Softwr

Networking · head to head

Kentik vs Nebula

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
Nebula logo

Nebula

Networking

Certificate based overlay network from Slack, with identity and firewall rules carried in the certificate

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Nebula 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; Nebula the open source project has no user interface, no enrolment workflow and no revocation service, so certificate issuing, distribution and expiry become scripts you write and then have to keep working.
  • They diverge on capability: Kentik covers Flow-based traffic analysis, Nebula covers Certificate carried identity.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Kentik and Nebula actually diverge.

Attributes where Kentik and Nebula differ
AttributeKentikNebula
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelAnnual contract only, per tierOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APILinux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD

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 Nebula

  • Certificate carried identity
  • Group based host firewall
  • Lighthouse discovery
  • Noise protocol encryption
  • Unsafe routes
  • Managed option

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 Nebula
  • A cloud-heavy organisation wanting visibility into cloud provider network cost and performance across multiple providersnot Nebula
  • A security or network operations team wanting DDoS detection layered on top of standard traffic monitoringnot Nebula
  • A team needing synthetic testing alongside passive flow analysis in one platform rather than two separate toolsnot Nebula

Nebula

  • Flattening a network across several clouds and datacentres without VPC peering or route tablesnot Kentik
  • Very large fleets where a central policy service on the connection path is unacceptablenot Kentik
  • Environments that already run an internal certificate authority and want the network to use itnot Kentik
  • Replacing per host iptables rules with policy written against roles that follow the hostnot 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

Nebula

  • The open source project has no user interface, no enrolment workflow and no revocation service, so certificate issuing, distribution and expiry become scripts you write and then have to keep working.
  • Revoking a compromised host means distributing a blocklist entry to every other host and reloading them, which is a fleet wide operation rather than a click, and easy to get wrong under pressure.
  • Changing a host group membership means reissuing and redeploying its certificate, so policy changes are a deployment rather than a configuration edit.
  • There is no identity provider integration or single sign on in the open source version, so it maps well to servers and badly to a fleet of user laptops.
  • NAT traversal is best effort and hosts behind symmetric NAT need a relay configured deliberately, so connectivity failures show up as intermittent rather than immediate and are awkward to diagnose.

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

Nebula

Free
  • NebulaFree
    • Full functionality under the MIT licence
    • No host limit
    • You operate the certificate authority and lighthouses
  • Defined Networking$undefined/month
    • Hosted control plane and enrolment
    • Managed certificate lifecycle and revocation
    • Policy and DNS interface

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 Nebula if

  • You need certificate carried identity.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD.
  • You also want group based host firewall.
Nebula review

Questions people ask

Is Kentik or Nebula better?
Neither clearly leads. Kentik starts at On request and Nebula at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kentik or Nebula?
Nebula has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Kentik and Free for Nebula.
Does Kentik or Nebula run on more platforms?
Kentik runs on Web, API. Nebula runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD.
Can I use Nebula for free?
Yes. Nebula 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 Nebula is typically brought in for.
What can Kentik do that Nebula cannot?
Kentik covers Flow-based traffic analysis, Synthetic testing, Cloud network monitoring, DDoS detection. Nebula covers Certificate carried identity, Group based host firewall, Lighthouse discovery, Noise protocol encryption.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Kentik: Is there a monthly billing option?

No, Kentik states contracts are annual only.

Nebula: Does it use WireGuard?

No. Nebula predates the common WireGuard mesh tools and uses the Noise protocol framework with its own certificate format.

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.

Nebula: Can I run it without Defined Networking?

Yes, entirely. Defined Networking sells the control plane conveniences, not the network itself.

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.

Nebula: How do I revoke a host?

Add its certificate fingerprint to the blocklist in the configuration of the other hosts and reload them. There is no online revocation check.

Nebula: Is it a good fit for laptops?

Less so than the identity provider based tools. There is no single sign on, so every laptop needs a certificate issued and renewed by whatever process you build.

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