perfSONAR vs PingPlotter
perfSONAR
perfsonar.net
PingPlotter
pingplotter.comSide by side
| Figure | perfSONAR | PingPlotter |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $6.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 6 |
| Spec score · Network Troubleshooting Software | 7.6 (#8) | 8.9 (#3) |
| Spec score · Network Performance Monitoring Software | 7.6 (#15) | 8.9 (#4) |
| Spec score · Network Testing Software | 7.5 (#24) | 8.8 (#2) |
| Founded | 2005 | 1998 |
| Integrations | The documentation includes deployment guidance for Docker and Ansible, and a cookbook for a central archive with Grafana. | REST-call alerts can post to Slack, Microsoft Teams or Google Chat and create Jira tickets. |
| Intended users | The project describes use by science facilities, campuses, laboratories, network providers, exchange points, virtual organizations, network researchers, and software and service developers. | The maker presents Standard for home network troubleshooting, Professional for small office networks, and Cloud for remote teams. |
| Security | The project directs users to its documentation for security considerations and lists firewall and security software configuration guidance in the user guide. | The product comparison lists two-factor authentication and SAML single sign-on among its features; SSO is an add-on for PingPlotter Cloud. |
| Support | The project provides a user mailing list for questions about deployments and an announcement mailing list for releases and security updates. | PingPlotter directs users to its support team for help with downloads, licenses, and product questions. |
Plans
PingPlotter
- FreeFree
- Standard$6.99 a month
- Professional$29 a month
- Professional Edition$29 a month
- PingPlotter Cloud$90 a month
- Standard EditionPrice not published
In their own words
perfSONAR
perfSONAR is a free, open-source network measurement toolkit for assessing performance across network paths and finding problems as they occur. It offers a common interface for scheduling measurements, storing results in uniform formats, retrieving data at scale, and generating visualizations. Operators coordinate tests across multiple nodes with a shared JSON mesh configuration; results can remain on each node or go to a central dashboard server. A standard node runs throughput or latency tests on one network interface, although simultaneous testing there may affect accuracy. The documentation covers Docker and Ansible deployment, a central archive with Grafana, and Client and esmond APIs for raw data access. perfSONAR is installed on an operator-controlled local server, so maintaining nodes and test configuration is required. It monitors packet loss and jitter, supports path visualization and synthetic tests, and is licensed under Apache License 2.0. The listed plan costs nothing.
PingPlotter
PingPlotter monitors network performance and maps network paths to help locate connection problems. It tracks latency, jitter and packet loss, with desktop editions monitoring connections from one Windows or macOS computer. PingPlotter Cloud adds an online dashboard for remote connections, while Insights analyzes network data for incidents, possible causes and fixes. Cloud alert actions can make REST calls to services including Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat and JIRA. Webhooks can report agent status or connection-quality changes and link to compatible apps through services such as Zapier and Power Automate. Desktop editions have a 14-day trial; afterward, the free version allows one connection, no remote collection and 10 minutes of monitoring history. Cloud trials last seven days. The free plan is free. Standard Edition starts at $6.99/mo.; Professional Edition is $29 a month, and PingPlotter Cloud is $90 a month. Platforms listed include Windows, macOS, Linux, web and iOS.