Cacti vs Observium
Cacti
cacti.net
Observium
observium.orgSide by side
| Figure | Cacti | Observium |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · Network Monitoring | 8.2 (#13) | 7.7 (#33) |
| Spec score · Network Monitoring - Midmarket Software | 8.2 (#8) | 7.8 (#14) |
| Spec score · Network Performance Monitoring Software | 8.2 (#9) | 7.9 (#13) |
| Spec score · Network Monitoring - Enterprise Software | 8.2 (#8) | 7.8 (#14) |
| Discovery | Cacti provides automation and discovery to control automatic graph and data source creation. | Observium supports automatic discovery of supported devices and metrics, plus network mapping through discovery protocols. |
| Founded | 2001 | 2007 |
| Purpose | Cacti is a network graphing and operational monitoring framework built around RRDtool. | Observium is a network monitoring and management platform that discovers devices and services, collects performance metrics, and generates alerts. |
| Support | The Cacti site directs users seeking help to its support section, but the opened pages do not state a support service level. | Enterprise includes 10 hours of support time; the Community documentation points users to informal support through Discord, IRC, and a mailing list. |
Plans
Observium
- CommunityFree
- EnterprisePrice not published
- ProfessionalPrice not published
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.
Observium
Observium is a self-hosted network monitoring and management platform for discovering devices and services, collecting performance measurements, and producing alerts. Its web interface combines network status, live metrics, and historical data. Automatic discovery can find supported devices and metrics, while discovery protocols create network maps. The supported-device catalogue lists 825 platform definitions, 367 named vendors, 21 device classes, and 916 associated MIBs. Professional Edition adds threshold alerts for entity types and traffic accounting based on transferred data or the 95th percentile. The platform provides email, SMS, webhook, and mobile alert channels, plus synthetic checks, traffic monitoring, and topology maps. A RESTful API supports custom integrations and automation. Listed integrations include collectd, munin, smokeping, and RANCID, with collectors for Apache, BIND, DRBD, Memcached, MySQL, and NFS. Community is free; Professional is billed at £250/yr and Enterprise at £1500 / yr.