Paessler PRTG Network Monitor vs Cacti

Struggling to choose between Paessler PRTG Network Monitor and Cacti? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Paessler PRTG Network Monitor is a Network & Admin solution with tags like network, monitoring, infrastructure, devices, servers, switches, routers, websites, applications, alerting.

It boasts features such as Auto-discovery of network devices and servers, Monitoring of network bandwidth usage, traffic, availability and uptime, Monitoring of server resources and performance metrics, Monitoring of website and web application availability, Advanced alerting and notification features, Customizable dashboards and reporting, Sensor-based monitoring architecture, Support for SNMP, WMI, NetFlow and other protocols, Agentless and agent-based monitoring options and pros including Comprehensive monitoring capabilities, Easy to set up and configure, Intuitive web interface, Powerful alerting and notification features, Customizable dashboards and reports, Scales to monitor large environments, Wide range of supported protocols and sensors.

On the other hand, Cacti is a Network & Admin product tagged with network, monitoring, graphing, statistics.

Its standout features include Graphing and monitoring tool for network devices, Supports SNMP polling for data collection, Customizable graphs and dashboards, Threshold-based alerting, Supports RRDTool for data storage, Web-based interface, Plugin architecture for extendibility, and it shines with pros like Free and open source, Easy to install and configure, Wide range of supported devices, Flexible and customizable, Active community support.

Feature	Paessler PRTG Network Monitor	Cacti
Overall Score	N/A	N/A
Primary Category	Network & Admin	Network & Admin

Product Overview

Paessler PRTG Network Monitor

Description: Paessler PRTG Network Monitor is a powerful and comprehensive network monitoring solution for monitoring IT infrastructure and network devices. It can monitor servers, switches, routers, websites, applications and more with advanced alerting features.

Cacti

Description: Cacti is an open-source network monitoring and graphing tool that provides easy monitoring of network devices and servers. It polls devices for utilization data, stores the data, and generates graphs and statistics to help analyze network traffic and utilization.

Key Features Comparison

Paessler PRTG Network Monitor Features

• Auto-discovery of network devices and servers
• Monitoring of network bandwidth usage, traffic, availability and uptime
• Monitoring of server resources and performance metrics
• Monitoring of website and web application availability
• Advanced alerting and notification features
• Customizable dashboards and reporting
• Sensor-based monitoring architecture
• Support for SNMP, WMI, NetFlow and other protocols
• Agentless and agent-based monitoring options

Cacti Features

• Graphing and monitoring tool for network devices
• Supports SNMP polling for data collection
• Customizable graphs and dashboards
• Threshold-based alerting
• Supports RRDTool for data storage
• Web-based interface
• Plugin architecture for extendibility

Pros & Cons Analysis

Paessler PRTG Network Monitor

Pros

• Comprehensive monitoring capabilities
• Easy to set up and configure
• Intuitive web interface
• Powerful alerting and notification features
• Customizable dashboards and reports
• Scales to monitor large environments
• Wide range of supported protocols and sensors

Cons

• Can be complex for beginners
• Requires resources to run monitoring server
• Limited support for monitoring cloud infrastructure

Cacti

Pros

• Free and open source
• Easy to install and configure
• Wide range of supported devices
• Flexible and customizable
• Active community support

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Complex interface
• Manual configuration required
• Limited scalability
• No official support

Pricing Comparison

Paessler PRTG Network Monitor

• Free version for up to 100 sensors
• Commercial version with tiered subscription pricing

Cacti

• Open Source