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Siemens

TIA Portal Download Guide

TIA Portal (Totally Integrated Automation Portal) is Siemens's unified engineering platform for S7-1200, S7-1500, S7-300, and S7-400 PLCs. This guide covers the 21-day trial, license tiers, PLCSIM setup, system requirements, and how to build Siemens ladder logic skills in your browser while you get access.

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TIA Portal download guide — 21-day trial, STEP 7 licensing, PLCSIM, and Siemens ladder logic practice

Overview

What is TIA Portal?

TIA Portal (Totally Integrated Automation Portal) is Siemens's integrated engineering environment that combines PLC programming (STEP 7), HMI configuration (WinCC), drive parameterisation (STARTER/Startdrive), and motion control in a single application. It replaced the older STEP 7 Classic (SIMATIC Manager) for new projects starting around 2012.

The current hardware families programmed in TIA Portal are the S7-1200 (compact, cost-effective, IEC 61131-3 native), S7-1500 (high-performance, safety variants available), and S7-300/400 (legacy but still extensively installed). TIA Portal supports all five IEC 61131-3 languages: Ladder Diagram (LAD), Function Block Diagram (FBD), Structured Text (ST), Instruction List (IL, deprecated in newer versions), and Sequential Function Chart (SFC/GRAPH).

Licensing

TIA Portal license tiers

All pricing should be verified directly with Siemens or an authorised distributor — prices vary by region and change over time.

EditionCoversPLCSIM includedCost
Trial (21 days)Full Professional featuresYes (Standard)Free — requires Siemens ID account
STEP 7 BasicS7-1200 only; WinCC Basic HMIYes (Standard)Check vendor for current pricing
STEP 7 ProfessionalS7-300/400/1200/1500 + all languagesYes (Standard)Check vendor for current pricing
STEP 7 Professional + PLCSIM Adv.As above + real-time simulation, OPC UAPLCSIM Advanced (add-on)Check vendor for current pricing
Academic licenseProfessional features — subsidisedYesApply via Siemens Academic Program

Requirements

TIA Portal system requirements

TIA Portal is one of the most resource-intensive PLC IDEs available. Requirements below are for current V18/V19 — always verify against the Siemens SIOS release notes for your specific version.

Operating systemWindows 10 (64-bit, 21H2 or later) or Windows 11 — no macOS, no Linux natively
RAM16 GB minimum; 32 GB recommended when running PLCSIM and WinCC simultaneously
Disk space50–80 GB for full installation (STEP 7 + WinCC + PLCSIM + drives)
Display1920 × 1080 minimum (TIA Portal UI is dense; smaller resolutions are impractical)
Processor2 GHz or faster, quad-core recommended
.NET Framework.NET 4.8 required; .NET 6+ runtime also used in V18+
PLCSIMIncluded in trial and Professional editions; runs on same Windows PC as TIA Portal

Download steps

How to download the TIA Portal 21-day trial

1

Create a Siemens ID account

Go to siemens.com and create a free Siemens ID account. This is Siemens's unified login for the Industry Online Support portal, Software Delivery Portal, and license management. You need an email address and a Siemens ID to download any TIA Portal package.

2

Go to the Siemens Software Delivery Portal

Navigate to the Siemens Software Delivery Portal (support.industry.siemens.com/cs/document/109784440). Search for "TIA Portal Trial" or navigate through the STEP 7 category. Select the most recent version and your preferred download format (DVDs ISO or executable package).

3

Download the trial package

The full TIA Portal trial download is large — typically 15–25 GB for Professional + WinCC + PLCSIM. Use a download manager or the Siemens Download Manager tool to avoid interrupted downloads. Allow several hours on a typical broadband connection.

4

Run the installer as Administrator

Extract the downloaded package and run the start centre as Administrator. Select the components you want: at minimum STEP 7 Professional and PLCSIM. WinCC Basic is useful if you are also learning HMI. The installer handles all dependencies including .NET and SQL Server LocalDB.

5

License activates automatically for 21 days

The trial license installs automatically during setup. You do not need a separate license key for the trial — the 21-day clock starts on first launch. After 21 days, TIA Portal reverts to a feature-limited mode until you activate a paid license. Save your work frequently near the end of the trial.

Versions & gotchas

Which TIA Portal version — and the PLCSIM export-control trap

Siemens ships roughly one major TIA Portal version per year. As of writing the current releases are V18, V19, V20 (December 2024), and V21 (December 2025), with V17 still common in installed plants. Project files are version-locked in one direction: a newer TIA Portal opens an older project, but an older TIA Portal cannot open a newer one. For learning, download the latest trial your target hardware (S7-1200 / S7-1500) supports.

The most common surprise when downloading: S7-PLCSIM is subject to German export-control rules. On the Siemens portal, the PLCSIM download can require an additional export-control clearance step on your Siemens account that is not instant — it can take a day or more to be approved. Plan for this if your goal is simulation: request PLCSIM access early so it is cleared by the time STEP 7 finishes installing. Standard PLCSIM (sufficient for S7-1200/1500 learning) is included in the trial; PLCSIM Advanced is a separate, higher-cost add-on.

One more download tip: the trial package usually ships as two DVD images. DVD 1 is the Setup you need for STEP 7 and PLCSIM; DVD 2 holds supplementary components most learners can skip. Downloading only DVD 1 saves several gigabytes and hours.

What transfers

The Siemens ladder fundamentals, illustrated

While your 50–80 GB TIA Portal download runs, here is what you can already be practising. Every diagram maps to an IEC 61131-3 instruction TIA Portal uses — the same Normally Open / Normally Closed / TON / CTU model the browser simulator runs.

The IEC 61131-3 ladder symbols TIA Portal uses in STEP 7 — Normally Open and Normally Closed contacts, output coils, and Set and Reset coils for Siemens S7 PLCsThe core ladder logic symbols side by side: XIC examine-if-closed, XIO examine-if-open, OTE output energize, OTL output latch and OTU output unlatch.XICIfXIOIfOTEEnergizeLOTLLatchUOTUUnlatch
The STEP 7 ladder symbol set — NO/NC contacts, coils, Set/Reset.
A STEP 7 ladder rung for a Siemens S7-1200 — a Normally Open contact energising an output coil, identical in behaviour to the rungs you write in TIA PortalA basic ladder logic rung between two power rails: an examine-if-closed contact (XIC) in series driving an output coil (OTE).L1L2] [StartXIC I:0/0LampOTE O:0/0
A STEP 7 rung — contact in, coil out, the same logic TIA Portal runs.
A Siemens TON on-delay timer timing chart as used in STEP 7 and PLCSIM, with the accumulated time rising to the preset before the output turns onA TON on-delay timer: the accumulated time bar ramps up toward the preset value, and the done (DN) bit turns on when the accumulator reaches preset.TONPRE 5000ACCACC ramps to PREPREDNdone bit
Siemens TON / TOF / TP timers — the same behaviour PLCSIM simulates.
The PLC scan cycle an S7-1500 CPU and Siemens PLCSIM execute — read process image inputs, run the program, write process image outputs, repeatThe repeating PLC scan cycle: read inputs, execute the ladder logic, update outputs, then housekeeping, looping continuously.1Read Inputs2Execute Logic3Update Outputs4HousekeepingSCANCYCLE
The scan cycle PLCSIM runs — read inputs, solve, write outputs, repeat.
The IEC 61131-3 languages TIA Portal supports — Ladder (LAD), Function Block Diagram (FBD), Structured Text (SCL), and Sequential Function Chart (GRAPH)The five IEC 61131-3 PLC programming languages as chips: Ladder Diagram, Function Block Diagram, Structured Text, Instruction List and Sequential Function Chart.IEC 61131-3 — five languagesLDLadder DiagramFBDFunction BlockSTStructured TextILInstruction ListSFCSequential Func. Chart
TIA Portal's languages — LAD, FBD, SCL (Structured Text) and GRAPH.
A browser-based Siemens-style ladder logic simulator running with no TIA Portal install, no 21-day trial clock and no Windows requirementA web browser window running a PLC ladder logic simulator with an input/output strip, requiring no installation or download.plcsimulator.app/playno installINPUTSOUTPUTS
Practise in the browser — no 21-day clock, no Windows, no 80 GB install.

Practice now

Practice Siemens ladder logic in your browser while your download finishes

The TIA Portal download is large and installation takes time. Our browser simulator lets you start building Siemens ladder logic fluency immediately — using the same Normally Open / Normally Closed / Set / Reset / TON / TOF / CTU terminology that TIA Portal uses. No 21-day clock, no Windows required.

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Related guides

Related resources

Questions

TIA Portal download FAQ

TIA Portal is not free. Siemens offers a 21-day trial that includes STEP 7 Professional (for S7-300/400/1200/1500 programming) and WinCC Basic (for basic HMI). After 21 days you need a paid license. Siemens also offers TIA Portal STEP 7 Basic — a lower-cost tier that programs S7-1200 only. Educational institutions can apply for academic licenses through the Siemens Academic Program. There is no permanently free version of TIA Portal.

Siemens ladder logic — free in your browser, any OS.

Same IEC 61131-3 instructions. Real scan cycle. No 21-day clock.

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