Comparison # Aditum Data vs a DIY stack: Node-RED, Telegraf, InfluxDB and Grafana Node-RED, Telegraf, InfluxDB and Grafana are open-source tools that, wired together, read OPC UA, MQTT and Modbus, store time series and draw dashboards, with no licence cost. Aditum Data covers the same path as one managed service without code, and adds what a DIY stack leaves to you: data health incidents, unit-checked calculations and one KPI definition across sites. Facts checked 24 October 2026 ## Aditum Data and a DIY stack at a glance A DIY stack is free and flexible, and your team maintains it; Aditum Data is managed and built for plant teams without developers. **Aditum Data and a DIY stack side by side** | | Aditum Data | a DIY stack | | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Industrial data pipelines and dashboards as a managed service: connect plant and business sources, prepare the data without code, deliver it to your platform or to live dashboards. | Four tools: Node-RED ("Low-code programming for event-driven applications"), Telegraf (a collection agent), InfluxDB (time-series database) and Grafana (visualisation). ([Node-RED](https://nodered.org/), [Telegraf](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf), [InfluxDB](https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/core/), [Grafana](https://grafana.com/oss/grafana/)) | | Where it runs | Managed by Aditum Data in Frankfurt (EU); a small read-only edge connector at each site (Windows or Linux), outbound HTTPS on port 443 only. | Self-hosted anywhere, from a Raspberry Pi to the cloud. ([Node-RED](https://nodered.org/)) | | Plant connectivity | Edge connector for OPC UA, MQTT (Sparkplug B) and Modbus TCP; AVEVA PI (PI Web API) and GE Proficy; SQL databases, InfluxDB, warehouses, data lakes, Kafka, SAP OData and REST. See [connectors](https://aditumdata.com/connectors). | Telegraf has over 300 plugins, including OPC UA, Modbus, MQTT and Kafka; Node-RED has over 5,000 community nodes and flows. ([Telegraf](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf), [Node-RED](https://nodered.org/)) | | Historian | Not a historian. Reads your historian, or stores prepared data in the Aditum database (hosted PostgreSQL with TimescaleDB) or your own destination. | InfluxDB 3 Core stores the time series. ([InfluxDB](https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/core/)) | | Asset model and context | A reviewed plant graph per organisation: naming rules (ISA-5.1, KKS), OPC UA folders and MQTT topics become site, unit and equipment; P&IDs and 3D models link to time series after a person approves. | Whatever you build: tag naming and hierarchy are up to your team. | | Calculations | f(x): no-code engineering calculations with unit checks on every step, nine equipment templates (LMTD, duty, OEE, specific energy and more), time-weighted averages. | Flows in Node-RED, processors in Telegraf, queries in InfluxDB and Grafana; unit handling is up to you. | | Data health and alerts | Incidents without setting up rules: failed runs, stale sources, stuck or silent tags, missed schedules, data received but not stored, offline connectors; email, Teams, Slack, webhooks, PagerDuty, Opsgenie. | Grafana Alerting, configured by you. ([Grafana](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/alerting/)) | | Dashboards | Live dashboards, including from a plain-language request that a person approves; every number traces to its source tags. | Grafana, with 150+ plugins. ([Grafana](https://grafana.com/oss/grafana/)) | | AI | AI drafts pipelines, dashboards and formulas for approval; the platform calculates every number. Metadata only by default; an organisation can switch AI off. | None built in. | | How it is sold | Per organisation, never per seat: a free self-serve start, a pilot, then a site subscription. Prices on request. | Open source: Node-RED Apache 2.0, Telegraf MIT, InfluxDB 3 Core MIT or Apache 2, Grafana AGPL-3.0. ([Node-RED](https://github.com/node-red/node-red), [Telegraf](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf), [InfluxDB](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb), [Grafana](https://github.com/grafana/grafana)) | Checked 24 October 2026. Statements about a DIY stack come from the vendor's public pages listed under Sources. ## Where a DIY stack is the better choice a DIY stack is ahead of Aditum Data in these areas today. - **No licence cost and no vendor lock-in.** Every part can be swapped. - **Huge communities** and examples for almost any device ([Grafana](https://grafana.com/oss/grafana/), [Telegraf](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf)). - **Runs anywhere**, fully on your own hardware, and bends to any requirement if you have developers to maintain it. ## Where Aditum Data is different What Aditum Data adds for teams that need the same, trustworthy number from every site. - **No code to maintain.** Pipelines are built visually and versioned with one-step rollback; there are no flows or config files to keep in step per site. - **Data health is built in:** stale sources, stuck tags, renamed tags and heartbeats without data open incidents, grouped by root cause. - **Honest counts:** a run counts only the rows the destination accepted. - **Calculations with unit checks** and time-weighted averages, defined once and used at every site. - **Connectors maintained for you.** In a DIY stack, replacing a retired part is your job: Grafana's own OPC UA data source plugin, for example, reached end of life after June 2024 ([Grafana](https://grafana.com/grafana/plugins/grafana-opcua-datasource)). ## Can Aditum Data work with a DIY stack? Yes. Aditum Data reads from and writes to InfluxDB and can publish to MQTT, so existing Grafana dashboards can keep running on data Aditum Data prepares. ## Questions **We already have Telegraf writing OPC UA data to InfluxDB. Can we keep it?** Yes. Aditum Data can read that InfluxDB as a source, or write into it as a destination. ## Sources Public pages the statements about other products rely on, read on 24 October 2026 . Product names are trademarks of their owners. - [Node-RED](https://nodered.org/) - [Node-RED on GitHub (licence)](https://github.com/node-red/node-red) - [Telegraf on GitHub](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf) - [Telegraf OPC UA input plugin](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/plugins/inputs/opcua/README.md) - [InfluxDB 3 Core documentation](https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/core/) - [InfluxDB on GitHub (licence)](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb) - [Grafana OSS](https://grafana.com/oss/grafana/) - [Grafana on GitHub (licence)](https://github.com/grafana/grafana) - [Grafana Alerting documentation](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/alerting/) - [Grafana OPC UA data source plugin (deprecated)](https://grafana.com/grafana/plugins/grafana-opcua-datasource) ## Read next - [ConnectorsWhich plant and business systems Aditum Data reads and writes: OPC UA, MQTT and Sparkplug B, Modbus TCP, AVEVA PI, GE Proficy, SQL databases, InfluxDB, Kafka, S3, SAP OData and REST.](https://aditumdata.com/connectors) - [Data health and incidentsAditum Data opens an incident and emails the owner when a source goes stale, a tag stops changing, a run fails or an edge connector goes offline.](https://aditumdata.com/use-cases/data-health) - [Aditum Data vs Kepware + a historianKepware Server (formerly KEPServerEX) connects PLCs; a historian stores the data. Aditum Data reads Kepware over OPC UA and adds pipelines, calculations, alerts and dashboards. Sourced comparison.](https://aditumdata.com/compare/kepware-historian) ## Discuss architecture with an industrial data specialist. Source compatibility, security boundaries, deployment and multi-site operation. Or request a 45-minute technical session to select one KPI and three sites and draft the acceptance criteria. [Book a technical demo](https://aditumdata.com/#contact)[sales@aditumdata.com](mailto:sales@aditumdata.com)