Nmap vs vRealize Network Insight comparison

Nmap and Broadcom are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Nmap is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.8, while Broadcom is ranked #34 with an average rating of 8.3. Nmap holds a 0.7% mindshare in NMS, compared to Broadcom’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Nmap users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Nmap

Read 22 Nmap reviews

1,820 Views
1,638 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

vRealize Network Insight

Read 47 vRealize Network Insight reviews

2,191 Views
1,556 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Nmap

vRealize Network Insight

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Nmap and vRealize Network Insight operate within the network management space, with Nmap offering cost-effectiveness and vRealize Network Insight recognized for advanced features. Nmap is favored for scanning efficiency, while vRealize Network Insight provides comprehensive network analytics.

Features: Nmap offers robust scanning capabilities, flexibility through scripting, and the ability to quickly identify network devices. vRealize Network Insight delivers in-depth network health insights, performance monitoring, and strong security features, essential for complex environments.

Room for Improvement:Nmap could improve in providing comprehensive network analytics, stronger security features, and better performance monitoring. vRealize Network Insight might enhance its cost-effectiveness, simplify its setup process, and streamline its advanced feature complexity for broader accessibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Nmap is simple to deploy without extensive configurations and is lightweight. vRealize Network Insight requires a more detailed setup process but provides substantial support and documentation, beneficial particularly for enterprise environments.

Pricing and ROI: Nmap is free, delivering immediate ROI without upfront costs, appealing to budget-conscious users. vRealize Network Insight demands a higher initial investment, offering significant long-term value due to its advanced analytics and tailored insights suitable for large organizations.

To learn more, read our detailed Nmap vs. vRealize Network Insight Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Nmap vs. vRealize Network Insight

December 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 881,082 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

Nmap

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

9th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

vRealize Network Insight

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

34th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (38th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Nmap is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of vRealize Network Insight is 0.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Nmap	0.7%
vRealize Network Insight	0.7%
Other	98.6%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

MoshiurRahman Khan

CEO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Improves network monitoring and offers insights into traffic, including VPNs

The real-time reporting feature of Nmap is particularly valuable. It generates detailed reports on the source and destination IP addresses, the protocols used, and the types of traffic. This feature is crucial for law enforcement agencies to monitor and analyze network connectivity effectively. It also has traffic analysis. For example, assessing bandwidth usage and configuring the tool to track specific types of traffic is crucial. Unlike SolarWinds, which requires configuration for this, Nmap has built-in functionality that allows it to check all 4,000 computer ports. It identifies the type of traffic each port is using and can easily generate reports on network communications between computers, whether there are 100 or 1000 in the network.

Read full review

Shaijith KB

Senior System Specialist at General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA)

Comprehensive management and detailed reports benefit operations while improvements are needed in support and maintenance

We have Tanzu and OpenShift. We have OpenShift, Canonical, and the Tanzu one. The Tanzu platform from VMware is a Kubernetes platform. We haven't completely installed Tanzu yet; we installed the vROps part. vRealize Network Insight is beneficial because you can control the East-West traffic. vRealize has a component called NSX, which has East-West traffic controlling and micro-segmentation, that is one of the best options, and we have the layer extension, layer 2 extension possible through NSX. If you have anything accountable in any business, even in a candy business, having proper accountability on what you are selling and buying will save a lot. If you don't know what you're selling and buying, you will end up with a loss. My team does not use the flow analytics feature; we have a security and network monitoring team, which is a different SOC team. I am using it as an administrator internally. We perform different tasks including costing analysis, capacity management, and many other things. vRealize Network Insight has a concern about the maintenance part, as it requires a person to monitor it completely. It's not something you install and your report will be generated automatically. You have to work on this properly to get the insights. vRealize Network Automation, vRealize Operations, and vRealize Network Insight are completely related to the network. I cannot say much about these network aspects because I am on the operations side, but overall, the vRealize suite is good for reporting perspective or any ISO-related documentation; this is very helpful. The product is called vRealize Operations Manager, and now it is referred to as Aria or vAria. I am now a Senior System Specialist. We use different metrics because we have multiple departments, and we can monitor utilization and comparisons with the previous year. On a scale of one to ten, I rate this solution a seven.

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

"Nmap is mostly helpful during compliance checks. We run the scanner to see how many devices are on our network and find vulnerabilities in those that aren't compliant. We also use it monthly to scan our network and identify devices that aren't connected properly. This helps us detect any issues related to the operating systems of these devices."

"It helps us secure the network infrastructure."

"It enables us to delve deeper and identify the services and open ports on the system and visualize this information on a dashboard automatically."

"The solution detects the operating systems, which makes testing the software much easier before making the payload."

"The most important function, according to me, is the capability to use some arguments in the scanning. The solution's capability to go figure and do a deep dive, discovering information on specific aspects."

"The real-time reporting feature of Nmap is particularly valuable. It generates detailed reports on the source and destination IP addresses, the protocols used, and the types of traffic."

"The scanning procedure includes UDP ports which sets it apart from competitors."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its scripts. These scripts prove beneficial when security features may obscure or block connections. Nmap helps identify vulnerabilities across different systems, including web servers and various server types."

More Nmap pros

"The solution has helped improve our organization by directing the network traffic using SDN."

"It especially helps with deploying NSX, that you're not having to manually chase down and figure out what you need to do to microsegment VMs. This gives a nice option where you can say, "Hey, this VM, show me what flows are there." I can export it out and then import it as an NSX rule and job done."

"The most valuable features are the packet trace flow and that the view of the whole environment is deep."

"If we deploy NSX it shows us how the workflow will flow in the organization, what the roadblocks are, and what we need to do to overcome those hurdles. When we run this product, it gives us reports which describe problems with physical switches. We work with the network team to get them all resolved."

"We can see everything going on in NSX and get a good picture of our environment."

"It allows us to see how the network devices function as well as to see network glitches or fluctuations or dropping of packets."

"The solution helps reduce time to value, increase performance, provide deep visibility, and easily manage networks."

"It has enabled us to set up and do application discovery, as far as network traffic is concerned, and set up the appropriate rules that we need to make sure we're compliant with our security frameworks."

More vRealize Network Insight pros

Cons

"Since I started using Nmap, it has been completely based on the command prompt and I think it would help other users if they implemented a decent GUI as well."

"The solution is not that easy for a beginner to learn."

"Nmap major operates through the CLI; there's no GUI component, and that's where the challenge is."

"The solution's initial setup could be better."

"Nmap needs to improve its scanning speed."

"The solution should increase the number of features under a free license."

"The challenge often lies in finding suitable courses and professional resources."

"They should deliver Playtech's username and password."

More Nmap cons

"Support could be much better."

"I'd like to see better support for being able to search the hardware NetFlow data. It ingests fairly well, but you can't tell, in a lot of cases, what source the data came from. I'd like to see more support for picking specific sources. That way you could really make a compelling use case. There are also some difficulties where it can't exactly trace the path between source and destination but if you hit the reverse flow on the same search it shows the entire path."

"There could be some deeper analytics into packet inspection and trace flows. It could use some kind of machine learning to look at Layer 7 traffic for potential malware or corrupt packets."

"I would like to see more reporting features, more dashboards."

"There are some random glitches in the Web UI, but they are usually pretty cosmetic in nature. I don't really seem to use any browser other than Chrome with it. I also get some weird errors from time to time on the hardware NetFlow Collectors, where it doesn't sync data."

"It needs to be a little easier to use and to understand the information it's putting out. That would make it more helpful. If you're not a network person you need to understand things like network policies and concepts. If you gave it to a regular admin, it would be nice if it were easier for them to pick up what is going on, understand the flows and whether or not stuff should be talking to each other, as opposed to just port groups and IP addresses."

"The solution can be improved by making it more compatible with other brands, allowing for better integration."

"While it's not exactly a feature, what normally happens when we are trying to look at the VM flow portion is - although Network Insight does have options to integrate a few physical switches into it - we can't really get an end-to-end flow of the network. We might be using a few switches that are not supported by Network Insight. That is where they can improve, in the support for more physical switches and network devices."

More vRealize Network Insight cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's an open-source solution. Commerically, only the support service is available."

"Nmap is open source software, which suits us well because we are a manufacturing company and not an IT company, for example. If we were an IT company, we would probably need to pay for extra support or instead go for another software solution. But as it is, we don't have any need for high-end troubleshooting tools."

"I am using the standard free version of Nmap."

"Nmap is an open-source and free product."

"I am using the free version of Nmap."

"The solution is free of cost."

"Nmap is an open-source product. You don't need a license to install it."

"It's an open-source product, and I haven't seen any premiums. Options are available for those who purchase, but for my use case, everything I need is available in the community and forums."

More Nmap pricing and cost advice

"It's a little expensive, but for what you're getting out of the product, you often see the trade-off. It depends on the type of licensing you have. It might be a little too pricey for some."

"vRealize Network Insight is expensive."

"The solution has helped us to reduce time, increase performance, reduce costs, and even easily manage networks. We are probably seeing 10 to 20 percent labor savings because we are able to be very specific and focused on what we want to do. It ends up saving the customer money and makes us be more efficient on our cost deliveries."

"It reduces costs. It takes something that may be challenging and makes it more usable and visual by being able to bring in tools, seeing what their impact is, such as microsegmentation and application rationalization, and seeing it quickly."

"It has brought more money into our company."

"We have spent less time investigating network flows, so it is absolutely cost-effective."

"Cost always has room for improvement, you could always make it cheaper. But I think it's a good value for what you pay for it."

"They should include the product in NSX because it's important to have it for deployment."

More vRealize Network Insight pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

14%

Government

University

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Healthcare Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	41

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Nmap?

Nmap is mostly helpful during compliance checks. We run the scanner to see how many devices are on our network and find vulnerabilities in those that aren't compliant. We also use it monthly to sca...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nmap?

I am using the free version of Nmap.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Nmap?

Nmap is used for network scanning to map the network, identify devices, and assess their status. It helps determine open ports and services running on a particular endpoint or server within an ente...

See all answers

What do you like most about vRealize Network Insight?

The tool's ease of configuration and use and the availability of information and artifacts through professional services and the web are key factors that customers find valuable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vRealize Network Insight?

In VMware you have to buy a separate license for it. We have VVF and VCF-type of licenses, and if you want to go with this NSX and sort of higher-end professional services, you need to go with VCF....

See all answers

What needs improvement with vRealize Network Insight?

There is room for improvement as not all cases are getting resolved, and we often do not get L3 support directly, having to go through L1 and L2, resulting in delays that usually are a headache for...

See all answers

Comparisons

LiveNX vs Nmap

Compared 9% of the time

Zabbix vs Nmap

Compared 9% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Nmap

Compared 8% of the time

Domotz Pro vs Nmap

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Nmap

Compared 6% of the time

More Nmap Competitors

Kentik vs vRealize Network Insight

Compared 12% of the time

Alluvio AppResponse vs vRealize Network Insight

Compared 8% of the time

WhatsUp Gold vs vRealize Network Insight

Compared 6% of the time

Datadog vs vRealize Network Insight

Compared 6% of the time

VMware Aria Operations for Applications vs vRealize Network Insight

Compared 5% of the time

More vRealize Network Insight Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Nmap

January 2026

Download Nmap product report

Buyer's Guide

vRealize Network Insight

January 2026

Download vRealize Network Insight product report

Also Known As

No data available

Arkin

Overview

Nmap ("Network Mapper") is a free and open source (license) utility for network discovery and security auditing. Many systems and network administrators also find it useful for tasks such as network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime. Nmap uses raw IP packets in novel ways to determine what hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) those hosts are offering, what operating systems (and OS versions) they are running, what type of packet filters/firewalls are in use, and dozens of other characteristics. It was designed to rapidly scan large networks, but works fine against single hosts. Nmap runs on all major computer operating systems, and official binary packages are available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. In addition to the classic command-line Nmap executable, the Nmap suite includes an advanced GUI and results viewer (Zenmap), a flexible data transfer, redirection, and debugging tool (Ncat), a utility for comparing scan results (Ndiff), and a packet generation and response analysis tool (Nping).

Nmap

VMware vRealize Network Insight delivers intelligent operations for software-defined networking and security. It helps customers build an optimized, highly-available and secure network infrastructure across multi-cloud environments. It accelerates micro-segmentation planning and deployment, enables visibility across virtual and physical networks and provides operational views to manage and scale VMware NSX deployments.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Lockheed Martin, Eastern Bank Boston, Perspecta, Harris Corporation, Discovery Communication

NTTi3, VCIX-NV, VMware Networking and Security Business Unit, Illumio, CompuNet

Buyer's Guide

Nmap vs. vRealize Network Insight

December 2025

Free Report: Nmap vs. vRealize Network Insight

Find out what your peers are saying about Nmap vs. vRealize Network Insight and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Nmap vs. vRealize Network Insight report.

See our list of best Network Monitoring Software vendors.

We monitor all Network Monitoring Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.