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Meraki Dashboard vs WhatsUp Gold 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

Meraki Dashboard
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
18th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
WhatsUp Gold
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
22nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (29th), Server Monitoring (14th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (18th), Configuration Management (20th), Log Management (39th), Cloud Monitoring Software (23rd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Meraki Dashboard is 0.7%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WhatsUp Gold is 2.2%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Meraki Dashboard0.7%
WhatsUp Gold2.2%
Other97.1%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

MURALI NIDAMANURI - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
EC
Technical Manager at Quan Hung Gourmet
Efficient monitoring with detailed customization, yet complexity remains
The best feature of WhatsUp Gold is the automatic generation of topology and its integration with virtualization and wireless. I have used the automated device discovery with this topology feature. The interactive map feature helps me manage the topology because sometimes we cannot draw the topology correctly, so we need to manually edit the connections. The alerting system is very tunable and customizable, but it's a little complicated to use. Many customers cannot manage it by themselves and need support from us, the provider. We always use the dashboards in the SOC, where we constantly display a dashboard or multiple dashboards. This allows us to know immediately if the connection or bandwidth is full or if the connection is broken.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"There is no need to swap the hardware at all the locations, and importing the APs into the Dashboard was a simple and quick process."
"Meraki Dashboard centralizes control of all our equipment into one cloud-based console, so we can manage it from anywhere. We can resolve problems remotely outside of business hours because it is on the cloud. You can use the dashboard to change security settings or configure routers and switches."
"The most valuable feature is its simplicity in navigating through the dashboard."
"Meraki is pretty much the leader in cloud-based technology when it comes to networks and they've saved us and our clients a lot of time."
"The ability of the product to perform with simplicity of deployment make it a valuable solution."
"Meraki Dashboard has everything together that legacy Cisco did not, with a simple interface that is easy to use and has made our expansions and acquisitions pretty easy."
"The most valuable features are the ease of use and a single-pane-of-glass that allows us to identify issues across the entire network from one dashboard."
"It is very easy to manage. It has good security, and it is working well with our firewall."
"Overall, we have been satisfied with the functionality of the product."
"The most important features of WhatsUp Gold are the server health and uptime it provides. Additionally, WhatsUp Gold is a Windows-based solution which is a benefit."
"One thing good about WhatsUp Gold is that it is fairly stable."
"Their tech support is very good."
"In terms of pricing, I'd say that the pricing is nice and the product is good."
"The interface in the last few years it has been a lot greater, they are much more user-friendly. I like the interface."
"The most valuable feature of WhatsUp Gold is NetFlow and the virtualized maps."
"The installation and configuration process are easy."
 

Cons

"Some features could be added."
"As far as scalability, the product is not very scalable. The product will only be fit to cover small to medium businesses and Cisco is not likely to improve on that scalability as they have other products in line for the larger market."
"They could improve the product by providing enhanced utilization reports and more detailed independent access reports."
"Monitoring overload is an area that can be improved. I would like to see an alert event feature that monitors what users are downloading and how to block some applications."
"The product is missing a VPN and it is a major issue when it comes to deployment."
"The price could be lower because the license for access points is expensive."
"One area that could use improvement in the Meraki Dashboard is user-friendliness when navigating to port configurations."
"The process of setting up cost and licensing was not quick. It was pretty clunky and it was a challenge."
"There are some subscription charges that are quite heavy. I need to pay for support every year and these charges can be quite expensive."
"Sometimes it's a little bit slow."
"Setting up WhatsUp Gold is complicated and not easy because it requires managing SNMP and many complex settings in the devices it's monitoring, and fine-tuning it to fit our needs is also not very easy."
"The point system is not clear and clarity around this would improve our understanding of the system."
"I would like to see them do an enhancement to the application monitoring. A lot of other products do better application monitoring so they should do some improvements to the application monitoring."
"The technical support does not bother to respond."
"Users want SMS available via Whatsapp Gold. They don't want to go through third party SMS servers. The solution should work to make this possible."
"The product is old and not updated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"The Meraki Dashboard has more competitive pricing."
"My view is that it's expensive, but it's the best."
"The price of Meraki Dashboard is not expensive because knowing that it is a cloud-based solution has its benefits."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"The pricing of the tool is relatively high compared to other solutions. It comes with a premium that exceeds that of its competitors by approximately 25 percent."
"The pricing can be on the expensive side when considering competing products."
"The price of WhatsUp Gold is good."
"There are some subscription charges that are quite heavy. I need to pay for support every year and these charges can be quite expensive. Aside from the initial cost for the tool, you need to pay additionally for support."
"Pricing is reasonable compared to other products."
"The choice of version depends on the number of points, or devices, that you want to monitor, and this makes the product expensive."
"There is a license needed to use WhatsUp Gold."
"The tool's price is reasonable. WhatsUp Gold is cheaper than SolarWinds."
"The most valuable feature is the cost compared to other solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise29
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki Dashboard?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing is that it is what it is. It is pricey and sometimes surprising. Of course, with Cisco, you pay for the premium because it is a premium produc...
What needs improvement with Meraki Dashboard?
I think Meraki Dashboard can be improved with a couple of additional features, such as the ability to download analytics into a spreadsheet, which is not currently available, the ability to configu...
What is your primary use case for Meraki Dashboard?
The main use case for Meraki Dashboard is to manage the Meraki Dashboard ecosystem, and the main reason is the ease of use.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WhatsUp Gold?
Clients find the licensing calculator confusing, but we simplify this for them by collecting relevant information first. The licensing is based on devices, providing better cost-effectiveness than ...
What needs improvement with WhatsUp Gold?
It would be great if WhatsUp Gold could add features that simplify management with AI, as it is currently too complicated to manage.
What is your primary use case for WhatsUp Gold?
My use case for WhatsUp Gold includes all device availability checks, bandwidth usage, CPU, and memory usage, as well as alarm notifications.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe
Artoni Trasporti, Austin Independent School District, Banca Marche, Burke County North Carolina, Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine, Clayco, Community Integrated Care, Desca, Deutsche Bergbau, Flexi-Van, Gropper, Hamleys, Hammonds Furniture, Knowledge IT, Idras S.P.A., Sibeg, Swann Engineering, Trivium Lindenhof
Find out what your peers are saying about Meraki Dashboard vs. WhatsUp Gold and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.