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Frequently Asked Questions

Open Source IoT Platform

General
Private Cloud
ThingsBoard Add-ons
AI Capabilities
Deployments & Limits
Security & Compliance
Support & Assistance
What is ThingsBoard Cloud?

ThingsBoard is an IoT platform for data collection, processing, visualization, and device management. It enables you to accelerate development and lower costs by providing out-of-the-box components and APIs while maintaining full control over your solution and data.

ThingsBoard Cloud is a fully managed, scalable, and fault-tolerant Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) for your IoT applications. It offers all the advanced features of the Professional Edition without the overhead of manual installation, maintenance, or infrastructure updates, allowing you to focus entirely on building your solution.

Learn more about the platform's architecture in our What is ThingsBoard? guide, or jump straight to the Getting Started Guide to build your first project.

Is ThingsBoard Professional Edition free?

You can start with the Free plan. But higher plans require a paid subscription.

What's the difference between Community and Professional Edition?

Community Edition (CE) is a free, open-source platform suitable for development, testing, and production use without licensing costs. It includes essential features for IoT device management, data collection, visualization, and rule processing.

Professional Edition (PE) includes all CE features and offers advanced capabilities such as white-labeling, role-based access control (RBAC), platform integrations, solution templates, scheduler, and enterprise support.

See the PE product page for a detailed feature comparison table.

How do I get started with ThingsBoard?

Sign up for ThingsBoard Cloud for immediate access.

To connect your first device and build dashboards, explore the Getting Started Guide.

Are there API rate limits?

Yes. Each ThingsBoard Cloud plan includes specific usage quotas and API rate limits. Please refer to the Subscription Plans page for detailed information on these limits.

Are there device limits?

Limits depend on your selected subscription plan. ThingsBoard Cloud plans range from 5 devices (Maker) up to 1,000 devices (Business). For Business plans, you can purchase additional device capacity as needed.

How to connect my device?

ThingsBoard provides MQTT, CoAP, HTTP, and LwM2M protocols support. Existing devices may be connected to the platform using ThingsBoard Gateway. You can find more information on the connectivity page.

Do I need to use an SDK?

No, many IoT devices cannot afford the overhead of embedding a third-party SDK. ThingsBoard provides a simple API over common IoT protocols, allowing you to choose any client-side library you prefer or use your own. Some useful references include:

Can I migrate from CE to PE?

Yes, you can migrate from ThingsBoard Community Edition to Professional Edition without losing telemetry data and/or configurations. The upgrade process preserves your existing setup, ensuring a seamless transition.

However, please note that any custom modifications made directly to the source code of the Community Edition will be removed during the upgrade process.

See the ThingsBoard instructions for upgrading from Community Edition. Back up your data before starting.

How can I check which version of ThingsBoard I’m currently using?

ThingsBoard Cloud is a fully managed platform that is regularly updated to the latest version by the ThingsBoard team, so you don't need to worry about maintenance or upgrades.

Can I integrate with third-party systems?

Yes, through REST APIs, Rule Engine, and Platform Integrations (PE-only feature with 30+ built-in connectors for OPC-UA, LoRaWAN networks, cloud platforms, etc.).

Does ThingsBoard support white-labeling?

Yes, white-labeling is available starting from the Pilot plan and above.

Can I replace the default ThingsBoard logo in the menu?

In the ThingsBoard Cloud, all branding can be configured directly from the user interface using the built-in White-Labeling module.

Here’s what you can do in just a few clicks:

  • Replace the ThingsBoard logo and favicon with your own corporate visuals;
  • Customize login and system pages to greet users with your brand from the start;
  • Adjust color schemes and styles (primary, accent colors, logo size, CSS tweaks) to match your identity;
  • Preview changes live before applying them;
  • Configure custom domain: map your own domain name (e.g., portal.company.com) so users access the platform via your branded URL.

And it doesn’t stop at the logo. With ThingsBoard Cloud you can:

  • Set up custom email templates, so all platform notifications reflect your brand;
  • Add custom translations, ensuring the platform “speaks” your users’ language;
  • Create custom menus, adapting navigation to your business workflows.

This gives you a fully branded platform: your users see your logo, your colors, your emails, and even your tailored menus.

Can I try Professional Edition before purchasing?

Yes, use the Free plan. This includes access to all PE features for evaluation, including add-ons - Edge computing and Trendz.

Where can I find the source code?

Professional Edition is proprietary software. Source code is not publicly available.

Can I contribute to ThingsBoard?

Professional Edition is closed-source and does not accept external contributions.

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What is a ThingsBoard Add-on?

Add-ons are complementary products that extend ThingsBoard Professional Edition capabilities. They integrate seamlessly with your ThingsBoard instance and require a PE subscription to use. Add-ons include ThingsBoard PE Edge (edge computing), and Trendz Analytics (advanced analytics/AI).

What add-ons are available for ThingsBoard?
What is ThingsBoard Edge?

ThingsBoard Edge is an edge computing solution that runs locally at remote sites, processing data with reduced latency while maintaining sync with your central ThingsBoard server. It operates offline and automatically syncs when connectivity returns.

Edge Professional Edition, included as an add-on to ThingsBoard PE subscriptions, adds enterprise features such as white-labeling, solution templates, platform integrations, scheduler, and customer hierarchy management to edge computing core capabilities.

The number of included Edge instances depends on your subscription plan. Additional instances can be purchased separately. Check your plan details or contact us for specifics.

See Edge documentation for setup and configuration details.

What is Trendz Analytics?

Trendz Analytics is an advanced analytics platform for ThingsBoard PE that brings anomaly detection, predictive analytics, calculated fields, an AI assistant, Metric Explorer, and rich visualizations into one unified workspace.

It enables you to analyze IoT data, detect issues, and predict outcomes — all seamlessly integrated with your ThingsBoard environment.

See Trendz documentation for more information.

Can I use Edge and/or Trendz add-ons with ThingsBoard Community Edition?
  • Edge: No. Edge edition must match your ThingsBoard Server edition. PE Edge connects to ThingsBoard PE Server. However, you can use CE Edge with ThingsBoard CE Server. It's free and open-source as well as ThingsBoard CE.
  • Trendz Analytics: No, Trendz requires ThingsBoard Professional Edition.
Can I use Edge and/or Trendz without ThingsBoard?

No, they are both designed to complement the capabilities of ThingsBoard, not to function as standalone solutions. Neither can operate independently:

  • PE Edge: Requires connection to sync with ThingsBoard PE Server (Cloud, Private Cloud, or self-managed).
  • Trendz Analytics: Requires ThingsBoard PE as its data source.
Can I try add-ons before purchasing?

You can start with the Free plan, which is limited in terms of the number of devices, but which has Edge Computing and Trendz add-ons permanently enabled. This allows you to try out the add-on features free of charge.

For larger deployments, you can upgrade to paid plans with higher device limits and additional features.

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What is ThingsBoard Private Cloud?

ThingsBoard Private Cloud is a fully managed, isolated ThingsBoard Professional Edition cluster that our team deploys and operates for you.

We provision the infrastructure, keep the platform patched and monitored 24×7, run automated backups, and provide an SLA-backed uptime guarantee (99%-99.99%, depending on plan). During onboarding, you choose the region that best fits your compliance or latency requirements - EU, North America, or APAC.

All environments are hosted in ISO 27001/PCI-DSS-certified data centers. Your engineers can stay focused on building IoT applications instead of managing DevOps.

How is Private Cloud different from ThingsBoard Cloud?

Private Cloud provides a dedicated, isolated environment for your organization, whereas ThingsBoard Cloud is a shared multi-tenant SaaS platform.

Private Cloud offers enhanced security, custom SLAs, and infrastructure isolation for compliance-sensitive industries.

What are the benefits of Private Cloud versus self-hosting?

Private Cloud eliminates operational complexity:

  • Zero DevOps overhead: No infrastructure management or DevOps required.
  • Guaranteed availability: 99.9-99.99% uptime SLA with service credits.
  • Faster time-to-market: Deployed in 1-2 hours vs. weeks for self-hosting.
  • Scalability: Kubernetes infrastructure grows with your traffic.
  • Predictable cost: One monthly fee replaces infrastructure and staffing expenses.
What is "uptime" and how do you calculate it?

Uptime measures platform availability as a percentage of time services are operational during the billing month.

Formula: Uptime (%) = ((Total Time – Downtime) / Total Time) × 100.

Scheduled maintenance, security patches, and issues caused by customer configurations are excluded from downtime calculations.

Can I choose where Private Cloud is hosted?

Yes, Private Cloud can be deployed in your preferred AWS, Azure, or GCP region to meet data residency and latency requirements.

Who manages Private Cloud infrastructure?

ThingsBoard team manages all infrastructure, updates, monitoring, and maintenance. You focus on your IoT application while we handle platform operations.

What support is included with Private Cloud?

Private Cloud includes priority support, dedicated success management, and custom SLA options. Support levels are defined in your service agreement.

Can I customize Private Cloud configuration?

Yes, Private Cloud supports custom configurations including white-labeling, custom domains, and infrastructure scaling to match your requirements.

Is Private Cloud compliant with security standards?

Private Cloud is designed to support compliance requirements including GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO 27001. Specific compliance certifications depend on your deployment configuration and service agreement.

How do I get started with Private Cloud?

Contact us to discuss your requirements. We'll help you design the right Private Cloud configuration for your use case.

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Does ThingsBoard support AI integration?

Yes, ThingsBoard includes an AI Request node in the Rule Engine that allows integration with AI services like OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and custom AI endpoints.

Can I use AI for predictive maintenance?

Yes, ThingsBoard includes built-in AI integration capabilities. You can use the AI Request node to send telemetry data to machine learning models for predictive analytics, anomaly detection, and maintenance scheduling.

See the predictive maintenance example for implementation details.

Which AI providers are supported?

ThingsBoard supports a variety of AI providers, including, but not limited to, OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and custom API endpoints. Check the AI models page for more details.

Can I train custom ML models with ThingsBoard data?

Yes, export historical telemetry via REST API or data export features (PE) to train models externally. Deploy trained models as API endpoints and integrate them using the AI Request node.

Are there examples of AI use cases?

Yes, see documentation for examples including anomaly detection, and natural language processing.

Do I need a separate AI subscription?

ThingsBoard integration is included, but you need subscriptions to external AI services (OpenAI, Azure, etc.) if using those providers. Custom AI endpoints are entirely under your control.

Where can I install ThingsBoard?

Professional Edition offers three deployment options:

  • ThingsBoard Cloud: Fully managed SaaS (North America or EU regions).
  • Private Cloud: Dedicated managed instance in your choice of a region.
  • Self-managed: On your infrastructure—on-premise or cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP, DigitalOcean), Docker, or Kubernetes.
Does ThingsBoard support clustering?

Yes, clustering is supported in all deployment options.

See cluster setup guide for configuration details.

What are the hardware requirements?

Minimum: 2 CPU cores, 4GB RAM for testing.

Recommended for production: 8+ CPU cores, 16GB+ RAM. Requirements scale with device count and message volume.

How many devices can ThingsBoard handle?

Device capacity is determined by your specific deployment and subscription tier:

  • ThingsBoard Cloud: Usage is governed by your plan (e.g., 5 devices for Free, up to 1,000 for Business). Additional device capacity can be added to Business plans.
  • Private Cloud: Tailored for high-scale needs, with typical allocations ranging from 5,000 to over 100,000+ devices.
  • Self-managed (PE): Licensing limits apply (e.g., 10 devices for Maker, up to 1,000 for Business). Like the Cloud version, Business licenses support purchasing additional device packs.
Where does ThingsBoard store data?

ThingsBoard supports two database approaches:

  • Pure SQL: PostgreSQL database which is default and recommended for development and production environments with a reasonable load (< 5000 msg/sec).
  • Hybrid database: PostgreSQL + Cassandra for 1M+ devices in production or high data ingestion rate (> 5000 msg/sec).
Does ThingsBoard support multi-tenancy?

Yes, ThingsBoard Cloud supports multi-tenancy, with each tenant requiring its own subscription.

Within a tenant, a customer hierarchy can be established, allowing tenant administrators to manage multiple customers under a single subscription. This structure provides sufficient flexibility and access control for most use cases, ensuring a well-organized and efficient management model.

ThingsBoard Self-managed subscription offers multi-tenancy within a single plan.

Does ThingsBoard support OTA (Over-the-Air) firmware updates?

Yes, ThingsBoard supports OTA (Over-the-Air) firmware updates.

Do you charge for API requests?

API charges depend on your deployment type:

  • ThingsBoard Cloud & Private Cloud: API requests are included in your subscription with no additional charges.
  • Self-managed: No charges or programmatic limits on API requests.
What happens if I exceed my plan's API limits?

API access may be throttled until the next billing cycle, or you can upgrade to a higher plan.

Is there a mobile app for ThingsBoard?

Yes. Professional Edition offers PE Mobile Application - an advanced mobile app with enterprise features and white-labeling.

What happens to my data if I cancel my subscription?

Data handling upon cancellation depends on your deployment model:

  • ThingsBoard Cloud & Private Cloud: Following cancellation, your data will be permanently deleted from our servers.
  • Self-managed (PE): Since the platform is hosted on your own infrastructure, all data remains stored in your environment. You retain full ownership and control over the data and may decide whether to keep, export, or delete it.
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Is my ThingsBoard instance secure?

Security depends on a deployment type:

  • Cloud/Private Cloud deployments are hosted in ISO 27001/SOC 2 compliant infrastructure.
  • Self-managed security depends on your infrastructure setup. It requires you to manage infrastructure security, network configuration, and SSL/TLS setup.

ThingsBoard provides device authentication, encrypted communication (SSL/TLS), role-based access control, and audit logging.

Does ThingsBoard support encryption?

Yes, transport encryption (TLS/SSL) is supported. Additional encryption features may depend on your subscription plan and deployment type.

For data-at-rest encryption, configure database-level encryption. See security documentation for setup instructions.

Does ThingsBoard support SSO/OAuth?

Yes, SSO and OAuth are supported with additional enterprise features in PE.

See security documentation for setup instructions.

Can I store ThingsBoard data in my preferred region?
  • Cloud: Your data is stored in either North America or the EU, depending on the cloud region (US or European) you choose.
  • Private Cloud/Self-managed: Yes, you have full control over data storage location.
How are devices authenticated?

ThingsBoard supports multiple authentication methods: access tokens, X.509 certificates, and username/password. Each device receives unique credentials. See device authentication options available.

Does ThingsBoard support role-based access control (RBAC)?

Yes, ThingsBoard supports RBAC.

Professional Edition includes advanced RBAC with custom roles, hierarchical permissions, and group-based access control.

Is ThingsBoard compliant with regulations (GDPR, etc.)?
  • Cloud: Infrastructure is ISO 27001/SOC 2 compliant.
  • Private Cloud: GDPR compliance depends on how you configure and use the platform.
  • Self-managed: Compliance depends on your infrastructure and practices.
Can I integrate with external authentication providers?

Yes, ThingsBoard supports OAuth2, LDAP, and SAML integration.

Are there audit logs?

Yes, ThingsBoard logs user actions.

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What support is available for ThingsBoard?

Starting from version 4.2, we offer Long-Term Support (LTS) versions for production users with extended security updates and stability improvements.

You can always contact us with any questions. Community support is available to all users.

Do you offer professional services?

Yes, ThingsBoard offers consulting, custom development, learning resources, and deployment assistance. Contact us to discuss your requirements.

How do I report a bug?

Report via Support Portal (for paying customers) or Report bugs on GitHub. Include detailed reproduction steps, logs, and system information.

Are there training resources?

Yes, comprehensive documentation, video tutorials, and sample projects are available. Professional services include custom training programs. See learning resources for more.

Can I get help with deployment?

Yes, professional services include deployment assistance, architecture review, and production setup. Contact us to discuss your deployment needs.