Plixer Scrutinizer vs SolarWinds NPM comparison

Plixer and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Plixer is ranked #74, while SolarWinds is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.5. Plixer holds a 0.5% mindshare in NMS, compared to SolarWinds’s 3.7% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Plixer users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Plixer Scrutinizer

Read 15 Plixer Scrutinizer reviews

2,631 Views
2,000 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

SolarWinds NPM

Read 160 SolarWinds NPM reviews

18,343 Views
14,124 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Plixer Scrutinizer

SolarWinds NPM

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

SolarWinds NPM and Plixer Scrutinizer compete in the network management software market. SolarWinds NPM appears to have an advantage in vendor support and deployment options, while Plixer Scrutinizer stands out in traffic analysis.

Features: SolarWinds NPM offers quick deployment, extensive monitoring capabilities, and customizable alerts supporting multiple vendors. Its modular pricing allows purchasing only the needed features. Plixer Scrutinizer focuses on data visibility with advanced network traffic analysis and reporting, detailed flow analysis, and efficient deployment.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds NPM can improve its frequent updates, alerting, topology mapping, and flexibility in creating custom metrics, requiring additional modules for full functionality. Plixer Scrutinizer needs enhancement in its user interface, update processes, data visualization, scalability, and ease of handling high traffic volumes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds NPM provides flexible deployment on-premises, hybrid, and public cloud environments. Its customer service is generally well-rated, though aggressive sales tactics and mixed technical support reviews are noted. Plixer Scrutinizer is primarily on-premises and receives positive feedback for responsive customer service, although non-critical support response time could improve.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds NPM's pricing model is often perceived as complex and expensive, with additional module costs. However, it is recognized for its ROI in efficiency and proactive alerting. Plixer Scrutinizer's pricing based on device count is competitive for traffic-heavy environments, offering scalable options and good ROI in detailed traffic analysis.

To learn more, read our detailed Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SolarWinds NPM Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SolarWinds NPM

April 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 893,164 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

Plixer Scrutinizer

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

74th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (12th)

SolarWinds NPM

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

160

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (5th), Cloud Monitoring Software (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Plixer Scrutinizer is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NPM is 3.7%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
SolarWinds NPM	3.7%
Plixer Scrutinizer	0.5%
Other	95.8%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Ira Mulyanti

Sales Director at ARGA SOLUSI

An affordable product with great integration capabilities

Plixer Core Platform is a valuable feature and a good software. Plixer Scrutinizer uses NetFlow analysis to monitor whatever is there in a network. Price-wise, Plixer Scrutinizer is not an expensive product. Basically, Plixer Scrutinizer is an affordable product. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that allows for customization, especially in scenarios where customers need new product features. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that can integrate with any other brand or product in the market, so it is not an area of concern.

Read full review

Vivek Jaiswal

Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Central monitoring has improved outage alerts and now needs smarter detection and modern dashboards

Regarding the automated network topology and mapping feature in SolarWinds NPM, I am not satisfied with it. For static monitoring, it is acceptable. However, if it is possible, I would need a feature in SolarWinds in the future for some kind of malfunctioning detection, such as malware attacks or that type of environment. We did not have any facility to detect that in SolarWinds. I think it would be better to incorporate those types of features. Regarding customization options in SolarWinds, the ability to customize the dashboard has room for improvement. The dashboard is quite old, and we need some improvement in it. Nowadays, we have multiple tools with AI-based monitoring and web-based dashboards. SolarWinds also has a web-based dashboard, but I think there is scope for improvement in the UI. There may be other areas I would like to improve in SolarWinds NPM.

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

"The most valuable features of the solution are the ability to track what a device is doing and to go back historically. It is also able to go down to, and identify, very low levels of traffic."

"Compared to other solutions, the functionality Scrutinizer delivers is better."

"It helps us determine what is going on with our Internet and who is hogging it all up, and if we get a real high throughput or a throughput that's going over and getting dropped fairly quickly, we can tell who (or what device) is consuming that traffic."

"Scrutinizer does exactly what we need it to do; we're very happy with it, we're not looking to change in the short-term or long-term, and it's a product that runs without any issues and gives the information that we need."

"There are other tools out there that will do what Scrutinizer does. But what I have found with Scrutinizer is that it does it very quickly. I've taken 25 million individual data fragments from the different sensors, and it has graphed that and mapped it and presented a picture within 30 seconds. It has a very efficient database algorithm that I am really impressed with."

"One feature I found most valuable in Plixer Scrutinizer is the very extensive reporting. Reporting is very flexible, though sometimes you need a little bit of support from Plixer Scrutinizer to create custom-made reporting in a very short time. Reporting is a very strong feature of the product."

"Visualization of the network traffic is the most valuable feature. It allows you to drill into information quite quickly."

"The most valuable features of Plixer Scrutinizer are its ease of use, accessibility, and UI."

More Plixer Scrutinizer pros

"There are a lot of options for customization of the dashboard, alerts, and reports."

"Having all 3 products tied together gives me the data I need to accurately pinpoint a problem within moments, instead of collating data from various applications and servers."

"It's easy to understand, even if you are not too technical."

"It's very easy to scale; the scalability is brilliant, and if you need additional monitoring resources or need to plug in your secondary data center, it takes thirty minutes and is easy to use."

"Monitoring capabilities are at a high level and it is easy to see utilization, access ports, and CPU memory in real time or through a lens for long-term visualization."

"If you are almost in the dark, SolarWinds can give you a quick view of what you have and you can start basic monitoring."

"SolarWinds is user-friendly with a manageable console."

"It's the best platform for IT management."

More SolarWinds NPM pros

Cons

"Though Plixer Scrutinizer has network detection and response, it's an area that needs just a little more rounding out."

"It would be useful if there was a way to back up the configuration information."

"It would be useful if there was a way to back up the configuration information. E.g., if you wanted to deploy a new instance or disaster recovery, you could quite easily deploy and restore the config, as opposed to having to restore all the NetFlow data. If there was just a button that said "backup config information", that would be good."

"There was a price lift because previously the product was privately owned, and now there is some external capital in the organization, so pricing could be lower, though, for Plixer Scrutinizer, there is almost no competition at this price point."

"I wish the reporting side was easier to work with, but it does a decent job. I also wish the reporting side was a little more intuitive or they offered more reporting examples."

"They're working on the security areas, so it can provide more insight."

"Knowing that they're coming out with a new user interface, that is an area where there is room for improvement. There are so many variables. They should limit the variables in the user interface and create some classes, like "simple," "novice," and "expert" to narrow down the variables within it."

"The visual acuity of how it presents data can sometimes be confusing."

More Plixer Scrutinizer cons

"New, web-based interface lacks some features of traditional GUI."

"Dependencies: Created dependencies are not visible for management/editing by default until some tweaking is done. It would be better if this is enabled by default."

"The only real caveat that we have or that I have an issue with is when I go on vacation, it's a little hard for me to go and modify alerts so that I don't get alerted about things when I'm on vacation."

"SolarWinds NPM offers limited customization options. Users and developers may find restrictions in modifying or customizing the dashboard and adjusting monitoring features such as polling intervals or SLAs for different nodes."

"Scalability is a bit tricky because it requires more gateways in order to get the performance you may need. It also requires a lot of licensing."

"The console could be more user-friendly. It would be better if SolarWinds updated the user interface."

"Sometimes there are issues when upgrading to a new version of the product."

"We previously used WhatsUpGold, which has a fraction of the features for a tenth of the price."

More SolarWinds NPM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay our one-off cost for the licenses, per device, in blocks of 50. And then we pay an annual maintenance fee of about $15,000 Australian, which is, at this point in time, about $9,000 US, for those 250 devices. The upfront costs for the 250-license use, were about $50,000 Australian, which is about $32,000 US."

"Currently, the license for Plixer Scrutinizer is subscription-based and at a yearly fee. The price would depend on the amount of traffic you pull in. For example, there are several blocks from a 10K flow, a 40K flow, and a 100K flow, and based on the number of devices that you receive the flows from, that's the license, and it is not a per-interface pricing model, so that is a very strong, very competitive pricing feature of Plixer Scrutinizer. Licensing for the product is also not based on the number of storage, compared to some competing products that are priced based on the amount of storage you need, particularly based on the retention and the amount of data. Plixer Scrutinizer licensing is based on the device, and it's more in the direction of $10,000 because, with just $1,000, you don't have anything."

"We just renewed. The pricing is 5,000 euro per year. This is the final price. All tax (20 percent) is included."

"I rate Plixer Scrutinizer's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price or affordable, and ten is high price or expensive."

"We have increased the license over time. We have added more licenses as the network has grown."

"We recently bought a license upgrade, so we will integrate more exporters. We upgraded from a 25 exporter license to a 50 exporter license. Therefore, there will be more flows, and this will be an extension. I don't know when we will purchase a faster server, because the server that we have is quite new."

"There is a recurring maintenance fee after the initial purchase or if we want the license upgrade."

"Compared to some of the other tools we have, it's incredibly reasonably priced."

More Plixer Scrutinizer pricing and cost advice

"SolarWinds NPM is very expensive, and we pay ten thousand yearly."

"It is relatively inexpensive compared to other products in the same category."

"The cost of the personal perpetual license for SolarWinds NPM is approximately $2,000."

"SolarWinds is expensive. That's why it's primarily banks using the solution. Small businesses can't afford it. Due to its pricing, most smaller enterprises like manufacturing companies are not interested. For example, we have a client who is also interested in traffic monitoring, but they are not purchasing SolarWinds because of the cost."

"The NPM component of the system costs approximately $1,000 USD per year."

"The solution's pricing is low compared to a lot of other tools in the market."

"There's standard licensing, and then it depends on the size of the customer."

"The licensing is based on the number of nodes, interfaces, and volumes."

More SolarWinds NPM 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

893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user174738

IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

May 31, 2015

Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor

I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	59
Midsize Enterprise	33
Large Enterprise	85

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

It actually depends on the exact purpose or kind of devices (network devices, servers, something else). Some tools are better for only network devices while others are better for a cloud monitoring...

See all answers

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

From my point of view, SolarWind is the best tool.

See all answers

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

We are partners with SolarWinds and we sell a lot of Network management to large enterprises also because of scalability, products like Network Performance Monitor & Netflow Traffic Analyzer ar...

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 12% of the time

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 8% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 6% of the time

Kentik vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 6% of the time

Flowmon vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 5% of the time

More Plixer Scrutinizer Competitors

ManageEngine OpManager vs SolarWinds NPM

Compared 4% of the time

Nagios XI vs SolarWinds NPM

Compared 3% of the time

DX Spectrum vs SolarWinds NPM

Compared 3% of the time

Zabbix vs SolarWinds NPM

Compared 3% of the time

Entuity vs SolarWinds NPM

Compared 2% of the time

More SolarWinds NPM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Plixer Scrutinizer

April 2026

Download Plixer Scrutinizer product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds NPM

April 2026

Download SolarWinds NPM product report

Also Known As

No data available

Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor, SolarWinds Network Bandwidth Analyzer

Overview

Plixer Scrutinizer provides enhanced network traffic management and security analytics, enabling organizations to quickly identify bandwidth issues and threats through comprehensive reporting and real-time monitoring.

Plixer Scrutinizer is a network monitoring tool that efficiently manages and visualizes traffic to detect bandwidth utilization and security threats. Its integration capabilities and compatibility with network devices enhance data context, ensuring robust network visibility. Organizations leverage its rapid data processing and extensive customization options for specific needs, supporting both on-premise and cloud deployment strategies.

What are the key features of Plixer Scrutinizer?

Comprehensive Reporting: Offers detailed insights to facilitate informed decision-making.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies navigation and improves user experience.
Advanced Security Analytics: Provides enhanced security threat detection capabilities.
Integration Capabilities: Ensures seamless compatibility with network devices and security products.
Real-Time Traffic Monitoring: Allows for immediate network traffic assessment.
Customization Options: Adapts to specific organizational needs and requirements.

What benefits and ROI should users expect from Plixer Scrutinizer?

Efficient Bandwidth Management: Ensures optimal utilization and performance.
Enhanced Threat Detection: Identifies and mitigates security risks promptly.
Improved Network Visibility: Offers comprehensive oversight of network activities.
Cost-effective Data Processing: Reduces operational costs through streamlined processes.

In sectors like telecommunications, educational institutions, and healthcare, Plixer Scrutinizer supports network monitoring and troubleshooting. It helps track bandwidth utilization and security, enabling capacity planning and analyzing traffic across multiple vendor environments.

Plixer

SolarWinds NPM is a network performance monitoring tool offering a user-friendly interface with customizable dashboards. It provides real-time tracking of device health, latency, and bandwidth utilization, supporting diverse integration and scalability needs.

SolarWinds NPM's robust features include real-time monitoring of network performance and efficient tracking of device health, latency, and bandwidth utilization. The tool is appreciated for its ease of deployment, scalability, and support for integration with other tools. Features like SNMP monitoring, NetPath, and comprehensive reporting enhance its diagnostic capabilities and network visibility. However, users identify areas for improvement such as real-time analytics, advanced customization options, and enhanced scalability for larger enterprises. Better customer support, improved integrations, and security measures are also desired.

What are the key features of SolarWinds NPM?

User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies navigation and operation.
Customizable Dashboards: Allows personalized data views.
Real-Time Monitoring: Provides instant updates on network performance.
Strong Alerting Capabilities: Offers immediate notifications for issues.
Scalability: Supports growth with ease.
Integration: Works smoothly with other tools for comprehensive monitoring.
SNMP Monitoring: Tracks device stats effectively.
NetPath: Helps visualize network paths and performance.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Improved Network Visibility: Enables proactive issue resolution.
Enhanced Diagnostics: Facilitates quicker troubleshooting.
Real-Time Performance Data: Supports informed decision-making.
Ease of Deployment: Reduces setup time and complexity.
Infrastructure Monitoring: Ensures network stability and reliability.
Custom Integration: Adapts to existing IT environments.

In enterprise environments, SolarWinds NPM is deployed to monitor network health and device status, sending alerts for any issues. It provides visibility into network performance, tracking bandwidth utilization and server metrics efficiently. Its applications span from monitoring routers, switches, and firewalls to supporting infrastructure monitoring across industries.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Oxford Networks, Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, UltiSat, Wipro, West Aurora School District 129, SUNY Geneseo College, Bloomington Public Schools, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, Kitsap Credit Union, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County Houston Texas, Carilion Clinic, Banner Health, IDEXX Laboratories, Phibro Animal Health Corporation, Goodwill Industries, Parmalat, Armstrong Coal Company, Flybe, James Walker

Microsoft, Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, and MasterCard

Buyer's Guide

Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SolarWinds NPM

April 2026

Free Report: Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SolarWinds NPM

Find out what your peers are saying about Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SolarWinds NPM and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SolarWinds NPM 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.