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Networking · head to head

Kentik vs Netdata

Kentik logo

Kentik

Networking

Network observability platform built on flow and traffic data, sold on annual-only contracts starting around $24,000/year

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Netdata logo

Netdata

Networking

Per-second metrics collection with automatic dashboards and on-node anomaly detection

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Netdata has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Kentik contracts are annual only, so there is no monthly option for a team wanting to trial the platform under real production load before committing to a year of spend; Netdata the dashboard interface is under a restrictive Netdata licence rather than GPL and is served from Netdata infrastructure by default, so the deployment is not fully self-contained without extra configuration.
  • They diverge on capability: Kentik covers Flow-based traffic analysis, Netdata covers Per-second collection.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Kentik and Netdata actually diverge.

Attributes where Kentik and Netdata differ
AttributeKentikNetdata
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelAnnual contract only, per tierOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APILinux, macOS, FreeBSD, Docker, Kubernetes, Windows

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Networking).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Kentik

  • Flow-based traffic analysis
  • Synthetic testing
  • Cloud network monitoring
  • DDoS detection
  • API-driven querying

Only in Netdata

  • Per-second collection
  • Zero-configuration discovery
  • Edge machine learning
  • Tiered database engine
  • Streaming and replication
  • Health alarms

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Kentik

  • A network engineering team at an ISP or large enterprise needing flow-level traffic visibility beyond basic uptime monitoringnot Netdata
  • A cloud-heavy organisation wanting visibility into cloud provider network cost and performance across multiple providersnot Netdata
  • A security or network operations team wanting DDoS detection layered on top of standard traffic monitoringnot Netdata
  • A team needing synthetic testing alongside passive flow analysis in one platform rather than two separate toolsnot Netdata

Netdata

  • Diagnosing a short-lived performance incident where one-minute averages hide the spike entirelynot Kentik
  • Kubernetes clusters where per-series billing from a hosted vendor has become the largest observability costnot Kentik
  • Adding dense host visibility to an estate that already has Prometheus for application metricsnot Kentik
  • Small teams with no monitoring engineer who need working dashboards on the day of installationnot Kentik

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Kentik

  • Contracts are annual only, so there is no monthly option for a team wanting to trial the platform under real production load before committing to a year of spend
  • The Pro tier's $24,000/year starting price is a serious commitment relative to general infrastructure monitoring tools, and it is aimed specifically at flow-level traffic visibility rather than general host monitoring
  • Add-on modules for advanced DDoS protection, service provider analytics and the Firehose pipeline are priced separately, so real deployment cost frequently exceeds the Pro sticker price
  • Premier tier pricing is entirely quote-based, so organisations needing more than Pro's limits (50 users, 1,000 FPS, 120-day retention) cannot get a number without a sales conversation
  • It is a specialised flow and traffic analytics tool, not a general infrastructure monitoring platform, so most buyers will still need a separate tool like PRTG or Icinga for host and service uptime checks
  • Data retention is capped at 120 days for traffic and 45 days for forensic data even on Pro, which may be short for organisations with longer compliance or investigation requirements

Netdata

  • The dashboard interface is under a restrictive Netdata licence rather than GPL and is served from Netdata infrastructure by default, so the deployment is not fully self-contained without extra configuration.
  • Retention is limited by disk on each node unless you build and maintain a parent tier, which makes it a poor archive for year-over-year capacity planning.
  • Per-second collection consumes noticeable CPU and memory on small or heavily loaded nodes, and on constrained edge hardware the monitoring becomes part of the problem.
  • Default alerting is generous and fires on conditions many teams consider normal, so the first weeks involve pruning alarms rather than responding to them.
  • Fleet-level features that make it usable across hundreds of nodes sit in Netdata Cloud, so the free agent alone leaves you visiting individual node dashboards.

Pricing, plan by plan

Kentik

On request
  • Pro$24000/year
    • 50 users
    • 1,000 flows per second baseline
    • 2.5M synthetics credits
  • Premier$undefined/year
    • 1,000 users
    • 5M synthetics credits
    • Custom dimensions and scheduled reporting

Netdata

Free
  • Netdata AgentFree
    • GPLv3 agent with unlimited nodes
    • Per-second metrics and edge anomaly detection
    • Local dashboards and alerting
  • Netdata Cloud paid tiers$undefined/month
    • Per-node subscription for fleet management features
    • Role based access control and longer alert history
    • Business and enterprise support options

Which should you pick?

Choose Kentik if

  • You need flow-based traffic analysis.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want synthetic testing.
Kentik review

Choose Netdata if

  • You need per-second collection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, Docker, Kubernetes, Windows.
  • You also want zero-configuration discovery.
Netdata review

Questions people ask

Is Kentik or Netdata better?
Neither clearly leads. Kentik starts at On request and Netdata at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kentik or Netdata?
Netdata has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Kentik and Free for Netdata.
Does Kentik or Netdata run on more platforms?
Kentik runs on Web, API. Netdata runs on Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, Docker, Kubernetes, Windows.
Can I use Netdata for free?
Yes. Netdata has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Kentik starts at On request.
What is Kentik best used for?
Kentik is most often used for a network engineering team at an isp or large enterprise needing flow-level traffic visibility beyond basic uptime monitoring, a cloud-heavy organisation wanting visibility into cloud provider network cost and performance across multiple providers, a security or network operations team wanting ddos detection layered on top of standard traffic monitoring, a team needing synthetic testing alongside passive flow analysis in one platform rather than two separate tools. Of those, a network engineering team at an isp or large enterprise needing flow-level traffic visibility beyond basic uptime monitoring and a cloud-heavy organisation wanting visibility into cloud provider network cost and performance across multiple providers are not what Netdata is typically brought in for.
What can Kentik do that Netdata cannot?
Kentik covers Flow-based traffic analysis, Synthetic testing, Cloud network monitoring, DDoS detection. Netdata covers Per-second collection, Zero-configuration discovery, Edge machine learning, Tiered database engine.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Kentik: Is there a monthly billing option?

No, Kentik states contracts are annual only.

Netdata: Is Netdata fully open source?

The agent is GPLv3. The current dashboard interface is under a separate restrictive licence, so the complete product is open core rather than open source.

Kentik: What is the entry price?

Pro starts at $2,000/month billed as $24,000/year for 50 users and baseline flow and synthetics quotas.

Netdata: Can it run without any connection to Netdata Cloud?

Yes, agents work standalone and dashboards can be served locally, but you lose fleet-wide views and need to configure local interface serving deliberately.

Kentik: Does Kentik replace general infrastructure monitoring tools like PRTG?

No, it is focused on flow-based traffic and network observability rather than general host and service uptime monitoring.

Netdata: Does it replace Prometheus?

For host and container infrastructure metrics it often does. For custom application metrics with an existing exporter ecosystem and long retention, most teams keep both.

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