The Things Industries
Amsterdam company behind The Things Stack, a LoRaWAN network server sold as managed cloud, private cloud or on-premise software
Quick Overview
| Company | The Things Industries B.V. |
|---|---|
| Category | IoT Platforms |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Founded | Not stated |
| EU Presence | Yes - Netherlands (EU) |
| Data Location | Managed cloud, private cloud or on-premise |
| Open Source | No |
| GDPR Compliant | Yes |
| Self-Hosting | Yes, private cloud or on-premise |
| Main Features | LoRaWAN network server, gateway remote management, packet broker peering, device repository and payload formatters, FUOTA, webhooks, role-based access control, single sign-on, high availability |
| Pricing | Discovery EUR 0/month (10 devices, 10 gateways); Standard EUR 190/month (EUR 171 billed annually, 1,000 devices); Plus EUR 300/month (EUR 270 billed annually); Enterprise on request (checked 30 October 2026) |
| Best For | Operators and enterprises running private LoRaWAN networks |
| Replaces | Particle LoRaWAN support and multi-radio transport |
Detailed Review
The Things Stack is the network-server layer of a LoRaWAN deployment: it receives uplinks from gateways, deduplicates them, manages keys and passes messages to an application. The Things Industries says it has helped build private LoRaWAN networks since 2015.
The terms name The Things Industries B.V. at Singel 542 in Amsterdam, registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. It is a narrower product than Particle, but it covers a layer that Particle only touches.
Plans With Clear Limits
Discovery is free for up to 10 devices and 10 gateways with no time limit. Standard costs EUR 190 per month, or EUR 171 billed annually, with unlimited gateways, applications and teams, a licence for 1,000 end devices and a 99.9 percent uptime commitment.
Plus adds a network operations centre for in-depth analysis, standard support and invoicing options, and Enterprise is quoted.
Where It Runs
The feature page says the same feature set runs on public cloud, private cloud, on-premise or as managed software as a service. For an organisation that must keep radio data inside its own infrastructure, that is a decisive point.
Operations Features
Gateway outage alerting, remote gateway management with zero-touch provisioning, packet broker peering between networks and firmware updates over the air by multicast address the work of running a network after launch.
Limitations to Consider
This is a LoRaWAN product and nothing else: it has no cellular SIMs, no dashboards and no business rules, so data leaves through webhooks to a platform such as Datacake or akenza. Standard includes a licence for 1,000 devices, and pricing for larger fleets is by quotation. Hardware teams on cellular or Wi-Fi gain nothing from it.
Who Should Use The Things Industries
Network operators, utilities and enterprises that want to run their own LoRaWAN network server with European contracting and the option to host it themselves.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Free Discovery tier without time limit
- Euro prices published for three tiers
- Cloud, private cloud and on-premise with one feature set
- Packet broker peering and gateway management
- Dutch contracting entity registered with the Chamber of Commerce
Cons
- LoRaWAN only
- No dashboards or application layer
- Device licence caps at 1,000 on Standard
- Enterprise pricing on request
Alternatives to The Things Industries
Other European iot platforms worth comparing before you decide:
Datacake
Germany · No-code IoT dashboards, alerts and LoRaWAN server
Thinger.io
Spain · IoT cloud instance with fixed monthly price per size
akenza
Switzerland · Self-service IoT platform for LoRaWAN and building data
Nabto
Denmark · Peer-to-peer and WebRTC remote access for devices
See all European iot platforms or compare them directly against Particle LoRaWAN support and multi-radio transport on our alternatives page.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is the LoRaWAN network server from The Things Industries. It handles gateways, devices, keys and message routing for LoRaWAN networks.
Yes. The vendor lists public cloud, private cloud, on-premise and managed SaaS as deployment options with the same features.
The Discovery plan is free for up to 10 devices and 10 gateways, without a time limit, with restrictions applying.