M-Lab NDT vs Ostinato
M-Lab NDT
measurementlab.netOstinato
ostinato.orgSide by side
| Figure | M-Lab NDT | Ostinato |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $12/mo |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 4 |
| Spec score · Network Testing Software | 7.7 (#20) | 8.1 (#11) |
| Founded | 2009 | 2010 |
| Integrations | M-Lab publishes NDT data through BigQuery and archives raw measurement data in Google Cloud Storage. | The maker lists GNS3, EVE-NG, Cisco CML, and Containerlab as supported lab environments, and says Ostinato works on AWS and Azure cloud VMs. |
| Purpose | NDT measures a connection’s capacity for bulk transport and reports upload speed, download speed, and latency metrics. | Ostinato generates, customizes, or replays L2/L3 traffic to validate throughput, QoS, multicast, routing, switching, protocol behavior, and network performance. |
| Support | M-Lab directs NDT users to contact [email protected] for support. | Customers with Pro or Business licenses may submit support tickets; Pro email support is available for 30 days from purchase, and community forums are available to all listed license tiers. |
Plans
Ostinato
- Solo$12 a month
- Pro$49 a month
- Business$208 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
M-Lab NDT
M-Lab NDT has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Ostinato
Ostinato generates and customizes network traffic, or replays PCAP files, to help validate throughput, QoS, multicast, routing, switching, protocol behavior, and network performance. Users can edit supported protocol headers, set frame sizes, and create custom headers with hexdumps or scripts. PCAP replay can preserve or alter packet timing, loop traffic, or reorder packets. Native protocols include Ethernet, VLAN, QinQ, IPv4/IPv6, UDP, stateless TCP, ICMP, ARP/NDP, IGMP/MLD, and GRE; other methods can support headers such as MPLS and VXLAN. Reports show transmit and receive statistics, per-stream packet loss, and latency and jitter measured with software timestamps. A Python API supports stream and scenario creation, run control, counter collection, and CI/CD integration. Ostinato lists GNS3, EVE-NG, Cisco CML, and Containerlab as supported lab environments, and says it works on AWS and Azure cloud VMs. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted or API setups. Plans start at $12 a month billed annually; an active subscription is required.