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SolarWinds NPM vs Spiceworks comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

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
SolarWinds NPM is praised for reducing costs, offering quick ROI, and enhancing network management with reliable alerts and reporting.
Sentiment score
7.8
Spiceworks provides high ROI as a free tool, benefiting efficiency, issue resolution, and stability despite setup time investment.
The return on investment is significant as the solution effectively reduces costs while being worth its expense.
Network Administrator at PT Bni Life Insurance
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
SolarWinds NPM's customer service is praised, but technical support varies, with some users noting slow responses and availability issues.
Sentiment score
7.4
Spiceworks offers excellent, free email-based support, with strong community assistance and some criticisms for lacking direct phone support.
If there is no timely response, getting a resolution is more difficult.
Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Regarding technical support from SolarWinds, I find it excellent.
Assistant Manager at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
We had contact with SolarWinds regarding the implementation, and they were helpful.
Network Administrator at PT Bni Life Insurance
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
SolarWinds NPM efficiently scales in large environments, but may require extra polling engines and face complex licensing challenges.
Sentiment score
7.4
Spiceworks is scalable for small to large setups, though larger organizations may face challenges; newer versions improve scalability.
SolarWinds NPM is scalable and effective in handling large network infrastructures.
Solutions Architect at Boch Systems Company Limited
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
SolarWinds NPM is praised for stability, with resource allocation and documentation adherence mitigating most upgrade-related issues.
Sentiment score
6.6
Spiceworks is stable but may slow down or crash with large setups; proper configuration enhances performance and stability.
For stability, I rate SolarWinds NPM as a ten, which is the best.
Assistant Manager at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
The NPM product is stable, particularly when used for simple network monitoring.
Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
 

Room For Improvement

SolarWinds NPM requires enhancements in analytics, scalability, UI, security, integration, customization, monitoring, automation, stability, and cost-effectiveness.
Spiceworks users desire enhanced monitoring, scalability, reporting, integration, and user-friendly features with faster performance and lower resource consumption.
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.
Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
SolarWinds needs to upscale on observability and add full-fledged observability features, including security features.
Solutions Architect at Boch Systems Company Limited
Customers have given feedback about the delayed response times from the technical team.
Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
 

Setup Cost

SolarWinds NPM offers a flexible licensing model with competitive pricing, though costs may rise for extensive setups.
Spiceworks provides a customizable, free help desk solution with optional costs for premium features, suitable for small to medium businesses.
Pricing-wise, SolarWinds NPM is more expensive than PRTG.
Solutions Architect at Boch Systems Company Limited
It is not too pricey and is adequate.
Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The solution is considered expensive.
Network Administrator at PT Bni Life Insurance
 

Valuable Features

SolarWinds NPM provides intuitive network monitoring with advanced customization, scalability, and proactive alerts, suiting diverse business needs.
Spiceworks offers SMBs a free help desk, inventory management, user-friendly interface, and strong community support for IT needs.
The ability to customize the dashboard in SolarWinds NPM provides key benefits like saving time and money, and streamlining some processes.
Assistant Manager at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
Whenever any node is down in our network, whether it is a server or any network device, we receive information through email that the device is down.
Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It provides a detailed overview of the network, which is valuable.
Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Additionally, it is free software.
Account Manager Enterprise Sales at Navdeep Technologies Pvt.Ltd
 

Categories and Ranking

SolarWinds NPM
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
161
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (2nd), Cloud Monitoring Software (7th)
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 (14th), IT Asset Management (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of SolarWinds NPM is 3.5%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Spiceworks is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Infrastructure Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SolarWinds NPM3.5%
Spiceworks0.7%
Other95.8%
IT Infrastructure Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Rohit Samel - PeerSpot reviewer
Account Manager Enterprise Sales at Navdeep Technologies Pvt.Ltd
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.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

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
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Construction Company
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise87
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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.
What is your primary use case for Spiceworks?
If our customers need backup support, we can work with them and provide it. Whatever solution the customer requires, we will ensure it is provided.
What advice do you have for others considering Spiceworks?
It performs its intended functions. We may use it, but perhaps not for ourselves, but for our customers, potentially with Channel Partners. Whenever we are posting any query or reply on a ticket, i...
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft, Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, and MasterCard
Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Symantec, Webroot, EMC, Pertino
Find out what your peers are saying about SolarWinds NPM vs. Spiceworks and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.