Sub, so ThingsBoard can sit in front of whatever the customer already runs.
ThingsBoard plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 per month (EUR 0 in Europe) | 5 devices, 5 assets and 1M data points per month, with hosting and email included. |
| Prototype | $49 per month (EUR 45 in Europe) | 50 devices, 50 assets and 10M data points per month on the hosted cloud. Suited to a first small deployment. |
| Pilot | $149 per month (EUR 145 in Europe) | 100 devices, 100 assets and 100M data points per month. Roughly the size of a first pilot site with a mix of sensors and machines. |
| Startup | $399 per month (EUR 385 in Europe) | 500 devices, 500 assets and 500M data points per month, with white label. Meant for a growing product line that needs a branded portal. |
| Business | $749 per month (EUR 725 in Europe) | 1,000 devices, 1,000 assets and 1B data points per month, with white label. The largest priced card before a custom discussion. |
Checked November 2026.
What ThingsBoard does
- Rule engine
- Message flows can call REST endpoints and push to MQTT, Kafka, RabbitMQ, AWS SQS, SNS and Lambda, Azure IoT Hub and GCP Pub/Sub, which lets telemetry feed systems outside the platform.
- AI Assistant and credits
- The site says an AI Assistant helps set up and manage devices, dashboards and calculated fields. An AI Credits Pack is listed at $5 per month for 1M credits, so usage is metered separately.
- Edge and gateway
- An Edge product handles edge computing, and an IoT gateway connects legacy protocols, so sites with older machines can send data upstream without replacing them first.
- Mobile application add-on
- A customizable mobile application is listed at $99 per month plus a one-time setup fee on the North America price list, which suits companies that hand an app to end customers.
- Trendz Analytics
- The Trendz Analytics add-on is described as trend prediction, with a listed plan starting at $9 per month, and it extends dashboards with forecasting beyond the core charts.
- CLI for coding agents
- A ThingsBoard CLI is named for building solutions with AI coding agents, so scripted setup of devices and dashboards is possible without clicking through the interface.
How ThingsBoard handles your data
The pricing page says ThingsBoard Cloud is hosted in North America (N. Virginia) or Europe (Frankfurt), chosen by the customer, and that EU data is stored in the European Union. Data point storage days are metered per plan, with add-on packs for longer retention. The pages we read did not name a security certification, did not say whether customer data trains the AI Assistant, and did not state which model provider sits behind it. Treat those three points as open questions for the vendor's policy before you send regulated or personal data.
Where ThingsBoard falls short in practice
- Add-ons raise the real bill. The mobile app, Trendz Analytics, AI credits and extra device packs ($15 per month for 50 more devices on the USD list) are priced apart from the plan, so a full setup costs more than the plan card shows.
- Region and certification gaps. The pages read name no security certification and no headquarters country, and they do not say whether the AI Assistant processes data with a third-party model provider, so procurement teams must ask.
Works with
Alternatives to ThingsBoard
ThingsBoard: common questions
What does ThingsBoard cost for 500 devices?
The Startup plan covers 500 devices, 500 assets and 500M data points per month at $399 (EUR 385 in Europe), with white label. The pricing page also says the per-device model scales to 5,000 devices, and extra device packs cost $15 per month for 50 devices on the USD list.
Can I choose where ThingsBoard Cloud stores my data?
Yes. The pricing page offers North America (N. Virginia) or Europe (Frankfurt) and says EU data is stored in the European Union. It does not name certifications, so ask the vendor for its security documents if an auditor needs them.
How much does the ThingsBoard AI Assistant cost?
The pricing page lists an AI Credits Pack at $5 per month for 1M AI credits. It does not say how many credits a typical dashboard or rule consumes, so run a pilot with your own tasks and watch the counter before budgeting.
What happens when I exceed the free tier?
The Free tier allows 5 devices, 5 assets and 1M data points per month. The next step is Prototype at $49 per month for 50 devices and 10M data points. The pages we read did not describe what happens at the exact limit.
Does ThingsBoard connect to AWS and Azure?
Its rule engine lists nodes for AWS SQS, SNS and Lambda, Azure IoT Hub and GCP Pub/Sub, plus REST, MQTT, Kafka and RabbitMQ. That means telemetry can be forwarded to those clouds while ThingsBoard keeps the dashboards and device registry.