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PRTG Network Monitor vs Spiceworks comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 21, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.8
PRTG Network Monitor boosts efficiency and cost savings by automating monitoring, preventing issues, and consolidating data for fast ROI.
Sentiment score
7.8
Spiceworks provides high ROI as a free tool, benefiting efficiency, issue resolution, and stability despite setup time investment.
It provides accurate data for utilization, allowing us to monitor and optimize our investments in WAN connection capacity.
After introducing PRTG Network Monitor, we have saved time, and it's easy for everybody to monitor everything.
I have seen a return on investment with PRTG Network Monitor as it has saved a lot of time, and its monitoring has reduced manpower requirements, which has been helpful.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
PRTG Network Monitor support is responsive, with online resources available, but improvements are needed for complex queries and remote assistance.
Sentiment score
7.4
Spiceworks offers excellent, free email-based support, with strong community assistance and some criticisms for lacking direct phone support.
The setup process is well-documented, making it easy to deploy.
We are getting solutions on time, and they are very helpful.
Tutorials are available so I can manage any issue with PRTG Network Monitor easily.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
PRTG Network Monitor offers scalable network monitoring with remote probes, supporting small to enterprise environments despite potential high-sensor performance issues.
Sentiment score
7.4
Spiceworks is scalable for small to large setups, though larger organizations may face challenges; newer versions improve scalability.
PRTG Network Monitor has the ability to scale and add new devices.
On a scale of one to ten, scalability is rated as 9.5.
You can install them in each network, even if they are not connected, and it works.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
PRTG Network Monitor is stable and reliable, with performance issues typically linked to setup, maintenance, and configuration.
Sentiment score
6.6
Spiceworks is stable but may slow down or crash with large setups; proper configuration enhances performance and stability.
We haven't needed vendor support for the last three years, which demonstrates the product's stability.
 

Room For Improvement

PRTG Network Monitor requires enhancements in performance, cloud integration, user interface, and affordability to meet user demands effectively.
Spiceworks users desire enhanced monitoring, scalability, reporting, integration, and user-friendly features with faster performance and lower resource consumption.
The dashboard for NetFlow in PRTG Network Monitor presents data in a complex way, making it difficult to extract the information needed.
PRTG Network Monitor should provide syslog monitoring since it is not available at this time.
They previously had a perpetual model, which meant that you bought a license and if you missed the end of the time, it still worked; you just lost the possibility of some upgrades.
 

Setup Cost

PRTG Network Monitor provides flexible pricing and comprehensive features, appealing to enterprises with various budget and monitoring needs.
Spiceworks provides a customizable, free help desk solution with optional costs for premium features, suitable for small to medium businesses.
The prices are very high for PRTG Network Monitor.
It's not too high, nor too low, but it's reasonable.
Pricing is by the number of devices, not by sensor.
 

Valuable Features

PRTG Network Monitor offers rapid deployment, scalability, detailed insights, cost-effective licensing, and real-time monitoring, ensuring high customer satisfaction.
Spiceworks offers SMBs a free help desk, inventory management, user-friendly interface, and strong community support for IT needs.
These reports help me in my day-to-day work, and I rely on them because they provide proof during escalation, with exact downtime logs and related information.
PRTG Network Monitor already provided me with 100 free sensors, which is enough for my network monitoring.
PRTG Network Monitor has a good dashboard that shows each and every piece of information, so we can easily find out what is happening with the systems.
Additionally, it is free software.
 

Categories and Ranking

PRTG Network Monitor
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (5th), Cloud Monitoring Software (10th)
Spiceworks
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
44th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (15th), IT Asset Management (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of PRTG Network Monitor is 4.4%, up from 4.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Spiceworks is 0.4%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Infrastructure Monitoring Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
PRTG Network Monitor4.4%
Spiceworks0.4%
Other95.2%
IT Infrastructure Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Noman-Saleem - PeerSpot reviewer
Detects suden changes but significant pricing concerns affect the effectiveness of network traffic troubleshooting
We use PRTG Network Monitor for monitoring traffic on interfaces and the behavior of network traffic. If there are sudden changes in traffic or any configuration issues, we can sort them out using PRTG. It's very helpful for troubleshooting and monitoring traffic utilization on our interfaces…
Rohit Samel - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud storage with no hardware needed and great comprehensive reports
The software is cloud-based, so I do not need to store any data locally. It is a fully software-based solution, eliminating the need for investment in hardware. We have the capability to create reports as needed. It is good software to use, as there were no incidents where I needed to contact technical support. Additionally, it is free software.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which IT Infrastructure Monitoring solutions are best for your needs.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
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
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
University
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business56
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise40
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
PRTG network monitor is one of the best tool i have ever used for the monitoring. It have auto discovery option. it avoid the configuring the device in PRTG. It automatically discover the device an...
What do you like most about PRTG Network Monitor?
The tool is integrated with our email for the alerts.
What do you like most about Spiceworks?
The solution is easy to use and easy to manage.
What needs improvement with Spiceworks?
I am unable to provide suggestions for improvement at this moment, however, I can provide feedback later. Currently, there do not seem to be any issues.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Jameson Bank, Sidnix, RungeICT, MedicalAnimal, Truck-lite, GamingGrids, The Covell Group, Forsythn County Schools, NetMass, Musgrove Park Hospital, Lanes Health, Columbia Southern University, Vodafone, Intrust Bank
Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Symantec, Webroot, EMC, Pertino
Find out what your peers are saying about PRTG Network Monitor vs. Spiceworks and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.