Meraki Dashboard vs NetMon comparison

Cisco and Exabeam are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #19 with an average rating of 8.4, while Exabeam is ranked #53 with an average rating of 7.5. Cisco holds a 0.7% mindshare in NMS, compared to Exabeam’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Exabeam users who would recommend it.

Meraki Dashboard

Read 59 Meraki Dashboard reviews

3,865 Views
3,285 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

NetMon

Read 12 NetMon reviews

2,473 Views
2,003 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Meraki Dashboard

NetMon

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 1, 2026

Meraki Dashboard and NetMon provide network management solutions with distinct features and approaches. Meraki Dashboard holds an advantage due to its user-friendly cloud-based interface and centralized control, while NetMon excels in detailed traffic analysis and security monitoring.

Features: Meraki Dashboard offers easy integration, a centralized control interface, and strong security features. Its cloud-based design enables comprehensive monitoring and seamless device management. NetMon provides extensive traffic analysis, deep packet analytics, and AI-based monitoring for threat detection.

Room for Improvement: Meraki users highlight licensing complexity, high costs, and limitations in user navigation and scalability for larger enterprises. They also seek expanded VPN features. NetMon faces challenges with third-party integration, a complex pricing model, and requires improved data analytics, customization, and training documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Meraki Dashboard is deployed via the public cloud, enhancing accessibility and ease of use. Its customer service is generally positive but slow at times. NetMon primarily operates on-premises, suitable for existing infrastructures, with good technical support but improvement needed in communication regarding deployment and services.

Pricing and ROI: Meraki Dashboard's pricing is high but justified by its features and management ease, providing notable ROI through time savings and simplified IT operations. NetMon, while priced for large companies, is considered expensive for smaller ones. Both solutions aim to save time and enhance network awareness, with Meraki offering better value in ease of use and management.

To learn more, read our detailed Meraki Dashboard vs. NetMon Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard vs. NetMon

April 2026

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Helped 893,244 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

Meraki Dashboard

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

19th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetMon

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

53rd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (13th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Meraki Dashboard is 0.7%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetMon is 0.6%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Meraki Dashboard	0.7%
NetMon	0.6%
Other	98.7%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Dashboard provides comprehensive network security and management capabilities

I don't have specific handy names. Meraki Dashboard uses multiple functions where we can configure SSIDs, firewall policies, DHCP, multiple VLANs and DHCP configurations, VLAN configurations, access control policies, MAC binding, client access based on MAC authentication and certificate-based authentication. We have configured SSO for Windows Active Directory by configuring the RADIUS services. We have implemented many customer requirements in Meraki Dashboard. With the detailed visibility feature of Meraki Dashboard, I get connected clients information, including how much data each client downloaded and what applications they accessed. I can obtain detailed data including ISP links level monitoring and speed. I can perform speed tests, generate analytics reports, convert to Excel based on each user for each department, create dashboards, monitor and limit bandwidths, and restrict specific URLs. The advanced security configuration in Meraki Dashboard is useful for network security. Substantial security can be achieved within Meraki Dashboard itself, eliminating the need for additional firewalls to protect your network. You can configure WAN monitoring, users' ACLs, URL filtering, web filtering, and department-wise access configuration for specific client applications. It's completely cloud-managed, and in a simplified way, you don't need to visit any physical infrastructure to monitor activities. Apart from access points, everything is in the cloud. We have monitored IoT solutions, CCTV monitoring, and can detect and control intrusions. When people connect IoT devices to your network, Meraki Dashboard can detect what device it is and control those access controls, even with different operating systems.

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SumitRangari

Pan India IT Infrastructure Management / End-user Services at Tata Group

Has supported real-time event detection and reporting accuracy while database integration has required extra effort

Sometimes it may be difficult to incorporate new additional databases in NetMon, and we faced some challenges at that time. However, currently, it is not giving many challenges.It is difficult to integrate NetMon with other databases. We can customize NetMon's monitoring views, but it is done by the team who handles it, as it is outsourced.

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

"An excellent dashboard that is currently unique in covering both SD-WAN and SD-LAN with built-in security."

"The product can scale if you need it to."

"Meraki Dashboard does not require a lot of maintenance. Cisco tells communicates through the Meraki Dashboard web client, it will automatically send updates to the equipment. They will send you an email on what day the updates will take place. If you want to proceed, you can click on accept, or you can decline them and schedule the updates at another time."

"The feature I find most valuable is the single pane of glass where you can configure a monitor view, all from one dashboard. For example, on the wireless side, you can configure it under the configuration panel, and then view statistics like location analytics, user analytics, etc."

"Meraki gives a very comprehensive dashboard which gives the customer a lot of flexibility in terms of understanding the exact situational position of their infrastructure and what is happening in terms of the infrastructure, or how their access points are behaving."

"It is very stable and we have been using it for five years."

"It is very easy to manage. It has good security, and it is working well with our firewall."

"For small businesses, I would recommend Meraki over pretty much anything else on the market."

More Meraki Dashboard pros

"NetMon's best feature is traffic analysis."

"Visibility is a valuable feature, the ability to see even if the traffic is not going into the firewall"

"The analytics feature is the most valuable feature."

"NetMon's best feature is traffic analysis."

"The most valuable feature is the log, which can be analyzed by our SIEM solution."

"Compared to many other products in the market, I think LogRhythm has the highest cost to performance ratio in terms of its value."

"The initial setup is straightforward because we can deploy an open server."

"We are using NetMon's real-time traffic analysis regularly with a team of four members who effectively monitor all alerts and events, which has helped them identify whether there could be a severe incident."

More NetMon pros

Cons

"The wait time to speak with a Meraki support engineer is always long, but they get the job done."

"The downside to the simplicity is that you can't get as granular as you could with the Cisco APs."

"They can improve the landing page in Meraki Dashboard. When I go into an organization, they can include a lot more infographics. They can also simplify it a bit and consolidate it. For example, if I've got five branches and I go into customer A's profile or organization, I'd like to see an infographic on the landing page providing a snippet of the entire network layout, that is, all branches in one snapshot. From there, I would like to go into the network that I want to work on or view."

"We would like to be able to test the health of WAN connections."

"There needs to be more improvement on the device-connected interface."

"They could improve the product by providing enhanced utilization reports and more detailed independent access reports."

"The client VPN could use some help, but that's probably partially Microsoft's fault because of the Windows client for VPNs, which keeps changing."

"The biggest problem is the absence of a VPN client like AnyConnect with the device."

More Meraki Dashboard cons

"Some of the automated tasks we can perform on QRadar cannot be performed on LogRhythm because the solution has limitations."

"The main concern is that LogRhythm has not improved NetMon but instead introduced a separate product, which many customers, including us, would prefer to be integrated into a single platform for easier management."

"Could use a topology diagram which would help get an exact visual."

"The platform's integration features often need to be improved."

"Sometimes it may be difficult to incorporate new additional databases in NetMon, and we faced some challenges at that time."

"The training for this product is not very good and needs to be improved."

"One thing that surprised me was the current version of LogRhythm does not natively support Windows 2016."

"There is an issue with tunneling in relation to how the connectivity is established between the end devices and where NetMon is installed. On the console, I often observe that there's a difference of a few seconds or maybe a minute, and this lag time should not be there."

More NetMon cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is said to be expensive."

"The solution is currently the most expensive on the market."

"The pricing for a small setup is only a few hundred dollars a year. The fee is subscription-based."

"The licensing fees are $180 USD, per AP, for three years."

"From a pricing perspective, they are still expensive."

"Typically, the license model is for one, three, and five years. They can just be a bit more flexible around it and look into providing an option for 24 months."

"My view is that it's expensive, but it's the best."

"The Meraki Dashboard has more competitive pricing."

More Meraki Dashboard pricing and cost advice

"The price of this solution is too high, so it should be made more practical and more valuable for the customer."

"I don't have visibility into the pricing of LogRhythm NetMon as it's handled through our commercial partnerships."

"The product is expensive for smaller companies."

"Pricing is okay. There were some competitors that were extremely expensive and there were some which were really inexpensive but LogRhythm stayed in the middle of them."

"NetMon's licensing costs about $85k per year, with some extra costs for support."

"LogRhythm's licensing part is something that depends on the license you want since they offer it on a perpetual and subscription basis."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Educational Organization

Transportation Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	26

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki Dashboard?

I would rate the pricing for Meraki Dashboard as one.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Meraki Dashboard?

Regarding Meraki Dashboard, I would suggest improvements to Cisco ISE integration. I have used Cisco ISE for port security and I never liked the GUI because it is difficult. If I need to check the ...

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What is your primary use case for Meraki Dashboard?

My main use case for Meraki Dashboard is as a NOC engineer for the MSP, where we have three sites. We add all the sites to Meraki Dashboard for live monitoring. I am the one who uses LogicMonitor, ...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for LogRhythm NetMon?

I don't have visibility into the pricing of LogRhythm NetMon as it's handled through our commercial partnerships.

See all answers

What needs improvement with LogRhythm NetMon?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for LogRhythm NetMon?

We have outsourced our SIEM solutions at the moment, and we are using it.We have been using LogRhythm in our organization as a SaaS offering. We have outsourced it as part of the actual scope where...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 13% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

Ixia CloudLens vs NetMon

Compared 6% of the time

ObserverLIVE vs NetMon

Compared 5% of the time

Niagara Visibility Controller vs NetMon

Compared 5% of the time

SCOM vs NetMon

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard

April 2026

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Buyer's Guide

NetMon

April 2026

Download NetMon product report

Also Known As

No data available

LogRhythm Network Monitor

Overview

Meraki Dashboard offers intuitive, cloud-based network management, simplifying tasks with centralized control, real-time monitoring, and comprehensive security.

Offering ease of use and a single-pane-of-glass view, Meraki Dashboard enhances network management through centralized monitoring and configuration. Its intuitive interface allows remote device management, policy configuration, and real-time alerts. Cloud-based access provides scalability and automatic updates, while detailed analytics and security measures ensure robust control over networks. Though some users mention complexity in certain configurations and third-party integration gaps, its continuous improvement and network management efficiency accommodate extensive business requirements.

What are the Key Features of Meraki Dashboard?

Ease of Use: Simplified interface that allows easy navigation and operations.
Single-Pane-of-Glass View: Centralized management of all network components from one platform.
Real-Time Monitoring: Provides up-to-date insights for proactive network management.
Cloud-Based Access: Accessible from anywhere, enabling remote management and updates.
Automatic Updates: Ensures the system is always up-to-date with the latest features and security patches.
Detailed Analytics: Offers insights into network performance and security analytics.
Comprehensive Security Measures: Features built-in security protocols and tools for enhanced protection.

What Benefits and ROI Should Users Consider?

Centralized Control: Streamlines network management across multiple sites.
Scalability: Grows with business needs, supporting a wide range of devices and configurations.
Integration Capabilities: Merges easily with existing systems, though improvements are desired for third-party devices.
Improved Network Efficiency: Enhances visibility and control, reducing downtime and improving performance.
Remote Management: Facilitates convenient configuration and monitoring from any location.

Enterprises deploy Meraki Dashboard for diverse network management purposes, including monitoring, access point deployment, security configuration, and VLAN and LAN management. In education, it provides centralized Wi-Fi management and ensures secure student access. Retail businesses utilize it for seamless device integration and analytics, while healthcare facilities employ its robust security and real-time monitoring to safeguard patient data and maintain network efficiency. Its cloud-based interface enhances control and visibility across numerous sites, simplifying management and configurations.

Cisco

NetMon offers significant capabilities in log aggregation, traffic analysis, and real-time network insights. Its ease of use accommodates both entry-level and advanced functionalities, enhancing network visibility and threat detection.

NetMon provides seamless analytics with its real-time dashboards and advanced AI integration. The platform is designed for comprehensive monitoring and detailed analysis, making it indispensable for identifying network traffic, origins, destinations, and facilitating threat detection through lateral traffic visibility. Despite its powerful analytics and customization features, improvements in product integration, customer support, and pricing could increase its competitive edge. Connectivity, topology visualization, and server performance are areas noted for enhancement. Integration with protocols like Gflow and Netflow might alleviate agent-based restriction challenges. NetMon sends correlated data to LogRhythm SIEM for enhanced threat analysis and is used for tasks like traffic analysis and DPA.

What are NetMon's key features?

Log Aggregation: Seamless collection of diverse network logs for analysis.
Traffic Analysis: Detailed inspection of network traffic for identifying irregular patterns.
AI Integration: Advanced analytics powered by robust AI capabilities.
Customizable Dashboards: Real-time insights tailored to user requirements.
Correlation Engine: In-depth correlation of network activity for comprehensive reports.
Deep Packet Analytics: Thorough examination of data packets for granular insights.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Enhanced Threat Detection: Significant improvements in identifying lateral threats.
Comprehensive Insights: Complete visibility into network and user activities.
Efficient Monitoring: Real-time analytics streamline network monitoring processes.
Compliance Support: Strong integration supports adherence to compliance standards.

NetMon is widely adopted in industries requiring detailed traffic monitoring and security, such as finance and healthcare. Its capabilities in traffic type identification and correlated analysis make it essential for environments where detecting irregular patterns is critical. It's utilized for network security through comprehensive analysis and integration with SIEM systems.

Exabeam

Sample Customers

Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe

Sera-Brynn

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard vs. NetMon

April 2026

Free Report: Meraki Dashboard vs. NetMon

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