ManageEngine Network Configuration Manager vs NAPALM

ManageEngine Network Configuration Manager manages configuration and change workflows for switches, routers, firewalls, and other network devices. It schedules configuration backups, tracks changes in real time, and supports version comparison and rollback to trusted configurations. Configlets and scripts can automate tasks and apply changes in bulk. The product checks device configurations against defined policies and standards, supports compliance reporting, and identifies firmware vulnerabilities with CVE IDs, severity information, and patch links. The product page says it supports devices from more than 200 vendors and encrypts retrieved configuration data with AES 256-bit encryption. This is an on-premises product, with Windows and Linux installers and Android and iOS apps for viewing backups, changes, vulnerabilities, compliance, and user activity. The Free Edition covers two devices. Professional is $238 a year for a 10-device pack; Enterprise is $3,358 a year for a 250-device pack. Both paid editions list 24x5 technical support.

NAPALM is a free Python library for automating network devices from multiple vendors through a shared API. It connects to devices, changes configurations, and retrieves operational data. Its core drivers cover Arista EOS, Cisco IOS, Cisco IOS-XR, Cisco NX-OS, and Juniper JunOS, with additional community drivers. Configuration methods include replace, merge, compare, commit-confirm, and rollback, although availability depends on the platform. Getters can return device facts, configurations, interface information, BGP neighbors, and environment data, with coverage varying by driver. For validation, NAPALM can compare live device state against YAML expectations and create a compliance report. The project identifies integrations with Ansible, SaltStack, and StackStorm. Installation uses `pip install napalm`, which includes the currently available core drivers. Version 5.1.0 and later supports Python 3.9 and later. It is self-hosted, licensed under Apache-2.0, and free at free. Documentation advises checking platform-specific caveats before use.