TIA Portal: what it is, what's inside it and how to learn it

TIA Portal is the software Siemens gives you to program its PLCs. If a job ad, a college course or a machine on site says Siemens, there's a good chance this is what you'll be sitting in front of. The trouble is that it's a big package full of similar names, and that's what trips most people up.

This guide goes through what's inside it, which edition covers what, how it relates to the older STEP 7, how the trial and licences work, and how to learn it with no licence and no hardware.

Two things up front. Everything here comes from Siemens' own pages and manuals, linked at the bottom. And this is PLC Gym's blog. PLC Gym uses the TIA Portal languages on its own simulator, but it isn't TIA Portal and it isn't made by Siemens. This guide is plain about where each one fits.

What is TIA Portal?

TIA stands for Totally Integrated Automation. Siemens describes the Portal as one engineering platform, covering the job from hardware configuration through to commissioning and optimising the machine.

It's a program on a Windows PC where you build a project. You tell it which PLC and modules you have, write the program, draw the operator screens and set up the drives. Then you download it to the hardware and watch it run. The PLC is the box in the panel that runs the code. TIA Portal is where that code gets written and looked after.

If you know the Rockwell side, the nearest comparison is Studio 5000. For how it sits alongside everything else, see the guide to PLC programming software.

What's inside TIA Portal

TIA Portal is really the framework. The products you work with sit inside it, and they're licensed separately, which is where a lot of the confusion starts.

There's also a long list of options, such as S7-PLCSIM Advanced, Multiuser and Test Suite, that can wait.

The point of having it all in one place is the shared project. Tags can be dragged between the PLC and the HMI, and a change to a shared data structure shows up in both.

Which edition covers what

Siemens calls STEP 7 Basic a price optimised subset of STEP 7 Professional. The split that matters is controllers and languages.

Those rows come from a Siemens brochure dated May 2020, and its 2017 migration guide agrees on the main controllers. The V21 readme still has notes for S7-300 and S7-400 CPUs, but check your exact CPU in Siemens' compatibility tool.

So if you'll only ever touch an S7-1200, Basic does the job. Anything involving an S7-1500 needs Professional.

WinCC has its own ladder of editions: Basic for Basic Panels, Comfort for Comfort and Mobile Panels, Advanced for a PC station and Professional for SCADA. The newer WinCC Unified Engineering comes as Basic, Comfort and PC. The guide to HMI for PLC work covers the screens themselves.

TIA Portal and the older Siemens STEP 7

This is where the names really catch people out, because STEP 7 means two things.

• STEP 7 Classic, the V5.x line, is the older tool that goes with SIMATIC Manager, used for S7-300 and S7-400. It hasn't gone away. Siemens' compatibility list from November 2025 still shows STEP 7 V5.7 SP4, including on Windows 11.
• STEP 7 in TIA Portal is the current one. S7-1200 and S7-1500 live here, and Professional handles S7-300 and S7-400 too.

So if someone asks for SIMATIC STEP 7 experience, it's worth asking which they mean. Siemens also sells a Professional Combo licence that covers both.

Moving old projects across needs care. Siemens' 2017 guide describes migrating projects from STEP 7 V5.4 SP5 or later, but the V21 readme says migration from STEP 7 Classic is no longer supported in V21 or higher. If you've got an old project to bring over, ask Siemens or your distributor which route applies.

You'll also see searches for V15.1, V16 or V18, which are just releases. V21 was announced in November 2025 and was the newest Siemens listed in November 2026, so there may be a newer one by now. A V21 STEP 7 licence key also runs older versions, back to V11. Upgrading a project isn't always just a case of opening it, though, as the readme's notes on recompiling blocks show. If you're joining a site, find out which version it runs.

Will it run on my computer?

The V21 installation notes list 64 bit Windows 11, certain Windows 10 Enterprise versions and Windows Server. Windows 11 Home is for the Basic editions only. The minimum is 8 GB of RAM and 20 GB free, and Siemens recommends 16 GB or more with 50 GB free on an SSD. There's no Mac or Linux version listed, although the notes do cover virtual machines.

The other route is TIA Portal Cloud, which runs in a browser, so Siemens says there's no restriction on your operating system. That's the real answer if you've been searching for TIA Portal online. Its free trial lasts 21 days, with each session ending after an hour at most, and paid use is billed by the hour, month or year.

Is TIA Portal free? The trial and licences

No, it's paid software, but there is a free trial. Siemens lists a trial download of STEP 7 with Safety, S7-PLCSIM and WinCC, showing V21 in November 2026, and you'll need to register with SiePortal, its support site, to get it. The V21 installation notes say that starting TIA Portal with no valid licence key gives you a one time option of a trial licence, which expires after 21 days.

After that you need a licence key for each product, handled by the Automation License Manager, which installs with TIA Portal. Siemens' 2021 licensing guide sets out the main types.

• Unlimited: no time limit, the standard choice for an engineering PC.
• Rental: limited time, such as 365 days, found in starter kits and student licences.

A licence can also be single, tied to one installation, or floating, which can sit on several PCs with one person using it at a time. The Software Update Service is a yearly contract for new versions, and the V21 announcement says you can also run TIA Portal by subscription or in the cloud.

This guide doesn't quote prices, because they change and differ by country. In the US or the UK, the Siemens Industry Mall or your local distributor will give you the real number.

Siemens' 365 day student licences are only for schools, colleges and universities, so your tutor has to order them.

You'll also see cracked copies offered online. Leave those alone. You've no idea what's in them, and the free trial is right there.

The languages TIA Portal uses

Siemens has its own names for the IEC 61131-3 languages.

You can write each block in whichever language suits it, if your controller supports it.

Here's the classic start and stop logic in SCL. The # marks a local tag.

// Start latches the pump on. Stop or losing Permit drops it out.
#PumpOn := (#Start OR #PumpOn) AND NOT #Stop AND #Permit;

In LAD, the same logic is a network with a branch round Start and PumpOn, followed by Stop and Permit. You can try it for yourself in the Make it stay running mission.

Here, Stop is TRUE while pressed. A real stop button is often wired normally closed, which flips the test. And this isn't an emergency stop. Real safety functions need proper safety rated equipment and a competent person.

How to learn TIA Portal without a licence or hardware

You can get a long way before paying anyone. Here's a sensible order.

1. Learn the logic in a browser. That's what PLC Gym is for, and there's more on it below.
2. Use Siemens' free material. Its SCE education pages offer more than 100 documents, including TIA Portal modules numbered 000 to 150, free to download with a SiePortal account that has extended rights.
3. Then get into the real software. Use the trial or the cloud version to learn the menus, hardware configuration, downloading and going online. The TIA Portal simulation guide covers testing with no PLC. Don't start the clock until you've got time to use it.
4. Pay when you know what you need. SITRAIN, Siemens' training arm, runs TIA Portal training in classrooms, online and self paced, so check what's offered in your country. If you want a real controller on the desk, the PLC training kit guide covers that.

What PLC Gym does and doesn't do

You write SCL, LAD, FBD or GRAPH in your browser with nothing to install, and your code drives a 3D machine on PLC Gym's own simulator, with a 20 millisecond scan. Start with your first command, then the pump above, and later on run a batch through four phases in GRAPH. PLC Gym's Siemens PLC training puts it all in order. The first few missions are free with a free account. The rest is on Pro, with a 7 day free trial on an account, and paid plans start on 5 December 2026. See pricing for the details.

Now the limits. It isn't a real controller and it doesn't connect to real I/O. It doesn't do hardware configuration, networks or Siemens' library blocks, and it won't teach you TIA Portal's menus. Its safety missions are for learning only. PLC Gym's language reference sets out where it differs. So time in PLC Gym isn't TIA Portal experience, and if a job asks for TIA Portal, you'll need hours in the real thing.

You can export SCL as an .scl file made for TIA Portal, but nobody has yet proved these import into the real software, so test it there yourself.

What it does give you is a machine that reacts to your code, so the logic is already familiar when you sit down in TIA Portal.

Sources

• TIA Portal, Siemens
• STEP 7 in the TIA Portal, Siemens
• SIMATIC STEP 7 brochure, May 2020, Siemens Japan, for editions, controllers and languages
• TIA Portal brochure, 2017, Siemens, for options and the compatibility tool
• SIMATIC WinCC Unified Engineering, Siemens
• SINAMICS Startdrive, Siemens
• TIA Portal V21 announcement, November 2025, Siemens
• TIA Portal V21 readme, November 2025, Siemens
• TIA Portal V21 installation notes, November 2025, Siemens
• TIA Portal Cloud application manual, February 2026, Siemens
• TIA Portal licensing guide, 2021, Siemens, in Spanish
• STEP 7 compatibility list, November 2025, Siemens
• Guide for migrating S7-300 and S7-400 to S7-1500, May 2017, Siemens
• Programming guideline for S7-1200 and S7-1500, December 2018, Siemens
• SCE technical support and trial software, Siemens
• SCE learning and training documents, Siemens
• SCE guide to trainer packages, April 2026, Siemens
• SITRAIN, Siemens