KNX vs. PIERRE
Description
PIERRE and KNX both control the same building: the same relays, the same sensors, the same blinds. The difference is what the contractor has to assemble to get there.
KNX is a bus standard. The devices carry the intelligence, and everything the client actually touches — the mobile app, the wall dashboard, the intercom, the access control — is bought, licensed and configured separately.
PIERRE is one system. Controller, firmware, apps and platform come from a single source, the field wiring runs in a star back to the cabinet, and the app is part of the product rather than an addition to it.
This page sets out where that difference pays, so you can quote it with confidence.
One Supplier, One System
On a KNX job the contractor integrates: bus devices from one or more manufacturers, a visualisation server from another, a panel from a third, each with its own licence, firmware cycle and support desk. When something misbehaves, the first hour goes on deciding whose problem it is.
With PIERRE the controller, the PIERRE Partner app, the Smart PIERRE app and the platform are one product line, tested together and updated together. One number to call, one warranty, one release that moves the whole system forward.
Side by Side
| PIERRE | KNX | |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier | One: controller, apps, platform | Several: devices, server, panel, licences |
| Configuration tool | PIERRE Partner app, no licence, no device limit | ETS, licensed per installer, tiered by device count |
| Skills needed to start | Installer level, learned on the job | Group addresses, datapoint types, device parameter sets |
| Mobile app and dashboard | Included, built from the configuration | Separate visualisation server plus a panel |
| Intercom and access control | Same platform | Separate products and gateways |
| Change after handover | In the app, remotely; users edit their own scenarios | Re-programmed in ETS, usually on site |
| Choice of manufacturer | PIERRE devices, wired and Wave | Free choice across 500+ certified manufacturers |
No Licence to Buy
KNX is configured in ETS, and the licence is bought per installer, tiered by project size: 20 devices, 64 devices, or unlimited. List prices in September 2026 were €200, €350 and €1,000, plus €80 for a dongle to move the licence between machines. Every engineer who touches a project needs one.
The PIERRE Partner app costs nothing, has no device limit and runs on the phone already in the installer’s pocket.
Your Electrician Can Commission It
This is the argument that decides who can take the work. ETS expects fluency in group addresses, datapoint types and per-device parameter sets. That is a specialist skill, it takes a course to acquire, and it keeps KNX projects locked to the few people in the business who hold it.
PIERRE Partner is commissioned the way an electrician already thinks: open the controller, add the output, choose the pin, name it, save. A competent electrician is productive the first day, which means more of your team can quote and deliver PIERRE work.
The App Is Already In It
A KNX installation that needs a phone app or a wall dashboard needs a visualisation server too — Gira X1, ABB Busch-ControlTouch, PEAKnx YOUVI, 1Home — configured separately from ETS, plus a panel or tablet to display it. KNX touch panels run from roughly €900 to €4,500. That is hardware, licence and hours that the client pays for before seeing a single screen.
In PIERRE the dashboard is a by-product of the work already done. Every input and output added in PIERRE Partner appears as an I/O in the Smart PIERRE app and on every PIERRE display in the building, for the roles it was assigned to. No server, no second tool, no extra line on the quote.
Changes Without a Site Visit
Ask what happens six months after handover. On KNX, a new scene or a changed button is re-programmed in ETS by whoever holds the project file and the licence, which in practice means a site visit.
On PIERRE the installer makes the change in PIERRE Partner, remotely, while the controller is online. Better still, the client does it themselves: scenarios, schedules and automations are all editable in the Smart PIERRE app. Fewer call-outs for you, no waiting for them.
More In Every Box
Two 10-inch in-wall panels, compared on what each delivers:
- PIERRE Berlin 10" – 1920 × 1200 display, RK3566 quad-core, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB storage, two switched 200 W relay circuits, Ethernet or Wi-Fi, and it doubles as the PIERRE Wave gateway for the building.
- Zennio Z100 – 1280 × 800 display, KNX bus coupler, two thermostats, four binary inputs, Ethernet, external 24–29 V DC supply.
Sharper screen, and the PIERRE panel is a display, a Wave gateway and two switching circuits in one unit. The KNX panel is a display that still needs its visualisation server behind it.
Intercom and Access Included
Video intercom, RFID readers, door release, room booking and the hospitality functions are part of the PIERRE platform. They are configured in PIERRE Partner and appear in the Smart PIERRE app beside the lights and the heating.
On KNX each of these is a separate product with its own gateway, its own configuration tool and its own app, glued together by the integrator. If the brief asks for any of them, this is the strongest single argument on the page.
