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Iris Session Analyzer vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer comparison

NETSCOUT and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) category. NETSCOUT is ranked #15, while SolarWinds is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.7. NETSCOUT holds a 1.9% mindshare in NTA, compared to SolarWinds’s 6.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of NETSCOUT users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.
Iris Session Analyzer
Read 2 Iris Session Analyzer reviews
  • 298 Views
  • 295 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...
Read 43 SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer reviews
  • 2,434 Views
  • 876 Comparison Views
83% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and Iris Session Analyzer are network monitoring solutions. Users tend to favor Iris Session Analyzer for its advanced features despite the higher cost.

Features: SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer offers detailed traffic analysis, customizable alerts, and extensive network monitoring capabilities. Iris Session Analyzer provides robust session tracking, in-depth protocol analysis, and comprehensive packet capturing. Iris Session Analyzer delivers deeper insights into packet-level data.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer could benefit from more intuitive navigation and better integration with third-party tools. Iris Session Analyzer needs improved documentation and experiences occasional performance lags with large data sets.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer has a straightforward deployment process and responsive customer service. Iris Session Analyzer requires significant configuration but also has reliable customer service.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is competitively priced with a favorable return on investment. Iris Session Analyzer has a higher cost but is considered worth the price due to its feature set.

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To learn more, read our detailed Iris Session Analyzer vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Report (Updated: March 2026).
Buyer's Guide
Iris Session Analyzer vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
March 2026
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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

Iris Session Analyzer
Ranking in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...
Ranking in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) category, the mindshare of Iris Session Analyzer is 1.9%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is 6.1%, up from 5.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer6.1%
Iris Session Analyzer1.9%
Other92.0%
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Anas - PeerSpot reviewer
Muhammad Anas
Assistant Manager NOC and Infrastructure at NiFT
Provides a memory utilization graph and shows disk space and uplink utilization but could include smart navigation in next release
The solution is deployed on-premises. There are more than 20 people who use this solution in my organization. They're infrastructure engineers, network engineers, and information security engineers A great feature is the memory utilization graph. It shows utilization, disk space utilization,…
Read full review
Raja Xabi - PeerSpot reviewer
Raja Xabi
Technical Manager at APRAL
Improved bandwidth management and network visibility have resulted in financial benefits and streamlined operations
There is always room for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, such as implementing instant reporting based on business intelligence reports and more granular filters in their dashboard to improve the GUI view and reporting. The licensing model of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is always an issue for users because competitors offer unlimited and perpetual licenses, and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model is quite costly compared to other brands. If users are comfortable with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, they have to make the hard decision to invest, and it's suggested from a user's perspective that SolarWinds should improve their financial model and licensing to become competitive, especially for small to medium businesses.
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

"The feature that I have found the most useful is the decode of packets. It gives us a variety of information that helps us in figuring out what to look at. The networks are getting really complex, and without the information that we get from Iris Session Analyzer, we couldn't do our job. Its graphical user interface is also very easy to use and intuitive."
"A great feature is the memory utilization graph."
"The integration with other SolarWinds products is good."
"It is great at telling you if your devices are working and it keeps an eye on your network's overall performance."
"I like that it is able to monitor multiple devices and it's vendor-agnostic."
"The monitoring is perfect, showing you the details for the utilization of resources and network bandwidth."
"What I like about SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is that it's useful for analyzing traffic. It also has an application visibility feature that lets you control applications."
"It allows us to pinpoint which protocol is overloading the link."
"The most valuable feature is the alarm that is set up to trigger based on bandwidth utilization."
"The bandwidth monitoring functionality is one of the most important features for our customers. When the customer notices that their bandwidth usage is too high for some reason, they will use the traffic analysis within SolarWinds NTA to identify which protocols (e.g. HTTPS) or applications are using up the bandwidth."
More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer pros
 

Cons

"Sometimes the network analyzer will show that a server is down when it's actually working."
"They can increase flexibility in the search engine. Basically, I go with the information I have at the time. If I could just type in the parameter that I want to search for and its value, it might be easier than having to do the groundwork upfront before I can get my traces."
"SolarWinds' technical support is ok, but it could be faster and more knowledgeable."
"The Atlas module that is used for building the network map is very bad."
"They should work on the configuration of the Log Analyzer feature."
"This solution would benefit from having more security-based communications between the actual devices and the software itself."
"Currently, it shows only the top ten applications or ports in use, while the remaining data appears as 'remaining traffic,' causing confusion."
"It is a scalable solution, but it is costly to scale. Therefore, I would rate scalability at eight out of ten."
"The licensing model of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is always an issue for users because competitors offer unlimited and perpetual licenses, and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model is quite costly compared to other brands."
"The tool itself is very complicated, so training is required to handle it effectively."
More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't know what the cost to buy the solution was, but I doubt if it's a significant part of the budget as far as the maintenance and support are concerned."
"Licensing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is paid yearly, and there are no additional costs that you need to pay apart from the standard licensing fees because you don't need to purchase another solution to make SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer work. Pricing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is more expensive than other solutions."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The price of this solution is exceptional."
"The solution's licensing is high-priced."
"The pricing is really good."
"NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is reasonably priced."
"SolarWinds' pricing structure is the primary reason why some customers opt for another solution such as ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer. In NTA, you are charged per port, meaning that if you have a 24-port switch you will be charged for 24 individual nodes. ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer, on the other hand, charges per switch, such that if you add a switch, the entire switch will count as one single node."
"We have licenses for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer. In terms of pricing, its license is not that expensive versus other tools such as HP."
More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Healthcare Company
7%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise26
 

Questions from the Community

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Earn 20 points
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
I have worked from 1973 with all kind of systems in large enterprises across the world. And have experience with all kind of software in monitoring from infra to end to end, it depends on the funct...
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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
The licensing model of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is always an issue for users because competitors offer unlimited and perpetual licenses, and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model i...
See all answers
What needs improvement with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
Regarding improvement, the application monitoring capabilities are not exceptional. If SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer could improve in that area, it would be helpful. It is less AIOps driven a...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Nagios Network Analyzer vs Iris Session Analyzer
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Wireshark vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
Compared 10% of the time
Zabbix vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Logo
Zabbix vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
Compared 8% of the time
Darktrace vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Logo
Darktrace vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
Compared 6% of the time
WhatsUp Gold vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Logo
WhatsUp Gold vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
Compared 5% of the time
Auvik Network Management (ANM) vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Logo
Auvik Network Management (ANM) vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
Compared 3% of the time
More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
March 2026
Iris Session Analyzer reportDownload Iris Session Analyzer product report
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
February 2026
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer reportDownload SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
Netflow Traffic Analyzer
 

Overview

Iris Session Analyzer (ISA) uncovers and analyzes the specific calls and sessions that fail to deliver required performance.

NETSCOUT
SolarWinds Netflow Traffic Analyzer enables you to capture data from continuous streams of network traffic and convert those raw numbers into easy-to-interpret charts and tables that quantify exactly how the corporate network is being used, by whom, and for what purpose.
SolarWinds
 

Sample Customers

xtel communications, banco votorantim, petronas
Oceaneering International, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, 335th Signal Command, Immofori
Buyer's Guide
Iris Session Analyzer vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
March 2026
Free Report: Iris Session Analyzer vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
Find out what your peers are saying about Iris Session Analyzer vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
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