BackBox vs NAPALM
BackBox
backbox.comNAPALM
github.comSide by side
| Figure | BackBox | NAPALM |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Spec score · Network Automation Software | 8.4 (#3) | 7.8 (#12) |
| Integrations | BackBox lists ITSM, CMDB, PAM, observability, SD-WAN/SASE, identity, messaging and DevOps integrations, including ServiceNow, LogicMonitor, CyberArk, Kentik, Cisco Meraki and Slack. | The project README identifies integrations with Ansible, SaltStack, and StackStorm. |
| Purpose | BackBox automates security, compliance, and lifecycle management for network infrastructure. | NAPALM is a Python library for interacting with network devices from different vendors through a unified API. |
| Support | BackBox's SLA says standard support targets next-business-day responses for all priority levels, while premium targets range from one to four hours for priorities 1–3. | The README points users to the napalm channel on the network.toCode() Slack team for help. |
Plans
BackBox
- Kilter AIPriced on request
- Kilter ALMPriced on request
- Kilter EnterprisePriced on request
- PremiumPriced on request
- StandardPriced on request
In their own words
NAPALM
NAPALM is a free Python library for automating network devices from multiple vendors through a shared API. It connects to devices, changes configurations, and retrieves operational data. Its core drivers cover Arista EOS, Cisco IOS, Cisco IOS-XR, Cisco NX-OS, and Juniper JunOS, with additional community drivers. Configuration methods include replace, merge, compare, commit-confirm, and rollback, although availability depends on the platform. Getters can return device facts, configurations, interface information, BGP neighbors, and environment data, with coverage varying by driver. For validation, NAPALM can compare live device state against YAML expectations and create a compliance report. The project identifies integrations with Ansible, SaltStack, and StackStorm. Installation uses `pip install napalm`, which includes the currently available core drivers. Version 5.1.0 and later supports Python 3.9 and later. It is self-hosted, licensed under Apache-2.0, and free at free. Documentation advises checking platform-specific caveats before use.