NetBox is for network and automation teams building a structured source of truth to drive Ansible, Nornir, or Terraform. phpIPAM is for teams that plan and assign address space, including ranges reserved before anything is deployed. The table below sets them side by side on the protocols each uses to discover a network, the topology views each produces, licensing, and pricing.
NetBox and phpIPAM compared
Discovery protocols, the topology views each tool produces, service detection, pricing and licensing. Scanopy is in the table as a third option, and it is our product.
| ToolProduct name and link to vendor site | DiscoveryProtocols used to find devices and map connections | Network ViewsWhich topology views the tool produces from discovery. L2 Physical switch ports and links L3 Subnets, VLANs, routing Workload VM/container host nesting Application Service-dependency / app grouping Yes supported Tag ? unverified Greyed not supported | ServicesNo No service awareness Basic Common port detection Yes Application-level fingerprinting | PricingStarting price or pricing model | Open SourceOSI OSI-approved open source license Source available Source code available, restricted license No Proprietary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NetBox | ICMP SNMP SSH/CLI | No | Cloud and Enterprise: contact sales [42] | OSI Apache-2.0 | |
| phpIPAM | SNMP ICMP [47] | No | Free | OSI GPL-3.0 | |
| Scanopy | SNMP LLDP CDP ARP ICMP mDNS TCP/UDP | Yes260+ types | Starts at $79.99 monthly, unlimited hosts | OSI AGPL-3.0 |
Scanopy is our product. Vendor details are sourced from official documentation, published pricing, and community reports as of June 2026. Features, pricing, and capabilities may have changed since publication. Check each vendor's website for the latest information.
Where each fits
NetBox. Network automation teams that need a structured source of truth feeding Ansible, Nornir, or Terraform. It pairs naturally with a discovery tool that keeps it populated.
phpIPAM. Teams that assign address space rather than only observe it: reserving ranges before anything is deployed, splitting subnets as they plan them, and recording VLAN and VRF allocation as intent, including addresses that are not live yet.
Head-to-head against Scanopy: Scanopy vs NetBox and Scanopy vs phpIPAM. Looking more broadly: NetBox alternatives,phpIPAM alternatives. For every tool side by side, see the full network diagram tools comparison.
Sources
[40] NetBox - Network Source of Truth (DCIM and IPAM)
[41] NetBox - Topology visualization via community plugin (netbox-topology-views)
[42] NetBox Labs - Pricing (Cloud and Enterprise contact sales)
[47] phpIPAM - Open source IP address management (GPL-3.0)
[48] phpIPAM - Network diagram module is an open feature request
Started as a homelabber, now deep in SNMP MIBs, Layer 3 topology, and service fingerprinting - building the network documentation tool I wished existed.