irBoard Lite vs HMI Draw, native HMI/SCADA development environment
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
irBoard Lite
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Using irBoard Lite, you can conveniently monitor the status and operation of FA equipment and IoT devices through an iPad or any other iOS device. The control device known as a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) has communication protocols. irBoard Lite communicates with PLCs via its protocol. Additionally, it has the capability to communicate effectively with IoT devices, specifically the ESP32 device at present. You don’t need additional software besides irBoard Lite because the screen editor is already included. ===================================== irBoard Lite is a limited version of irBoard. The Lite edition allows users to connect to only one project per day and the launch page only with a maximum of ten items. And importing a project is not allowed. To lift these limitations, you can either acquire an unlock item or redeem a ticket to access for four hours. ===================================== FEATURE: - You can conveniently monitor the status and operation of FA equipment and IoT devices. - Although the FA equipment has fixed touch panels installed, the irBoard Lite on iOS devices offers superior portability. - It is possible to remotely check the status of a device in PLCs. - To ensure safety, manipulating connected PLC devices is only allowed on a single iOS device. - By switching projects, you can easily connect to multiple FA machines using just one iOS device. - irBoard Lite supports the following PLCs via Ethernet connection: MITSUBISHI Electric, KEYENCE, OMRON, and YOKOGAWA Electric, and support Modbus/TCP. - It can also connect to an open-source PLC LadderDrive running on Raspberry Pi. (https://github.com/ito-soft-design/ladder_drive) - The irBoard Library for ESP32 library supports ESP32 devices.(https://github.com/ito-soft-design/irboard_esp32) - The irBoard.NET library supports Windows .NET applications.(https://github.com/ito-soft-design/irboard-dotnet) - Using the LadderDrive protocol, allows for communication with IoT devices such as ESP32 without any difficulty. - The screen editor has already been included. it is easy for you to make modifications to the pages. ===================================== --- Notes --- With irBoard Lite, you have the ability to turn devices on and off. If you require the interlocking of PLC-controlled devices, it is necessary to configure this on the PLC. To ensure safety, we suggest setting the status of such devices to read-only. You can monitor the health status to determine if the connection is stable. If the connection is lost, it’s important to take precautionary measures when operating your PLC. =====================================
HMI Draw, native HMI/SCADA development environment
Create custom industrial monitoring and control interfaces on iOS devices. Design dynamic dashboards with various elements and connect them to PLC systems. Develop and test projects for free, with activation fees for deployment.
- Customizable page layouts
- Real-time monitoring and control
- Support for major PLC brands
- On-screen project editing
- Export/import project and asset files
- Cloud storage and deployment options
- Native PLC communication protocols
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HMI Draw is a *native* iOS application for creating Human Machine Interfaces for real time monitoring and control of industrial PLC based systems and processes. Data is presented in highly customizable page layouts much like a presentations app. Who's this for. The app is aimed at automation engineers or industrial machine manufacturers on many sectors including but not limited to building automation, industrial processing, power plants, water plants, industrial equipment, transportation and so on, who want to provide instant, reliable access to real time data right from iOS devices. What you'll get for the price of the app. HMI Draw allows you to create efficient, advanced, highly responsive "Human Machine Interfaces" right on your iPad screen with unprecedented ease of use and fun. The HMI Draw app is fully native and supports all major Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) brands. For the price of the app (FREE) you can *fully* develop and test projects of any complexity. No restrictions on number of pages, tags or PLCs are applied at this stage. You only pay for project activations when you are ready to deploy to end users. HMI Draw essential Features. - Very fast, launches and connects immediately regardless of project size. - All data types including Strings, Arrays and Dictionaries fully supported. - HMI Projects are edited on-screen as you run and monitor your process. - You can export and edit your project files as text on your PC or Mac. - Export/import asset files such as images, pdfs or audio files from HMI Draw to your PC or Mac. - Optional project storage in the cloud and easy deployment to end users devices. - Native PLC communication protocols. Connections are performed with no intermediate servers or boxes. - Major PLC brands supported, including: Allen Bradley, Mitsubishi, Omron, Opto 22, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Wago. - TCP/IP based security. Getting Started: creating a HMI Pad project. Projects are created like a mix of PowerPoint and Excel. The concept is quite simple. You lay out elements such as Sliders, Switches, Buttons, Images, Text Fields, Knobs, Trends, Gauges, Bar Indicators, Web browser, Array pickers, even Gesture Recognizers and much more onto pages. You connect on-screen objects with iPad sensors and PLC tags through simple links or powerful expressions. That's it !!. The result is a stunning, dynamic, real-time presentation of your PLC controlled process as you'd never imagined. Examples Ready for You. Explore the examples and take the liberty to make changes on them. Create your own test projects from scratch or based on the examples. HMI Draw will comprehensively tell you what inconsistencies or problems there may be in your project as you build them. New examples are being added on a regular basis or by user request. What's Next. There’s a lot more that we haven’t mentioned here, such as the page navigation interface, the embedded file server, the model browser, the model seeker, the automatic expression completer, the inspector viewer, alarm notifications, iPad sensors, bar code scanner, user access levels, password on launch, PLC validation codes, individual tag diagnostics, background processing, automatic network switching, and much much more. You surely will identify some of these features by just exploring the app, but the single source where everything is covered is the HMI Draw Reference Manual. Feel free to download it from our site and look at the full possibilities, you’ll love the product. Technical Support. We provide a free on-line support service based on public forums on our web site: http://www.sweetwilliamsl.com/support/forums Or through direct email: support@sweetwilliamsl.com. We also hold a public youTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/hmipad. Feel free to direct your questions, suggestions or feedback to any of the above. We'll be happy to hear from you.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: HMI Draw, native HMI/SCADA development environment at 8.0 against irBoard Lite's 16.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. irBoard Lite sells 7 one-off in-app purchases and HMI Draw, native HMI/SCADA development environment sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
irBoard Lite ships an update every 3 weeks, HMI Draw, native HMI/SCADA development environment every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | irBoard Lite | HMI Draw, native HMI/SCADA development environment |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 3.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 53.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ITO SOFT DESIGN Inc. | SweetWilliam, S.L. |
In-app purchases
irBoard Lite
- Can import projects.$6.99
- Unlock IoT$59.99
- Unlock Modbus/TCP$119.99
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- Unlock MITSUBISHI$199.99
- Unlock KEYENCE$199.99
- Unlock Omron$199.99
- Unlock YOKOGAWA$199.99
HMI Draw, native HMI/SCADA development environment
- Activation for One Use$149.99
- Activation for Five Uses$449.99
- Activation for Ten Uses$799.99
Questions
Is irBoard Lite free?
Is HMI Draw, native HMI/SCADA development environment free?
Do irBoard Lite or HMI Draw, native HMI/SCADA development environment have ads?
Which is updated more often, irBoard Lite or HMI Draw, native HMI/SCADA development environment?
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