Cisco Catalyst Center vs ntopng
Cisco Catalyst Center
cisco.com
ntopng
ntop.orgSide by side
| Figure | Cisco Catalyst Center | ntopng |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 7 |
| Spec score · Network Traffic Analysis Software | 7.7 (#13) | 8.9 (#1) |
| API | The platform exposes northbound REST APIs for discovery, inventory, topology, provisioning, assurance, and other network operations. | The technical specifications list an HTTP-based RESTful API and Lua scriptability. |
| Founded | 1984 | 1998 |
| Headquarters | San Jose, California, United States | Italy and Switzerland |
| Integrations | Cisco documents integrations with ISE, ThousandEyes, Webex, Microsoft Teams, ServiceNow, Infoblox, and BlueCat, plus generic APIs for other ITSM and IPAM systems. | Documented integrations include OPNsense, pfSense, Suricata, ClickHouse, Kafka, syslog, Grafana and Wazuh. |
| Security | Catalyst Center supports FIPS 140-2-compliant cryptography modules, and Cisco recommends deploying it behind a firewall on a private internal network. | ntop says its packages are digitally signed with a PGP key and that users can verify package integrity with it. |
| Support | Cisco says Catalyst and Cisco DNA software subscriptions include embedded software support and downloads; opening a support case requires a Cisco Service Contract. | ntop offers paid consultancy, commercial-grade support by phone, email, or on-site, professional training, and customization; community support is described as best-efforts. |
Plans
Cisco Catalyst Center
- Cisco DNA AdvantagePriced on request
- Cisco DNA EssentialsPriced on request
ntopng
- CommunityFree
- Community (Open Source)Free
- Pro€299, paid once
- Pro€299.95, paid once
- Enterprise M€699.95, paid once
- Enterprise L€899.95, paid once
- Enterprise XL€1,499.95, paid once
In their own words
Cisco Catalyst Center
Cisco Catalyst Center has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
ntopng
ntopng monitors network traffic gathered from traffic mirrors, NetFlow exporters, SNMP devices, firewall logs and intrusion detection systems. Its encrypted web interface supports real-time and historical traffic exploration. Protocol detection powered by nDPI covers more than 450 Layer-7 application protocols, while metrics include application latency, round-trip time, throughput, TCP retransmission, packet loss, and VoIP jitter and MOS. It captures packets with libpcap or PF_RING and collects flows from nProbe, NetFlow and sFlow exporters. An HTTP-based RESTful API and Lua scripting are listed. Platforms include Linux, FreeBSD, Windows x64, macOS and RaspbianOS; pfSense and OPNsense are also named among supported Unix platforms. The free Community edition suggests limits of 256 live local hosts, 128K live flows and eight monitored interfaces. Paid perpetual licenses include one year of maintenance: Pro is €299, paid once, Enterprise M is €699.95, paid once, Enterprise L is €899.95, paid once, and Enterprise XL is €1,499.95, paid once.