Netpicker vs TRex
Netpicker
netpicker.ioTRex
trex-tgn.cisco.comSide by side
| Figure | Netpicker | TRex |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $625/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 1 |
| Spec score · Network Testing Software | 8.2 (#8) | 7.9 (#15) |
| Deployment | Netpicker is available as a Docker container or an OVA virtual appliance, and can run on-premises or air-gapped. | TRex is a Linux application; the documentation also describes running it in Docker or a VirtualBox virtual machine for experimentation. |
| Purpose | Netpicker continuously validates network state, configurations, compliance, security and network behavior, and can automate remediation. | TRex is an open source traffic generator for benchmarking and testing network devices with realistic traffic. |
| Support | Foundation includes a knowledge base, YouTube training courses, best-effort tickets and best-effort Discord; Professional adds 24-hour ticket response and a private Discord channel. | The documentation lists a TRex community forum and Cisco DevNet community as support resources. |
Plans
Netpicker
- Netpicker - FoundationFree
- Netpicker - Professional$7,500 a year
- Netpicker - Enterprise$33,500 a year
In their own words
Netpicker
Netpicker validates network state, device configurations, compliance, security and behavior, and can automate remediation. It runs automated Python tests in pytest format against device configurations, show-command output and API data. The free version includes unlimited configuration backups, Git history, diffs, search and drift detection. Netpicker supports devices from more than 180 vendors and can be deployed as a Docker container or OVA virtual appliance, on-premises or in air-gapped environments. API-based connections link it to source-of-truth systems, Git, ITSM tools and other existing tools. Its REST API manages devices, backups and tests, runs show commands and tests, and restores backups; documentation is provided through Swagger/OpenAPI. Security validation covers CVEs, security configurations, compliance and pen-test findings without sending network data outside the customer's environment. Potential CVEs are matched by OS version, while verified CVEs also check whether vulnerable features are enabled and mitigations are present. AI can draft tests, remediation jobs and troubleshooting queries from plain English, subject to engineer review and approval. The free Foundation plan is available; Professional starts at $7,500 a year.
TRex
TRex is an open source traffic generator for benchmarking platforms with realistic network traffic. It produces Layer 3–7 traffic in stateless, stateful, and advanced stateful modes. Stateless mode supports multiple streams, packet-field changes, and per-stream or per-group statistics, latency, and jitter. Advanced stateful mode emulates Layer 7 traffic over scalable TCP and UDP flows. Emulation includes ARP, IPv6, ND, MLD, IGMP, ICMP, DOT1X, DHCPv4, DHCPv6, and DNS. TRex offers Python automation APIs and a console interface; stateless functions can also be used through JSON-RPC. The manual describes it as a Linux application using DPDK and Linux kernel modules, intended for COTS x86 servers. The site says one server can scale up to 200 Gb/sec. It can run in a virtual machine or Docker for low-performance, low-footprint use, but virtual switches can limit throughput and virtual-machine latency results are not accurate. TRex is free, with hardware and NIC requirements. The GUI monitoring application TRexViewer is supported only on Windows.