Comparison of network monitoring systems

Last updated

The following tables compare general and technical information for several notable network monitoring systems. For more information, please refer to the individual product articles.

Contents

Features

NameIP SLA reportsLogical groupingTrendingTrend predictionAuto discoveryAgentless SNMP Syslog PluginsTriggers / alerts MIB compiler Web app Distributed monitoringInventoryPlatformData storage methodLicense Maps Access control IPv6 Latest release dateLatest release version
Cacti YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesYes PHP RRDtool, MySQL, MariaDB GNU GPL Via pluginYesYes2025-03-231.2.30
Checkmk YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesYes C, Python RRDtool GNU GPL YesYesYes2025-05-062.4
collectd NoNoNoNoPush model;
multicast possible		YesYesYesYesYesNoViewingYesNo C RRDtool GNU GPL NoApache ACLYes2020-09-035.12
Cruz YesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesYes Java, C++, .NET MySQL, Oracle CommercialYesYesYes2019-028.0.0
FreeNATS YesYesNoNoYesNoNoVia pluginYesIn PHP CodeNoFull ControlNoNo PHP MySQL [1] GNU GPL NoYesUn­known2018-11-141.20.1b
Ganglia NoYesYesNoVia gmond check inNoVia pluginNoYesNoNoViewingYesUn­known C, PHP RRDtool BSD YesNoUn­known2016-06-143.7.2
Icinga Via pluginYesYesNoVia pluginYesVia pluginVia pluginYesYesNoFull ControlYesVia pluginC [2] MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL [3] GNU GPL YesYesYes2024-01-182.14.2 [4]
InterMapper YesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesNoViewingYesYes Windows, Linux & Mac OS PostgreSQL Limited free, CommercialYesYesYes2017-076.1.5
isyVmon YesYesYesNoVia pluginNoYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesVia plugin PHP RRDtool, MySQL Limited free, CommercialVia pluginYesYesUn­knownUn­known
Munin NoYesYesYesNoNoYesNoYesPartialNoViewingVia nodesUn­known Perl RRDtool GNU GPL Un­knownUn­knownYes2021-02-222.0.67
Nagios Via pluginYesYesNoVia pluginYesVia pluginVia pluginYesYesNoYesYesVia plugin C Flat file, SQL (via ndoutils), MySql (Via Nconf) GNU GPL YesYesYes [5] 2022-04-144.4.7 [6]
Netdisco NoNoNoNoYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYes Perl PostgreSQL BSD YesYesYes2024-09-132.079001 [7]
NetXMS Un­knownYesNoNoYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes C, Java PostgreSQL, PostgreSQL with TimescaleDB, MariaDB, MySQL, MS SQL, Oracle, SQLite GNU GPL YesYesYes2024-04-154.5.6
NeuralStar YesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesYesUn­known MS SQL CommercialYesYesYesUn­knownUn­known
Octopussy NoYesYesNoYesYesNoYesYesYesNoFull controlNoYes Perl, ASP MySQL GNU GPL NoYesNo2017-06-031.0.16
op5 Monitor YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesVia plugin C, PHP Flat file, SQL Limited free, CommercialYesYesYesMonthly7.3.0
OpenKBM YesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYesUn­knownProprietary with JDBC supportCommercialYesYesYesUn­knownUn­known
OpenNMS YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesFull ControlYesYes Java JRobin / RRDTool / Apache Cassandra, PostgreSQL AGPLv3 YesYesYes2025-08-1334.0.0
OPNET's AppResponse Xpert YesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesNoViewing, Acknowledging, ReportingYesNoUn­knownUn­knownCommercialYesYesUn­knownUn­knownUn­known
OSI NetExpert YesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYes Java, C++ Oracle CommercialYesYesYes2013-0410.0
PacketTrap YesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesNoViewing, ReportingYesYesUn­known SQL CommercialYesYesYesUn­knownUn­known
Pandora FMS YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesYes Perl, PHP, C++, JavaScript MySQL, Percona Server for MySQL [8] GPLv2, CommercialYesYesYes2024-06-117.0 NG 777
PA Server Monitor NoYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesViewing, Acknowledging, ReportingYesYes Windows, C++, .NET SQLite, Microsoft SQL Server Limited free, CommercialYesYesYes2025-069.5
Performance Co-Pilot NoYesYesNoYesOptional, LimitedYesYesYesYesNoViewingYesYes C Perl, Python, POSIX, MinGW Flat file GPL, LGPL NoYesYes2025-03-276.3.7
PRTG YesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesYesFull ControlYesYes Delphi Flat file Limited free, CommercialYesYesYes2025-03-1825.1.104
ScienceLogic YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesYes Python MySQL CommercialYesYesYesUn­knownUn­known
SevOne YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesYes C, C++, PHP MySQL CommercialYesYesYes2022-116.4 [9]
Shinken Via pluginYesYesNoYesYesVia pluginVia pluginYesYesNoViewing, Acknowledging, ReportingYesVia plugin Python Flat file, MySQL, Oracle, Graphite, Sqlite, MongoDB AGPL YesYesYes2016-03-102.4.3
SolarWinds YesYesYesYesYesPartialYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesYes .NET SQL CommercialYesYesYesUn­knownUn­known
Spiceworks Un­knownYesUn­knownUn­knownYesYesUn­knownUn­knownYesYesUn­knownUn­knownUn­knownYes PHP Sqlite Un­knownYesUn­knownUn­known2018-03-217.5.00107
Xymon/Hobbit YesYesYesNoVia pluginVia pluginVia pluginNoYesYesNoViewing, Acknowledging, ReportingYesVia plugin C, Shell Flat file, RRDTool, MySQL via plugin GNU GPL Via pluginApache ACLNo2019-09-054.3.30
Zabbix YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesYes C, PHP MariaDB, MySQL, Oracle, Percona Server, PostgreSQL, SQLite [10] AGPLv3 YesYesYes2025-07-30; 2025-07-22; 2025-07-23; 2025-04-227.4.1 [11]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Zenoss Core YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesYes Python, Java ZODB, MariaDB, Apache HBase Free Core GPL, Commercial EnterpriseYesYesYes2018-01-096.1.0
ZIS-System YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoFull ControlYesYes Windows MariaDB CommercialYesYesYes2020-02-015.8
NameIP SLA ReportsLogical GroupingTrendingTrend PredictionAuto DiscoveryAgentless SNMP Syslog PluginsTriggers / Alerts MIB Compiler WebApp Distributed MonitoringInventoryPlatformData Storage Method License Maps Access ControlIPv6Latest release dateLatest release version

Legend

Product name
The name of the software, linked to its Wikipedia article.
IP SLAs reports
Support of Cisco's IP Service Level Agreement mechanism.
Logical grouping
Supports arranging the hosts or devices it monitors into user-defined groups.
Trending
Provides trending of network data over time.
Trend prediction
The software features algorithms designed to predict future network statistics.
Auto discovery
The software automatically discovers hosts or network devices it is connected to.
Agentless
The product does not rely on a software agent that must run on hosts it is monitoring, so that data can be pushed back to a central server. "Supported" means that an agent may be used, but is not mandatory. An SNMP daemon does not count as an agent.
SNMP
Able to retrieve and report on SNMP statistics.
Syslog
Able to receive and report on Syslogs.
Plugins
Architecture of the software based on a number of 'plugins' that provide additional functionality.
Triggers / alerts
Capable of detecting threshold violations in network data, and alerting the administrator in some form.
MIB compilter
Able to read MIB data, to quickly understand what resources are being managed.
Web app
Runs as a web-based application.
  • No: There is no web-based frontend for this software.
  • Viewing: Network data can be viewed in a graphical web-based frontend.
  • Acknowledging: Users can interact with the software through the web-based frontend to acknowledge alarms or manipulate other notifications.
  • Reporting: Specific reports on network data can be configured by the user and executed through the web-based frontend.
  • Full Control: ALL aspects of the product can be controlled through the web-based frontend, including low-level maintenance tasks such as software configuration and upgrades.
Distributed monitoring
Able to leverage more than one server to distribute the load of network monitoring.
Inventory
Keeps a record of hardware and/or software inventory for the hosts and devices it monitors.
Platform
The platform (Coding Language) on which the tool was developed/written.
Data storage method
Main method used to store the network data it monitors.
License
License released under (e.g. GPL, BSD license, etc.).
Maps
Features graphical network maps that represent the hosts and devices it monitors, and the links between them.
Access control
Features user-level security, allowing an administrator to prevent access to certain parts of the product on a per-user or per-role basis.
IPv6
Supports monitoring IPv6 hosts and/or devices, receiving IPv6 data, and running on an IPv6-enabled server. Supports communication using IPv6 to the SNMP agent via an IPv6 address.

References

  1. ↑ "Install PHP Source - FreeNATS Wiki". www.purplepixie.org. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  2. ↑ "Intro - Icinga 2 - Icinga Wiki". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  3. ↑ "Debian - Icinga DB". icinga.com. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  4. ↑ "Icinga2 Changelog". GitHub . October 2022.
  5. ↑ "NRPE IPv6 Support". Archived from the original on 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  6. ↑ "Nagios Core Changelog" . Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  7. ↑ "Releases · netdisco/netdisco · GitHub". GitHub . Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  8. ↑ "Installation [current]". pandorafms.com. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  9. ↑ "Announcing IBM SevOne Network Performance Management Version 6.4". IBM .
  10. ↑ "2 Requirements". www.zabbix.com. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  11. ↑ "Release Notes for Zabbix 7.4.1". 30 July 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
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