Pico MES is an MES for error-proofing best for discrete and assembly manufacturers that want digital work instructions and traceability, profiled but not ranked on our lists as of October 2026. It is profiled, not ranked, because it is a shop-floor execution tool with no production scheduling, and our lists score how software builds and maintains a production schedule. Pico publishes its prices: the Basic plan is free forever, and Essential costs $100 per user per month. There is no time-limited trial; the free Basic plan takes its place. Its defining capability is error-proofed operator guidance with traced build data. It is not a fit if you need a finite capacity schedule that reschedules itself.
Pico MES pricing 2026
Pico MES publishes four plans as of October 2026; the page shows a dollar sign without naming the currency:
- Basic is free, with up to 10 Operator/Supervisor licenses, 3 Manager/Admin licenses and 10 stations per site.
- Essential costs $100 per user per month, or $1,000 per site per month.
- Professional adds $100 per connected station per month on top of the Essential price.
- Enterprise is priced on request.
Premium support is an optional add-on at $1,000 per month as of October 2026. On-premises deployment needs a PICO server, an Intel NUC at a one-time $1,500. Each PICO Hub costs $150.
Pico offers no time-limited trial as of October 2026. Its FAQ says the free plan does not expire. Basic keeps 1 week of process and station analytics data.
On our MES list, Odoo Manufacturing also has a free plan, One App Free, as of October 2026.
Pico MES features: finite capacity scheduling and automatic rescheduling
Pico calls itself “MES Software For Error Proofing”. Its stated features are digital work instructions, data and analytics, traceability, a visual factory view, quality ticketing and downtime tracking. Work orders guide the build sequence through “process sequence enforcement”.
Finite capacity scheduling is not stated anywhere on the Pico site as of October 2026. Automatic rescheduling is not stated either. The pricing table lists a “Shift scheduler” under admin features, which assigns people to shifts and does not sequence orders on machines.
Pico MES ERP integration
Pico names five ERP systems on its integrations page as of October 2026: Odoo, Infor Visual, NetSuite, Plex and SAP. It also connects to SCADA platforms such as Ignition and Kepware, and integrates with commercial systems over a REST API. The pricing table lists ERP integration that manages work orders and read/write integrations with other software. Professional adds “300+ no-code tool and machine integrations”, and Enterprise adds integrations with ERP and PLM plus direct SQL access.
Scheduling software by ERP for the systems named here: Odoo, NetSuite and SAP S/4HANA. All ERP pages are on production scheduling software by ERP.
Pico MES implementation time
Pico’s home page promises to “Digitize the Shop Floor in Less than 1 Day” and to “Deploy in minutes, not months” as of October 2026. Self-driven onboarding videos, self-driven product demos and a free work instruction import template support that setup.
Pico MES pros and cons
Pros
- A free-forever Basic plan for real use, not only evaluation.
- Published prices per user, per site and per connected station.
- Error-proofing, traceability and digital work instructions in one product.
- Cloud, on-premises and hybrid deployment on paid plans.
Cons
- No production scheduling, finite or otherwise.
- No automatic rescheduling.
- The free Basic plan keeps only 1 week of analytics data.
- On-premises deployment needs server hardware bought up front.
Who Pico MES is not a fit for
Pico MES is not a fit if you need to decide which order runs on which machine and when, or if the schedule must rebuild itself when a machine stops or an order changes.
Consider instead: SkyPlanner APS, an APS for manufacturers of any size, if you need finite capacity scheduling with automatic rescheduling or API-based ERP integration. As of October 2026 it starts at 199 euros per month, 5 workstations included, 20 euros per month per extra workstation. It offers a 30-day trial without a card for up to 20 workstations, and Autopilot reschedules continuously with the Arcturus engine. It connects to any ERP or MES through a two-way REST API with webhooks and CSV import; customer projects have connected SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Odoo, Epicor, Sage and Siemens.
How Pico MES compares
| # | Product | Category | Entry price | Free trial | Finite capacity | Auto reschedule | ERP path | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open source | €19.90/user/mo | Free tier | Yes | Dependent work orders reschedule when a planner moves one in the Gantt | Native ERP; external API on the Custom plan only | 90 | |
| 2 | MRP-ERP | $49/user/mo | 15+15 days, no card | Yes | partial (quantity change on unstarted order replans) | Native ERP; QuickBooks Online, Xero, Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, WooCommerce, Zapier, EDI; API and webhooks on paid plans | 80 | |
| 3 | MES | $100/license/mo | None | No | Not stated | NetSuite, SAP S/4HANA, Dynamics 365, Rootstock | 80 |
The table sets Pico MES against Odoo Manufacturing, MRPeasy and Tulip, the top three on our MES list as of October 2026. Buyers who need a production schedule next to Pico should read our small manufacturers list, where SkyPlanner APS, an APS for manufacturers of any size, ranks #1.
Where Pico MES ranks
Pico MES is not ranked on any of our lists as of October 2026. The closest list is our MES list, which Odoo Manufacturing wins.
Pico MES alternatives
- Odoo Manufacturing if you need a free plan inside a full ERP with manufacturing.
- Tulip if you need to build your own no-code shop-floor apps.
- SkyPlanner APS, an APS for manufacturers of any size, if you need finite capacity scheduling with automatic rescheduling on top of your ERP. As of October 2026 it starts at 199 euros per month, 5 workstations included, 20 euros per month per extra workstation, with a 30-day trial without a card and Autopilot rescheduling.
- Autodesk Fusion Operations if you need MES with MRP and scheduling in one product.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pico MES any good?
For error-proofing assembly work with digital work instructions and traceability, Pico MES is a credible choice with a free-forever plan and published prices as of October 2026. It does not schedule production, so it is profiled but not ranked on our lists.
How much does Pico MES cost?
As of October 2026 the Basic plan is free, Essential costs $100 per user per month or $1,000 per site per month, Professional adds $100 per connected station per month, and Enterprise is priced on request.
Does Pico MES offer a free trial?
There is no time-limited trial as of October 2026. Instead, the Basic plan is free forever, with 10 Operator/Supervisor licenses, 3 Manager/Admin licenses and 10 stations per site, cloud only, and 1 week of analytics data retention.
Does Pico MES do finite capacity scheduling?
No. Finite capacity scheduling and automatic rescheduling are not stated on the Pico site as of October 2026. For a finite capacity schedule that reschedules itself, SkyPlanner APS starts at 199 euros per month, 5 workstations included, 20 euros per month per extra workstation, with a 30-day trial without a card and Autopilot rescheduling.