The five names that keep coming up
Compiled from what integrators and plant engineers consistently report — the strengths and the complaints. Hardware prices are typical mid-2026 street prices for 7–10″ sizes; they move with screen size and series.
| Panel | Hardware | Software | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Lion (CR3000 / Graphite) | $800–$2,500 | Crimson — free | The integrators' favorite: huge protocol list, no Windows inside, doubles as a protocol gateway. Map HMI traffic to arrays — hundreds of scattered Logix tags slow screen updates. Check the environmental rating per model. |
| AutomationDirect C-more | $400–$1,500 | Free | Cheap, solid, proven with everything from SLC 500 to CompactLogix. Fewer built-in features than a PanelView Plus: less object memory, no global login, workarounds needed for multistate/interlocked buttons. |
| Weintek (also sold as Maple Systems) | $250–$900 | EasyBuilder Pro — free | The budget feature king: rear-mount options, remote access included on many models. Support runs through the distributor, and driver quirks do surface — test your exact PLC family before committing a fleet. |
| Siemens Comfort / Unified | $1,500–$4,000+ | TIA Portal WinCC — licensed | Talks EtherNet/IP to Logix surprisingly well; common in automotive plants. You buy into a second ecosystem: TIA licenses and a second engineering skill set on staff. |
| Ignition + touch-panel PC | PC $800–$2,000 + license | Ignition — per-server / Edge | Unlimited tags, real trending and logging, screens on any client. It is SCADA, not a panel: a Windows/Linux PC to patch and a licensing model to understand. Overkill for one simple machine. |
| Stay native (PanelView Plus 7) | $2,000–$6,000 | FactoryTalk View — licensed | The only path that migrates your existing application instead of rebuilding it. You pay for that in hardware price and lead time — see the migration guide. |
Weighing repair instead of replacement? Start with the 10-minute triage checklist — a share of "dead" PanelViews is a $40 power supply or a repairable backlight. Symptom-specific paths: PanelView Plus 7 not working · touchscreen not responding.
The cost nobody puts in the quote: rebuilding the application
Every brand above connects to your Logix PLC in an afternoon. None of them opens your FactoryTalk View ME project. The screens, the alarms, the security levels, the recipe forms — all of it gets rebuilt by hand in the new vendor's software, then re-tested against the running machine. For a typical machine HMI that is days of engineering, and it lands exactly when the panel is already dark and production is asking when the line comes back.
Two things take the pressure off:
- Rebuild from the export, not from memory. The free in-browser HMI converter reads a FactoryTalk View export (and TIA / Weintek / CSV) and rebuilds the displays as bridge-app screens — a working reference of every screen while you recreate them properly.
- Give the machine a temporary panel first — then rebuild calmly, not overnight. That is the next section.
The bridge: a phone on the machine today, any brand tomorrow
The free LineKeeper app for iPhone and iPad connects to the ControlLogix/CompactLogix over EtherNet/IP, reads the controller's own tag list — nothing to configure, no PLC program changes — and gives the operator live values, trends and start/stop buttons in about 15 minutes. Mount a spare iPad in full-screen panel mode and the machine has a screen while the replacement is on order and the screens are being rebuilt. Reading is free; writes are a one-time unlock, guarded by confirmation and limit checks. A temporary bridge, not a permanent HMI.
How to choose in 60 seconds
- All-AB plant, zero appetite for surprises → stay native with the PanelView Plus 7 and pay for the painless migration.
- Mixed brands on the floor, or the panel must bridge protocols → Red Lion. The free Crimson software and the driver list are the whole argument.
- Simple machine, tightest budget → C-more or Weintek/Maple. Accept the missing conveniences; pocket the difference.
- Siemens skills already in-house → a Comfort/Unified panel on EtherNet/IP is a legitimate, well-trodden path.
- More than a panel — trends, logging, screens everywhere → Ignition on a touch-panel PC, and treat it as the small SCADA project it is.
- Panel is dead right now → bridge with the free app today, then pick a row above without a stopwatch running.
Want to see your actual tags before deciding anything? The app reads CompactLogix and ControlLogix tags without Studio 5000 — a 15-minute sanity check that costs nothing.