Canary

What Canary does

Canary Labs Inc. is a privately held, Martinsburg, Pennsylvania-based industrial software company founded in 1985 that has operated continuously for over 40 years without disclosed external funding. The company develops and sells the Canary System, an enterprise data historian and time-series analytics platform used by industrial operators in manufacturing, oil and gas, chemicals, energy, government, and higher education across more than 70 countries. The core platform pairs the Canary Historian — a proprietary NoSQL time-series database with class-leading lossless compression that supports over 2 million tags per server — with Data Collectors for OPC (DA/UA), MQTT, SQL, CSV, and SCADA sources, and a Store & Forward layer for reliable delivery across unreliable networks. Context is added through Virtual Views (asset/UNS modeling), a Calculation Server with 70+ functions, and an Events module for batch, downtime, and shift detection; data is surfaced through the Axiom dashboarding tool and Excel Add-in, and shared with third-party systems via MQTT Sparkplug, REST Web API, ODBC, and Kafka connectors into Power BI, Seeq, Spotfire, AWS, IBM Maximo, and similar platforms. A free, no-license-restriction native module embeds Canary as a Tag History Provider inside Inductive Automation's Ignition SCADA, and the company holds SOC 2 Type I and Type II certifications.

Name

Canary

Legal name

Canary Labs Inc.

Website

https://canarylabs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Canary Labs Inc. is a privately held, Martinsburg, Pennsylvania-based industrial software company founded in 1985 that sells the Canary System — a time-series data historian and analytics platform used by manufacturers, energy producers, and government operators in 70+ countries to collect, store, and visualize process data from PLCs, SCADA, and IIoT systems.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Data Historian Software

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Industry/Domain Analytics Solutions & Accelerators (BPAEAHAK)

Keywords

• Industrial data historian
• Time-series database
• Process data analytics
• SCADA integration
• Operational intelligence software

Headquarters

HQ city

Martinsburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses (Historian): Perpetual and subscription software licenses for the Canary Historian, priced by tag count (number of data points). Base system starts at 3,500 tags for $9,970. Additional tags purchased in tiers. Support and maintenance at 18% of licensed product cost annually.
2. ODBC Connector: Optional add-on module enabling SQL-like queries against the Canary Historian for $2,500, licensed separately from the base system.
3. Support & Maintenance: Annual support and maintenance at 18% of licensed product costs, providing updates, technical support, and access to new releases.
4. Ignition Integration Module: Free module with no licensing restrictions for integration with Ignition SCADA platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Canary Labs develops and sells "The Canary System," an industrial data historian and operational intelligence platform built on a proprietary NoSQL time-series database with class-leading lossless compression supporting 2M+ tags per server. The platform collects time-series process data from PLCs, SCADA systems, and IIoT devices via OPC, MQTT, SQL, CSV, and SCADA connectors; stores it reliably through Store & Forward buffering; applies asset context and KPI calculations through Virtual Views, Calculation Server (70+ functions), and Events; and visualizes it through Axiom dashboards, the Excel Add-in, and Data Connectors (MQTT Sparkplug, Web API, ODBC, Kafka). It serves industrial operators, government/municipal infrastructure, systems integrators, and higher education/research customers across 70+ countries.

Product overview

Canary is a data historian software company offering the Canary System, a unified platform-plus-modules architecture for industrial automation data management. The core platform consists of the Canary Historian (time-series database) paired with Data Collectors (supporting OPC, MQTT, SQL, CSV protocols) and Store & Forward (for reliable offline delivery). Context is applied through Virtual Views (asset modeling) and Calculation Server (real-time KPIs with 70+ functions), with Events for batch/downtime/shift monitoring. Data is visualized via Axiom (dashboards/trending) and Excel Add-in, with unlimited concurrent clients. Data Connectors (MQTT Sparkplug, Web API, ODBC) enable integration with third-party analytics tools (Power BI, Spotfire, Seeq, AWS). The Ignition Module provides native integration with Inductive Automation's SCADA platform. The system is designed for edge, site, and enterprise/cloud deployments across 70+ countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Canary System Unified industrial data historian platform that collects time-series process data from PLCs, SCADA systems, and IIoT devices via OPC, MQTT, SQL, CSV, and SCADA connectors; stores data with lossless compression supporting 2M+ tags per server; applies asset context and KPI calculations through Virtual Views, Calculation Server (70+ functions), and Events; and visualizes results via Axiom dashboards and the Excel Add-in. Targeted at industrial process operators in oil & gas, chemicals, energy, aerospace, manufacturing, and municipal infrastructure. Pricing is by tag count, starting at $9,970 for 3,500 tags with unlimited Axiom and Excel Add-in client seats.
• ODBC Connector Optional add-on module that exposes Canary Historian data, Virtual Views, and Events via SQL-like ODBC queries to third-party analytics and BI tools. Licensed separately from the base Canary System at $2,500. Targeted at data analysts, BI developers, and engineers who need SQL-based access to time-series data.
• Ignition Module Free integration module enabling the Canary Historian to function as a native Tag History Provider for Ignition by Inductive Automation SCADA projects (Ignition 8.3+). Enables joint SCADA control and historical data logging deployments with no licensing restrictions. Targeted at Ignition SCADA users and systems integrators deploying Inductive Automation platforms.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30,000+ installations in over 70 countries
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

AI capability4 records

Feature12 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SORBA.aicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 March 2026Canary Labs and SORBA.ai announced a strategic partnership to integrate their platforms for industrial data and AI solutions. The integration enables direct access to time-series data for predictive modeling. The collaboration aims to streamline deployment processes, reduce costs, and support secure, on-premises operations for industrial enterprises.
• Inductive Automation (Ignition)coreTechnology or IntegrationCanary has developed a free Ignition module that functions as a native Tag History Provider for Ignition SCADA projects. The module is free with no licensing restrictions. Canary collaborates with Inductive Automation's ICC user community. Combined Ignition + Canary solutions are priced at ~$55,460 total, offering both SCADA control and historical data logging.
• Inductive Automation (Ignition)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerCanary's historian is exposed as a native module within the Ignition SCADA platform by Inductive Automation. The Ignition Tag Historian Module (~$2,365) combined with Canary's historian enables a joint solution where Canary serves as the native tag history provider.
• Chirality ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of the second annual Canary Day Calgary 2026 event. Chirality Research and Canary Labs are among companies practicing partnership-driven approaches in Canada's industrial technology sector rather than traditional competition.
• Tarco ConsultingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of the second annual Canary Day Calgary 2026 event. Tarco Consulting participates in collaborative delivery models in Canada's industrial technology sector.
• Dimension SoftwareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of the second annual Canary Day Calgary 2026 event. Dimension Software collaborates with Canary Labs on real-world applications of asset intelligence and AI in industrial settings.
• Water For GoodminorOthersCanary has partnered with Water For Good since 2019. Canary team members have traveled to Africa to support water point installations. As of the latest report, Water For Good has reached 981,000 people and installed 200+ water points in the Central African Republic.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• AVEVA (PI System): AVEVA's PI System (formerly OSIsoft PI) is the dominant industrial data historian and Canary's primary named competitor in marketing materials. Canary explicitly positions itself on cost (1/6 the price) and feature parity with PI.
• Inductive Automation (Ignition): Inductive Automation's Ignition SCADA platform is both a core integration partner (Canary provides the native Tag History Module for Ignition) and a competitive alternative, since Ignition includes its own built-in historian capability.

Emerging players

• InfluxData: InfluxDB is a leading open-source/cloud-native time-series database increasingly adopted in industrial IoT. It competes with Canary for modern cloud-first buyers but lacks the deep SCADA/OPC protocol integration and industrial asset-modeling of Canary.
• Seeq Corporation: Seeq provides advanced process analytics and machine learning on top of time-series historians, including Canary. Seeq is both a complement (integrates with Canary) and a partial alternative for advanced analytics use cases.
• AWS IoT SiteWise: AWS IoT SiteWise is a cloud-native managed industrial time-series service that competes with Canary for cloud-first industrial customers. It offers tighter integration with the AWS ecosystem but lacks Canary's on-premises heritage and asset-modeling depth.

Broad incumbents

• Siemens (WinCC Historian): Siemens offers the WinCC Historian as part of its broader industrial automation portfolio (SIMATIC). It serves overlapping manufacturing customers but is bundled into Siemens's full-stack automation offering rather than sold as a standalone historian.
• Honeywell (Uniformance PHD): Honeywell's Uniformance Process History Database (PHD) is a long-standing industrial historian widely used in process industries. It overlaps with Canary in chemical, oil & gas, and refining customers but is part of Honeywell's broader process automation suite.
• GE Digital (Proficy Historian): GE Digital's Proficy Historian serves discrete and process manufacturing customers globally. It competes with Canary for plant-floor data management but is typically sold as part of GE's broader Proficy manufacturing software suite.
• Aspen Technology (Aspen IP21): Aspen Technology's IP21 (formerly InfoPlus.21) is a process-industry historian widely used in chemicals and refining. It overlaps with Canary's process manufacturing customer base but is part of AspenTech's broader asset optimization suite.
• Rockwell Automation (FactoryTalk Historian): Rockwell's FactoryTalk Historian (formerly RSHistorian) targets discrete and hybrid manufacturers using Logix controllers. It competes with Canary for plant-floor data but is tightly coupled to Rockwell's control system ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/canarylabs

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Canary