Cacti vs NetBalancer
Cacti
cacti.netNetBalancer
netbalancer.comSide by side
| Figure | Cacti | NetBalancer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $34.95/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Spec score · Bandwidth Monitoring Software | 8.2 (#7) | 8.8 (#4) |
| Founded | 2001 | A SeriousBit press release states that the company was founded in 2007. |
| Purpose | Cacti is a network graphing and operational monitoring framework built around RRDtool. | NetBalancer monitors a computer’s network traffic and lets users set traffic limits, priorities, and rules. |
| Support | The Cacti site directs users seeking help to its support section, but the opened pages do not state a support service level. | The purchase includes free support, including activation-code recovery. |
Plans
NetBalancer
- NetBalancer App and Sync$49.95 a month
- Renew NetBalancer$34.95 a month
- Unregistered versionFree
- Renew NetBalancer$34.95, paid once
- NetBalancer App and Sync$49.95, paid once
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.
NetBalancer
NetBalancer has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.