The Things Network
The Things Network is a global collaborative LoRaWAN IoT ecosystem spanning 153 countries with 21.2K+ gateways and 284.6K members, offering The Things Stack Network Server plus enterprise private deployments and certification programs through its commercial arm, The Things Industries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersAmsterdam, Netherlands
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What The Things Network does
The Things Network is a global collaborative Internet of Things ecosystem founded in 2015 and headquartered in Amsterdam. It runs an open, community-built LoRaWAN network spanning 153 countries, 21.2K+ community-deployed gateways, and 284.6K members, with The Things Stack serving as the core LoRaWAN Network Server that securely manages applications, end devices, and gateways, including routing, message deduplication, data-rate optimisation, and interoperability with third-party networks and join servers via Packet Broker.
The commercial arm, The Things Industries, monetises the open stack through enterprise-grade private network server deployments with SLAs, enterprise support packages, and device development services, alongside a flagship annual event (The Things Conference, in its 9th edition in 2026 in Amsterdam with 2,200+ attendees and 130+ partners) and a multi-tier certification program (Fundamentals, Advanced, Security, Network Management, Stack Certified) with 1.7K certified developers. The community layer is free and self-serve, and the company has assembled a deep partner ecosystem spanning LoRa Alliance, Bluetooth SIG, Wi-Fi Alliance, CSA (Matter/Aliro), Z-Wave Alliance, DECT Forum, IoT Security Foundation, EDGE AI FOUNDATION, Eclipse Foundation, Zephyr Project, Arduino, Tektelic, MultiTech, and Mikrotik, with go-to-market spanning website self-serve, the annual conference, channel/gateway partners, and direct enterprise sales.
The underlying technology is the LoRaWAN protocol built on LoRa modulation, providing long-range, low-power, secure telemetry connectivity; the stack is API-first with HTTP webhooks and MQTT integrations plus a community-maintained Device Repository on GitHub. The company is privately held, operates with 11–50 employees, and was named a Gartner Cool Vendor in IoT in 2019.
The Things Network firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Things Network
- Legal name
- The Things Industries
- Website
- https://thethingsnetwork.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The Things Network is a global collaborative LoRaWAN IoT ecosystem spanning 153 countries with 21.2K+ gateways and 284.6K members, offering The Things Stack Network Server plus enterprise private deployments and certification programs through its commercial arm, The Things Industries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Things Network industry classification
Industry- Product category
- LoRaWAN Network Server (IoT Connectivity Infrastructure)
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Managed Network Services (NOC, Monitoring, Optimization) (BPAEAEAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Network Performance, Visibility & SLA Monitoring (Managed NPM/Observability) (HDAIAFAI)
Keywords
Where The Things Network is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Amsterdam
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
The Things Network business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Community Network Services: Free open community network providing access to The Things Stack for individual developers, hobbyists, and small organizations. The open network is community-maintained with shared infrastructure.
- Enterprise Private Network Server: Private network server deployments with SLA support for organizations requiring dedicated infrastructure, offered through The Things Industries.
- Enterprise Support and Services: Enterprise support packages, device development support, and professional services through The Things Industries for commercial deployments.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Community/Sandbox - Free tier for individual developers |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Enterprise Private Network with SLA |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
The Things Network product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Things Network is a global collaborative IoT ecosystem that builds and operates LoRaWAN connectivity infrastructure. Its core product, The Things Stack, is a LoRaWAN Network Server that securely manages applications, end devices and gateways, sold commercially by The Things Industries as private network server deployments with SLA, enterprise support, and managed services. The Things Network community layer provides free access to The Things Stack along with a global open network of community-deployed gateways, certification programs, and an annual conference.
Product overview
The Things Network is a global collaborative IoT ecosystem that creates networks, devices, and solutions using LoRaWAN technology. The core product is The Things Stack—a LoRaWAN Network Server built by The Things Industries that securely manages applications, end devices, and gateways. Built upon the LoRaWAN network protocol (using LoRa modulation), the ecosystem provides open tools and a global open network for building IoT applications at low cost. Supporting offerings include The Things Conference (annual industry event), Device Repository (compatible hardware directory), certification programs (Fundamentals, Advanced, Security, Network Management, The Things Stack Certified, and Academy training), Community Forum, and Packet Broker for network roaming. The platform supports integration via HTTP webhooks, MQTT, and Node-RED.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- The Things Stack: LoRaWAN Network Server that securely manages applications, end devices, and gateways
- The Things Conference
- The Things Certified
- The Things Academy
- The Things Summer Academy
Products and services
- The Things Stack LoRaWAN Network Server that securely manages applications, end devices and gateways, built by The Things Industries and used by thousands of companies and developers worldwide. Handles routing, security, message deduplication, data rate optimization, and interoperability with third-party networks and join servers; commercially offered through The Things Industries as private network server deployments with SLA.
- The Things Network Community Platform A global collaborative IoT ecosystem providing open tools and a global open LoRaWAN network that lets developers, makers and organizations build IoT applications at low cost with maximum security and ready to scale.
- Packet Broker Roaming hub that enables interoperability and federation between The Things Stack and third-party LoRaWAN networks and join servers, supporting network peering across operators.
- The Things Conference Annual global IoT conference organized by The Things Industries bringing together developers, partners and industry leaders with expert talks, hands-on workshops, live demonstrations and partner exhibitions; the 2026 edition is the 9th and focuses on Edge AI, cellular IoT, energy harvesting and wireless standards.
Quantifiable outcome
- 108.1M messages processed per day across the global network
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use The Things Network
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
The Things Network technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature5 records
The Things Network partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.
- The Things IndustriescoreThe Things Stack, the LoRaWAN Network Server, is built by The Things Industries. The Things Network provides the community layer while The Things Industries provides commercial enterprise offerings including private network servers with SLA, enterprise support, and device development support.
- Bluetooth SIGmajorBluetooth SIG joins The Things Conference 2026 as an ecosystem partner to showcase interoperability across the IoT wireless landscape alongside LoRaWAN, Wi-Fi, Z-Wave, and other protocols.
- Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA)majorCSA (Matter and Aliro standards) partners with The Things Conference 2026 to demonstrate how standards turn IoT promises into secure, dependable connectivity across diverse deployments.
- Wi-Fi AlliancemajorWi-Fi Alliance partners with The Things Conference 2026 to highlight how Wi-Fi CERTIFIED technologies enable reliable, seamless device connectivity worldwide.
- Z-Wave AlliancemajorZ-Wave Alliance partners with The Things Conference 2026 advancing standards-based approaches for interoperability, reliability, and scalability in connected environments.
- LoRa AlliancecoreLoRa Alliance is a founding partner ecosystem member. The Things Conference celebrates global traction of LoRaWAN and shapes the future of IoT with the alliance.
- IoT Security Foundation (IoTSF)majorIoTSF joins The Things Conference 2026 as ecosystem partner shaping how connected systems are secured. IoTSF notes that The Things Conference connects the entire IoT value chain creating essential ecosystem collaboration for secure and trusted IoT.
- EDGE AI FOUNDATIONmajorEDGE AI FOUNDATION returns to The Things Conference 2026 with expanded role including dedicated content track exploring how edge AI converges with low power IoT to enable smarter, more autonomous connected systems.
- Eclipse FoundationmajorEclipse Foundation joins The Things Conference 2026 as an ecosystem partner shaping how open software underneath connected systems is built.
- Zephyr ProjectmajorZephyr Project joins The Things Conference 2026 as ecosystem partner showcasing innovations in embedded systems and IoT firmware.
- Digital Twin ConsortiumminorThe Things Network joined the Digital Twin Consortium to share data source for devices, contributing device data standards to the digital twin ecosystem.
- ArduinomajorArduino joined forces with The Things Conference to champion IoT collaboration. Arduino and The Things Industries collaborate on LoRaWAN device development and education.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
The Things Network competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Everynet: Global LoRaWAN neutral-host network operator with carrier-grade SLAs; competes in enterprise managed LoRaWAN connectivity — the same commercial layer TTI monetizes on top of the TTN community.
- ChirpStack: Open-source LoRaWAN Network Server and components competing head-on with The Things Stack for self-hosted LoRaWAN deployments; same protocol stack, same developer audience, similar OSS/community go-to-market.
- Actility (ThingPark): Enterprise-grade LoRaWAN network server platform (ThingPark) with carrier-grade SLAs and global operator deployments; competes directly with The Things Industries in the private-network / large-IoT-tenant segment.
- LORIOT: LoRaWAN network server and operator services with hybrid public/private deployments; competes in the same managed-network-server layer that The Things Stack addresses.
- Senet: US-based LoRaWAN network operator offering managed connectivity and network-as-a-service for enterprise/smart-city IoT, overlapping with The Things Industries' private-network commercial offering.
- Wivity: IoT/LoRaWAN network operator and connectivity-as-a-service provider targeting smart cities and utilities — same managed LoRaWAN commercial layer as The Things Industries.
Emerging players
- Helium (Nova Labs): Decentralized wireless IoT network built on LoRa, with token-incentivized coverage; competes for the same long-range, low-power IoT connectivity use cases while pursuing a radically different network-economics model.
Broad incumbents
- MachineQ (Comcast): Comcast's enterprise LoRaWAN platform offering managed gateways, network server and integration — competes with The Things Industries for enterprise-scale private-network deployments.
- UnaBiz / SigFox: Operator of the SigFox LPWAN (now under UnaBiz), an alternative low-power wide-area technology pursuing the same Massive IoT / low-data-rate connectivity market as LoRaWAN operators like TTN.
- AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN: Hyperscaler-native managed LoRaWAN connectivity within AWS IoT Core, putting a public-cloud LoRaWAN Network Server offering in direct competition with The Things Stack for cloud-anchored enterprise workloads.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
The Things Network social profiles
Digital presenceThe Things Network financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Things Network leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
The Things Network funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Things Network M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Things Network
What does The Things Network do?
The Things Network is a global collaborative IoT ecosystem that builds and operates LoRaWAN connectivity infrastructure. Its core product, The Things Stack, is a LoRaWAN Network Server that securely manages applications, end devices and gateways, sold commercially by The Things Industries as private network server deployments with SLA, enterprise support, and managed services. The Things Network community layer provides free access to The Things Stack along with a global open network of community-deployed gateways, certification programs, and an annual conference.
Is The Things Network a public or private company?
The Things Network is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was The Things Network founded?
The Things Network was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is The Things Network based?
The Things Network is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does The Things Network make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Community Network Services are the primary driver. The others are enterprise Private Network Server and enterprise Support and Services.
Who are The Things Network's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Everynet, ChirpStack, Actility (ThingPark), LORIOT, Senet and Wivity. Helium (Nova Labs) is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are MachineQ (Comcast), UnaBiz / SigFox and AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN.
Does The Things Network have an API?
Yes. The Things Stack offers an API-first design allowing full integration with platforms of choice. Supports HTTP webhooks and MQTT for data routing. Integrations can be initiated to IoT cloud platforms, ERP systems, or databases. Documentation available through The Things Industries at thethingsindustries.com/docs/. Developer documentation is at thethingsindustries.com/docs.
What industry is The Things Network in?
The Things Network's product category is LoRaWAN Network Server (IoT Connectivity Infrastructure). Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAEAC, Managed Network Services (NOC, Monitoring, Optimization), with a secondary code of HDAIAFAI, Network Performance, Visibility & SLA Monitoring (Managed NPM/Observability). Its NAICS code is 518 and its SIC code is 7370.