Side by side
bmon vs Cacti
Both stand on bandwidth monitoring software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan LinuxMac
bmon offers bandwidth monitoring and rate estimation through an interactive interface or script-friendly output. Its listed scope does not include application, user, or SNMP monitoring, or bandwidth alerts.
Visit bmon Free plan LinuxSelf-hostedWeb+1
Cacti combines network data collection, availability checks, graphing, and distributed polling in a self-hosted package. Plan for its listed software requirements and the stated advanced SNMPv3 limitation when using PHP SNMP.
Visit CactiThe facts
| bmon | Cacti | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | Linux, Mac | Linux, Self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | github.com | cacti.net |
| On bandwidth monitoring software | #8 of 33 | #4 of 33 |
bmon: what it does well
- Interactive curses interface and programmable text output
- Graphs can use Braille cells
- Supports JSON output
- Filters traffic control ingress and egress
- Available free
What to know first
- No application monitoring
- No user monitoring
- No SNMP monitoring
- No bandwidth alerts
Cacti: what it does well
- Supports SNMP, ICMP, TCP, and UDP checks.
- Remote collectors cache data during network interruptions.
- Plugins can extend collection to other protocols.
- Available for Linux/Unix and Windows.
What to know first
- Requires MySQL, PHP, RRDtool, and Net-SNMP.
- Requires a PHP-capable web server.
- Advanced SNMPv3 options have a documented PHP SNMP limitation.