Azure Network Watcher vs Kentik comparison

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Azure Network Watcher

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Kentik and Azure Network Watcher compete in network traffic analysis and cloud-native security. Kentik appears to have the upper hand with its superior data visualization and reporting capabilities.

Features: Kentik offers robust network traffic analysis, planning, and security features with comprehensive data visualization like NetFlow and real-time DDoS alarming. Users benefit from its data explorer and flexible reporting tools for creating detailed reports and automating workflows. Azure Network Watcher provides cloud-native security features such as application firewalls and traffic filtering, focusing on connection troubleshooting and VPN diagnostics.

Room for Improvement: Kentik could improve user security rights granularity and interface usability, while Azure Network Watcher could benefit from integrated open-source tools like Wireshark. There are also opportunities for Azure Network Watcher to become more actionable without third-party tools, and both platforms could enhance ease of setup and cost analysis capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Kentik, available as an on-premises or private cloud solution, involves complex deployment compared to Azure Network Watcher's public cloud service. However, Kentik is praised for its responsive customer service with direct communication, whereas Azure Network Watcher’s support system lacks the same level of responsiveness.

Pricing and ROI: Kentik's pricing is based on devices and flow volume, offering variable costs with sector-specific discounts and providing operational efficiency through cost savings and improved insights despite a significant initial investment. Azure Network Watcher's pricing is perceived as reasonable or slightly expensive, suitable for enterprises. Both solutions challenge precise ROI quantification, but Kentik is often seen as offering better value through operational savings and enhanced visibility.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Network Watcher vs. Kentik Report (Updated: September 2026).

Azure Network Watcher vs. Kentik

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Helped 913,806 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Azure Network Watcher

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

46th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Kentik

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

13th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Azure Network Watcher is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kentik is 1.6%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Kentik	1.6%
Azure Network Watcher	0.5%
Other	97.9%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

PrashantSarmalkar

Enterprise Architect at ATOS

Monitoring traffic has improved cost control and threat visibility across network flows

The main area for improvement is AI-based features. Currently, many intelligent tools are coming from third parties, and Azure Network Watcher needs to improve in this area. The focus should be on getting better analytics and foundation models for proactive monitoring through AI models. While these capabilities exist, they are still in beta version. Azure Network Watcher should improve to match the capabilities that Google is targeting from an analytical point of view. Azure Network Watcher needs to improve foundation models in terms of AI-specific features and analytics, which are still evolving. This may take some time, but within one or two years, these improvements should reach a nine rating.

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Gcecilio

Network Engineer at a media company with 51-200 employees

Traffic insights have reduced transit costs and support secure, direct connections with providers

The best features that Kentik offers are the ability to identify traffic end-to-end and to know which transit is used, if it goes through any other transit, to see the entire flow, from the subscriber to the content provider and vice versa, from the content provider to the subscriber.I can also determine whether it is symmetric or asymmetric traffic, and if it goes through any provider that has some kind of bottleneck. That is very important. Regarding the security part, which is also possible to handle through Kentik, you can configure it in a way that makes the network more secure and reduces the amount of dirty traffic or attacks received. Kentik has had a high positive impact on my organization. Besides the cost reduction, it has been possible to perform troubleshooting more effectively, and also regarding DDoS-related attacks. In addition to cost reduction, we had a more reliable connection. Since the moment we identified that it was possible to have a direct connection with content providers like CDN77, Cloudflare, and Akamai, we established a direct connection there through a PNI with these content providers, making the network less dependent on an IP transit provider.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"This will help the company or the administrator, by helping them see how the traffic moves, to make sure that no entities are having any communication issues or different endpoints with task issues."

"This is a stable system providing stable performance."

"Azure Network Watcher provides valuable features based on your specific requirements and use cases, helping you monitor network bandwidth, throughput, data flow consumption, and control costs by giving insight into egress and ingress traffic, total input and output operations, bandwidth, and threats through IP identification."

"The most valuable feature of Azure Network Watcher is the cloud-native application firewall, which is helpful for securing databases."

"The solution is good for monitoring device behavior."

"The solution is stable, there are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze, it's reliable."

"The most valuable features I have found are typology, visualization, and capture."

"My advice to others looking into using Azure Network Watcher is to go for it, as you'll have the tool by default when you're subscribed to Azure VNet."

More Azure Network Watcher pros

"Kentik has positively impacted the organization by providing greater control over certain subjects and enabling monitoring of current traffic."

"The biggest thing Kentik has given us is the amount of visibility we have into our own network now and knowing what's going on at a given time."

"We're pretty happy with the API functionality. It's web, and it's very simple to set up queries. It has served us well and you don't need to be an expert on the API or the product to set these things up."

"Overall, the ease of use and the fact that it meets client expectations are major positives."

"Technical support is second to none."

"I really love the Data Explorer. I use it all the time to go in and craft exactly what I need to see. I'm able to then take that story and explain it to the executives. I've done that a couple of times and it is helpful."

"Having the API access allows us to do a great deal of automation around a lot of our reporting and management tools."

"Honestly, it is one of those products that I would suggest to almost any network operator."

More Kentik pros

Cons

"The initial setup and deployment could be improved to be simplified."

"There are some occasional downtimes, but these were based on Azure-specific issues."

"Technical support from Microsoft needs significant improvement compared to other product vendors."

"User experience could be improved."

"Lacks sufficient security features."

"I would like to see in the future if we can troubleshoot as a firewall because it is equipment as a network player and some diagnostics."

"Azure is good, however, the Fortinet GUI is more intuitive and I like it more than anything else."

"It's not the most friendly or straightforward to set up. I don't see the value versus the way you have to set it up at first."

More Azure Network Watcher cons

"There is room for improvement around the usability of the API. It's a hugely complex task to call it and you need a lot of backing to be able to do it. I should say, as someone who's not in networking, maybe it's easier for people who are in networking, but for me that one part is not very user-friendly."

"Sometimes it's difficult to order the dimensions correctly when trying to make Sankey flow diagrams."

"I consider the pricing model as an area for improvement."

"Perhaps a better explanation would be to see how tagging is captured and a method of comparing my tagged interfaces on Kentik’s side."

"Kentik can be improved in terms of languages, and visually it could be improved a bit more as well."

"There is a large difference between BGP and normal nodes. I don't think this plays out to the best for the customer or Kentik."

"I would like to see them explore the area of cost analysis."

"They're moving more in a direction where they are saying, "Hey, here's information that you may be interested in or may a need," before the question has to explicitly be asked. Continuing to move in that direction would be a good thing."

More Kentik cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"The pricing is good. It's not too expensive."

"Price-wise, I have no information on how much Azure Network Watcher costs."

"Azure Network Watcher is a little bit expensive."

"The tool is cheaply priced."

"We have an annual contract with Kentik that we renew each year for a set number of licenses. We also have some burstable licenses which we can spin up and spin down, and those are paid as they are used."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

22%

Construction Company

13%

Outsourcing Company

Comms Service Provider

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Media Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Network Watcher?

I do not have the exact setup cost information on hand, but it is available in the public Azure portal. You can access the calculator there to get detailed pricing information.

What needs improvement with Azure Network Watcher?

What is your primary use case for Azure Network Watcher?

Azure Network Watcher is used for monitoring network traffic. It provides insight into egress and ingress traffic, which helps determine whether consumption can be controlled. Most Azure services c...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kentik?

My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing has been limited because I was not responsible for that in my company, but I have spoken with my boss, and he reported that the licensing mode...

What needs improvement with Kentik?

Kentik can be improved by enhancing the alerting system, especially the way templates work and the hierarchy of these alerts.

What is your primary use case for Kentik?

My main use case for Kentik is as a network monitoring system and flow analysis tool. A specific example of how I use Kentik for network monitoring is monitoring devices or services that go down an...

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Product Reports

Azure Network Watcher

Download Azure Network Watcher product report

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Overview

Azure Network Watcher provides advanced network monitoring capabilities including packet capture, cloud-native firewall, and traffic diagnosis, aiding in VPN troubleshooting and security enforcement with enhanced visibility and alerting features.

Azure Network Watcher is essential for monitoring, diagnosing, and analyzing network traffic. It efficiently handles VPN connection issues and enhances network security by capturing and analyzing traffic to assess performance or latency problems. The tool facilitates traffic flow control, security rule verification, and bandwidth monitoring. Users benefit from its capabilities in diagnosing service connections, offering insights into network activity, and identifying potential threats, crucial for maintaining compliance and efficient network management.

What are the key features of Azure Network Watcher?

Packet Capture: Enables detailed network traffic inspection to troubleshoot issues.
Cloud-Native Application Firewall: Provides enhanced protection for applications running in the cloud.
Traffic Monitoring: Allows for real-time analysis and troubleshooting of network traffic.
NSG Flow Logs & AI-Based Monitoring: Enhances flow control and threat detection.
Alerting & Threshold Configuration: Offers customizable alerts via Azure Monitor for proactive management.

What benefits can users look for in reviews?

Improved Network Security: Helps in identifying and mitigating threats efficiently.
Enhanced Visibility: Provides clear insights into network operations and potential issues.
Compliance Support: Assists in maintaining regulatory compliance with thorough monitoring capabilities.
Effective Bandwidth Management: Facilitates control and optimization of network bandwidth.

In industries like finance and healthcare, Azure Network Watcher is implemented to ensure robust security and compliance, crucial for safeguarding sensitive data. It aids retail and manufacturing sectors in optimizing network performance and maintaining seamless connectivity, supporting their digital infrastructure needs.

Microsoft

Kentik provides real-time visibility into network infrastructure, focusing on monitoring, data visualization, and flow analysis to manage traffic patterns efficiently.

With robust analytics capabilities, Kentik offers insights into BGP peering status, aids in DDoS detection, and allows for detailed telemetry through its intuitive interface. The platform's SaaS nature simplifies operations by eliminating server maintenance concerns. Multi-vendor support and synthetic testing enhance network security and performance by simulating customer scenarios, while its API offers automation for querying and reporting tasks.

What are the key features of Kentik?

Real-Time Visibility: Monitors network infrastructure effectively.
Data Visualization: Offers powerful tools for viewing complex data.
Flow Analysis: Analyzes traffic flow for optimal management.
BGP Peering Insights: Provides in-depth peering status checks.
DDoS Alerting: Notifies about potential DDoS threats.
Data Explorer: Aids in understanding traffic patterns.
Synthetic Testing: Simulates scenarios to enhance security and performance.

What benefits can be found in user reviews?

Automation: Users value the flexibility of its API for automating tasks.
Ease of Use: SaaS model streamlines user engagement, eliminating server maintenance.
Flexibility: Report customization and query settings are highly appreciated.
Enhanced Observability: Telemetry and multi-vendor support increase oversight.

Industries implement Kentik for network monitoring, traffic management, and flow data analysis across both on-prem and cloud setups. It proves valuable for detecting DDoS events, managing peering relationships, and optimizing costs, besides managing CDN configurations and performing synthetic tests in diverse environments.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Pandora, Yelp, Neustar, Box, University of Washington, Zoom, Tata, and Cogent.

Azure Network Watcher vs. Kentik