Best EAM Software 2026: Independent Comparison of 7 Platforms

By Reliable Media

EAM Software Industrial Dashboard

By the editors at Reliable. Last updated October 20, 2026.

Updated October 2026: Hexagon's EAM is now Octave Attune EAM after Octave's spin-off from Hexagon (listed May 2026); the former Infor EAM is the same product, sold to Hexagon in 2021, so the mid-market slot now goes to IFS Ultimo; AVEVA's entry reflects that AVEVA markets Asset Performance Management and no standalone EAM; IBM Maximo's published Essentials pricing and Oracle's current product name added; unsourced implementation timelines and cost figures replaced; analyst reports removed from Sources.

The short version: Enterprise asset management in 2026 is still led by a handful of platforms that serve different enterprises. IBM Maximo Application Suite is the broadest, with published Essentials pricing starting under US$40,000 a year. SAP S/4HANA Asset Management and Oracle Fusion Cloud Maintenance belong to organizations standardized on those ERPs.

Octave Attune EAM, formerly HxGN EAM and before that Infor EAM, serves asset-intensive industries from a company that became independent of Hexagon in May 2026. AVEVA brings Asset Performance Management to process industries and pairs it with your EAM or CMMS. IFS Ultimo is a SaaS EAM built for mid-sized operations.

Your existing ERP, your industry, and your operational technology decide more than any feature checklist. Mid-market operations whose need is maintenance execution, with no asset lifecycle accounting, should read the CMMS entry at the end of the list and our CMMS vs EAM guide before buying.

How We Evaluated

Independent editorial analysis based on publicly available product documentation, analyst reports from Gartner and IDC, verified customer reviews across G2 and Capterra, and product demonstrations. Reliable Magazine does not sell EAM software, staffing services, or consulting and has no commercial interest in routing readers toward any particular vendor.

We evaluated the platforms across six criteria:

  • Deployment scale: multi-site, multi-geography operations

  • ERP and ecosystem integration: financial, procurement, and supply chain systems

  • Industry depth: functionality for specific verticals

  • APM and predictive capabilities: integrated or bundled

  • Implementation and total cost of ownership: timelines, licensing, and services

  • Mobile and field experience: what technicians get on a phone

Reliable does not accept payment for rankings. Vendors may sponsor enhanced listings with additional detail, but editorial rankings are independent. Read our editorial policy.

What Changed in 2026

Hexagon's EAM became Octave's. Hexagon AB spun off its software businesses as Octave Intelligence plc. Hexagon distributed Octave shares to its shareholders on May 22, 2026; Octave's depository receipts began trading on Nasdaq Stockholm on May 25 and its shares on Nasdaq New York on May 28 under the ticker OCTV. Octave is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, has about 7,200 employees in 45 countries, and is led by CEO Mattias Stenberg. The EAM product is now Octave Attune EAM, which Octave describes as the rebranded HxGN EAM.

There is no separate Infor EAM. Infor sold its global EAM business, including the SaaS-based Infor EAM product and nearly 3,500 customers, to Hexagon for about US$2.75 billion in a deal announced July 6, 2021 and completed that year. That product became HxGN EAM and is now Octave Attune EAM. Earlier versions of this guide listed Infor EAM as a separate mid-market platform; it is the same software as the Octave entry, so the mid-market slot now goes to IFS Ultimo.

AVEVA sells APM, not a standalone EAM. AVEVA's product catalog lists no enterprise asset management product, its former EAM web address now serves the Asset Performance Management page, and AVEVA's own site lists IFS Ultimo as a partner EAM for midsized organizations. AVEVA's entry below describes what AVEVA sells. Schneider Electric, AVEVA's owner, agreed in October 2026 to acquire PTC; that deal had not closed at publication.

IBM publishes Essentials pricing. IBM Maximo Application Suite's Essentials SaaS tiers now carry published starting prices under US$40,000 a year, with the Standard and Premium editions still quoted. Oracle's maintenance module lives inside Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain and Manufacturing, with an AI Maintenance Advisor.

The 7 Best EAM Platforms for 2026

1. IBM Maximo — Best for Global Enterprise Deployments

IBM Maximo Application Suite remains the broadest EAM platform on the market, and the suite packaging has matured. Applications include Manage, Health, Reliability Strategies, Mobile, Scheduler, Visual Inspection, Monitor, Predict, Assist, Schedule Optimizer, Maximo IT, Real Estate and Facilities, and Inventory Optimization. IBM delivers it as SaaS on AWS, as client-managed software on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or other clouds, on premises, or hybrid, with Red Hat OpenShift included.

Maximo's strength is scale: multi-site, multi-currency, multi-language operations with deep work management, procurement, and inventory, and APM applications in the same suite. Its weakness for a mid-market buyer is the same scale; a plant that needs work orders and PMs on a phone is buying far more than it will use. IBM publishes no typical implementation timeline.

Pricing: Essentials SaaS tiers (Maintenance, Inspection, Space Management, Capital Planning, Lease Management, Inventory Optimization) start under US$40,000 per year (Inspection under US$47,000), with 150 AppPoints on the Maintenance tier. Standard and Premium SaaS editions, which add APM, Reliability Centered Maintenance, Real Estate and Facilities, and Inventory Optimization, and the client-managed edition are quoted. Twelve-month minimum subscription.

Best for: Global enterprises with mixed ERP environments, organizations that want EAM, APM, and IoT monitoring in one suite, and asset-intensive operations in every major industry.

2. SAP EAM — Best for SAP-Integrated Organizations

SAP S/4HANA Asset Management is the natural choice for organizations standardized on SAP, because maintenance, finance, procurement, and inventory share one data model. Work orders post costs to the ledger, spare parts draw from the same material master as production, and asset master data is the same record finance depreciates. SAP Asset Performance Management, sold separately as SaaS and licensed in blocks of 100 objects per year, feeds back into it: SAP describes closed-loop integration with SAP EAM, out-of-the-box integration with S/4HANA and SAP ERP, and maintenance notifications generated automatically in SAP EAM from rule-based health monitoring.

Outside an SAP landscape the value falls off quickly. SAP EAM is a module of S/4HANA, and the licensing, implementation, and skills come with the ERP.

Pricing: Custom, tied to S/4HANA licensing. SAP Asset Performance Management is licensed in blocks of 100 objects per year, no list price published.

Best for: Organizations running or moving to S/4HANA, manufacturing and process industries that want maintenance costs in the ledger without integration work, and SAP shops adding APM.

3. Oracle EAM — Best for Oracle-Integrated Organizations

Oracle's maintenance module, Oracle Fusion Cloud Maintenance, is part of Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain and Manufacturing (SCM) and plays the same role for Oracle shops that S/4HANA Asset Management plays for SAP shops: asset maintenance, cost management, and inventory on the same cloud applications platform as finance and procurement. Oracle's SCM page describes built-in AI agents, a Maintenance Advisor that provides repair guidance, mobile inventory, and progressive web apps across desktop and mobile.

Like SAP's, Oracle's EAM makes sense inside its ecosystem. Buyers without Oracle ERP will find the value hard to justify, and Oracle publishes no pricing or typical timeline for the module.

Pricing: Custom, tied to Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM licensing.

Best for: Organizations on Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP or SCM, manufacturing and asset-intensive operations that want maintenance, cost, and inventory in one Oracle data model.

4. Octave Attune EAM — Best for Asset-Intensive Industries

Octave Attune EAM is the product most of the market still knows as HxGN EAM, and before 2021 as Infor EAM. Octave calls it a proven cloud-based enterprise asset management solution and lists asset management, work order management, inventory management, embedded AI assistance, mobility, digital twin capabilities, and geospatial tracking. Asset performance management is a separate product, Octave Attune APM. Octave's customer stories include Nortera, CERN, and transN, and its contact form lists oil and gas, power and utilities, manufacturing, metals and mining, transportation, government and public sector, and healthcare.

The 2026 change is corporate. Octave Intelligence plc became independent of Hexagon AB in May 2026 and trades on Nasdaq New York and Nasdaq Stockholm. The product kept its code base and its partner network through two renamings in five years; buyers should ask how the Hexagon-era roadmap carries forward and how any Infor CloudSuite integrations are supported now that the product sits with Octave.

Pricing: Custom. Octave publishes no list prices.

Best for: Mining, utilities, transportation, and public-sector operators with large asset bases, organizations that want geospatial asset tracking in the EAM, and existing HxGN EAM and Infor EAM customers deciding whether to stay.

5. AVEVA Asset Performance Management — Best for Process Industries

AVEVA, wholly owned by Schneider Electric, is a process-industry software company first: the AVEVA PI System historian, AVEVA Predictive Analytics, Asset Strategy Optimization, Mobile Operator, and Unified Operations Center. AVEVA does not list an enterprise asset management product in its current catalog, its former EAM address now serves the Asset Performance Management page, and AVEVA's own site lists IFS Ultimo as a partner EAM for midsized organizations. What AVEVA sells to a maintenance organization is APM that runs on premises or in the cloud and integrates with your CMMS, ERP, and historians.

In this list AVEVA is a pairing, with no EAM to replace: oil and gas, chemicals, power, and pulp and paper plants with PI System data buy AVEVA APM and keep their EAM. Vendor-reported results include 99 percent plant reliability at SCG Chemicals and US$17.4 million in annual savings at PETRONAS.

Pricing: Custom, through AVEVA's Flex subscription program; no list prices published.

Best for: Process plants already on the AVEVA PI System that want predictive analytics and asset strategy optimization alongside an existing EAM or CMMS.

6. IFS Ultimo — Best for Mid-Market Enterprise

IFS Ultimo is a SaaS EAM built for midsized organizations, acquired by IFS in July 2022 and positioned as a complement to the larger IFS Cloud EAM. At acquisition IFS cited more than 2,000 customers, mainly in Europe with some US presence, and offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and the UK. The Professional package covers an asset register, work order management, asset and job planners, Kanban boards, stock and purchasing, energy management, contract and vendor management, and reporting, with optional modules for Power BI dashboards, work permits, incident management, management of change, and IT service management.

Ultimo delivers EAM breadth (purchasing, contracts, permits, incidents) without the Tier 1 program, which is the gap the former Infor EAM entry filled on this list. Its US footprint is thinner than the Tier 1 vendors', and buyers who outgrow it move up to IFS Cloud EAM.

Pricing: Custom. IFS publishes no list prices; the Professional package is sold as an out-of-the-box SaaS EAM.

Best for: Midsized manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, infrastructure, and utilities operations that need EAM depth without a Tier 1 implementation, and organizations with a European footprint.

7. MaintainX - Best for Mid-Market Maintenance Execution

MaintainX is a mobile-first CMMS aimed at the mid-market operations the EAM market often oversells. Technicians run work orders, PMs, parts, and purchase orders from a phone. The platform pairs automated PM scheduling with AI that turns manuals and voice notes into digital procedures, plus IIoT signals that flag anomalies early.

The tradeoff is scope. MaintainX handles maintenance execution and reliability, not full asset lifecycle accounting, so operations that need finance-grade depreciation and capital planning inside the same system will still land on a Tier 1 EAM. Customers report a 32% reduction in unplanned downtime, 30% savings on monthly maintenance costs, and a 98% adoption rate.

Best for: Mid-market manufacturers and multi-site operators that need strong maintenance execution and reliability outcomes without a multi-year EAM rollout.

Pricing: Published per-user tiers, with typical deployments in weeks rather than months.

EAM Platform Comparison Table

Platform Best For Implementation Scale Industry Strength
IBM Maximo Global enterprise Not published; 12-month minimum SaaS term Broad: all major industries
SAP EAM SAP-standardized organizations Tied to S/4HANA Manufacturing, process industries
Oracle EAM Oracle-standardized organizations Tied to Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM Manufacturing, asset-intensive
Octave Attune EAM Asset-intensive industries Not published Mining, utilities, transportation, public sector
AVEVA APM Process industries (paired with an EAM or CMMS) Not published Oil and gas, chemicals, power
IFS Ultimo Mid-market enterprise Not published; out-of-the-box SaaS package Manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, utilities
MaintainX Mid-market maintenance execution Weeks Cross-industry mid-market

How to Choose the Right EAM Platform

1. What is your existing ERP environment?

If you run S/4HANA, SAP EAM is the default and every other option is an integration project. If you run Oracle Fusion Cloud, the same holds for Oracle Fusion Cloud Maintenance. Mixed or no dominant ERP points to IBM Maximo, Octave Attune EAM, or IFS Ultimo, each of which sells ERP connectors.

2. What industry are you in?

Mining, utilities, transportation, and public sector point to Octave Attune EAM. Process industries with PI System data should pair their EAM with AVEVA APM. Discrete manufacturing, healthcare, and mid-market operations point to IBM Maximo Essentials, IFS Ultimo, or an ERP-aligned option.

3. What scale and complexity are you actually operating at?

Global enterprises with multi-currency, multi-language, multi-site asset bases need a Tier 1 platform. Mid-market operations often fit IFS Ultimo or Maximo Essentials, and many are better served by a CMMS. Our CMMS vs EAM guide walks through that line.

The Honest Middle Ground

EAM is oversold. Sales teams at every vendor on this list will scope your plant into asset lifecycle accounting, capital planning, and depreciation whether or not your maintenance organization will use any of it. Mid-market operations routinely buy EAM and run it as a CMMS, paying Tier 1 licensing and implementation for work orders and PMs.

The opposite mistake is real too. A true enterprise with thousands of assets across sites, currencies, and regulatory regimes that runs a CMMS ends up with fragmented asset data, maintenance costs that never reach the ledger, and capital plans built in spreadsheets. Decide which organization you are before the demos, and price the plan you will actually run.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best EAM software in 2026?

It depends on your ERP and your industry. IBM Maximo Application Suite leads for global, mixed-ERP enterprises and now publishes Essentials pricing. SAP S/4HANA Asset Management and Oracle Fusion Cloud Maintenance are the choices inside those ERPs. Octave Attune EAM (formerly HxGN EAM) leads in asset-intensive industries, AVEVA pairs APM with your EAM in process plants, and IFS Ultimo covers the mid-market.

How much does EAM software cost?

Most vendors quote. The published exception is IBM: Maximo Application Suite Essentials SaaS tiers start under US$40,000 per year (Inspection under US$47,000) on a twelve-month minimum term, with Standard and Premium quoted. SAP Asset Performance Management is licensed in blocks of 100 objects per year with no list price. Oracle, Octave, AVEVA, and IFS publish no prices. Implementation, data migration, and integration services are priced separately by every vendor and are often the larger number.

What is the difference between EAM and CMMS software?

A CMMS manages maintenance work: work orders, PMs, parts, and technician scheduling. An EAM adds the asset's financial lifecycle: procurement, depreciation, capital planning, contracts, and multi-site inventory tied to the ERP. Most mid-market plants need the first; most global enterprises need the second. Our CMMS vs EAM guide covers the decision in detail.

Which EAM platform integrates best with SAP?

SAP's own. S/4HANA Asset Management shares the ERP's data model, and SAP Asset Performance Management adds closed-loop integration with SAP EAM, out-of-the-box integration with S/4HANA and SAP ERP, and automatic maintenance notifications from health monitoring. IBM, Octave, and IFS sell SAP connectors; they work, and they are an integration project to own.

Is EAM software being replaced by APM?

No. They are complementary, and the vendors package them in different ways: IBM bundles APM applications into Maximo's Standard and Premium editions, SAP sells APM as a separate SaaS product that writes back to SAP EAM, Octave sells Attune APM alongside Attune EAM, and AVEVA sells APM without an EAM of its own. The APM layer predicts; the EAM executes and accounts.

How long does EAM implementation take?

None of the vendors on this list publishes a typical rollout time, and the honest answer is that data quality, site count, and ERP integration set the schedule more than the software does. IBM's SaaS editions carry a twelve-month minimum term; IFS positions Ultimo Professional as an out-of-the-box package. Budget the asset data cleanup first, because every vendor's timeline assumes it is done.

Related Guides

Sources

Last updated: October 20, 2026. This guide is editorial analysis by Reliable Magazine. No vendor paid for ranking consideration or editorial input.