Content date: 2 October 2026 · Editorial responsibility: Dimitris Mitsios · No individual check logged· AI use

Condition monitoring vs CMMS · Guide revised September 2026

Tractian vs UpKeep: Scope, limits and demo questions

Side-by-side comparison

Tractian and UpKeep: pricing, evaluation starting point, scope, what to verify and offline scope. Select a row label to show its full text.
Attribute	Tractian	UpKeep
	Published amount; check product and plan
	Asset Management
	Validate user roles, sites and scale against your proposed deployment.
	Confirm hosting, support languages and contractual coverage for your region.
	See the linked profile's capability evidence
	See the linked profile's unresolved questions
	Partial offline workflow	Documented offline workflow

Where the two scopes differ

The records describe different shapes of purchase. The Tractian record covers a portfolio in which a CMMS subscription, sensors with supervised analysis and enrichment of a system the buyer already runs are separate purchases. The UpKeep record covers UpKeep CMMS and says its Safety, Learn, Edge and Fleet offerings need their own review. Both vendors therefore sell a sensor route outside the core maintenance system: Tractian's own sensors, and UpKeep's Edge, which its integration page says can feed readings that open a work order when a value drifts. The two may also meet. Tractian's mobile page lists UpKeep among the maintenance systems that its sensors can be added to, while its record names spreadsheets, SAP and Maximo and says the integration does not establish identical features in each. A buyer who assumes one must replace the other should ask whether the question is really about two systems or about one system and one sensor supplier.

Published prices and entry routes are shaped differently. Tractian shows a Standard level from $60 per user per month with a five-user minimum and an Enterprise level from $100 with a ten-user minimum, both billed annually, with unlimited requesters and no platform fee on both, and free data import from spreadsheets listed under Standard. UpKeep shows Essential at $24 and Premium at $55 per user per month, quotes Professional and Enterprise, and publishes service options: training only at $500, Quickstart at $1,500 and expanded training at $5,000. Its pricing FAQ describes view-only, requester and third-party users as free. Both pages invite a trial without a credit card, a free sandbox for Tractian and a free trial for UpKeep, but the records could not confirm the length or content of either. Neither record verified a currency, and the levels are not defined as equivalent.

Field work and its limits are documented differently. UpKeep's help page places offline work on Professional and Enterprise, for orders assigned to the user, bookmarked in advance or due within the working week. It states that Professional caches up to five orders automatically and Enterprise between five and a hundred, with two offline drafts and five task images against unlimited for Enterprise. The Tractian record cites official video material for offline mobile maintenance but states no plan, cache or draft limits, and it separates a phone that keeps working from a sensor whose own connection may drop. The comparison therefore rests on a plan-bound set of figures on one side and an undocumented set of limits on the other, and the second is a question to ask, not a finding.

Security statements come from the vendors' own trust pages. The UpKeep record cites a Trust Center stating a SOC 2 Type II examination, hosting on AWS and customer data stored and processed only in the United States, with reports, a data processing agreement and subprocessors available to review. The Tractian record lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 entries (the edition years it names should be checked against the current editions), plus a FedRAMP High entry that applies to a GovCloud option on a third-party authorised platform, and records no data region. In both cases the record did not review the reports or certificates, and the FedRAMP entry should not be read as covering the standard service.

Tractian: status on record

Trial: Free trial documented.
Offline: Partial offline workflow.
Pricing: Published amount; check product and plan.
Profile record checked 2 October 2026.

UpKeep: status on record

Trial: Free trial documented.
Offline: Documented offline workflow.
Pricing: Published amount; check product and plan.
Profile record checked 2 October 2026.

When each is the safer first demo

Start with Tractian when

Tractian is the safer first demo when machines already show condition problems and the first requirement is turning an alert into reviewed work. Agree one asset and its sensor coverage, then ask to see the alert evidence, severity, suggested procedure and route to an analyst, followed by the order, the reserved part and the readings after the repair. Ask the vendor to name, for each step, whether it belongs to hardware, the Tractian CMMS or an interface to a system you already own.

Start with UpKeep when

UpKeep is the safer first demo when the first requirement is planning and stock in one maintenance record: a time or meter trigger that makes an order with a checklist and a part, a storeroom issue and a low-stock draft. Ask the vendor to name the plan before the session starts, because offline work and the redesigned request portal are documented for Professional and Enterprise, and a session on a lower plan would not show them.

A two-week evaluation plan

Ask Tractian

State whether the quote is the CMMS, enrichment of a system you own, sensors or a combination, and give each of sensors, replacements, connectivity, analyst support, implementation and interfaces its own line.
Ask where customer data is stored and processed for the service you would use, which reports can be shared, and the scope and length of the free sandbox.

Ask UpKeep

Name the plan that carries offline work, and ask for its cache, draft and image allowances to be written into the order, plus a price or range for the quoted plans.
Say whether Edge sensors, Procurement, Safety, Learn or Fleet are in the quote, which interface route is contracted, and which published training option applies.

Week 1, the connection and the data. Send both vendors the same security and residency questions before any hands-on work. Then prepare one assigned order on a phone in each product, switch the network off, complete a checklist with a photo and reconnect. In UpKeep, keep the app open after reconnecting and note which step the plan limits. In Tractian, also interrupt a sensor on a covered asset and compare buffered readings with gaps. Confirm the sandbox or trial length in writing before the clock starts.

Week 2, the alert, the plan and the price. Follow one Tractian alert to a prioritised order, a reserved part and a repair, and look at the readings afterwards. In UpKeep, build one recurring job with the trigger and part you use, let it generate and complete it with labour and a photo. If both vendors are in scope, ask them to demonstrate the interface between them. Finish with a one-year quote for the same assets and users, with sensors, services and any add-on on separate lines.

Worked evaluation scenarios

These scenarios are hypothetical. They show how to turn the record facts into a demo test and what outcome would change a choice; they are not case studies or customer results.

Hypothetical: a team already on UpKeep that is offered sensors

A maintenance team runs UpKeep and is offered Tractian sensors for six pumps. The Tractian mobile page names UpKeep among the systems its sensors can be added to, and the record cautions that such a listing does not show identical features in each system. The UpKeep record treats its own Edge sensors as outside the CMMS profile. Before any trial, ask both vendors in writing whether the interface exists for your plan, who builds and supports it, its direction and what happens to a failed record. Then take one alert to a work order in UpKeep and check that it arrives once, with its evidence. The choice would change if the connector needs a quoted tier you do not hold, or if duplicate orders appear.

Hypothetical: a data-residency rule set by the legal department

A company's legal team requires written confirmation of where customer data is stored before any CMMS is bought. The UpKeep record cites a Trust Center that states United States storage and processing only and lists a data processing agreement and subprocessors. The Tractian record lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 entries and a FedRAMP High entry for a separate GovCloud option, with no report reviewed and no region recorded for the standard service. Send the legal team's questions to both vendors, with the exact service and plan, and ask for the current reports under non-disclosure. If a region is not stated for your service, or the FedRAMP statement covers a different deployment from the one quoted, the answer changes the shortlist.

Hypothetical: a night crew in a basement boiler room

A crew works in a basement plant room where signal drops for most of the shift, and a conveyor drive upstairs carries a vibration sensor. The UpKeep help page documents offline work for its two quoted plans, with orders prepared in advance and different cache, draft and photo allowances for each. The Tractian record cites video material for offline mobile maintenance and warns that offline tasks do not imply uninterrupted sensor data. Have the crew prepare a realistic night's orders, work them offline with photos, and reconnect, then interrupt the sensor link separately. If the allowances run out before the shift ends, or telemetry gaps cannot be explained, the plan needs another layer.

What the records do not establish

Tractian

The currency of the published prices, or the duration and content of the free sandbox.
The data region of the standard service, or the scope of the GovCloud option behind the FedRAMP High entry.
Cache, draft or image limits for offline mobile work, since the record names none.
That an AI diagnosis is correct, or that a closed order shows the fault was corrected.

UpKeep

A price or minimum user count for Professional or Enterprise, the plans that carry offline work.
That Edge, Procurement, Safety, Learn or Fleet are included in a CMMS subscription.
Hosting outside the United States, or access to the restricted assurance reports.
The length or conversion terms of the free trial.

Neither product

Whether a deployed interface exists between the two products, who owns it and what it costs.
Total cost: neither record gives a complete first-year figure, and the currency is unverified in both.
Any hands-on result: both records review vendor documentation, and neither uses independent customer reviews.

Written from the profile records and the decision guide above, not from a hands-on test. Where a record is silent, the page says so instead of filling the gap.

Evaluate Tractian

Identify the exact product, application and licence.
Review the profile's demonstration questions.
Run the same task and record unresolved questions.

See Tractian profile

Evaluate UpKeep

Identify the exact product, application and licence.
Review the profile's demonstration questions.
Run the same task and record unresolved questions.

See UpKeep profile

Tractian vs UpKeep | FAQ

Which product is cheaper?

Comparable total cost has not been established. Request the same applications, users, sites, configuration, migration, integrations and support period from both vendors. Published entry pricing is subject to the plan conditions shown in each profile.

How should I compare offline capability?

Use the exact proposed mobile application and plan. Download required data, disconnect, create a record with a photo, reconnect and inspect synchronization. Record which preparation and tasks require connectivity.

How should I decide between these products?

Set acceptance criteria for your actual workflow. Complete the same demo, record observed results separately from vendor statements and resolve remaining questions in a scoped pilot. The linked profiles show the sources and review status for each product.

Vendor sources and next steps

Tractian14 sources, profile checked 2 October 2026

UpKeep14 sources, profile checked 2 October 2026

Record the same demo tasks in the scorecard →

Related comparisons

Need a personalised shortlist?

Answer the matching questionnaire to explore up to 5 platforms based on your industry, size and processes, then verify the requirements with each vendor.

Get matched