Best hmi on Reddit

185 reviews from r/PLC, r/SCADA, r/automation

185 reviews from

and

By Brand

By Product

Red Lion

4.2

(14)

"Free software, the HMIs aren’t expensive and can take modbus directly."

"We've been using them for over 10 years and we rarely have one go bad."

"I’m gonna chuck my uneducated opinion in and say red lion."

"Hard to beat red LED characters for sunlight applications."

"The main thing I like is using them as a communications bridge between dissimilar PLCs or between PLC and modbus devices."

"Super easy to program and use."

"Red Lion is good for what you’re talking about."

"Hard to go wrong with a Red Lion HMI."

"Red Lion, and Maple are good alternatives from what I’ve seen so far in my career."

"Red Lion CRs or Graphite series is easiest with the best communication options."

C-More

4.0

(12)

"The software is free and will interface with most PLC’s."

"4” CM5 C-More"

"C-More. Relatively good, easy to use."

"I've heard good things about C-Mores and Maple HMIs."

"I like C-More from automation direct."

"It is very easy to learn and configure."

"If not, go C-more."

"C-More and similar are inexpensive, and work with most anything."

"Are inexpensive, and work with most anything."

"I would buy a cmore."

Weintek

4.3

(11)

"Weintek all the way."

"Great products."

"Weintek (aka Maple systems) are solid."

"If you want an all in one unit I'd check out Weintek, it should meet all of your needs."

"Unless customer specs panelview."

"Pretty decent overall."

"I'd recommend Weintek as you can activate a codesys powered PLC within their HMI."

"Weintek, free cheap and can talk with almost every PLC."

"I use a lot of Weintek HMIs. They can like the automation direct C communicate with almost anything."

"I would probably just get a Weintek or C-More panel, they are cheap."

Exor

4.2

(9)

"I've used the exor HMI for years."

"Exor ex700G series with sunlight-readable panels."

"I'm currently doing a Exor JMobile project with heavy logging, DB interfacing, batch reporting."

"Solid hardware, with plenty of features & flexibility."

"I buy the licence and do as I wish."

"Look into HMIs that run Codesys. I’ve used Exor in the past."

"Have a look at Exor JSmart or ex700 series. Various size options."

"I’ve used Exor outside with good success."

"Depends on price point and features you want. My favorites are Exor, followed by redlion."

Beckhoff

4.3

(7)

"Beckhoff? They have really nice touchscreen PCs."

"Beckhoff. They have real-time C++ capability."

"Check out the new twincat hmi from beckhoff."

"Beckhoff fits the bill, reasonable I/O, interfaces with most any protocol."

"I also nominate Beckhoff. Its a bit of a steep learning curve, but it does let you turn out a good result."

"Bechoff. All PLC's and HMI's."

"If your requirements is to log data into an external DB, go for Beckhoff."

Ignition

4.5

(6)

"I will never not recommend ignition other than for very small never changing configurations."

"Ignition has what they call Maker edition. It is free."

"I just make one with ignition."

"Ignition Maker Edition and whatever computer you have laying around."

"I really enjoyed working with ignition."

"I'd go Ignition Edge. Depending on trending/history requirements."

Maple Systems

4.0

(6)

"Very capable and reasonably priced."

"Look at Maple Systems. Price wise it’s the closest for a prepackaged HMI."

"I’ve been using maple systems for AB and Koyo/Automation Direct plcs."

"Aside from maple systems, i like red lion screens."

"Maple System. Easy and Cheap."

"We ended up getting the maple systems HMI."

AdvancedHMI

4.8

(5)

"Check out advanced hmi. It’s free and runs on a windows pc."

"AdvancedHMI works nicely with click. It will run on any windows machine."

"AdvancedHMI is free and will run on any Windows computer."

"AdvancedHMI is free - you just need a spare PC."

"AdvancedHMI?"

Unitronics

3.1

(7)

"I've used the Unitronics and I loved it."

"Unitronics Unistream PLC or PLC+HMI combo."

"Unitronics. Had hmi and a free phone app that will show same screen as HMI."

"Unitronics. The web interface is easy to setup plus it has a built in VNC server."

"UNITRONIC"

"Honestly..unitronics over codesys and or anything complicated like that."

"Avoid Unitronics."

#10

Horner

4.2

(5)

"Horner's implementation of Modbus is hard to beat."

"Checkout the Horner electric all in one plc/hmi."

"Horner can do exactly what you're describing and it's readily available."

"Check this ones out They are all-in-one units PLC+HMI."

"I was going to recommend a Horner X4 PLC-HMI combo."

#11

Siemens

4.2

(5)

"Actually visible in sunlight and screen holds up to UV over time."

"The new capabilities are really cool."

"I'm really liking the new Unified Panels."

"It's even possible to do that reliably."

"There is an S7 HMI mobile app on the Google play store."

#12

Pro-Face

4.5

(4)

"Proface.. they are the best for everything really."

"We have over 150+ Pro-Face HMIs running in house."

"They have a solid HMI and cheap development software."

"Proface are cheap, they sync with Allen Bradley easily enough."

#13

VTScada

4.5

(4)

"VTScada Light is awesome and free."

"VTScada by Trihedral! It is very similar to ignition in a lot of ways."

"VTScada has a light version that supports up to 50 IO tags."

"VTScada has a Lite version that has a 50 tag limit, so you could just use a computer as the HMI."

#14

Wago

5.0

(3)

"You should check Wago's PFC100 / 200 platform."

"I would take a look at wago."

#15

Node-RED

4.3

(3)

"Step 1 buy a mini PC for 150 bucks (server) Step 2 put node red on it."

"It’s amazing what you can accomplish with Node.Red."

"Maybe NodeRed on a cheap PC or Rasberry pi? It's free and they have nodes for Siemens logo and HMIs."

#16

Aveva

4.3

(3)

"Is so easy to use and sit on any OS as well as any hardware."

"Aveva Edge, formerly Indusoft. Has local historian or can store in local SQL no added cost."

"Aveva inTouch is what I've used."

#17

Maple

4.0

(3)

"I've had great experience with Maple. They are much less expensive than AB HMIs and work very well."

"I like Maple at the low end and at the high end have to use PanelViews."

"We have a few vendors that are using lots of the Maple HMIs."

#18

Delta

4.0

(3)

"Is more comfortable for general industry."

"I'll add my suggestion for HMI, Delta? I heard Delta has good support in Turkey."

"Delta DOP are good, but I prefer AB 5000 or 800."

#19

Automation Direct

5.0

(2)

"C More is dead easy to use with most any make of PLC."

"Automation Direct's CMore EA9 panels have the ability to pull up the local HMI from the web browser."

#20

B&R

5.0

(2)

"B&R T50 mobile with X90"

"B and r is cheap by far and has everything natively."

#21

PanelView

3.0

(3)

"PanelView works great obviously since it's made for AB PLC's."

"Are a pain in the ass but nice at the same time."

"PanelView when I want good features in a terrible IDE."

#22

PanelView 800

4.5

(2)

"Panel view 800 is easiest to integrate with the micro."

"PV800 or c-more"

#23

FT Optix

4.5

(2)

"The price will be right as you only pay for what you need."

"FT Optix, it would be about $500 for the runtime."

#24

Home Assistant

4.5

(2)

"Home Assistant just works so well."

"Home assistant, probably, it’s designed more for Home use than anything else, but would likely do what you need."

#25

Beijers

4.5

(2)

"See if Beijers screens hit the mark."

"We use quite a few Beijers and grown to like them. Cheaper than PV's and have a ton of protocols."

#26

Inductive Automation

4.5

(2)

"I just make one with ignition."

"I recommend Ignition by Inductive Automation. I don't know that there is a solution for your exact environment/scenario, but I've found that it's very versatile."

#27

CMore

4.0

(2)

"My place uses mostly C-Mores and RedLions."

"Automation Directs’s CMore can work well with either and is pretty cheap."

#28

Kinco

4.0

(2)

"Try Kinco HMI. They Start at $99."

"Kinco makes a line of pretty solid 7” HMIs that can be had for $75-$100."

#29

AD C-More

4.0

(2)

"AD C-More or a Maple Systems (or Weintek outside of the US)."

"AD C-More is relatively low cost and easy to implement."

#30

Siemens WinCC

4.0

(2)

"Pretty much all Siemens WinCC HMIs have the capability to log data to a file or database."

"You can use Siemens WinCC runtime on a PC and do remote updates, etc and licensing."

#31

Click

4.0

(2)

"Click or Productivity1000 and C-More"

"Click & C-More"

#32

WinCC

3.5

(2)

"The panels themselves are mid, but they’re so damn easy to design with."

"Its easy but if you encounter some software issue its painful."

#33

Raspberry Pi

3.0

(2)

"You can get a raspi pi with a 7" TFT and use one of the PC based systems."

"Forget using a PLC or HMI. Get a Rasp Pi or server and run Home Assistant."

#34

Codesys

3.0

(2)

"Why not any Codesys panel PC with WebVisu?"

"If you want cheap there are many options using Codesys."

#35

Siemens S7-1200

5.0

(1)

"S7-1200 series for PLC and a WinCC Unified Basic HMI of a size you want will do everything you want."

#36

Rockwell FactoryTalk Optix

5.0

(1)

"Optix is honestly great. Easy git integration, no license required for development."

#37

Horner Electric

5.0

(1)

"Checkout the Horner Electric all in one PLC/HMI"

#38

Beijer

5.0

(1)

"Beijer"

#39

QPView

5.0

(1)

"Quit being cheap. Just use a QPView."

#40

Stahl

5.0

(1)

"Take a look at Stahl, Pepperl and Fuchs, Arista, Hope, Advantech, or Maple Systems."

#41

Parket

4.0

(1)

"The Parket XT line with Interact Xpress is actually a good platform imo."

#42

Sütron

4.0

(1)

"It's was a question of cost and features."

#43

Hope Industrial

4.0

(1)

"Makes good OIT touch panels."

#44

Phoenix Contact

4.0

(1)

"We are looking into using ignition."

#45

Optix

4.0

(1)

"Optix and ignition are my top two preferred HMIs."

#46

Red Lion Graphite

4.0

(1)

"Great support, pretty decent software, shit ton of flexibility."

#47

PanelView Plus 7

4.0

(1)

"The way to go."

#48

Rockwell FactoryTalk View SE

4.0

(1)

"Factory talk view SE is used frequently. It has Factory talk alarms and events which is 21 cfr compliant."

#49

IFIX FTView SE

4.0

(1)

"IFIX and FTView SE is what I typically use. They have audit trails, batch reports and are CFR compliant."

#50

Siemens Unified HMI

4.0

(1)

"We actually use inox's Siemens Unified HMI with audit trail functionality."

#51

Rockwell 5000 Series PanelViews

4.0

(1)

"They are definitely a step up from what AB has been putting out the last 25 years."

#52

Rockwell PanelViews

4.0

(1)

"We use Panelviews. They seem to work well."

#53

Schneider Old School HMIs

4.0

(1)

"The old school Schneiders are very solid, and can do a lot with the screens, popups, scripts, etc."

#54

Wonderware InTouch & System Platform

4.0

(1)

"I find it quite likeable and simple enough to use."

#55

VTSCADA

4.0

(1)

"VTSCADA lite"

#56

Allen-Bradley

4.0

(1)

"The HMIs that I use at home are Allen-Bradley C600."

#57

PanelView Plus

4.0

(1)

"The 5000 series Panel Views are made to work with the newer processors."

#58

EZ Automation

4.0

(1)

"EZ Automation,"

#59

Fuxa SCADA

4.0

(1)

"Check out Fuxa SCADA it's open source and web based."

#60

Wonderware

4.0

(1)

"I like using PC’s and wonderware if it requires control from multiple points."

#61

Z-View

4.0

(1)

"Z-View scada is a cheap yet full featured scada."

#62

DAQFactory

4.0

(1)

"Theres a simple bit of software called 'DAQFactory'."

#63

Advanced HMI

4.0

(1)

"Having just spent an evening with Advanced HMI - I like it."

#64

Virtuino

4.0

(1)

"Virtuino IoT is what you are looking for."

#65

AB PLC

4.0

(1)

"Also if you're communicating with a AB PLC, use Ethernet IP."

#66

Beijer Electronics

4.0

(1)

"I like IX Developer (Beijer Electronics)."

#67

View Designer

4.0

(1)

"View Designer. It’s superb for AB."

#68

Movicon

4.0

(1)

"Movicon works great, good connectivity."

#69

FactoryTalk View

4.0

(1)

"If you are going to use FactoryTalk View, I like Studio Enterprise more than Machine Edition."

#70

Citect

4.0

(1)

"I've used Citect successfully in the past with RX3i."

#71

Kepware

4.0

(1)

"Kepware and whatever you want!"

#72

Velocio

4.0

(1)

"These are pretty cheap: [http://velocio.net/hmi/]."

#73

Control Web 8

4.0

(1)

"Look at Control Web 8 from Moravske Pristroje."

#74

Bosch

4.0

(1)

"Ctrlx from Bosch has some good html hmi options."

#75

IFM

4.0

(1)

"I've used some CR1203s and they seemed pretty high quality."

#76

Mango

3.0

(1)

"Mango ( to big and cumbersome?)"

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