Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Cacti VS LibreNMS

Compare Cacti VS LibreNMS and see what are their differences

Cacti logo Cacti

Cacti is a complete network graphing solution. It provides a fast poller, advanced graph templating, multiple data acquisition methods, and user management features.

LibreNMS logo LibreNMS

A fully featured network monitoring system that provides a wealth of features and device support.
  • Cacti Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-12
  • LibreNMS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-20

Cacti features and specs

  • Open Source
    Cacti is free to use and its source code is open for modification, providing flexibility and cost savings for users.
  • Scalability
    Cacti can handle large amounts of data and scale to monitor numerous devices, making it suitable for both small and large networks.
  • Customization
    Users can create custom reports and graphs to suit specific needs, allowing a tailored monitoring experience.
  • SNMP Support
    Cacti supports the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), enabling it to collect data from a wide range of network devices.
  • Community and Plug-ins
    Cacti has an active community that contributes plugins and extensions, enhancing its functionality and providing support.

Possible disadvantages of Cacti

  • Complex Setup
    Initial setup and configuration can be complex, requiring a steep learning curve for new users.
  • Outdated Interface
    The user interface may appear outdated and less intuitive compared to other modern monitoring tools.
  • Performance
    As the amount of monitored data increases, the performance of Cacti can degrade, necessitating optimization or more robust hardware.
  • Limited Real-Time Monitoring
    Cacti primarily focuses on historical data and may not be as effective for real-time monitoring needs.
  • Dependence on Third-Party Tools
    Some features and functionalities may rely on third-party plugins, which can affect stability and introduce compatibility issues.

LibreNMS features and specs

  • Open Source
    LibreNMS is open-source software, allowing you to customize, modify, and distribute it freely. This also means it has a community of contributors who help improve and maintain the project.
  • Vendor-Agnostic
    Supports a wide range of network devices and vendors, making it a versatile network monitoring tool capable of managing heterogeneous environments.
  • Scalability
    Designed to scale from small office networks to large data center environments, ensuring it can grow with your network infrastructure needs.
  • Auto Discovery
    Includes automatic network discovery capabilities which help in identifying and adding devices to the monitoring system effortlessly.
  • Extensive Features
    Offers a robust set of features including alerting, graphing, and support for a variety of network protocols (e.g., SNMP, ICMP, BGP).
  • Integration
    Integrates well with other tools and services such as RANCID, Collectd, Nagios, and more, enhancing its capabilities in various IT ecosystem setups.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    Provides an intuitive web-based interface that makes it easier for administrators to navigate and use the tool effectively.

Possible disadvantages of LibreNMS

  • Complex Initial Setup
    The initial setup can be complex and time-consuming, especially for users who are not familiar with network monitoring systems.
  • Resource Intensive
    Requires significant server resources (CPU, memory, disk space) as your network grows, which could necessitate infrastructure upgrades.
  • Learning Curve
    Has a steep learning curve for new users, particularly those who are not experienced with network monitoring tools.
  • Documentation
    While there is documentation available, it can sometimes be lacking in detail or out-of-date, making it difficult for users to troubleshoot or fully utilize all features.
  • Community Support
    Relies heavily on community support which can be inconsistent and may not always provide timely solutions for critical issues.
  • Third-Party Dependencies
    Requires several third-party dependencies for full functionality, making the setup process more complicated and sometimes leading to compatibility issues.

Analysis of LibreNMS

Overall verdict

  • Yes, LibreNMS is generally considered a good solution for network monitoring, especially for medium to large environments. Its open-source nature also makes it a cost-effective choice compared to some proprietary alternatives, and it offers a great deal of flexibility through its plugins and API.

Why this product is good

  • LibreNMS is a network monitoring tool that is known for its ease of use, extensive documentation, and active community support. It provides automated monitoring and discovery of network devices and supports a wide range of devices and operating systems. Its web-based interface is considered user-friendly and it offers comprehensive graphing and alerting capabilities.

Recommended for

    Network administrators and IT professionals who need an efficient and scalable monitoring solution for a variety of network devices. It's particularly well-suited for those who prefer open-source software and are interested in contributing to or benefitting from community-driven improvements and support.

Cacti videos

CALINE Crazy Cacti Overdrive CP-20 Pedal Review - Syuwari Ritchie

More videos:

  • Review - Caline Crazy Cacti Overdrive Pedal
  • Review - DONT HUG CACTI Fursuit Review!
  • Demo - Introduction to Cacti | The primary features of Cacti

LibreNMS videos

Network Monitoring - LibreNMS

More videos:

  • Review - NLNOG day 2017 - Neil Lathwood (LibreNMS) - Monitoring Everything
  • Review - [LibreNMS] Explaining alert rules
  • Tutorial - Introduction to LibreNMS and Prime Features - LibreNMS
  • Tutorial - LibreNMS Application -Apache

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Cacti and LibreNMS)
Monitoring Tools
45 45%
55% 55
Log Management
54 54%
46% 46
Performance Monitoring
52 52%
48% 48
Network Monitoring
34 34%
66% 66

User comments

Share your experience with using Cacti and LibreNMS. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Cacti and LibreNMS

Cacti Reviews

The Best Cacti Monitoring Alternatives
Cacti is one of the most popular open-source network monitoring tools. Cacti allows you to monitor various metrics and look at them from its user-friendly, modern dashboard. Although it has a relatively steep learning curve, many businesses have chosen to make Cacti their network monitoring solution of choice.
The Best Open Source Network Monitoring Tools in 2023
Description: Cacti is an open source network monitoring tool based on RRDTool’s data logging and graphing system. The tool uses network polling and data collection functionality to gather information on devices on networks of any size. This includes the ability to design custom scripts for data collection alongside support for SNMP polling. It then displays this information...
10 Best Open Source Monitoring Software for IT Infrastructure
Cacti is another open-source network monitoring tool that can be installed on Linux or Windows OS. It is connected to RRDTool, which allows us to generate graphs related to relevant network data.
Source: geekflare.com
Best Open Source Network Monitoring Tools and Software (Linux/Windows)
For example, there are many other open source monitoring tools that exist such as OpenNMS, Cacti, and Zennos and you have to consider the benefits of each one from the perspective of your requirement.
Best Linux Network Monitoring Tools for 2020
Cacti has been around for nearly 20 years, and it’s one of the most prominent names in open-source network monitoring software. Cacti allows multiple users to monitor network devices and log network data, and it offers privacy settings to determine which users have access to what items. It also visualizes data by using RRDTool, a data logging and graphing software. Cacti’s...

LibreNMS Reviews

The Best Cacti Monitoring Alternatives
LibreNMS is a fully-fledged network monitoring system supporting various device types and vendors, including Linux, Foundry, Cisco, and many others. As a result, it’s one of the most accessible tools on this list to use straight out of the box. In addition, its autodiscovery features help you spend as little time as possible setting it up.
The Best Open Source Network Monitoring Tools in 2023
Description: LibreNMS is an open source network monitoring system that uses several network protocols to observe every device on your network. The LibreNMS API can retrieve, manage, and graph the data it collects and supports horizontal scaling to grow its monitoring capabilities alongside your network. The tool features a flexible alerting system that is tailor-made to...
Top 10 PRTG Alternatives for Monitoring Networks and IT Infrastructure
Observium is similar to LibreNMS (which is a fork of it) and comes in Enterprise, Professional and Community Editions, so you have a free version if you want to try it out. It is more a network centric tool instead of a systems monitoring tool.
10 Best Open Source Monitoring Software for IT Infrastructure
LibreNMS is a fully featured network monitoring system. It is based on PHP/MySQL/SNMP. LibreMNS covers a wide range of operating systems and network hardware.
Source: geekflare.com
13 Best Nagios Alternatives for Networks, Servers, IT Systems Monitoring
During the setup process, LibreNMS automatically discovers individual devices and end-points using various protocols such as CDP, FDP, LLDP, OSPF, BGP, SNMP and ARP. Users don’t need to spend hours adding individual devices to be monitored.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Cacti and LibreNMS, you can also consider the following products

Zabbix - Track, record, alert and visualize performance and availability of IT resources

Datadog - See metrics from all of your apps, tools & services in one place with Datadog's cloud monitoring as a service solution. Try it for free.

Observium - Observium

Paessler PRTG - An advanced network monitoring solution to monitor network up/downtime, traffic and usage.

Nagios - Complete monitoring and alerting for servers, switches, applications, and services

Wireshark - Wireshark is a network protocol analyzer for Unix and Windows. It lets you capture and interactively browse the traffic running on a computer network.