ntopng vs SparrowIQ
ntopng
ntop.orgSparrowIQ
sparrowiq.comSide by side
| Figure | ntopng | SparrowIQ |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 7 | 4 |
| Spec score · Network Traffic Analysis Software | 8.9 (#1) | 7.2 (#18) |
| Spec score · Bandwidth Monitoring Software | 8.9 (#2) | 7.3 (#27) |
| Alerts | ntopng generates alerts for flows, hosts and interfaces and can notify through email, Discord, Telegram, webhooks, Slack, syslog or shell scripts. | Users can configure email alerts when a user, group, or application exceeds its share of network resources. |
| Founded | 1998 | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Italy and Switzerland | Nepean, Ontario, Canada |
| Support | ntop offers paid consultancy, commercial-grade support by phone, email, or on-site, professional training, and customization; community support is described as best-efforts. | Technical support is available by email, and customers with an active maintenance package can open a support ticket. |
Plans
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
SparrowIQ
- SparrowIQ 15Priced on request
- SparrowIQ 30Priced on request
- SparrowIQ 30+Priced on request
- SparrowIQ 7Priced on request
In their own words
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.
SparrowIQ
SparrowIQ analyzes network traffic and adds visibility alongside existing network management systems. Its dashboard updates automatically with summaries of bandwidth use, applications, destinations and timing, with interactive drilldowns. Users can set email alerts when a user, group or application exceeds its share of network resources, and generate daily, weekly or monthly reports, from executive summaries to individual activity. Monitoring uses a switch SPAN or mirror port, or a network tap. SparrowIQ examines traffic headers rather than payload data and stores analyzed information in a database on the local PC. It is installed on a Windows PC, with a browser interface accessible from a PC, Mac or mobile device, including remotely through the installation machine. The product is aimed at smaller businesses with limited technical resources, time and budget. Paid plans require a quote and can be billed monthly or annually; plan limits vary by throughput, concurrent users, reporting history and alerts. A free 15-day trial is available without a credit card.