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AWS CloudFormation vs. SolarWinds Kiwi CatTools

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
AWS CloudFormation
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
AWS CloudFormation gives developers and systems administrators a way to create and manage a collection of related AWS resources, provisioning and updating them in a predictable fashion. Use AWS CloudFormation’s sample templates or create templates to describe the AWS resources, and any associated dependencies or runtime parameters, required to run an application. Users don’t need to figure out the order for provisioning AWS services or the subtleties of making those dependencies work.…
$0
SolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
SolarWinds® Kiwi CatTools® is network automation tool designed to manage configurations on network devices such as routers, switches, and firewalls. It helps users work more efficiently by scheduling automatic backup activities and rolling out configuration changes to multiple devices at the same time. With native support for devices from dozens of manufacturers, Kiwi CatTools is designed to simplify network administration, configuration change alerting, and backup management.
$852
Per Instance
Pricing
AWS CloudFormationSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
Editions & Modules
Free Tier - 1,000 Handler Operations per Month per Account
$0.00
Handler Operation
$0.0009
per handler operation
One Time Price
$852
Per Instance
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AWS CloudFormationSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsThere is no additional charge for using AWS CloudFormation with resource providers in the following namespaces: AWS::*, Alexa::*, and Custom::*. In this case you pay for AWS resources (such as Amazon EC2 instances, Elastic Load Balancing load balancers, etc.) created using AWS CloudFormation as if you created them manually. You only pay for what you use, as you use it; there are no minimum fees and no required upfront commitments. When you use resource providers with AWS CloudFormation outside the namespaces mentioned above, you incur charges per handler operation. Handler operations are create, update, delete, read, or list actions on a resource.—
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AWS CloudFormationSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
Considered Both Products
AWS CloudFormation
Verified User
Anonymous
Chose AWS CloudFormation
Since the product I'm involved is primarily hosted on AWS we use CloudFormation but in some other products where we have hybrid cloud deployments we prefer terraform which is opensource.
Verified User
Anonymous
Chose AWS CloudFormation
Cloning a virtual machine creates a virtual machine that is cloning a virtual machine creates a virtual machine that is a copy of the original. The new virtual machine is configured with the same virtual hardware, installed software, and other properties that were configured …
Verified User
Anonymous
Chose AWS CloudFormation
As we have our whole infrastructure on AWS, that is why we selected AWS CloudFormation. AWS CloudFormation is better integrated with AWS services than other available products and also provides visibility and tracking on AWS. AWS CloudFormation is free while Terraform …
Verified User
Anonymous
Chose AWS CloudFormation
We didn't look into anything else as Cloudformation was "built-in" for AWS, it just kind of made sense to go with that. Terraform was something that we briefly looked into Terraform but decides to stick with Cloudformation because our task was relatively "simple". Apparently if …
Manuela Jacqueline Mercado Rodríguez | TrustRadius Reviewer
Manuela Jacqueline Mercado Rodríguez
Senior Full Stack Developer
Chose AWS CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation has more features and robustness. It is suited for professional projects since it provides stability and a wide variety of options for configurations. These include not only dividing stacks by specific code changes, but also in regions. This allows more …
Verified User
Anonymous
Chose AWS CloudFormation
The only real comparison would be to Terraform, which is another IaC technology at the infra level. Terraform is cloud-agnostic, which means most popular cloud providers are supported. While AWS CloudFormation is AWS-only. Although, if you consider CDK, CDK for Terraform …
SolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
Verified User
Anonymous
Chose SolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
Strengths:Cost-Effectiveness: CatTools is significantly more affordable than enterprise-grade tools like SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) or Infoblox NetMRI. It is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses with tight budgets. Ease of Deployment: Kiwi CatTools is …
Features
AWS CloudFormationSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
Configuration Management
Comparison of Configuration Management features of Product A and Product B
AWS CloudFormation
-
Ratings
SolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
7.2
Ratings
11% below category average
Infrastructure Automation00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Automated Provisioning00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Parallel Execution00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Node Management00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Reporting & Logging00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Version Control00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
AWS CloudFormationSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
Small Businesses
HashiCorp Terraform
HashiCorp Terraform
Score 8.5 out of 10
HashiCorp Terraform
HashiCorp Terraform
Score 8.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Ansible
Ansible
Score 9.2 out of 10
Ansible
Ansible
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Ansible
Ansible
Score 9.2 out of 10
Ansible
Ansible
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
AWS CloudFormationSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
Likelihood to Recommend
7.6
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AWS CloudFormationSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
Likelihood to Recommend
Cloning a virtual machine creates a virtual machine that is a copy of the original. The new virtual machine is configured with the Cloning Cloning a virtual machine creates a virtual machine that is a copy of the original. The new virtual machine is configured with the same virtual hardware, installed software, and other properties that were configured for the original virtual machine. For information about persistent memory and PMem storage, see the vSphere Resource Management Guide. For information virtual machine creates a virtual machine that is a copy of the original. The new virtual machine is configured with the same virtual hardware, installed software, and other properties that were configured for the original virtual machine. For information about persistent memory and PMem storage, see the vSphere Resource. Management guide. For information virtual hardware, installed software cloning a virtual machine creates a virtual machine that is a copy of the original. The new virtual machine is configured with the same virtual hardware, installed software, and other properties that were configured for the original virtual machine. For information about persistent memory and PMem storage, see the vSphere Resource Management Guide. For information and other properties that were configured for the original virtual machine. For information about persistent memory and PMem storage, see the vSphere Resource Management Guide. For information.
Verified User
Anonymous
Read full review
Setting up device backup schedules for individual locations is quick and easy. The application is very straightforward and basic. The application covers 90% of our needs. Some devices that require configuration and file backups utilizing ftp or other methods are configured using a different set of tools. Backups can be stored in configured destination folders for easy review.
Verified User
Anonymous
Read full review
Pros
  • IaC, transactional on top of that
  • Support for "mainstream" general programming languages
  • Sharable IaC "snippets" that can setup standardized environments for individuals quickly
  • OOP techniques are available thanks to OOP languages
Verified User
Anonymous
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  • Network device backups.
  • Identify configuration changes from prior backup.
  • Automated email notifications.
Verified User
Anonymous
Read full review
Cons
  • Error Description upon Failure Needs to be Improved.
  • Slow to create, delete or update.
  • Need to delete resources manually. It can ask before starting deletion whether to skip those resources or delete them.
Verified User
Anonymous
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  • Enhanced Reporting Capabilities.
  • More Intuitive User Interface.
  • Scalability for Large Networks.
Verified User
Anonymous
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Usability
It's easy enough to get a shared template & apply it. You don't even have to download-then-upload or copy-and-paste, a publicly-accessible url works.
Diving deeper, it has enough powerful capabilities to make the life of a platform / DevOps engineer bearable.
However, you need equally deep knowledge to troubleshoot issues, when they inevitably pop up. This is the same for all IaC technologies, as they are additional abstraction layers on top of the native API provided by the cloud providers.
Verified User
Anonymous
Read full review
CatTools is simple to set up and administer. Anyone who can install a Windows application can quickly set up an automated backup of one or more devices. It does what it was designed to do.
Verified User
Anonymous
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Support Rating
No answers on this topic
The software is easy enough to set up and configure that even after using the product for years, we never had to contact support. We used some open source products before utilizing CatTools and could have used a speed dial to try and figure out the intricacies of the products.
Verified User
Anonymous
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Alternatives Considered
Since the product I'm involved is primarily hosted on AWS we use CloudFormation but in some other products where we have hybrid cloud deployments we prefer Terraform which is opensource.
Verified User
Anonymous
Read full review
Strengths:Cost-Effectiveness: CatTools is significantly more affordable than enterprise-grade tools like SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) or Infoblox NetMRI. It is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses with tight budgets. Ease of Deployment: Kiwi CatTools is lightweight and easier to set up, while enterprise solutions often require substantial infrastructure and longer deployment times. Focus on Essentials: CatTools excels in its core functions, such as automated configuration backups, scheduled tasks, and essential compliance checks.
Verified User
Anonymous
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Return on Investment
  • + We can standup a VPC in minutes
  • - It took a lot of inital time to set up
  • + With logging/rollback, made testing much easier.
Verified User
Anonymous
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  • Compliance and Risk Reduction.
  • Reduced Downtime.
  • Ease of Deployment and Low Licensing Costs.
Verified User
Anonymous
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ScreenShots

AWS CloudFormation Screenshots

Screenshot of CloudFormation - How it works overviewScreenshot of CloudFormation - High level how it worksScreenshot of CloudFormation - Template exampleScreenshot of CloudFormation - Template inputs overview

SolarWinds Kiwi CatTools Screenshots

Screenshot of Schedule automated backups of network device configuration from routers, switches, firewalls, etc.Screenshot of Simultaneously perform or schedule configuration changes across multiple network devices with great ease.Screenshot of Receive real-time alerts when unauthorized configuration changes occur on network devices.Screenshot of Maintain a complete configuration history, and facilitate rollbacks to the last good configuration.Screenshot of Generate configuration and device information reports related to port, MAC, ARP, version details, and more.Screenshot of Get out-of-the-box support for both IPv4 and IPv6 devices from vendors, such as Cisco, HP, Huawei, 3Com and more.