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ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations vs SolarWinds NPM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

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

ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT O...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
71st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Network Diagnostics (10th), IT Operations Analytics (13th), Network Packet Capture (6th)
SolarWinds NPM
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
161
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (6th), Cloud Monitoring Software (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NPM is 3.7%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SolarWinds NPM3.7%
ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations0.7%
Other95.6%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Out West - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager and IT Management Consultant at a integrator with 1,001-5,000 employees
Great for identifying application interdependencies with helpful support but needs better visualizations
We're just trying to identify the application interdependencies, which normally reside on different servers, including web servers, database servers, enterprise service bus, et cetera, up to your presentation layer before we start moving stuff around. Normally, the reason why we use these tools is to understand what assets we have, where they're deployed, and how they enter and operate before we decide to go move something from point A to point B. The solution is going to allow me to establish a wave or migration plan where you have different waves of migration and then you actually have move groups to try and get your application moved from A to B seamlessly. A to B could be on-premise to on-premise. It could be on-premise to cloud. Et cetera. The solution can tell me what components can I deploy, for example, into a cloud space, without having to refactor my applications since that can be quite time-consuming and costly.
Vivek Jaiswal - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Central monitoring has improved outage alerts and now needs smarter detection and modern dashboards
Regarding the automated network topology and mapping feature in SolarWinds NPM, I am not satisfied with it. For static monitoring, it is acceptable. However, if it is possible, I would need a feature in SolarWinds in the future for some kind of malfunctioning detection, such as malware attacks or that type of environment. We did not have any facility to detect that in SolarWinds. I think it would be better to incorporate those types of features. Regarding customization options in SolarWinds, the ability to customize the dashboard has room for improvement. The dashboard is quite old, and we need some improvement in it. Nowadays, we have multiple tools with AI-based monitoring and web-based dashboards. SolarWinds also has a web-based dashboard, but I think there is scope for improvement in the UI. There may be other areas I would like to improve in SolarWinds NPM.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Wire data analytics."
"You cannot hide from the wire; all truth lives in the packets, and ExtraHop gets them to talk!"
"We have been able to improve the mean time to resolution by several hours in some cases."
"It gives you full 360-degree visibility into your entire infrastructure."
"Not only can you look at the protocol import level. It also has a live PCAP analysis."
"ExtraHop came out with the best price, and I think that it gives us a broader view of our network."
"ExtraHop is far ahead of anything comparable in the industry."
"The most valuable feature is the way it handles data, from Layer 2 up to Layer 7. We can see everything that happens in the network."
"We use NPM to monitor our enterprise for up/down status on network devices."
"Whether you want basic enterprise network monitoring or a full suite of network diagnostic tools and monitors, I recommend Orion 9 for its full feature set and ease of use."
"It improved the way our organization functions by being a consolidated product which I was able to do a lot of the initial data entry and organization with."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"In a few short years, SolarWinds has empowered us to provide robust infrastructure monitoring, including a converged view of our servers, both the physical and virtual servers, and the storage and application environments."
"It has helped us a ton to actually be proactive and not simply wait for customers to call."
"I believe the ease of setup and use, including everything, from the initial installation to the discovery of devices is the most valuable."
"The nice thing about SolarWinds is that it's kind of all-in-one. I can manage the status of my networking devices, whether they are up or down, I can see how much traffic is going across an interface, and I can run a report that tells me exactly what that traffic is."
 

Cons

"They either have to go broad or decide what their bread and butter is and get really good at that."
"The improvement that would make the most impact would be expanding on the new EXA big data back end."
"There is room for improvement in the security part. They have a new solution, ExtraHop Reveal(x), and I think it needs improvement."
"I would improve the Rule-Based Access Control (RBAC) by providing granular access control to the data."
"The solution could get more aggressive in the discounting of the overall cost."
"This solution would be improved if it had the ability to retain data longer."
"We've had some struggles getting it to see everything that we want to see. Network visibility is something that needs to be improved."
"We'd like to see a local presence within the region in order to have seamless service whether it's the support, the implementation, or professional services."
"The interface could be made more user-friendly."
"Technical support hasn't been the most reliable. Sometimes it takes them a long time to respond or resolve the issues."
"SolarWinds NPM offers limited customization options. Users and developers may find restrictions in modifying or customizing the dashboard and adjusting monitoring features such as polling intervals or SLAs for different nodes."
"However, the sales team at SolarWinds is extremely aggressive and I would give it probably a 1/10."
"There are still huge concerns about security."
"The solution does not offer much customization so is somewhat inflexible."
"The integration with the APIs and the web servers deployed can definitely be improved."
"SolarWinds is expensive. That's why it's primarily banks using the solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is higher than other solutions, but with such good features, I think it's worth it."
"The pricing is fair considering the value provided."
"The price of this solution for our environment is about £650,000 ($855,000 USD) for three years."
"It's expensive and there are costs in addition to the standard licensing."
"Excluding the costs of running VMs and physical blade servers, our licensing costs run around US$200,000/year for over 60 polling engines."
"The price is more expensive than some other products, such as ManageEngine."
"Licenses depend on the number of devices, but all license levels come with technical support."
"We pay a yearly licensing fee."
"Some solutions are open source and free."
"It is expensive."
"It is too expensive."
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
May 31, 2015
Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Construction Company
12%
Healthcare Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise87
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
It actually depends on the exact purpose or kind of devices (network devices, servers, something else). Some tools are better for only network devices while others are better for a cloud monitoring...
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
We are partners with SolarWinds and we sell a lot of Network management to large enterprises also because of scalability, products like Network Performance Monitor & Netflow Traffic Analyzer ar...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor, SolarWinds Network Bandwidth Analyzer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Alaska Airlines, bet365, Concur, McKesson, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Practice Fusion, Seattle Children's Hospital, Steward Health Care System
Microsoft, Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, and MasterCard
Find out what your peers are saying about ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations vs. SolarWinds NPM and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.