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PRTG Enterprise Monitor vs SolarWinds NPM 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

PRTG Enterprise Monitor
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
32nd
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds NPM
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
4th
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 January 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of PRTG Enterprise Monitor is 0.6%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NPM is 3.4%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SolarWinds NPM3.4%
PRTG Enterprise Monitor0.6%
Other96.0%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Moshiur-Rahman Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at IOPoint.com
Offers perfect real-time bandwidth monitoring and SNMP functionality
The licensing policy needs to change. The current model requires customers to purchase a minimum of two thousand licenses, which is not flexible for all customers. They should consider a more flexible licensing approach. Furthermore, alignment with customer expectations rather than offering numerous features that are not requested would be beneficial.
Vivek Jaiswal - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"PRTG is good and very easy to use."
"The product is easy to understand."
"The solution's ability to monitor each and every aspect of our devices, such as memory utilization and port connectivity, is valuable."
"The solution offers perfect real-time bandwidth monitoring and SNMP functionality."
"If an event is detected, such as a resource running low on storage or RAM, the product will notify you via email. Upon receiving the notification, action must be taken to address and resolve the issue. The feature I find most effective is its comprehensive nature. It's like having a permanent eye monitoring the network and all its nodes. Instead of manual monitoring, it detects anomalies automatically and alerts us accordingly."
"It provides a vast array of options for dashboard creation and monitoring of the activities within the environment."
"The product's most valuable feature is network analysis."
"What I really appreciate about PRTG Enterprise Monitor is that it is very easy to set up, especially the configuration, which is not complicated, and it is very straightforward to go in and change things."
"We found that it was easy to operate, and it was simple if anyone has entry-level working experience or even if someone is not experienced."
"SolarWinds NPM provides an overview of network monitoring, extending its capabilities to cover other aspects, such as virtual machines and servers. The platform has features like NetPath, which is particularly beneficial for end-users, offering insights into issues like latency, packet loss, and connectivity problems with routers, switches, or servers."
"What I've found most valuable about the solution is that it's scalable."
"The solution is extremely stable. We haven't had any issues in that regard. We haven't had issues with bugs, glitches, or crashes."
"I would rate the overall solution nine out of ten due to its capabilities, however, its complexity is a major drawback."
"The most important feature is reporting. The reports that are generated are useful and they save a lot of time with respect to monitoring."
"I believe the ease of setup and use, including everything, from the initial installation to the discovery of devices is the most valuable."
"For end-user performance monitoring, we like features such as availability of our all devices."
 

Cons

"The solution could be improved by introducing security features similar to those available in Teams, as the current version only monitors devices and does not integrate IoT or OT devices."
"They should work on minimizing false positives by sending alerts promptly and confirming errors with minimal troubleshooting requirements."
"The licensing policy needs to change. The current model requires customers to purchase a minimum of two thousand licenses, which is not flexible for all customers."
"PRTG Enterprise Monitor should include more functionalities and features that are similar to SolarWinds."
"The licensing policy needs to change."
"When it comes to dashboard customization in PRTG Enterprise Monitor, there are not too many options, and I think that would not be a strong point for PRTG, but for our use cases, we do not really need that kind of customization."
"The support must be improved."
"There is no unified monitoring in PRTG. It needs a lot of improvement in terms of integration."
"The solution could be more secure."
"The solution's customer service is not very good because the support takes too long."
"A need for improvement is in the technical support provided by SolarWinds."
"The solution needs to integrate with additional SDN technologies that are part of the hyper market."
"The evaluation time for the product is too short especially for large corporations."
"The integration with video apps could be better."
"If they’re going for a “cover everything” approach, then they need to do so and enable a bit more of the "cover everything approach" within every one of the tools."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"PRTG Enterprise Monitor is an expensive product."
"I rate the product's pricing an eight to seven out of ten."
"PRTG Enterprise Monitor's pricing is reasonable."
"The pricing is $2,149 for software without maintenance, and licenses are sold in the minimum bundle of 500 interfaces."
"The solution is affordable."
"The cost is based on the number of nodes, so it is expensive when you have a lot of them."
"Licenses depend on the number of devices, but all license levels come with technical support."
"The solution can become very expensive and commercially not viable in countries, such as India."
"Price could be improved on"
"When I compare the cost of CA Spectrum to that of SolarWinds NPM, the cost of CA Spectrum is way too high, and the cost of SolarWinds NPM is pretty low."
"There is a permanent license and also a subscription level which has annual fees. The price of the solution is fair."
"There can be fees in addition to the licensing fees if you add on."
"The pricing needs to be improved. It is too high. One full engine costs around $10 000, which is why we don't have high availability right now."
report
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
11%
University
10%
Healthcare Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise85
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about PRTG Enterprise Monitor?
If an event is detected, such as a resource running low on storage or RAM, the product will notify you via email. Upon receiving the notification, action must be taken to address and resolve the is...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PRTG Enterprise Monitor?
I would rate the pricing of PRTG Enterprise Monitor maybe a six. I think a six is fine, as it is reasonable and not expensive.
What needs improvement with PRTG Enterprise Monitor?
When it comes to dashboard customization in PRTG Enterprise Monitor, there are not too many options, and I think that would not be a strong point for PRTG, but for our use cases, we do not really n...
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...
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...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor, SolarWinds Network Bandwidth Analyzer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Microsoft, Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, and MasterCard
Find out what your peers are saying about PRTG Enterprise Monitor vs. SolarWinds NPM and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.