Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Xively VS GnuPlot

Compare Xively VS GnuPlot and see what are their differences

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.

Xively logo Xively

Xively offers an Internet of Things product relationship management solution for enterprises.

GnuPlot logo GnuPlot

Gnuplot is a portable command-line driven interactive data and function plotting utility.
  • Xively Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-16
  • GnuPlot Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-12-13

Xively features and specs

  • Ease of Integration
    Xively offers a simple and straightforward API that makes it easy for developers to integrate IoT devices.
  • Scalability
    The platform is designed to handle a large number of devices and data points, which makes it suitable for growing IoT deployments.
  • Real-time Data
    Xively provides real-time data streaming and analytics, allowing users to make immediate decisions based on live data.
  • Security
    Strong emphasis on security features like device authentication and data encryption to protect sensitive information.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform includes a user-friendly dashboard that helps in monitoring and managing connected devices efficiently.

Possible disadvantages of Xively

  • Cost
    The pricing model can be expensive for small businesses or individual developers compared to some competitors.
  • Limited Customization
    While the platform is user-friendly, it may offer limited customizability for very specific use cases or unique requirements.
  • Dependency on External Service
    Relying on Xively means any downtime or service interruption on their end could affect your IoT deployments.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its ease of integration, new users may face a learning curve to familiarize themselves with all features and capabilities.
  • Data Storage Limitations
    There might be limitations on data storage, which could be a concern for applications requiring extensive historical data analysis.

GnuPlot features and specs

  • Highly Customizable
    GnuPlot offers extensive customization options for creating plots, allowing users to tweak almost every aspect of the graph, including colors, labels, line styles, and more.
  • Scriptable
    GnuPlot can be driven by scripts, making it convenient for automating complex plots and integrating with other software workflows.
  • Wide Range of Output Formats
    It supports many output formats such as PNG, PDF, SVG, and EPS, making it easy to generate graphics for different purposes like presentations, publications, and web content.
  • Cross-Platform
    GnuPlot runs on multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, ensuring that it can be used in diverse computing environments.
  • Complex Plotting Capabilities
    GnuPlot supports a wide variety of plots, including 2D and 3D plots, histograms, heatmaps, and more, which caters to the needs of advanced visualization requirements.
  • Performance
    GnuPlot is efficient and can handle large datasets with ease, offering fast rendering times which is crucial when dealing with complex visualizations.
  • Free and Open Source
    Being free and open-source software, GnuPlot is accessible to everyone, and users can modify the source code to suit their needs.

Possible disadvantages of GnuPlot

  • Steep Learning Curve
    GnuPlot has a complex syntax and a steep learning curve, especially for beginners who may find it difficult to get started without substantial effort.
  • Limited GUI
    GnuPlot lacks a full-featured graphical user interface (GUI), making it less user-friendly for those who prefer point-and-click interactions over scripting.
  • Documentation
    While comprehensive, the documentation can be overwhelming and difficult to navigate for new users trying to find specific information quickly.
  • Date Handling
    Handling and formatting dates can be cumbersome in GnuPlot, requiring more manual setup compared to other dedicated plotting tools.
  • Interactive Features
    GnuPlot's interactive plotting capabilities are limited compared to other modern plotting tools that offer more dynamic and real-time interactivity.
  • Integration
    Integration with some modern programming environments and languages may not be as seamless as with other plotting libraries specifically designed for those ecosystems (e.g., Matplotlib in Python).

Analysis of Xively

Overall verdict

  • As of February 2018, Xively was acquired by Google and its services were integrated into Google's cloud platform offerings, specifically into the Google Cloud IoT Core. Therefore, Xively as a standalone platform does not exist anymore. Companies seeking similar services should explore Google's IoT offerings.

Why this product is good

  • Xively, a former IoT platform, was known for its ability to connect devices and integrate data for analytics and monitoring. It provided robust tools for device management and offered a comprehensive suite of APIs to streamline IoT deployments. However, the platform's reputation varied depending on users' company size, budget, and technical needs. Its strength lay in its ease of integration and focus on building IoT solutions, which was beneficial for companies looking to improve their IoT infrastructure rapidly.

Recommended for

    Google Cloud IoT Core, the service that absorbed Xively, is recommended for enterprises looking for large-scale IoT solutions that require robust cloud integration capabilities, particularly those already using or planning to use Google Cloud services.

Analysis of GnuPlot

Overall verdict

  • Gnuplot is generally considered to be a good choice for those looking for a reliable and flexible plotting tool, especially if the users need robust scriptability or work across different operating systems.

Why this product is good

  • Gnuplot is a powerful, portable, and multi-platform tool capable of producing high-quality 2D and 3D plots. It supports numerous output formats and can be used interactively or in scripts. Additionally, it has a large support community and extensive documentation, making it accessible for both beginners and advanced users.

Recommended for

  • Scientists and engineers who need to visualize data across diverse platforms.
  • Users comfortable working with command-line interfaces.
  • Individuals or teams needing to generate plots through automated scripts.
  • Those looking for a free and open-source alternative to other graphing tools.

Xively videos

Internet of Things with Xively, Arduino and the CC3000 WiFi chip

More videos:

  • Review - Cloud Laser Doorbell with Xively

GnuPlot videos

Gnuplot Introduction

More videos:

  • Review - DTrace Latency Visualization in gnuplot
  • Review - Basics of Gnuplot - Make your plot look Good

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Xively and GnuPlot)
IoT Platform
100 100%
0% 0
Technical Computing
0 0%
100% 100
Data Dashboard
100 100%
0% 0
Numerical Computation
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GnuPlot seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 5 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.

Xively mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Xively yet. Tracking of Xively recommendations started around Mar 2021.

GnuPlot mentions (5)

  • Question about Project Management
    To some extent it extends the concept of tasks which only can be reasonably executed after the completion of other ones (though results of branches eventually may join each other) and offers an additional assisting birds' eye visual of projects. So far, I'm aware about the documentation on worg interfacing org-taskjuggler and taskjuggler, as well as a video tutorial interfacing gnuplot instead. Source: about 3 years ago
  • How do I make a transparent background on .ps or .eps file imported to groff
    Gnuplot is a program to plot diagrams. The Commands issued to use it don't change regardless if it is used in Linux/Windows/MacOS and it comes with less dependencies than a Spread sheet, or a statistics program. This is why I started to Become comfortable with it, and venture out some of its features. Here, "conditional plot" referred to "the diagram only displays a Thing/uses a pixel if the value in the table... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Drawing graphs and diagrams
    Or, does drawing diagrams refers to plotting data, but neither using matplotlib, nor gnuplot (export to .svg, .pdf, .png; pstricks, tikz to mention a few options)? Source: over 3 years ago
  • Are specific softwares avialable that are suitable for converting different diagrams, graphs and mindmaps to latex codes?
    There may the occasion you actually need the data from a publication, and want to plot them altogether with data newly collected data in one diagram in common. An overlay, though possible, can become tricky (scaling, centering, alignment, etc.) and plotting all data in a diagram generated from scratch (gnuplot/octave, matplotlib, Origin, ...) exported as an illustration in the usual formats (.pdf/.png), or... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Introducing Graphs
    Have you looked at the graphing capabilities of Octave or Gnuplot? Gnuplot in particular has a lot of options, and a GUI for those who want it. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Xively and GnuPlot, you can also consider the following products

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Cisco Jasper - Jasper provides a SaaS IoT platform to enable companies of all sizes to launch, manage and monetize IoT services on a global scale.

GeoGebra - GeoGebra is free and multi-platform dynamic mathematics software for learning and teaching.