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Nagios Network Analyzer vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 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

Nagios Network Analyzer
Ranking in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...
Ranking in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
5th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) category, the mindshare of Nagios Network Analyzer is 1.1%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is 5.6%, down from 7.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
 

Featured Reviews

Gilbert Mwiinga - PeerSpot reviewer
Effectively monitors the uptime of all equipment and network connectivity
There is room for improvement on the setup side. It's not very user-friendly, especially for those who aren't tech-savvy. I find it a bit hard to set up initially. It could be done better to make it easier to configure. It would be beneficial for users. For additional features, I have an idea. I'm not sure if it's already there, but it would be great to have a feature that maps the network and shows which devices are connected. It could provide information about how traffic flows and offer a visual representation of how devices are physically connected to each other. It would be like a network audit feature that displays the connections between switches and other devices. So, in future releases, a network mapping and visualization feature would be valuable.
DeepakVyas - PeerSpot reviewer
Utilization alerts enhance monitoring with good alerts
The tool itself is very complicated, so training is required to handle it effectively. Configuration and the streamlining process are very complex. In my view, it is a good product if properly configured and streamlined according to your IT infrastructure. For enterprise-level organizations, SolarWinds is more appropriate than for small and medium enterprises. I would rate the solution eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is useful for monitoring network devices."
"Network tracking is the most valuable feature of Network Analyzer."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The solution offers very good system monitoring. It's easy to manage your network, as well as your hardware and software. It's really useful."
"Its initial setup process is straightforward."
"The tool's UI is user-friendly, and pricing is affordable. It is very easy to deploy and learn."
"The network monitoring feature, especially, stands out to me."
"It is highly customizable and can be integrated well with third-party software."
"With SolarWinds, we are now able to accurately gauge bandwidth consumption."
"What my organization likes best about SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is its easy deployment. It's also well-integrated in terms of monitoring because my organization also uses a SolarWinds solution for monitoring. You can connect SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer directly to that monitoring tool to get information. My organization also finds the default graphs that appear before the configuration in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer very useful."
"I would rate NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's stability ten out of ten."
"I like that it is able to monitor multiple devices and it's vendor-agnostic."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"I can point out the exact root cause 'why.' If there is a slowness, I can point out what was before the issue or before the slowness, what it is, and what is now."
"The dashboard alerts me when a critical device goes off the network."
"So far, it is a very stable product."
 

Cons

"It has an old-fashioned interface."
"The graphics and reports can be a little bit better."
"I think the reports can be improved. They're adopted."
"They need to have some automation models embedded in them."
"It's very hard to install materials. You need a lot of documentation. They should make it easier to install and configure the solution."
"Nagios Network Analyzer should integrate an application monitoring solution to monitor application bandwidth usage."
"There is room for improvement on the setup side."
"The bandwidth for its front-end version needs enhancement."
"I'm expecting to see a little bit more artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. They need a bit more sophistication in that."
"The plotting of the device on the map is not appropriate."
"There is a lack of documentation ......as well as a lack of dashboards."
"It is very slow to pick the dynamics of the network."
"The analysis can utilize algorithms like K-means clustering or associative neural networks for predictions rather than relying on generative AI, which is more suited for text."
"The tool itself is very complicated, so training is required to handle it effectively."
"It's not a cheap product, so the pricing could be improved."
"If your network is on SolarWinds, and you notice that the traffic is bad because it says "user downloading a heavy file," it doesn't indicate which endpoint is downloading those heavy files. SolarWinds doesn't have the tools to be able to handle this kind of situation. You can just notice through your network device that the traffic is becoming overwhelming or heavy, but you cannot go inside and get more details related to the endpoint where it is happening. We would like SolarWinds to be able to handle this kind of situation and even manage the traffic inside a network from the endpoint to the network device. These would be good enhancements. It is mostly stable. The problem comes only when we want to add another SolarWinds model. SolarWinds has so many models, and sometimes when we want to add other models on the platforms that are reserved for our firm, it freezes. When this happens, we have to create a new VM for that model."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is cost-efficient."
"I rate Nagios Network Analyzer's pricing a six out of ten."
"They charge around ten thousand per month for one thousand nodes. That is their overall cost, but it differs on which company you are applying to, whether you are a service provider or an enterprise."
"We pay yearly, and we are happy with its price."
"The licensing for this solution is based on the number of nodes."
"The solution's licensing is high-priced."
"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."
"For our environment, we pay approximately $25,000 USD yearly."
"Pricing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is very high. I have a customer that needs the solution but doesn't have the budget for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer because the problem is that you can't use the solution only. You have to buy requirements such as the SolarWinds NPM first, and some companies don't have the budget for all the required components and modules. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer can cost up to $10,000, and some customers don't have that budget. Another product has all the modules that SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer has, with a very low price, that can be a replacement, which is ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer. PRTG is another solution that can replace SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer."
"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."
"The price of this solution is exceptional."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Educational Organization
71%
Computer Software Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Manufacturing Company
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Nagios Network Analyzer?
The solution is useful for monitoring network devices.
What needs improvement with Nagios Network Analyzer?
It’s an old solution. It has an old-fashioned interface. The product must provide a compliance testing feature.
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...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
The plotting of the device on the map is not appropriate. It should be like a Meraki cloud, where if you are familiar with Meraki devices, you can locate any device directly on the world map.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Netflow Traffic Analyzer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NuBlue, St.Elisabeth Hospital, Akamit Systems, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, ValueClick, Sunrise Banks
Oceaneering International, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, 335th Signal Command, Immofori
Find out what your peers are saying about Nagios Network Analyzer vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.