Netwrix Auditor vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

Netwrix Auditor vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

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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

Netwrix Auditor

Ranking in Active Directory Management

3rd

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

GRC (10th), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (27th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (16th)

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Active Directory Management

10th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (19th), Server Monitoring (10th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of Netwrix Auditor is 11.3%, down from 14.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.2%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Active Directory Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Netwrix Auditor	11.3%
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor	1.2%
Other	87.5%

Active Directory Management

Featured Reviews

RishiPandit

Lead - Technical Services at Impetus

Optimizing time and effort through comprehensive auditing features

Netwrix Auditor doesn't have many competitors at the level in which it is placed. All other companies provide auditing solutions but not up to the feature list; it is very broad and robust. The best features include flexibility to interact directly with MS-SQL. Real-time alerts help identify potential security threats. The ability to streamline audits with insights into configuration states is helpful, as the access reviews and audit reports are really insightful. This is a good tool. The search functionality is available, but comparative to other vendors, this is a bit slower. Reports are effective; the compliance reports and all the reports are very insightful. That is good.

Read full review

VIVEK PATHAK

Solutions Architect at Airtel

Offering reasonably good dashboarding features but needs to improve the application performance monitoring

My company uses Riverbed for application performance monitoring. I was doing research so that I could understand if SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provide APM capabilities similar to Riverbed, which allows our company to get a packet capture of an entire session, and on the basis of it, we look at the application performance monitoring part. With SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor, my company does SNMP polling, so it can drag an entire session, but it focuses more on availability, CPU memory, and server connection status. In Riverbed, my company catches an entire system, so when we deal with two applications, we have end-to-end app visibility. All the application monitoring happens through Riverbed. Our company's main problem is that, as of now, we have two different products in our organization, and we don't want to continue with the multiple products currently. I wanted to understand if SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor already have capabilities like Riverbed, and if they do, then I wanted to figure out why our company should not go with SolarWinds and why we are using products from multiple vendors. My company needs to continue with either Riverbed or SolarWinds. I wanted to see which products are good for the organization and how much I want to continue with Riverbed.

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

"What I find the most valuable about Netwrix Auditor is the way it shows risk. The reports are very clear."

"Netwrix Auditor doesn't have many competitors at the level in which it is placed; all other companies provide auditing solutions but not up to the feature list—it is very broad and robust."

"Netwrix provides features that no other solution on the market does."

"I am impressed with the tool's reporting feature and notifications."

"The most valuable features of Netwrix Auditor are its affordability compared to similar products and its comprehensive monitoring of admin activities."

"I have found user behavior analysis and the ability to run risk assessments important features. Additionally, the interface and online documentation are very good."

"It maintains audit logs for the duration of time that you wish, as long as you have the storage capacity to do so."

"The most valuable feature is the real-time monitoring."

"The most valuable feature is the Access Rights Manager."

"Features like monitoring and infrastructure dependency mapping are valuable to us."

"This product can monitor application environments no matter where they reside and provides capabilities for deep insight into infrastructure."

"We use the solution as a central monitoring tool. We use it to monitor every transaction that has a relation to the organization’s infrastructure."

"The component and cable monitoring are good. SolarWinds is more intuitive and user-friendly than AppDynamics. The AppDynamics console is more complex because it's a more feature-rich solution, so it's not easy for somebody to pick it up."

"One of the most valuable features are the reports. They're pretty good. Also, the ease of installation and customization for the client is another feature that we value. SolarWinds has a lot of features but these are the ones I like the most. We also like that the KPIs have the ability to be preset."

"Hardware health: It allows for proactive monitoring of the hardware health and is a game changer."

"The more valuable feature of this solution is the Exchange feature."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

Cons

"The Linux compatibility of this solution could be improved."

"In the UI, we have to adjust and resize our console many times, and sometimes it appears, sometimes you have to close and open it, and sometimes it does not give a scroll bar to navigate."

"If you buy direct, there is a minimum of 150 licenses that must be procured. The price point and barrier of entry is a little bit higher than it would be if you purchased the solution from an authorized reseller partner, rather than buying it and managing yourself."

"There is room for improvement with the introduction of AI functionality."

"I expect usability features to become more refined over time. I'm interested to see how it evolves and continues to improve."

"The solution lacks self-service on password reset. It also needs to improve its scalability."

"There is room for improvements when it comes to the licensing."

"When there are issues I would like remediation to be in one place."

More Netwrix Auditor cons

"SAM AppInsight for SQL: The ability to ignore fragmentation of specific indexes."

"They should incorporate more artificial intelligence. There should also be more predictive features."

"The major concern in the product revolves around application performance monitoring since end-to-end application monitoring is not possible with the tool."

"The templates could use improvement. Currently, they are quite complex. They should have drag-and-drop functionality instead. It would make it easier to use."

"SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could improve by having a cloud version. They have an observability platform but it still needs to be maintained by us."

"Downside of the tools is the web console are hung or crash. It need to improve the performance."

"Some custom applications cannot be monitored, and a lot more applications need to be included."

"There is one feature that is a report writer. And they are currently trying to take it out from being a stand-alone application and integrating to the web. This doesn't give us the flexibility and it doesn't expand what we can get when it comes to reporting. So, putting it on the web is going to make it difficult to get some information. Leaving it where it is now will help us a lot."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution is reasonably priced. I would rate it a nine out of ten."

"There is a license for this solution and we are on an annual license. The price is reasonable."

"The tool's price is fair."

"SAM is not per server so the pricing model can be deceiving. If you have an enterprise environment, you will quickly exceed your licensing quickly. You should know this before going in."

"Understanding the counts of objects to monitor will determine the licensing need. In terms of pricing, it’s not cheap but it’s not expensive as larger vendors whose products don’t have all the features or integrations."

"I would advise potential buyers to wait until the end of the quarter, end of year, or other time to place orders. There are actually great deals to be had at those times if your budget cycle can match up."

"Pricing is inexpensive, starting at 2440 euros. For that, you get the ability to monitor a couple of nodes and one year of maintenance and support."

"When planning for the number of licenses to purchase, make sure you understand all of the elements within an application required to really understand performance well. In our case, we quickly came to the conclusion that an unlimited license for SAM was the way to go."

"The product is expensive."

"We pay around $ 2,000 to $ 5,000 yearly for the solution."

"Nagios XI, WhatsUpGold, Uptime Software, PRTG, Manage Engine, and SpiceWorks are the other tools that have lower pricing and licensing costs. However, they can't compete with SolarWinds when it comes to the features and functionality that SolarWinds can provide."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	20

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Netwrix Auditor?

The most valuable features of Netwrix Auditor are its affordability compared to similar products and its comprehensive monitoring of admin activities.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Netwrix Auditor?

I don't know about the pricing of this, but it is good at this price point because our organization has purchased it, which means it was in budget. We usually do not buy expensive solutions, so the...

What needs improvement with Netwrix Auditor?

The areas of improvement include the front end, as the UI should be more intuitive and there should be fewer bugs. In the UI, we have to adjust and resize our console many times, and sometimes it a...

What do you like most about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

Identifying the problem statement is easy.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

The initial cost is quite high, but the renewal cost is reasonable.

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

There are no specific features or functionality I would like to see improved or enhanced in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor at this time. I have not encountered any missing features or fu...

Change Auditor for Active Directory vs Netwrix Auditor

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Product Reports

Netwrix Auditor

Download Netwrix Auditor product report

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Also Known As

No data available

SolarWinds SAM

Overview

Netwrix Auditor is a security-focused solution that monitors IT environments by tracking changes, ensuring compliance, and enhancing visibility into user activities. It offers detailed auditing, real-time alerts, and robust reporting tools. Its intuitive interface and comprehensive features boost efficiency, productivity, and organizational growth.

Netwrix

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers powerful application and server monitoring capabilities for IT pros, enabling them to diagnose and troubleshoot performance issues faster. Do not let slow applications and downtime impact your end-users and business services. Pinpoint the root cause of application issues across various layers of the IT stack. SolarWinds SAM is affordable and easy to deploy, use, and customize. You can automatically discover your system's environment and start monitoring in about an hour. No professional services or consultation needed.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

AT&T, SanDisk, Siemens, Verizon, Electrolux, Allianz, Societe Generale

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

Netwrix Auditor vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor