OMNEST - OMNeT++ Comparison
OMNEST is the commercial version of OMNeT++, one of the most popular network simulation frameworks in academic and research communities. OMNeT++ is distributed under the Academic Public License, which does not allow commercial use.
OMNEST and OMNeT++ are nearly identical. Simulation models written for OMNeT++ are guaranteed to compile and run with OMNEST, and vice versa. Differences apply to licensing, packaging, and certain features only.
| OMNeT++ | OMNEST | |
|---|---|---|
| License | Academic Public License1 | Commercial License |
| Commercial use | not allowed1 | allowed |
| Simulation kernel, tools, examples, documentation | yes | yes |
| Eclipse-based Simulation IDE | yes | yes |
| Support for all major operating systems2 | yes | yes |
| Windows installer | no (distributed as zip) |
yes |
| Pre-compiled (and tested) simulation libraries for Windows | no | yes3 |
| Support for Microsoft Visual C++ | no | yes |
| Support for the GCC Compiler4 | yes | yes |
| Documentation Generation (example: INET) |
yes under Creative Commons5 |
yes |
| SVG Image Export6 | no | yes |
| SystemC Integration7 | no | yes |
| HLA Support8 | no | yes |
| Support | informal, via the mailing list | guaranteed 48-hour email support available |
| Service Releases | informal | guaranteed after significant fixes, but at least every 6 months |
1 if you are unsure whether you need a commercial license, please check the Licensing FAQ
2 the IDE is supported on Linux, macOS and Windows; the simulation kernel and models can be compiled on other platforms as well
3 for MinGW and recent versions of Visual C++
4 including MinGW on Windows
5 with OMNeT++, generated documentation is under the Creative Commons license. OMNEST does not contain this limitation.
6 for models and sequence charts
7 allows for mixing OMNEST and SystemC modules in the same simulation program
8 allows OMNEST simulations to join HLA (IEEE 1516) federates
2 the IDE is supported on Linux, macOS and Windows; the simulation kernel and models can be compiled on other platforms as well
3 for MinGW and recent versions of Visual C++
4 including MinGW on Windows
5 with OMNeT++, generated documentation is under the Creative Commons license. OMNEST does not contain this limitation.
6 for models and sequence charts
7 allows for mixing OMNEST and SystemC modules in the same simulation program
8 allows OMNEST simulations to join HLA (IEEE 1516) federates