Question 1

What exactly is ControlBird?

Accepted Answer

ControlBird is a real-time automation platform. It connects your devices and equipment through a central data store, then lets you build dashboards, create automations, and monitor everything from a browser. Think of it as a universal control panel for any connected device.

Question 2

What devices and protocols are supported?

Accepted Answer

We support all the major industrial protocols, including Modbus, OPC UA, MQTT, BACnet, and DNP3, plus ready-made integrations for popular smart-home platforms like Zigbee, Z-Wave, ESPHome, Tasmota, and Home Assistant. We add new adapters and integrations regularly, so if your device has a network interface or serial port, it can almost certainly connect to ControlBird.

Question 3

Do I need programming experience?

Accepted Answer

No. ControlBird includes visual builders for dashboards, automations, and device configuration. You can drag and drop to create everything. For advanced users, we also support JavaScript scripting for custom logic.

Question 4

How is this different from Home Assistant or Node-RED?

Accepted Answer

ControlBird is designed to scale from a single home to an entire building or industrial site. It includes built-in historian, alarm management, role-based access control, fault tolerance, and a visual dashboard builder. These are features that other platforms bolt on as addons. We publish detailed side-by-side comparisons with Home Assistant, Ignition, and ThingsBoard on our Compare page.

Question 5

Can I try it before paying?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The free Community edition is self-hostable, with unlimited data points and core protocols (HTTP, OPC UA, MQTT). For a managed cloud deployment, the Starter plan is $20/mo. Want a walkthrough first? Email sales@controlbird.io to schedule a personalized demo.

Question 6

Can I self-host ControlBird?

Accepted Answer

Yes. ControlBird Cloud is fully managed. Deploy in 2 minutes with automatic updates, backups, and SSL included. For teams that need full control over their data, the Enterprise plan supports self-hosted deployment on your own infrastructure, including air-gapped networks. Contact sales@controlbird.io for Enterprise pricing.

Question 7

Is my data secure?

Accepted Answer

All connections use TLS encryption. Your data is stored on isolated infrastructure, and you control access with fine-grained role-based permissions. For maximum security, the Enterprise plan supports full self-hosted deployment on your own hardware.

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