Azure Network Watcher vs ThousandEyes comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Microsoft and Cisco are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Microsoft is ranked #46 with an average rating of 8.0, while Cisco is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.5. Microsoft holds a 0.5% mindshare in NMS, compared to Cisco’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Azure Network Watcher

Read 13 Azure Network Watcher reviews

2,469 Views
2,420 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

ThousandEyes

Read 32 ThousandEyes reviews

11,266 Views
8,450 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Azure Network Watcher

ThousandEyes

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

ThousandEyes and Azure Network Watcher compete in the network monitoring and cloud service optimization category. ThousandEyes tends to have the upper hand due to its broad network visibility and scalability advantages, especially in multi-cloud and ISP environments.

Features: ThousandEyes offers extensive network visibility, connection issue alerts, and network path diagnostics. It integrates seamlessly with Cisco products and provides user-friendly application visibility. Azure Network Watcher features packet capture, a cloud-native application firewall, and connection troubleshooting, ideal for cloud architecture and traffic filtering.

Room for Improvement: ThousandEyes could expand its application monitoring, improve dashboards, and enhance direct network device monitoring. Azure Network Watcher needs a more intuitive interface, better built-in applications, and refined firewall diagnostics, with documentation aligning with tools like Wireshark.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ThousandEyes adapts well to on-premises and hybrid cloud environments, with strong support and documentation. Azure Network Watcher focuses on public cloud deployments and could enhance initial setup simplicity, with feedback suggesting room for improved service experiences.

Pricing and ROI: ThousandEyes is seen as costly but offers significant ROI through quick problem resolution. Its pricing is suited to large enterprises, especially with Cisco agreements. Azure Network Watcher is reasonably priced with manageable variances based on organization size, showing comparable ROI in Azure-centric settings.

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

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher vs. ThousandEyes

September 2026

Download the complete report

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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

ThousandEyes

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Monitoring Software (10th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (3rd)

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 ThousandEyes is 1.6%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
ThousandEyes	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.

Read full review

Siddumanisria Mindi

Network engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Monitoring has transformed internet visibility and speeds up resolving external service issues

ThousandEyes needs to specify unit consumption forecasting or scaling testing and deeper app analytics. It needs deeper out-of-the-box Layer 7 code or database-level insights. Additionally, it should unify the GUI with broader Cisco platforms and flatten the learning curve, adding better correlation with local laptop system metrics such as endpoint depth, CPU, RAM, or processes. ThousandEyes isn't designed to be a full-blown SNMP monitoring tool for on-premises infrastructure. While it tracks network paths effectively, it doesn't provide deep local device telemetry such as switch port buffer utilization, fan status, or power supply health. For full internal device monitoring, you'll still need to pair it with traditional tools such as SolarWinds or Cisco Catalyst Center.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"The stability is very good. I rate it a ten out of ten."

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

"The solution is stable."

"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."

"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."

"I like the visibility."

More Azure Network Watcher pros

"ThousandEyes is an excellent product that really provides accurate metrics into network performance as well as the user experience, and I would highly recommend it."

"The return on investment is immediate, delivering a 40% to 60% reduction in MTTR by eliminating multi-team war rooms and saving hundreds of engineering hours annually through instant ISP path proof, directly protecting business productivity and SaaS SLA accountability."

"I think the analysis service that Cisco provides is extremely valuable."

"The most valuable features of ThousandEyes are the full monitoring capabilities and the ability to identify the exact location of problems in the path between the application and the end-user."

"The most valuable features are integration and ease of use."

"ThousandEyes offers the best features including global internet and cloud visibility from distributed vantage points, application and network performance monitoring, real-time outage detection and incident alerts, end-to-end path visualization for rapid troubleshooting, proactive issue demarcation, and historical data."

"We have only had good experiences with support, as they are helpful and responsive, and we are quite happy with the level of attention we get when we have issues."

"ThousandEyes has provided my organization with invaluable network visibility and insights and incredible ease of use."

More ThousandEyes pros

Cons

"Lacks sufficient security features."

"Sometimes, you encounter a VPN tunnel, network, or routing issue, but finding out more about the blockage is challenging."

"The initial setup and initial learning curve could be improved to be easier."

"I still use Wireshark and Azure Network Watcher to get the required data. My team captures the traffic from Azure Network Watcher, downloads it, then imports that traffic into Wireshark to get more details on the number of hits and replies, for example. If you can do that on Azure Network Watcher and have Wireshark built-in, that would make Azure Network Watcher better. If Azure Network Watcher has that functionality where you won't need a third-party tool to get what you need, that would be helpful. I'm also expecting more from Azure Network Watcher. It's more complex than knowing how the IP flows from its source to the destination. The tool also needs more open-source features, such as having some built-in Wireshark that improves monitoring for customers. Sometimes, you encounter a VPN tunnel, network, or routing issue, but finding out more about the blockage is challenging. Is it one hundred percent an Azure issue? Is it a peer issue? You don't get complete information from Azure Network Watcher, so you must use other tools and depend on your strategies to resolve a specific issue. If more features could be added in the next release of Azure Network Watcher, specifically ones you can find on open-source tools, then that would be a plus point for the tool."

"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 Network Watcher could improve by having other built-in applications, for example, an application to log activities for inbound and outbound traffic."

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

"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

"I think ThousandEyes can be improved, specifically the licensing model."

"Regarding the user interface, I appreciate dropdowns, but I prefer a guided experience where the interface explains itself instead of requiring extensive searching to reach a point."

"We can show the traffic path in some cases, but it's almost impossible to do so in cloud networks like CDN, Akamai, or Microsoft."

"I chose eight out of ten because of the lack of objective performance data."

"ThousandEyes can be improved by making the installation procedure less time-consuming and enhancing the interface to be more user-friendly."

"ThousandEyes could improve the dashboards by adding more features."

"It might be practical to extend monitoring capabilities to include network devices"

"More detailed documentation explaining the metrics and the testing mechanisms would be helpful."

More ThousandEyes cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Azure Network Watcher is a little bit expensive."

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

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

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"In our company, we incur a yearly expense in our company for the licensing part. I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten since it is expensive."

"The solution's pricing is cheap; I rate it a five out of ten."

"The solution is cheap."

"It is a quite expensive solution."

"The solution costs several thousand dollars per year."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

22%

Construction Company

13%

Outsourcing Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Government

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	10
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	22

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Network Watcher?

See all answers

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...

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What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

It actually depends on the exact purpose or requirements. Some tools are better for only network devices while others are better from a cloud monitoring or APM monitoring perspective. You can check...

See all answers

What needs improvement with ThousandEyes?

We face challenges with hybrid and distributed enterprise networks since we use Cisco, but we also have other third party integrations. When it comes to ThousandEyes, it does not show anything when...

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What is your primary use case for ThousandEyes?

I have been using ThousandEyes with this company for two years. The main use case is that we would like to get insights into our calls. Currently, we are still in the POC state with ThousandEyes, b...

See all answers

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Compared 2% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs ThousandEyes

Compared 4% of the time

Catchpoint vs ThousandEyes

Compared 3% of the time

HPE Aruba Networking UXI vs ThousandEyes

Compared 3% of the time

Kentik vs ThousandEyes

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher

September 2026

Download Azure Network Watcher product report

Buyer's Guide

ThousandEyes

August 2026

Download ThousandEyes product report

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

ThousandEyes offers cutting-edge monitoring capabilities with advanced features such as end-to-end network monitoring, real-time alerts, and application insights. It supports integration with Cisco products and provides visibility into network paths, helping businesses maintain superior network performance.

ThousandEyes is renowned for its ability to diagnose network issues by offering comprehensive network path visualization and detailed analytics. Its ability to detect packet loss and monitor ISPs ensures robust network security. The integration capabilities, particularly with Cisco platforms, make it versatile for businesses requiring customizable dashboards. Users benefit from ease of use and real-time alert systems, though improvements in guest portal usability, packet analysis, and integration with Cisco platforms are needed. Enhancements in automation, knowledge resources, and application-level features could benefit users, alongside better network device monitoring through SNMP and improved path visualization. Additionally, better incident management and alert detection systems are anticipated.

What are the key features of ThousandEyes?

End-to-End Monitoring: Provides comprehensive insights across networks, applications, and users.
Real-Time Alerts: Sends immediate alerts for network disturbances or performance issues.
Network Path Visualization: Offers detailed views of network paths for easy diagnostics.
Application Insights: Delivers in-depth analytics on application performance.

What benefits or ROI can users expect from ThousandEyes?

Time Savings: Reduces diagnosis and troubleshooting time with advanced analytics.
Improved User Experience: Enhances network reliability, leading to better user satisfaction.
Increased Employee Satisfaction: Streamlines network operations, boosting employee efficiency.
Prevention of Downtime: Identifies potential issues early to avoid service interruptions.

Businesses across sectors leverage ThousandEyes for seamless network monitoring and diagnostics. It is invaluable for ensuring connectivity across LANs, Wi-Fi, internet, and SaaS applications. ThousandEyes provides critical insights into internet and ISP performance, significantly benefiting industries reliant on robust digital infrastructure.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Wayfair, GitHub, Craigslist, Comcast, SurveyMonkey, Lyft, Box, HP, Zendesk, IO Data Centers, Good Technology, NNTCommunications, Proofpoint, Schneider, Crowdstrike, Avera, Pitney Bowes, InstartLogic, Shutterfly, Shutterstock, Condé Nast, Roche, Jive, Actelion, Brocade, Infor, Okta, JLL, DigitalOcean, Zuora, NetSuite, CloudFlare, One, DemonWare, Quantcast, Carbonite, CareerBuilder, Prosper, Oscar, Slack

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher vs. ThousandEyes

September 2026

Free Report: Azure Network Watcher vs. ThousandEyes

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