bwmon vs OphanimFlow
bwmon
github.comOphanimFlow
github.comSide by side
| Figure | bwmon | OphanimFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Bandwidth Monitoring Software | 8.5 (#5) | 6.8 (#30) |
| Installation | Installation uses a one-command shell script that sets up the collector, systemd service, cron jobs, and nginx server block. | The README provides batch setup instructions for FreeBSD 14.4/15.0/15.1 and Debian 13.0 trixie. |
| Intended use | The README presents bwmon for investigating bandwidth use on a single host and says multi-host or long-horizon analytics call for heavier tools. | The README describes OphanimFlow as a replacement for bandwidthd and Stargazer cap_nf for network traffic collection and visualization. |
| License | The project is licensed under MIT. | The repository identifies the project as GPL-3.0 licensed. |
| Purpose | bwmon monitors bandwidth on a single Linux host, with live RX/TX, per-process attribution, spike forensics, and six months of history. | OphanimFlow collects, classifies, and visualizes NetFlow, IPFIX, and sFlow traffic for hosts on specified networks. |
Plans
In their own words
bwmon
bwmon is a free, self-hosted bandwidth monitor for one Linux host and one network interface. Its dashboard updates receive and transmit rates every second, charts recent traffic, and lists top processes. When traffic passes five times its rolling two-minute average, bwmon records process attribution, all-interface rates, and leading conntrack flows for spike investigation. It retains five-minute samples for six months, with views from one hour to all time, a time-of-week heatmap, and a rate histogram. A banner appears when the rolling five-minute average reaches 40 Mbps; cleared alerts remain in the history table. Installation uses a shell script that sets up the collector, systemd service, cron jobs, and nginx server block; the dashboard defaults to port 8080. It requires Linux kernel 4.0 or later and root access. Debian and Ubuntu use the apt-based installer, while other distributions need manual dependency setup. The project recommends authentication for internet-exposed installations.
OphanimFlow
OphanimFlow has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.