Cacti vs Nagios Core
Cacti
cacti.net
Nagios Core
nagios.orgSide by side
| Figure | Cacti | Nagios Core |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Network Monitoring - Midmarket Software | 8.2 (#8) | 7.7 (#17) |
| Purpose | Cacti is a network graphing and operational monitoring framework built around RRDtool. | Nagios Core monitors IT infrastructure including servers, network devices, websites, applications, services, and custom metrics. |
| Support | The Cacti site directs users seeking help to its support section, but the opened pages do not state a support service level. | The product page lists community forums, documentation, manuals, a quick-start guide, FAQs, and video tutorials as Core resources. |
Plans
In their own words
Cacti
Cacti is a free, self-hosted network graphing and operational monitoring framework built around RRDtool. It collects data through SNMP object identifiers or scripts, which can retrieve database information or run other code. Availability checks cover SNMP, ICMP, TCP, and UDP. Discovery and automation can create graphs and data sources, while Remote Data Collectors distribute collection and cache data during network interruptions. Graph items support line, area, stacked, horizontal-rule, vertical-rule, print, and comment types. Device templates connect devices with graph templates and data queries, and plugins can extend collection to other protocols, with WMI listed as an example. Role-based management covers users, groups, and domains. Cacti supports SNMP versions 1, 2, and 3, with a documented limitation for advanced SNMPv3 settings such as SHA224+ or AES192+ when PHP SNMP is used. It is available for Linux/Unix and Windows. Installation requires MySQL, PHP, RRDtool, Net-SNMP, and a PHP-capable web server such as Apache or IIS.
Nagios Core
Nagios Core has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.