What Control Automation does

Control.com, operated by EETech Group, LLC, is an online community and content platform serving control and automation engineers. The site hosts discussion forums, technical articles, resources, and events covering industrial automation topics including programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), motors, robotics, sensors, and safety systems, alongside a dedicated section for hobbyists and makers. The platform reports approximately 52,617 registered members, 77,250 threads, and 221,835 messages, with 355 users online concurrently, indicating steady engagement within a specialized professional audience.

The underlying platform is built on XenForo forum software delivered as a web-based service, with an architecture organized around category-based subforums, user-generated threads, and a resource library. Members can register for free to participate; a freemium layer provides registered users with access to premium content and reduced advertising, while a Partner Content Hub (exemplified by the arrangement with TTI, Inc.) hosts recurring sponsored editorial from electronics distributors and component vendors. The company also runs the annual Control Automation Day event, extending its touchpoints beyond the web property.

The business model is advertising-led with a freemium overlay: revenue is generated primarily through display and sponsored content sold to industrial component suppliers and electronics distributors, supplemented by premium content access for registered members. The asset sits inside the EETech Group portfolio alongside All About Circuits, Maker Pro, and EEPower, which provides shared audience, sales infrastructure, and cross-promotion across adjacent electronics engineering verticals. No headcount, revenue, or external funding disclosures are available.

Name

Control Automation

Legal name

EETech Group, LLC

Website

https://control.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Control.com, operated by EETech Group, is an online community and content platform for control and automation engineers, offering forums, technical resources, and sponsored content across PLCs, HMIs, robotics, and sensors, monetized via advertising and freemium membership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Engineering Community & Media Platform

akta.pro primary industry

Electrical Controls, PLC & Industrial Automation (EDAOABAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

PLC, HMI & SCADA Automation (EDAOAHAD)

Keywords

• Industrial automation community
• Engineering educational resources
• Control systems forums
• PLC technical content
• Automation industry news

Headquarters

HQ city

Boise

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Advertising: The platform operates with advertising as a revenue stream, with minimal advertising noted for registered members. The site also features a Partner Content Hub for sponsored/partnered content.
2. Premium Membership Content: Registered members gain access to premium content, forum attachments, and reduced advertising. This suggests a freemium model where basic access is free but premium features require registration/membership.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Control Automation operates control.com, an online community platform for control and automation engineering professionals. The platform provides forums, technical articles, industry news, ebooks, video lectures, webinars, white papers, worksheets, and tools covering industrial automation topics such as PLCs, HMIs, motors, robotics, sensors, communication, and safety. It also hosts the annual Control Automation Day event and a Partner Content Hub featuring sponsored content from manufacturers.

Product overview

Control.com is an online engineering community platform for control and automation professionals, offering a comprehensive suite of content and collaboration tools. The platform provides forums for technical discussions, technical articles, industry news, ebooks, webinars, white papers, video lectures, and worksheets covering various automation topics including PLCs, HMIs, motors, robotics, sensors, and industrial protocols. It also hosts the annual Control Automation Day event and maintains a Partner Content Hub featuring sponsored content from industry manufacturers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Control Automation Day: Annual digital-only event for engineers featuring keynote addresses, live educational sessions, and manufacturer giveaways

Products and services

• Control.com Community Platform An online engineering community platform for control and automation professionals, offering forums, technical articles, industry news, ebooks, webinars, white papers, video lectures, worksheets, and tools covering topics such as PLCs, HMIs, motors, robotics, sensors, and industrial protocols. Accessible globally via web and mobile with free registration.
• Partner Content Hub A curated content section featuring sponsored and partner content from industry manufacturers, including supply chain updates, IP&E outlook reports, and technology articles. Current featured partner is TTI, Inc.
• Control Automation Day An annual digital-only event for engineers featuring keynote addresses, live educational sessions, and giveaways from manufacturers, covering topics such as distributed control, remote I/O, AI-powered PLC code generation, and industrial networking.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• EETech GroupparentOthersControl.com is operated by EETech Group, LLC, a technology media company. EETech Group owns multiple engineering community websites including All About Circuits, Maker Pro, and EEPower, with shared network marketing and cross-promotion capabilities.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• PLCTalk: Smaller, PLC-focused online forum community. Comparable as a peer-support destination for control engineers, but narrower in scope and scale than Control.com.
• Hackster.io: Online community platform for hardware and embedded developers, with project publishing and tutorials. Comparable as a community-plus-content destination serving adjacent technical audiences, but with a maker/hobbyist orientation rather than industrial automation.

Broad incumbents

• International Society of Automation (ISA): Professional association that publishes standards, training, and technical content for automation professionals. Comparable as a destination serving the same audience, though driven by membership and standards rather than community engagement.
• EE Times: Long-established electronics engineering media brand with news, analysis, and technical content. Comparable as engineering-audience media, but serves a broader electronics audience beyond industrial automation.
• Automation World: Trade media brand covering manufacturing automation with news, technical articles, and resources. Overlaps with Control.com's content-and-audience model but is a broader incumbent publication rather than a community-first platform.
• Control Engineering (CFE Media): Established trade publication covering control and instrumentation, with broader editorial scope than Control.com and a longer industry history. Comparable as a media property monetizing the same audience, but operates at a much larger, multi-format scale.

Direct peers

• EEPower: Another EETech Group community site focused on power electronics and power systems engineers. Shares the same parent, editorial format mix (articles, forums, ebooks, videos), and revenue model as Control.com, making it a directly comparable community-media property.
• Automation.com: Long-running online resource and community for industrial automation professionals, covering similar topics (PLCs, drives, sensors, networks). Directly comparable as a content-and-community destination serving the same engineer persona.
• All About Circuits: Sibling engineering community within EETech Group targeting electrical and electronics engineers. Operates the same community-plus-content-plus-ads model on the same XenForo-style platform, making it the closest direct peer in audience model and corporate parent.
• Maker Pro: EETech Group community for makers and embedded/electronics professionals. Overlaps with Control.com's audience at the embedded-controls and hobbyist edge, and operates on the same parent platform and monetization framework.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ctrlautomation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Control Automation