IXON gets a machine builder a secure VPN to a PLC or HMI and turns machine data into cloud dashboards. ThinRemote is a software agent for any Linux device that gives you the shell, the filesystem, monitoring and fleet automation. Two good tools for two different jobs.
ThinRemote operatesThis isn't a feature war, and IXON is very good at what it does. The honest question is whether your problem is getting into an OEM machine or operating a fleet of Linux devices.
An IIoT platform for machine builders. Delivered largely through the IXrouter edge gateway (with the IXagent software option for supported controllers), it gives you a secure VPN to any-brand PLC, HMI, IPC or camera, reads machine data over industrial protocols, and turns it into cloud dashboards, data logs and alarms. Its home is the machine you build and ship to customers.
A hardware-agnostic remote management platform. One outbound agent on any Linux device gives you SSH and a terminal, the filesystem, system and custom telemetry, alarms, device APIs, fleet playbooks and CI/CD, plus an MCP server for AI agents. Its home is operating and automating the devices you already run, whatever the hardware.
IXON's fastest path to a connected machine is its hardware: the IXrouter sits on the machine network and bridges the PLC to the cloud. There's an IXagent software option too, aimed at a curated set of industrial controllers (Sigmatek, Phoenix Contact PLCnext, WAGO, Berghof) and PC-class hosts. It's a great fit when you're building a machine and can specify the box.
ThinRemote is only software. A single static binary under 10 MB installs on almost anything that runs Linux, from a modern server to a years-old industrial gateway (kernel 2.6+, 16 CPU architectures), with no router to source and nothing to rack. If it runs Linux, it runs the agent, so you're never tied to a controller list or a specific gateway.
IXON's remote access is built around the machine's own interfaces: it tunnels a VPN to the PLC and hands you VNC for the HMI screen, HTTP for a built-in web UI, or a fieldbus session. That's exactly what a service engineer needs to look at a running machine.
ThinRemote operates the device itself. You get an interactive shell and SSH, an in-browser file explorer, remote command execution, and HTTP/TCP/TLS tunnels to any local service, all over the same outbound agent. Read a log, edit a config, restart a service, push a file, on the operating system, not just on the machine's front panel.
Both platforms do telemetry, and it's worth being clear about the difference. IXON shines at machine data: it logs values from the PLC over industrial protocols and turns them into live and historical dashboards, reports and alarms for the equipment you build.
ThinRemote's angle is the device and the OS. Every agent reports a structured monitoring resource, CPU and load, memory and swap, per-filesystem usage, network throughput, temperature and uptime, on per-device and per-fleet dashboards and wired into threshold alarms over email or webhook. And you can expose any value from a small script on the device, a fault code, a queue depth, units in stock, and alarm on it like a built-in metric. Different telemetry for a different job.
IXON is API-first: its Open API and Cloud SDK let developers build custom apps and automate the platform, and its Fleet Manager organises devices with metadata and pushes settings and updates. That's a solid foundation you can build on.
ThinRemote ships fleet automation as a product. Playbooks describe a change once, dry-run it on a single device, then roll it out across a whole product in controlled batches that stop on their own if too many devices fail. The same flow runs from your terminal, a CI/CD pipeline, cron, or an AI agent, so operating 400 devices is one command instead of 400 sessions.
Here the two are closer than the rest of this page, and that's a good thing. IXON is also outbound-only: the IXrouter needs just outgoing port 443 and dials the cloud over HTTPS, MQTT and an encrypted VPN, and IXON operates an ISO 27001 certified information-security management system.
ThinRemote uses the same posture in software. The agent makes a single outbound connection over TLS 1.3 and never listens, so there's no inbound port and no service to attack. Operators, pipelines and AI agents connect through the cloud relay under token-based auth, role-based access and an audit trail, and because devices can't reach each other, a compromised box has no neighbours to move to.
ThinRemote is ISO 27001 certified, and IXON also holds an ISO 27001 certified ISMS, so both meet that bar.
IXON gives you a polished cloud portal for machines and an Open API/SDK to build on. If your team lives in a browser dashboard and builds custom apps against the API, that's a strong, coherent surface.
ThinRemote gives you three working surfaces over the same agent. A web console with dashboards, terminal, file explorer, remote desktop and alarms. A scriptable CLI with JSON output for pipelines. And a built-in MCP server so Claude, Cursor or any MCP client can drive the fleet in plain language, all under the same roles and tokens. Ask "which gateways are low on disk?" and it acts on the real fleet.
What each one runs on, and what you need in place before it can connect.
The operational surface, side by side. Green is a strong out-of-the-box fit, amber means possible or partial, grey means it's not the tool's focus.
A fair reading: IXON is purpose-built to connect and visualize OEM machines, and it's excellent at that. ThinRemote is purpose-built to operate and automate Linux device fleets. Several cells reflect focus, not a missing capability.
If your problem is the machine you build and ship, IXON is likely the stronger choice.
You need turnkey, secure VPN access into Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Beckhoff, Omron and other controllers without writing the connectivity yourself. That's IXON's core.
Logging fieldbus values (OPC-UA, Modbus, S7) into historical dashboards, reports and customer-facing machine visualization is exactly what the platform is built for.
You want a DIN-rail industrial router with 4G, digital I/O and a supported hardware catalogue, not just a piece of software on a box you supply.
Plenty of shops run both: IXON for connecting the OEM machines they ship, ThinRemote for operating and automating the Linux fleet around them.
Pick by the question you're actually trying to answer.
"I need to operate, automate and observe a fleet of Linux devices."
"I build machines and need to reach the PLC and visualize its data."
Straight answers to what OT and IoT evaluators ask when comparing the two.
For getting a secure VPN into an OEM machine's PLC or HMI, yes, that's IXON's core strength and it supports many controller brands out of the box. ThinRemote isn't a fieldbus VPN product; it operates the Linux device itself (shell, files, services, telemetry). Many teams use IXON for the machine and ThinRemote for the Linux gateways and servers around it.
No. ThinRemote is a single software agent (a static binary under 10 MB) that runs on any Linux device across 16 CPU architectures, kernel 2.6 and up. There's no router or edge gateway to buy. IXON often relies on the IXrouter, though its IXagent software can run on a curated set of supported controllers and PC-class hosts.
Yes. ThinRemote is ISO 27001 certified. IXON also operates an ISO 27001 certified information-security management system. Both connect outbound only, over TLS/port 443, with role-based access, so both meet that bar.
Yes, natively. Playbooks describe a change once, dry-run on one device, then roll out in controlled batches with a failure kill-switch, driven from the CLI, a CI/CD pipeline, cron or an AI agent via the built-in MCP server. IXON is API-first, so you can build custom automation on its Open API and Cloud SDK.
Not as a native fieldbus stack. ThinRemote can tunnel to a local protocol service or read values through a small script on the device and turn them into tracked metrics and alarms. If deep, native OPC-UA / Modbus / S7 logging and machine dashboards are the priority, IXON is purpose-built for that.
Often the best answer. Use IXON to connect and visualize the OEM machines you build and ship, and ThinRemote to operate, monitor and automate the Linux devices, gateways and servers in the same estate. They sit at different layers and don't conflict.
Install one outbound agent and get SSH, files, telemetry, alarms and fleet automation on any Linux device, no gateway required.