Invariant vs Mininet
Invariant
invariant.techMininet
mininet.orgSide by side
| Figure | Invariant | Mininet |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Network Testing Software | 7.8 (#18) | 8.6 (#4) |
| Integrations | The maker lists Jenkins, GitHub Actions, LibreNMS, Netmiko, Aerleon, Capirca, IPAM, and SIEM workflows as integration options. | The recommended Mininet VM includes OpenFlow binaries and tools, and Mininet supports Open vSwitch and multiple OpenFlow controllers. |
| Intended users | Invariant describes its users as network and security operators who need to assess network security and safely make network changes. | The project describes Mininet as useful for development, teaching, and research. |
| Support | The contact page lists [email protected] for technical support and says Slack is the most immediate way to reach the company. | The project directs users to its FAQ, documentation, and mininet-discuss mailing list for support and discussion. |
Plans
In their own words
Invariant
Invariant validates network configurations against connectivity and security rules in a cross-vendor digital twin. It builds the model from configuration files, so direct access to routers or switches is not required. Users define policies in YAML and evaluate them against network snapshots, including proposed changes before deployment. Results can report policy violations and failures affecting critical flows. Scheduled network scans can trigger incident alerts with virtual traceroutes and virtual route-table differences. The service lists Cisco, Juniper, Palo Alto, and AWS among supported vendors, and integrations including Jenkins, GitHub Actions, LibreNMS, Netmiko, Aerleon, Capirca, IPAM, and SIEM workflows. A CLI, SDK, and API support automation. Listed protocols include BGP, OSPF, IPSec, NAT, policy-based routing, VPN, ACL, and VLAN. Invariant offers hybrid deployment and web/API access. The Basic account is free, billed as a free Basic account with effectively no usage limits. Higher tiers add SSO, larger device counts, and preview features.
Mininet
Mininet is a free network emulator that creates virtual hosts, switches, controllers and links on one machine. Its hosts run standard Linux network software on the real Linux kernel and network stack, while switches support OpenFlow. The project describes uses including research, development, learning, prototyping, testing and debugging, including experiments with SDN systems using OpenFlow and P4. A topology-aware and OpenFlow-aware command-line interface supports debugging and network-wide tests. Users can select parameterized topologies or create custom ones, and an extensible Python API supports network creation and experimentation. Mininet networks can connect to real networks, and code developed in Mininet can move to real systems with minimal changes. Installation options include a pre-packaged virtual machine, native installation from source and packages for recent Ubuntu or Debian 11 and later; Fedora support is experimental. Mininet depends on the Linux kernel, while its VM can run through VMware or VirtualBox on Mac, Windows and Linux. Its networks are constrained by a single server's CPU and bandwidth, and it cannot currently run non-Linux-compatible OpenFlow switches or applications. Mininet is released under a permissive BSD open source license.