Our clients are using Solar Winds NPM to monitor their network product. Solar Winds NPM is straightforward and you can monitor it very easily.
Very stable, straightforward setup, technology support very helpful
Pros and Cons
- "Technical support is very helpful with our upgrades."
- "I think Solar Winds NPM needs to create a profile with documentation responsibility."
What is our primary use case?
What needs improvement?
I think Solar Winds NPM needs to create a profile with documentation responsibility.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Solar Winds NPM for about three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is very stable and we have been using the product for around ten years.
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds NPM
August 2026
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How are customer service and support?
Technical support is very helpful with our upgrades. I would rate them about an eight or a nine.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is straightforward and takes about a week.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this Solar Winds NPM an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
System and Network Administrator at a educational organization with 201-500 employees
A network monitoring software with a useful tracking feature, but it could be more user-friendly
Pros and Cons
- "I like the tracking feature to track devices and see where they are connected, which is very practical."
- "The console could be more user-friendly. It would be better if SolarWinds updated the user interface."
What is our primary use case?
We use SolarWinds NPM for monitoring. We don't change anything, and we just look at it.
What is most valuable?
I like the tracking feature to track devices and see where they are connected. This is very practical.
What needs improvement?
The console could be more user-friendly. It would be better if SolarWinds updated the user interface.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have worked with SolarWinds NPM for two or three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SolarWinds NPM is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SolarWinds NPM is a scalable solution, but it costs a lot. As long as you pay, you can scale it as much as you like.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is quite efficient, but they have to be a little more responsive.
On a scale from one to five, I'll give them at least four.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was quite complex and took a while. You need an engineer to install the solution and the database and configure everything. We have only two people accessing and maintaining SolarWinds.
What about the implementation team?
We had a contractor implement this solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did a proof of concept with ManageEngine. The functionalities are similar, but the ManageEngine interface is way more user-friendly.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale from one to ten, I would give SolarWinds NPM a seven.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds NPM
August 2026
Learn what your peers think about SolarWinds NPM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2026.
913,924 professionals have used our research since 2012.
SOC Expert at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to use and understand and very quick to set up
Pros and Cons
- "It's easy to understand, even if you are not too technical."
- "The reports are excellent; they give good graphical information and a lot of great details about everything that's going on in my network, and it's easy to read and understand due to its visual nature."
- "There isn't support available to us as they don't offer support in our country."
What is our primary use case?
We use SolarWinds for monitoring internet bandwidth, both outbound and inbound. We also use it to check out network tools like switches, routers, and other things including user monitoring for RAM and CPU. We typically get a report on the internet interface about, for example, HTTP traffic and other software traffic.
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to use. It's easy to understand, even if you are not too technical.
It's quite stable and reliable.
The reports are excellent. They give good graphical information. It gives a lot of great details about everything that's going on in my network and it's easy to read and understand due to its visual nature.
The scaling is quite good.
It's a very easy solution to set up.
What needs improvement?
If SolarWinds integrated with other solutions, for example, something like in a SIEM, security operations system, it would be more useful for customers. It would be ideal if they could integrate more with security solutions down the line.
There isn't support available to us as they don't offer support in our country.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for more than five years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability and reliability of the solution are very good. It's got more stability than other software options. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. The performance is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution can scale well. It's not a problem if a company wants to expand it.
Currently, we have more than 50 users on the solution.
How are customer service and support?
Unfortunately, in our country, we do not have access to official support channels. We need to find answers online. It would be ideal if they could establish agents in the country that can help with setup and questions. It would be good for customers like us and good for SolarWinds.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use a different solution previous to SolarWinds.
How was the initial setup?
The implementation process is quite simple and straightforward. In fact, it's easier than a lot of other solutions. I wouldn't describe the process as difficult.
The deployment is fast. It likely didn't take more than ten minutes or so.
We have a technical team of about five or six people that are able to handle deployment and maintenance tasks. Two of those team embers are managers.
What about the implementation team?
We didn't need any assistance with the implementation process. We did not use any integrators or consultants. We did it ourselves.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You do need to pay for a license in order to use it. We have a license paid for two years.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the solution at an eight out of ten. We're pretty happy with it overall. The downside is that there is no official support available in my country.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Optical Network Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Enables us to create customized reports for our company
Pros and Cons
- "SolarWinds NPM features that I have found most valuable are the reporting tools and the ability to create customized reports."
- "Robustness of network element mapping tool could be better"
- "With regards to suggested areas of improvement for the product, I would like to see the price come down, and in addition I think the network element mapping tool is not as robust as it should be."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for SolarWinds NPM is for network monitoring and SNMP traps.
What is most valuable?
SolarWinds NPM features that I have found most valuable are the reporting tools and the ability to create customized reports.
What needs improvement?
With regards to suggested areas of improvement for the product, I would like to see the price come down, and in addition I think the network element mapping tool is not as robust as it should be.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SolarWinds NPM for 5-6 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SolarWinds NPM to date has been stable for me.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The SolarWinds NPM product is easy to scale.
How are customer service and support?
I have utilized SolarWinds technical support to help with issues, the experience is adequate for the the level of support we pay for.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of SolarWinds NPM is complex in my view. There are many knobs, dials and buttons to push, and it can take several days to get familiar with the product and it's functionality.
What other advice do I have?
Approximately 50 users utilize SolarWinds NPM within my company.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
librarian at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
Good language support and technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are language support and technical support."
- "An area for improvement would be the use of modular licenses, which are not practical for big clients."
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are language support and technical support.
What needs improvement?
An area for improvement would be the use of modular licenses, which are not practical for big clients.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for seven years.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup varies but can be quite complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This product is priced quite highly. Its licenses are available yearly, and the calculation of costs is quite complex.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution as nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Systems Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Stable, scalable, and responsive support
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup was straightforward. We deployed the solution from new and completed the upgrades."
- "SolarWinds NPM has helped our organization by providing a proactive approach to understanding the current trends in the environment, utilization of the resources, and providing inventory reports of the environment."
- "The solution could improve in many areas, such as the marketing and description of the products, providing areas of improvement, cloud capabilities, and being able to be more streamlined with the current integration points with other applications."
What is our primary use case?
We use SolarWinds NPM to monitor and manage network devices and infrastructure in our environment.
How has it helped my organization?
SolarWinds NPM has helped our organization by providing a proactive approach to understanding the current trends in the environment, utilization of the resources, and providing inventory reports of the environment. This has helped us stay ahead of the cost for new infrastructure requirements as well as licenses.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve in many areas, such as the marketing and description of the products, providing areas of improvement, cloud capabilities, and being able to be more streamlined with the current integration points with other applications.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SolarWinds NPM for approximately two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have found the stability of SolarWinds NPM to be good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability has been adequate.
We have multiple users using the solution with various roles, such as network administration, server administration, and reporting users.
We have plans to increase usage. We are currently leveraging the internal infrastructure aspects of the environment. We're going to expand it and we purchased additional infrastructure to expand the visibility across multiple areas.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support offered by SolarWinds NPM is pretty good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. We deployed the solution from new and completed the upgrades.
What about the implementation team?
We coordinate with the vendor to help support the implementation. It can take many days depending on the modules that need to be installed. It took us approximately two days.
We need at least one staff member in each focus area for the implementation of the solution, totaling approximately six, depending on the modules you have.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a multi-year license for the use of this solution. There are additional costs for recourses in the environment.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing SolarWinds NPM we evaluated other solutions such as Splunk and ScienceLogic. The flexibility and the overall breadth of different modules that SolarWinds has to offer were superior to the other solutions evaluated.
What other advice do I have?
I rate SolarWinds NPM an eight out of ten.
It is a good solution, it provides multiple module options, easy to use, and predominantly easy to find people to support it in the industry.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Vice President, SaaS Operations at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Reliable, easy to install, and well-monitored
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of this solution is the monitoring capabilities."
- "SolarWinds NPM is used to monitor network components and solutions, and we used it to monitor downtime and latency between applications as well as the latency between services."
- "If they did some type of synthetic monitoring, it would have been better."
- "You could question the scalability. It could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
SolarWinds NPM is used to monitor network components and solutions.
We used it to monitor downtime and latency between applications, as well as the latency between services.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of this solution is the monitoring capabilities.
What needs improvement?
If they did some type of synthetic monitoring, it would have been better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with SolarWinds NPM for 10 years.
We are working on the most up-to-date version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SolarWinds NPM is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
You could question the scalability. It could be improved.
How are customer service and support?
The technicals support is fair. I would rate them a three out of five.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was pretty straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I believe that we pay approximately $80,000 per year.
There can be fees in addition to the licensing fees if you add on.
What other advice do I have?
I would suggest putting in a larger VM infrastructure than they ask for because, if you don't, it'll probably be a little slow.
I would rate SolarWinds NPM an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Adfontessoftware
Highly scalable, reliable, and priced well
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to install and it takes a couple of hours."
- "SolarWinds NPM is useful for any company that has business-critical applications running over a network and they want to monitor the network behavior."
- "The solution could be more secure."
What is our primary use case?
SolarWinds NPM is useful for any company that has business-critical applications running over a network and they want to monitor the network behavior.
What needs improvement?
The solution could be more secure.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SolarWinds NPM for approximately eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
We have many large global customers using this solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
The support could improve by being quicker.
How was the initial setup?
The solution is easy to install and it takes a couple of hours.
What about the implementation team?
To do the implementation you need to be at an engineering level.
I can do the implementation of this solution myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is a permanent license and also a subscription level which has annual fees. The price of the solution is fair.
What other advice do I have?
I would strongly recommend this solution for others.
I rate SolarWinds NPM a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Systems Engineer at LifePoint Health
Since they have been hacked they can't be trusted, and it's an expensive product
Pros and Cons
- "It did a good job of the collection and then an investigation of the net flow of information for understanding the applications that were being used at certain locations."
- "We decided that we were no longer going to trust that their products have not been capitalized."
What is our primary use case?
We were using it to monitor network devices and the monitoring of certain servers.
What is most valuable?
It did a good job of the collection and then an investigation of the net flow of information for understanding the applications that were being used at certain locations.
They were pretty good at keeping up with things.
What needs improvement?
We have replaced SolarWinds with LogicMonitor.
For how long have I used the solution?
I had been working with SolarWinds NPM for five years. We stopped using SolarWinds in December of last year when it was revealed that they had been hacked with the supply chain hack and we turned it off. We began a fast-track process of trying to find something else that we could use to replace SolarWinds. We decided that we were no longer going to trust that their products have not been compromised.
At the time, we were using the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We experienced the typical ones that happen when a parameter is not well understood and that it is implemented, you end up causing issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability was complex.
We had 99 facilities that were a hospital holding company, and we have some 90 other facilities that we are the corporate headquarters of. In monitoring each of those different hospitals, there would be challenges with getting to all of those devices because of firewall rules.
The faculty would use it on a regular basis. There were approximately 90 users.
How are customer service and technical support?
We contacted technical support all of the time. They were fine.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
At the time I had been with the company for just over six years. They had only been using SolarWinds.
I have also been using VMware for a long time, and we are implementing vROps for alerting and monitoring.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was pretty straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It seemed that they nickeled and dimed you for everything that you were doing. There are a lot of sub-products and it just continued to increase the price.
What other advice do I have?
I would not recommend implementing SolarWinds because of the hacks, it is just not trusted.
Before they had the hack, the intrusion process I would have rated them a six or a seven but after the compromise, I would rate SolarWinds NPM a zero or one out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Executive IT Program Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Reliable monitoring with good reporting and good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "We don't have any issues with the stability of SolarWinds NPM."
- "One of the challenges with SolarWinds is that in order to pull the data, we have to have a lot of false positives."
What is our primary use case?
My team uses SolarWinds to do some of the network monitoring. I look at the reports.
What needs improvement?
One of the challenges with SolarWinds is that in order to pull the data, we have to have a lot of false positives.
False positives or positive falses are a concern because you want to be as accurate as possible and get them down to zero, which is what you want on your network. Once a week with the reports there, is always a false positive or vice versa where it's showing that it's up and really it's down.
We are looking at how we can overcome that issue. Is it a work issue, or does it come from the tool itself? It will show that something is down when it's up and every once in a while if something is down it shows that it is still up.
We would like to be able to pull information from the vendor's OEM. It would be helpful to have crosswalks or if it could have a running list that goes out of models, software, and it can pull out the end of life, or end of service life dates. Also to suggest the recommend current version to use, that way you can do the comparisons without having to do a manual search. That would be beneficial.
Similar to other tools, I would also like to see a graphical map of your network that highlight in green, red, or yellow, and if you see a specific device you can click on it and it will help you drill down on the details of that device.
There are other things that it should be able to do, such as when it comes to monitoring the infrastructure and my server, and there are issues developing like the circuits degrading or latency is increasing it should give you a notification to know what is going on, rather waiting for the device to go down which at that point it would be too late. You want to be able to do proactive monitoring and reaction.
We want to get to a monitoring level where if it is monitoring the server, the CPU, or the storage level you could have presets where it will identify and give you warnings to say that you are at 70% or 80% storage capacity. This would allow you to get ahead of it before you run out.
It would be the same for the CPU utilization and knowing if it is running 20 or 30% premiums normally or is it running at 90 or 100% and you have to add CPUs.
It could let you know if you have other tools or applications that are running too hot or if they need to be changing out that tool or is it something else.
To have something in place where it can help us to do some analysis and be proactive would be helpful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I don't use this solution, I oversee a team who uses it.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We don't have any issues with the stability of SolarWinds NPM.
We had one problem, but it wasn't a stability issue, it was a hack that occurred earlier this year that affected everyone using SolarWinds. After that, it took a bit to get it stabilized to where it is now.
How are customer service and technical support?
Our team that has worked with technical support hasn't had any complaints. It goes pretty well.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I am familiar with several tools.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
They will be putting NetScout on their network to look at some of the differences and to look at the pluses and minuses of each of the two tools.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate SolarWinds an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Updated: August 2026
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