LinkEye vs. ThousandEyes
Why LinkEye is the Right Choice for Your Business
LinkEye is an AI-powered Network Assurance platform designed to reduce manual troubleshooting by 90%, enhance security, and provide deep network insights. While ThousandEyes specializes in internet and SaaS performance monitoring, LinkEye goes beyond visibility—it proactively troubleshoots, automates problem resolution, and ensures network reliability.If you’re looking for a ThousandEyes alternative, LinkEye offers a comprehensive solution with advanced automation and security features.
Key Differences at a Glance
Feature
LinkEye
ThousandEyes
Cloud-Based Platform
- Yes
- Yes
End-to-End Network Visibility
- Yes (WAN, LAN, Wi-Fi)
- Yes (WAN, Cloud, ISP)
Real-Time Performance Monitoring
- Yes
- Yes
AI-Powered Troubleshooting
- Yes (AI Agents for RCA)
- No
First-Level Troubleshooting (FLT) Automation
- Yes
- No
SLA Compliance & ISP Performance Monitoring
- Yes
- Yes
Digital Experience Monitoring
- Yes (Application, Network, ISP Performance)
- Yes (Network Path Analysis)
Security & Compliance Audits
- Yes (SOC 2 Certified + CVE Reporting)
- No
Configuration Backup & Change Tracking
- Yes
- No
Multi-Vendor Support
- Yes (100+ OEMs)
- Limited (Cisco & Select Vendors)
Automated Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
- Yes
- No
Business Intelligence & ROI Insights
- Yes
- No
Deployment
- Cloud-First & Hybrid
- Cloud-Only
Target Audience
- Enterprises, NOCs, IT Teams
- Enterprises, SaaS Providers
The LinkEye Advantage
AI-Powered Troubleshooting & RCA
Unlike other ThousandEyes competitors, which focus on visibility, LinkEye’s AI agents detect, diagnose, and resolve network issues automatically. This reduces IT workload and ensures network stability, making LinkEye the best ThousandEyes alternative for businesses seeking automation.
Cloud + On-Premise Network Monitoring
LinkEye covers WAN, LAN, Wi-Fi, and ISP monitoring, making it ideal for hybrid environments, while ThousandEyes is primarily focused on cloud and SaaS performance.
SLA Compliance & ISP Performance Tracking
Both platforms offer SLA visibility, but only LinkEye enforces SLA compliance and ensures ISPs meet performance guarantees.If you’re considering alternatives to ThousandEyes, LinkEye offers a more complete and reliable approach to network assurance.
Enhanced Security & Compliance
LinkEye is SOC 2 certified and provides real-time security audits and CVE tracking, while ThousandEyes does not offer built-in security compliance features. If security is a priority, LinkEye is the ThousandEyes alternative that ensures compliance and proactive risk management.
Automated First-Level Troubleshooting (FLT)
Reduce manual intervention with AI-driven first-level troubleshooting, allowing IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than repetitive network issues.
Which Solution is Right for You?
- Choose LinkEye if you need AI-driven automation, proactive security, full-stack network monitoring, and SLA enforcement. LinkEye is the best ThousandEyes alternative for enterprises looking to streamline network operations.
- Choose ThousandEyes if you need internet and SaaS application performance visibility but do not require AI-driven troubleshooting.
Pricing Comparison
Monitoring Requirement
“I have 20 applications (10 SaaS and 10 Internal applications) that need to be probed every minute from 10 different sites.”
1 How Cisco ThousandEyes is Licensed
Component
What you actually buy
Key details
“TE-UNITS”
A pool of ThousandEyes Units that every synthetic test consumes.
• Minimum purchase if you only buy units: 2 000 units.
• List price (Jan 2025 price-list): US $ 0.85 per unit per month.
Enterprise Agents
Software VMs / containers you
run at each site.
No extra licence fee; they just consume the units.
Cisco “Implementation
Service for Units” (ASFCORE-TE-UNITS)
One-time, fixed-scope onboarding package that Cisco requires whenever you buy TE-UNITS.
1 SKU covers up to 5 Enterprise Agents & 60 tests. Recommended ≈ 1 SKU per
86000 K-units/yr
2 Unit Consumption for Your Scenario
You asked: 20 apps (10 SaaS + 10 internal) probed every 1 min from 10 sites (i.e., 10 Enterprise Agents).
Item
Value
Source / calc
Test type assumed
HTTP Server / Agent-to-Server (typical for URL reachability)
Milli-unit cost per Enterprise-Agent test
2.5 mU (5 s timeout × 0.5)
Rounds per 31-day month @ 1 min
44640
(60/1) × 24 × 31
Units per test per month
2.5 mU × 44 640 ÷ 1000 ≈ 112 units
Base equation
Tests configured
20 apps × 10 agents = 200 tests
Total units / month
112 × 200 = ≈ 22 400 units
(well above 2 000-unit
minimum).
3 Cost Estimate (Cisco list price, May 2025)
Item
Qty
Unit list (USD)
Extended / mo
Extended / yr*
ThousandEyes Units
22400
$0.85
$18972
$227664
Implementation Service (ASFCORE- TE-UNITS)**
2 SKUs (10 EA / 200 tests).
~$5 k–$7 k each (list)
one-time $10 k – $14 k
N/A
- Cisco subscriptions are sold for 12–60 months and invoiced annually in advance .
- Exact services price is not public; Cisco reps quote it case-by-case, but list pricing typically falls in the $5-7 k range per fixed-scope SKU.
- Ball-park budget: ≈ US $240 k in year 1 (units + mandatory onboarding), then ~US $228 k per subsequent year, before any Cisco/partner discounts.
4Cost Estimate for LinkEye DX Under Your Scenario
Item
Quantity
Unit price (annual)
Extended cost / year
Enterprise Agents (one per site)
10 sites × 1 agent
US $1600
US $16000
- Total annual subscription: ≈ US $16000 !!
- There are no incremental charges for how many tests you run, how many applications you monitor, or how frequently you probe.
How this Stacks up Against Cisco ThousandEyes
Metric
Cisco ThousandEyes*
LinkEye DX
Commercial metric
Units consumed per test-run
Flat fee per agent
Annual cost (steady-state)
~US $228000
US $16000
1st-year cost (incl. onboarding)
~US $240000
US $16000
Cost difference
—
≈ US $200,000 less per year !
- From previous sizing: 22400 units/month at US $0.85 → US $227 664 / yr + onboarding.
What Drives the Savings?
Single Metric
LinkEye charges per agent, not per test interval, timeout, or number of apps.
Unlimited Scale per Site
Once an agent is licensed, you can monitor any number of URLs, ports, or synthetic journeys as fast as every 30 s (or 1 min in your case) with no extra cost.
No Mandatory Services SKUs
Cisco requires a paid onboarding service for
every purchase of ThousandEyes Units; LinkEye does not. We offer free whiteglove onboarding service.
Sensitivity (Just to Illustrate)
Scenario
Agents
Cost / yr
5 sites (half the footprint)
5
US $8000
20 sites (double)
20
US $32000
Add 50 more apps or halve the interval
No change
US $16000
Take-aways
Budget Simplicity
With LinkEye DX you only track the number of sites (agents).
Predictable Scaling
Even if your test matrix or probing frequency expands, your bill does not.
> 97% Cost Reduction
versus a unit-metered model like ThousandEyes for this workload.
