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Flowmon 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

Flowmon
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Network Detection and Response (NDR) (14th)
SolarWinds NPM
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
160
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (4th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (5th), Cloud Monitoring Software (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Flowmon and SolarWinds NPM aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Flowmon is designed for Network Detection and Response (NDR) and holds a mindshare of 2.1%, up 1.9% compared to last year.
SolarWinds NPM, on the other hand, focuses on Network Monitoring Software, holds 3.4% mindshare, down 4.6% since last year.
Network Detection and Response (NDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Flowmon2.1%
Darktrace16.8%
Vectra AI12.6%
Other68.5%
Network Detection and Response (NDR)
Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SolarWinds NPM3.4%
Zabbix5.7%
PRTG Network Monitor3.3%
Other87.6%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Pifu Lin - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer at DYNASAFE TECHNOLOGIES PTE. LTD.
Quick identification of network issues enhances performance monitoring
We will try to Proof of Concept (POC) to a client in Taiwan. We just use the features for the Network Performance Monitor (NPM) Flowmon is more easy to understand and helps find network issues more quickly. We need this solution to monitor the network performance. We started using it three…
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

"Flowmon is more easy to understand and helps find network issues more quickly."
"The artificial intelligence and automatic detection system in Flowmon Solution are perfect for every, type of customer, such as government and commerce."
"It is an open platform, so in terms of integration, we are quite happy. We can integrate it with other SNMP solutions. We can also integrate it with security solutions, such as a SIEM solution."
"The solution is stable."
"Flowmon is more easy to understand and helps find network issues more quickly."
"The solution is user-friendly and has many options for customized monitoring that other tools don't have."
"Everything has been complete and stable for our needs over the past four years."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds NPM is the performance monitoring to see the memory, and CPU utilization."
"The alerting system in SolarWinds NPM aids in proactive network management."
"We don't have any issues with the stability of SolarWinds NPM."
"The product covers our needs for the basic care and feeding of servers, whether they are physical or virtual."
"A product that is well-tested and trusted in demanding situations."
"SolarWinds is reasonably priced."
 

Cons

"It would be helpful to have more details about the monitoring of the infrastructure. It should have support for SNMP. This is something that is currently not there in the product."
"The licensing price could be better."
"If there was better visualization in Flowmon Solution it would be good."
"I do not know the detailed pricing."
"It would be nice if SolarWinds added some technical protocols like Modbus. The market needs a simple solution for monitoring a technical device."
"It is difficult for stakeholders to translate technical requirements, which results in difficulties selecting a platform or implementing a solution."
"One of the challenges with SolarWinds is that in order to pull the data, we have to have a lot of false positives."
"If they did some type of synthetic monitoring, it would have been better."
"The console could be more user-friendly. It would be better if SolarWinds updated the user interface."
"SolarWinds NPM could improve the graphics of the interface and more customized reporting."
"Being able to detect devices that are trying to connect wirelessly would make using this solution much easier."
"SolarWinds needs to upscale on observability and add full-fledged observability features, including security features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It works with a permanent license, and then you can pay for the support. For the gold support, you need to pay yearly."
"The price of the solution could be better."
"The licensing fee accrues only once, but that of support is annual."
"The cost of the personal perpetual license for SolarWinds NPM is approximately $2,000."
"Our customer reports that the solution is somewhat costly and licensing is a bit complicated."
"It is not an expensive product."
"Licenses depend on the number of devices, but all license levels come with technical support."
"The cost is based on the number of nodes, so it is expensive when you have a lot of them."
"We pay approximately $700 per year for renewal of the license."
"It is expensive."
"SolarWinds NPM has different pricing models available. The cost of the solution is less than some competitors."
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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
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Performing Arts
8%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise85
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Flowmon Anomaly Detection System?
I don't understand the price. I am in deployment, so I do not know the detailed pricing.
What is your primary use case for Flowmon Anomaly Detection System?
We will try to Proof of Concept (POC) to a client in Taiwan. We just use the features for the Network Performance Monitor (NPM).
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Flowmon Anomaly Detection System
Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor, SolarWinds Network Bandwidth Analyzer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SEGA
Microsoft, Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, and MasterCard
Find out what your peers are saying about Flowmon vs. SolarWinds NPM and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.