Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

cpulimit VS NetworkTests

Compare cpulimit VS NetworkTests and see what are their differences

cpulimit logo cpulimit

CPU Usage Limiter for Linux - cpulimit is a simple program which attempts to limit the cpu usage of...

NetworkTests logo NetworkTests

Measure packet loss, latency, jitter, and hop-by-hop performance with real network diagnostics, DNS leak, VPN detection & more โ€” delivered directly from your browser.
  • cpulimit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-30
  • NetworkTests Network Tests
    Network Tests //
    2026-03-14

NetworkTests.com goes beyond a basic speed test. Most tools like Speedtest use TCP, which retransmits lost packets โ€” reporting perfect delivery even when your network drops packets affecting video calls, gaming, and VoIP. NetworkTests.com uses WebRTC UDP to measure packet loss, latency, and jitter as real-time apps actually experience them. It also runs hop-by-hop path diagnostics from our servers to your connection edge โ€” directly from the browser, no install required.
Tools included: IP lookup, DNS lookup, DNS trace, AS lookup, reverse DNS, ping, traceroute, MTR, MAC lookup, VPN detection, DNS leak test, SSL proxy check.

cpulimit features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    cpulimit is easy to use with a straightforward command-line interface. Users can quickly limit the CPU usage of a process without extensive configuration.
  • Resource Management
    It helps in managing system resources effectively by limiting the CPU usage of specific processes, which can be useful in maintaining system stability.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    cpulimit is compatible with various Unix-like operating systems, making it versatile for different environments.
  • Lightweight
    As a lightweight tool, cpulimit does not add significant overhead to the system and works efficiently to limit CPU usage.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source software, it allows users to view, modify, and distribute the code, facilitating transparency and community-driven improvements.

Possible disadvantages of cpulimit

  • Granularity of Control
    cpulimit offers limited granularity in controlling CPU usage, as it only works on a per-process basis and not on finer levels of resource management.
  • Limited to CPU
    cpulimit is specifically designed for CPU usage limitation, and doesn't offer functionalities to manage or limit other resources like memory or disk I/O.
  • Requires Root Privileges
    In many cases, modifying the CPU usage of certain processes requires root privileges, potentially posing security and usability challenges in shared environments.
  • Not Suitable for All Applications
    Some applications may not perform well or could crash if their CPU usage is limited, making cpulimit unsuitable for all types of software.
  • Potential for Negligible Impact
    On multi-core systems, limiting a single application's CPU usage might not significantly impact overall system performance, making the tool less effective.

NetworkTests features and specs

  • Free Access
    Many network testing tools like this are typically offered free of charge, allowing users to check internet speed, latency, and connection quality without any cost.
  • Convenience
    Being web-based, it allows users to quickly test their network performance from any browser without needing to download or install additional software.
  • Useful Diagnostics
    Such tools often provide helpful diagnostic information like ping, jitter, download/upload speeds, which can help users troubleshoot connectivity issues.
  • Simple Interface
    Network testing websites are usually designed with straightforward, easy-to-understand interfaces, making them accessible even to non-technical users.
  • Quick Results
    Tests are generally designed to run quickly, giving users near-instant feedback on their network performance.

Analysis of NetworkTests

Overall verdict

  • NetworkTests appears to be a niche network diagnostic and speed-testing tool, but there is limited independent verification or widespread reputation data available to confirm its reliability, accuracy, or trustworthiness compared to established alternatives.

Why this product is good

  • Offers basic network testing functionality such as speed and connectivity checks
  • Simple, accessible interface for quick diagnostics
  • May be free to use without requiring account creation
  • Lacks strong third-party reviews or established reputation in the industry
  • Limited transparency about the company behind the service, data handling, and testing methodology

Recommended for

  • Users seeking a quick, no-frills network test without needing detailed analytics
  • Casual users who don't require enterprise-grade reporting
  • Those already familiar with the tool through direct recommendation
  • Not recommended as a primary tool for professionals needing certified or highly accurate network diagnostics

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to cpulimit and NetworkTests)
Monitoring Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Command Line Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Networking
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing cpulimit and NetworkTests.

What makes your product unique?

NetworkTests's answer:

Most network speed tests use TCP, which automatically retransmits lost packets โ€” so they can report perfect results even when your connection is actively dropping packets that affect video calls, gaming, and VoIP.

NetworkTests.com uses WebRTC DataChannels in unreliable/unordered UDP mode to measure what real-time applications actually experience: packet loss, latency, and jitter โ€” metrics that TCP-based tests hide. It also performs hop-by-hop path diagnostics from our servers back to the client's connection edge using STUN-assisted UDP โ€” inbound path analysis directly from a browser, without any install or agent. This is unusual for a browser-based tool.
Beyond the core test, it includes 12 diagnostic tools: IP lookup, DNS lookup, DNS trace, AS lookup, reverse DNS, ping, traceroute, MTR, MAC lookup, VPN detection, DNS leak test, and SSL proxy / TLS interception check โ€” all free, no signup required.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

NetworkTests's answer:

Traditional speed tests tell you how fast your connection is. NetworkTests.com tells you why your connection feels broken even when the speed test says it's fine.

Most competitors use TCP, which hides packet loss through automatic retransmission. NetworkTests.com uses UDP via WebRTC โ€” the same protocol used by video calls, gaming, and VoIP โ€” so the results reflect what your applications actually experience. Key reasons to choose NetworkTests.com: - Accurate packet loss measurement โ€” UDP doesn't retransmit, so real packet loss is visible instead of hidden - Hop-by-hop path diagnostics โ€” pinpoints exactly which router on the path is causing the problem, directly from a browser session - All-in-one diagnostics โ€” 12 tools in one place covering network quality, DNS, privacy, and security checks - Privacy tools โ€” DNS leak test, VPN detection, and SSL proxy check in one place, useful for verifying your privacy setup - No friction โ€” no signup, no install, no extensions. Open the browser and run the test - Free โ€” everything is free with no paywalled features

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

NetworkTests's answer:

NetworkTests.com serves anyone who wants to understand what is really happening on their network, not just how fast it is.

Primary audiences: - Home users โ€” people experiencing choppy video calls, laggy gaming, or buffering streams despite good speed test results. NetworkTests.com helps them identify the real cause โ€” packet loss, jitter, or a bad hop on the network path - Network engineers & sysadmins โ€” professionals who need UDP-based metrics, hop-by-hop MTR analysis, and real packet loss data for diagnosing and validating network performance - IT teams โ€” diagnosing connectivity issues across office networks, validating ISP performance, and pinpointing bottlenecks with data - Privacy & security conscious users โ€” people who want to verify their VPN is working correctly, check for DNS leaks, or detect whether their HTTPS traffic is being intercepted by a corporate or ISP proxy - Developers & researchers โ€” anyone building or testing applications that depend on network quality and need accurate, protocol-level diagnostics directly from a browser

What's the story behind your product?

NetworkTests's answer:

I built NetworkTests.com out of personal frustration.

I kept running Speedtest and seeing great numbers โ€” solid download speeds, low ping โ€” while my video calls were still freezing and my connection felt unreliable. The speed test said everything was fine, but clearly something was wrong. After digging into it, I discovered the problem: Speedtest uses TCP, which automatically retransmits lost packets. It literally cannot see packet loss. My connection was dropping packets, but TCP was quietly hiding them โ€” so the test looked perfect while real-time applications suffered.
I wanted a tool that measured what my applications actually experienced. Something that used UDP โ€” the same protocol video calls, gaming, and VoIP use โ€” and showed me the real numbers: packet loss, jitter, and latency without TCP's masking.
I also wanted hop-by-hop visibility โ€” not just "your connection is bad" but "this specific router on the path is dropping packets." That led to building inbound MTR diagnostics using STUN-assisted UDP through NAT, directly from the browser โ€” something I hadn't seen in other browser-based tools.
Over time it grew into a full diagnostics platform โ€” DNS lookup, DNS trace, VPN detection, DNS leak testing, SSL proxy detection, traceroute, ping, MTR, and more โ€” because these tools belong together when you're trying to diagnose a real network problem.
The goal is simple: give anyone โ€” home user or network engineer โ€” the tools to understand what is actually happening on their connection, for free, without installing anything.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

NetworkTests's answer:

NetworkTests.com is built on modern web technologies that enable real-time network measurements directly in the browser โ€” no plugins, extensions, or installations required.
The core network quality test runs entirely client-server using browser-native APIs, enabling UDP-style packet loss, latency, and jitter measurements without any software install. The backend infrastructure is distributed across three geographic regions, allowing users to test against multiple server locations and get accurate hop-by-hop path diagnostics. All diagnostic tools โ€” DNS lookup, traceroute, MTR, ping, VPN detection, DNS leak test, SSL proxy check, and more โ€” run server-side and return results in real time through the browser interface.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

NetworkTests's answer:

Since NetworkTests.com is a free tool launched in February 2026 with no paid plans or signups, you don't have named customers yet. I'd suggest answering honestly:

NetworkTests.com is a free, public tool launched in February 2026. It does not require signup or registration, so we don't track named customers.
Our users include home users diagnosing connectivity issues, network engineers and sysadmins troubleshooting infrastructure, IT teams validating ISP performance, and privacy-conscious users verifying their VPN and DNS configurations.

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, cpulimit seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 4 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

cpulimit mentions (4)

  • Starfield occasionally freezes in a CPU limited PC. I managed to solve it on W10, some help on Linux?
    I even tried using Cpulimit to try limiting it to 90%. Idk, the program tells to set a number from 0 to 400 which would be the percentage of the cpu and since mine has 4c/4t iยดve ran with 360, which managed to limit around 90%. Also, iยดve tried using 90 as argument and CPU was limited aroud 20% to 25% of usage, so I think I use it right. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • cpulimit annoyed me so I improved it
    A few days ago I discovered cpulimit. It's a great tool that nicely (haha) complements nice. Where nice is normally used to reduce the amount of CPU a process uses by changing it priority, a niced process can still end up using more CPU than you want, and will of course use all that it wants if nothing with a higher priority comes along. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • Test Your Product on a Crappy Laptop
    Thanks for your elaborate notes! This is helpful information. When I tried your commands, on Arch via libcgroup-git, `cgcreate -g cpu:cpulimit` only results in `cgcreate: can't create cgroup cpulimit: Cgroup, requested group parameter does not exist`, for some reason. But this is not a support ticket, I have not researched this at all yet. But cgroups only limit some processes anyway, never the entire... - Source: Hacker News / over 4 years ago
  • Run background processes at 1fps
    A bit different from what you're asking but for this kind of use, I generally use cpulimit (link). It allows you to artificially limit the amount of CPU consumed by a process. Source: almost 5 years ago

NetworkTests mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of NetworkTests yet. Tracking of NetworkTests recommendations started around Mar 2026.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing cpulimit and NetworkTests, you can also consider the following products

Process Lasso - Process Lasso is NOT yet another task manager.

Packet Loss Test - Test your Internet connection for lost packets or high latency to ensure that your gaming and...

Process Tamer - Freeware Microsoft Windows utility that monitors the CPU use of applications, alerts when they use too much, and reduces their priority to keep your PC fast.

clumsy - clumsy makes your network condition on Windows significantly worse, but in a managed and...

AnVir Task Manager - This tool controls programs, disk, CPU. Replace task manager, tweak and tune up XP or Vista.

DNS leak test - Test your connection for DNS leaks.