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SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer vs Wireshark comparison

The compared SolarWinds and Wireshark solutions aren't in the same category. SolarWinds is ranked #4 in NTA , with an average rating of 7.7, and holds a 6.1% mindshare in the category. Wireshark is ranked #4 in NT , with an average rating of 9.2, and holds a 14.3% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of SolarWinds users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Wireshark users who would recommend it.
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...
Read 43 SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer reviews
  • 2,434 Views
  • 876 Comparison Views
83% willing to recommend
Wireshark
Read 63 Wireshark reviews
  • 3,127 Views
  • 1,407 Comparison Views
98% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and Wireshark based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Darktrace, Auvik, Cisco and others in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA).

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To learn more, read our detailed Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) Report (Updated: March 2026).
Buyer's Guide
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
March 2026
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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

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (4th)
Wireshark
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Network Troubleshooting (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Management solutions, they serve different purposes. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is designed for Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) and holds a mindshare of 6.1%, up 5.5% compared to last year.
Wireshark, on the other hand, focuses on Network Troubleshooting, holds 14.3% mindshare, up 12.9% since last year.
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer6.1%
Darktrace18.0%
Cisco Secure Network Analytics11.2%
Other64.7%
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
Network Troubleshooting Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Wireshark14.3%
AirMagnet Survey PRO10.3%
LinkRunner8.1%
Other67.3%
Network Troubleshooting
 

Featured Reviews

Raja Xabi - PeerSpot reviewer
Raja Xabi
Technical Manager at APRAL
Improved bandwidth management and network visibility have resulted in financial benefits and streamlined operations
There is always room for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, such as implementing instant reporting based on business intelligence reports and more granular filters in their dashboard to improve the GUI view and reporting. The licensing model of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is always an issue for users because competitors offer unlimited and perpetual licenses, and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model is quite costly compared to other brands. If users are comfortable with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, they have to make the hard decision to invest, and it's suggested from a user's perspective that SolarWinds should improve their financial model and licensing to become competitive, especially for small to medium businesses.
Read full review
Vijay Duggal - PeerSpot reviewer
Vijay Duggal
Network Specialist at Squarepoint Capital
Provides detailed traffic analysis and helps troubleshoot issues
There is a disadvantage when it comes to sampling intervals. While the solution supports sampling as fine as one millisecond, it requires a copy at that interval. My Python script allows me to achieve a granularity of up to ten microseconds, but I can't go beyond that. When dealing with provisioning on both issues, it would be beneficial if I could go down to the microsecond level, if not the nanosecond. Additionally, I've heard from a colleague that Wireshark might be less effective in the voice domain.
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 dashboard alerts me when a critical device goes off the network."
"It doesn't cost too much."
"It helps us know when a branch is down because it has a graphic presentation of all the locations a node represents."
"The support is excellent."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its traffic analysis."
"The software management tools are very useful for our customers."
"The most valuable features are the bandwidth analyzer, the monitoring, the network analyzer, it has overall good performance, and an easy deployment."
"I find this tool very helpful in identifying the top traffic paths from source to destination, and determining which routes are consuming the most resources."
More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer pros
"The feature to incorporate Voice over IP (VoIP) incidents into network traffic analysis is valuable. Capturing voice or SIP communication allows for examination of interactions between SIP clients and SIP servers. This helps the team investigate or analyze issues related to call center servers and operators."
"The best part about Wireshark, in my opinion, is its ability to analyze packet capture files."
"The best network analyzer tool out there in the market."
"The drill-down available for packet analysis is great. It gives a network security engineer insight into what is going on at the packet level and enables better troubleshooting."
"Wireshark helps us to understand network traffic."
"Wireshark is very user-friendly; even someone with basic IT knowledge can use it."
"Wireshark's best feature is that it's adaptive, which means it's the go-to tool for network-related developers."
"Wireshark is a great tool to help network engineers identify network problems like broadcasting, injection, poisoning, etc."
More Wireshark pros
 

Cons

"This solution does not do a very good job when I am trying to look deeper into my internal network, in particular with respect to individual ports."
"This solution would benefit from having more security-based communications between the actual devices and the software itself."
"I'm expecting to see a little bit more artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. They need a bit more sophistication in that."
"Currently, it shows only the top ten applications or ports in use, while the remaining data appears as 'remaining traffic,' causing confusion."
"The plotting of the device on the map is not appropriate."
"The tool itself is very complicated, so training is required to handle it effectively."
"The Atlas module that is used for building the network map is very bad."
"The pricing is expensive."
More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer cons
"We'd like to be able to extract the output into an Excel table."
"It’s helpful only if you have the basic knowledge of networking."
"Running Wireshark through an admin account for multiple exploits is unsecured."
"Maximum buffer size of captured data should be unlimited and should allow ability to archive all old captures (not save option) in real time, it should support a destination location where old captures can be directed for long term storage."
"In the future, it would be nice to see color coding. It is just black and white."
"I have not used Wireshark to an advanced point where I could provide a detailed opinion on improvements needed."
"This product needs to improve the UI."
"The Wireshark search function shows green for a correct search and red for an incorrect search."
More Wireshark cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay yearly, and we are happy with its price."
"The licensing for this solution is based on the number of nodes."
"We have licenses for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer. In terms of pricing, its license is not that expensive versus other tools such as HP."
"SolarWinds' pricing structure is the primary reason why some customers opt for another solution such as ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer. In NTA, you are charged per port, meaning that if you have a 24-port switch you will be charged for 24 individual nodes. ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer, on the other hand, charges per switch, such that if you add a switch, the entire switch will count as one single node."
"Licensing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is paid yearly, and there are no additional costs that you need to pay apart from the standard licensing fees because you don't need to purchase another solution to make SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer work. Pricing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is more expensive than other solutions."
"The price of this solution is exceptional."
"I don't have information on the licensing cost for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer because it's bundled with another SolarWinds solution. My organization has seven different models and pays for the license yearly. My organization also had to deploy additional pollers, but the cost wasn't very expensive, though I can't give the exact numbers."
"NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is reasonably priced."
More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer pricing and cost advice
"I am using the free version of this solution."
"It is free to download and install. It runs on multiple platforms, so how can you go wrong?"
"It's a stand-alone tool. If there is a commercial license for it I am unaware of it."
"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."
"Wireshark is an open-source product, so it's free to use."
"We are using a freeware version of this solution, so there are no licence costs involved."
"It is an open-source solution."
"Wireshark is open-source and free of charge."
More Wireshark pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Healthcare Company
7%
University
6%
University
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise26
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
I have worked from 1973 with all kind of systems in large enterprises across the world. And have experience with all kind of software in monitoring from infra to end to end, it depends on the funct...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
The licensing model of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is always an issue for users because competitors offer unlimited and perpetual licenses, and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model i...
See all answers
What needs improvement with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
Regarding improvement, the application monitoring capabilities are not exceptional. If SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer could improve in that area, it would be helpful. It is less AIOps driven a...
See all answers
What do you like most about Wireshark?
The GUI is easy to use.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Wireshark?
Wireshark is priced at a medium range, not too high, not too low. The pricing could be more flexible, and they might make it more expensive. That said, compared to other products, it is competitive.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Wireshark?
The speed of the Internet could be improved, especially its performance. Performance can sometimes be a challenge due to numerous factors.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Zabbix vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
Compared 8% of the time
Darktrace vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Logo
Darktrace vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
Compared 6% of the time
WhatsUp Gold vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Logo
WhatsUp Gold vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
Compared 5% of the time
ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Logo
ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
Compared 5% of the time
Nagios Network Analyzer vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Logo
Nagios Network Analyzer vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
Compared 5% of the time
More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Competitors
Microsoft Network Monitor vs Wireshark Logo
Microsoft Network Monitor vs Wireshark
Compared 9% of the time
SolarWinds NPM vs Wireshark Logo
SolarWinds NPM vs Wireshark
Compared 8% of the time
AirMagnet Survey PRO vs Wireshark Logo
AirMagnet Survey PRO vs Wireshark
Compared 8% of the time
Colasoft Capsa vs Wireshark Logo
Colasoft Capsa vs Wireshark
Compared 7% of the time
Observer GigaStor vs Wireshark Logo
Observer GigaStor vs Wireshark
Compared 5% of the time
More Wireshark Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
February 2026
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer reportDownload SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer product report
Buyer's Guide
Wireshark
February 2026
Wireshark reportDownload Wireshark product report
 

Also Known As

Netflow Traffic Analyzer
No data available
 

Overview

SolarWinds Netflow Traffic Analyzer enables you to capture data from continuous streams of network traffic and convert those raw numbers into easy-to-interpret charts and tables that quantify exactly how the corporate network is being used, by whom, and for what purpose.
SolarWinds
Wireshark is the world's foremost network protocol analyzer.
Wireshark
 

Sample Customers

Oceaneering International, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, 335th Signal Command, Immofori
Comversion, ADP, Talbots
Buyer's Guide
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
March 2026
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