Software Alternatives & Startups

Placemeter VS CloudLinux

Compare Placemeter VS CloudLinux and see what are their differences

Placemeter

See how busy places are in real time

Rating
0 reviews
CloudLinux

Making Linux secure, stable, and profitable for thousands of hosting providers and data centers worldwide.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Placemeter
CloudLinux
Website placemeter.com cloudlinux.com
Pricing —
Open source
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Placemeter 5 features
CloudLinux 5 features
  • Real-time Urban Analytics
    Placemeter provided real-time data on pedestrian and vehicle traffic by analyzing video feeds from street-level cameras, offering valuable urban intelligence for city planners, businesses, and real estate professionals.
  • Non-intrusive Data Collection
    The platform used existing video infrastructure such as security cameras and webcams to collect data, eliminating the need for installing expensive new hardware sensors in urban environments.
  • Actionable Insights for Businesses
    Businesses could use Placemeter's foot traffic and vehicle movement data to make informed decisions about store locations, advertising placements, and operational hours to maximize revenue.
  • Smart City Applications
    The technology supported smart city initiatives by helping municipalities understand traffic patterns, optimize transportation infrastructure, and improve urban planning with data-driven insights.
  • Computer Vision Technology
    Placemeter leveraged advanced computer vision and machine learning algorithms to accurately count and classify pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles, providing granular and scalable analytics.

Possible disadvantages

  • Privacy Concerns
    Analyzing video feeds of public spaces raised significant privacy concerns, as people could potentially be identified or tracked without their explicit consent, leading to public skepticism.
  • Acquired and Discontinued
    Placemeter was acquired by Snap Inc. in 2016, and the original standalone product was effectively discontinued, meaning the service is no longer available to its former customer base.
  • Dependence on Video Quality
    The accuracy of the platform's analytics was heavily dependent on the quality, angle, and resolution of the video feeds, which could vary widely and affect data reliability.
  • Limited Geographic Coverage
    The service was primarily focused on select urban areas, particularly New York City in its early stages, limiting its usefulness for businesses or planners in less covered regions.
  • Weather and Environmental Sensitivity
    Adverse weather conditions such as heavy rain, snow, fog, or poor lighting could significantly impact the accuracy of the computer vision algorithms used to detect and count movement.
  • Enhanced Server Stability
    CloudLinux uses its lightweight virtualization technology (LVE) to isolate each tenant on a shared hosting server, preventing any single user from consuming excessive resources and crashing the server for everyone else. This ensures consistent uptime and performance.
  • Improved Security with HardenedPHP and KernelCare
    CloudLinux offers HardenedPHP, which patches old and unsupported PHP versions against known vulnerabilities, and KernelCare, which provides live kernel patching without requiring server reboots. These features significantly enhance server security posture.
  • Resource Limit Management
    Administrators can set granular resource limits (CPU, memory, I/O, number of processes, etc.) per user account using LVE Manager. This makes it easy to manage shared hosting environments and ensure fair resource distribution among tenants.
  • CageFS File System Virtualization
    CageFS creates a virtualized file system for each user, preventing them from seeing other users on the server, viewing sensitive configuration files, or exploiting server vulnerabilities. This adds an important layer of isolation and security.
  • Wide Compatibility with Hosting Panels
    CloudLinux integrates seamlessly with popular hosting control panels such as cPanel, Plesk, and DirectAdmin, making it straightforward for hosting providers to adopt without overhauling their existing infrastructure or workflows.

Possible disadvantages

  • Additional Licensing Cost
    CloudLinux requires a paid monthly or annual license on top of the base server cost. For smaller hosting providers or individual server owners, this additional expense can add up and may not always be justifiable compared to free alternatives.
  • Limited to CentOS/RHEL-Based Systems
    CloudLinux is built on top of RHEL/CentOS and does not support other Linux distributions like Ubuntu or Debian. This limits its adoption for hosting providers who prefer or already run non-RHEL-based environments.
  • Learning Curve for Configuration
    While CloudLinux provides powerful resource management tools, properly configuring LVE limits, CageFS, PHP Selector, and other features requires a solid understanding of the platform. Misconfiguration can lead to users being unnecessarily restricted or resources being poorly allocated.
  • Potential Performance Overhead
    The additional layers of virtualization, resource monitoring, and file system isolation introduced by CloudLinux can impose a slight performance overhead on the server compared to running a bare, unmodified Linux distribution without these controls.
  • Dependency on CloudLinux Ecosystem
    Adopting CloudLinux means relying on their ecosystem for kernel updates, PHP patches, and security fixes. If the company experiences delays in releasing patches or changes its pricing/licensing model, hosting providers may find themselves locked into a dependency that is difficult to migrate away from.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Placemeter
CloudLinux

Overall verdict

  • Placemeter was a computer vision and pedestrian/traffic analytics company that offered real-time data by processing video feeds to count people and vehicles, which was valuable for urban planning and retail insights; however, the company was acquired by Netgear in 2016 and its standalone service is no longer actively operating, so its current availability is limited.

Why this product is good

  • Used advanced computer vision technology to convert video into real-time movement and counting data
  • Provided actionable insights for pedestrian traffic, vehicle flow, and space utilization
  • Was useful for city planning, retail foot-traffic analysis, and real estate decisions
  • Helped businesses and municipalities understand how spaces are used without manual counting

Recommended for

  • Urban planners and city governments analyzing pedestrian and traffic patterns
  • Retailers seeking to measure foot traffic and optimize store layouts
  • Real estate professionals evaluating location value based on activity levels
  • Researchers and analysts studying how public spaces are used

Overall verdict

  • CloudLinux is a well-regarded, mature Linux OS distribution and toolset specifically designed for shared hosting and multi-tenant server environments, offering strong isolation, resource management, and security features that make it a solid choice for hosting providers.

Why this product is good

  • Provides LVE (Lightweight Virtual Environment) technology for per-tenant resource isolation, preventing 'bad neighbor' effects on shared servers
  • Enhances server stability and security by isolating users so that one account's issues (crashes, resource spikes) don't affect others
  • Offers extended lifecycle support (longer than standard CentOS/RHEL support windows), which is valuable for legacy systems
  • Includes tools like CloudLinux OS Shield, Imunify360 integration, and hardened kernel options for improved security
  • Compatible with popular control panels like cPanel and Plesk, making it easy to integrate into existing hosting stacks
  • Backed by an established company with a long track record in the hosting industry and responsive support
  • Offers granular control over CPU, memory, I/O, and other resources per user account
  • Provides PHP Selector and multiple PHP version support, useful for hosting providers serving diverse client needs

Recommended for

  • Web hosting companies running shared or reseller hosting environments
  • Hosting providers needing to isolate customer accounts on the same physical server
  • Businesses requiring extended OS support lifecycles beyond standard RHEL/CentOS EOL dates
  • Enterprises using cPanel or Plesk that want tighter security and resource control
  • Hosting companies looking to reduce support tickets caused by noisy-neighbor resource contention
  • IT teams managing multi-tenant infrastructure who need governance and monitoring tools built into the OS layer

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Placemeter 0 videos + Add
CloudLinux 3 videos + Add

No Placemeter videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

When To Use Cloudlinux On Your Virtual Private Server (VPS)

More videos

  • - CloudLinux OS+ in a minute: Explore Features
  • - How CloudLinux Plans to Keep CentOS 6 Alive

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Placemeter
CloudLinux
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%

User comments

Share your experience with using Placemeter and CloudLinux. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Log in or Post with

Alternatives to Placemeter and CloudLinux

When comparing Placemeter and CloudLinux, you can also consider the following products.