Auvik Network Management (ANM) vs LinkRunner comparison

Auvik and NetAlly are both solutions in the Network Troubleshooting category. Auvik is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6, while NetAlly is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.0. Auvik holds a 3.7% mindshare in NT, compared to NetAlly’s 12.7% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Auvik users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of NetAlly users who would recommend it.

Auvik Network Management (ANM)

Read 199 Auvik Network Management (ANM) reviews

11,084 Views
776 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

LinkRunner

Read 20 LinkRunner reviews

2,204 Views
2,204 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Auvik Network Management (ANM)

LinkRunner

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 11, 2024

LinkRunner and Auvik are two network management tools used to optimize IT environments. Auvik seems to have the upper hand due to its extensive network discovery functions and automated network mapping.

Features: LinkRunner's valuable features include its basic diagnostic tools, practical functionalities, and reliability in quickly identifying network issues. Auvik offers expansive network discovery functions, automated network mapping, and consistent network performance monitoring.

Room for Improvement: LinkRunner needs more advanced analytics, real-time monitoring capabilities, and in-depth network analysis tools. Auvik could benefit from enhanced user-friendliness, simpler interface, and reduced complexity for less technical staff.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: LinkRunner is straightforward in terms of deployment, with a plug-and-play nature. Auvik, requiring more initial configuration, provides comprehensive support which is often rated higher by users during deployment and beyond.

Pricing and ROI: LinkRunner is generally perceived as more cost-effective with a faster return on investment especially in smaller environments. Auvik tends to be pricier, but its extensive features and scalability make the investment worthwhile for users valuing comprehensive network management.

To learn more, read our detailed Auvik Network Management (ANM) vs. LinkRunner Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Auvik Network Management (ANM) vs. LinkRunner

September 2025

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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

Auvik Network Management (ANM)

Ranking in Network Troubleshooting

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

199

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (2nd), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (2nd), Cloud Monitoring Software (4th), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (2nd)

LinkRunner

Ranking in Network Troubleshooting

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of Auvik Network Management (ANM) is 3.7%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of LinkRunner is 12.7%, down from 22.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Troubleshooting Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Auvik Network Management (ANM)	3.7%
LinkRunner	12.7%
Other	83.6%

Network Troubleshooting

Featured Reviews

HardeepSingh2

Senior operation command center Engineer at a real estate/law firm with 10,001+ employees

Centralized dashboard and real-time picture of the network improve efficiency

We have integrated Auvik Network Management with PRTG and our ServiceNow ticketing tool through API. It automatically creates notifications and sends them to Teams and our ticketing tool. It saves a lot of time. It saved 40% to 50% of our time. Auvik Network Management's network map, together with the dashboard, gives me a real-time picture of my network. It allows me to see the inventory under all sites and devices. My company has 55 sites. Whenever I want to go to a site, I can navigate the network path, and it provides me with the topology directly from source to destination. It shows all events, such as downtime or critical warnings, in an easy-to-use manner. It provides information about device interfaces, device bandwidth, latency, etc. I just need to click to view more detailed information. I have never found a scenario where Auvik Network Management did not allow me to find my site or any device. I can use global search to find my device or site and get the information easily. However, proper configuration within Auvik is critical for accurate reporting, covering all interfaces and their utilization. Using the automated documentation capabilities of Auvik Network Management is very easy. Over the last year, I have been continuously exploring this, finding that the API integration with our other platforms is straightforward, as it just requires configuration on both ends for proper communication. I didn't find any issue so far. It has been awesome. The network map dashboard of Auvik Network Management gives me full visibility into my network, making it easy to troubleshoot issues with inbuilt tools such as traceroute, ping, and SNMP. It helps diagnose problems quickly without having to type commands manually. Real-time performance insights from Auvik Network Management are very critical for my organization as we currently manage 55 sites with over 2,000 devices, and we need to keep track of numerous services such as Active Directory, DNS, and many protocols, so Auvik is essential as it consolidates everything on one dashboard. Auvik Network Management has decreased our mean time to resolution by 40% to 50%. It allows us to see traffic flow in real time without needing to guess. I can just log into the Auvik dashboard and quickly get results. Auvik Network Management helps my organization troubleshoot network issues proactively by providing alerts and monitoring. Instead of waiting for user feedback, we receive alerts on issues such as high latency or device failures directly on the dashboard. The impact of Auvik Network Management on reducing business disruptions related to network issues is significant. It reduces our downtime, improves security, and simplifies complex tasks into straightforward ones, making it the best tool for managing our complex network. We have configured multiple notification channels. We get alerts through email or integrated platforms such as Teams, which helps streamline communication. It makes it easy to collect information from various devices. We just need to configure the collector, IP addresses, and connections, and get approval from both ends. It creates a unique ID, and it can communicate with those devices.

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Jesse_B

Manager of networks and infrastructure at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees

Impressive ease of use, gives comprehensive results in seconds, and saves a lot of time and resources

I've found the VLAN test feature to be most valuable. That's because not many devices do VLAN tests. Normally, I have to send a center technician to check a line and see if it's alive. If it's working, then I have to send a network technician out to log into a switch and see which port it's on and on which VLAN that port is. That's two persons and two separate visits. This device does all of this in a matter of seconds, and that has saved me a lot of time, troubleshooting, and resources. Its ease of use is very impressive. LinkRunner allows me to have my technicians run tests that are normally too complex and require a network specialist. AutoTest works with just one click. AutoTest does a lot of testing that would normally require a network specialist to log in to a switch and check out VLAN based on a port. My technicians don't have to log in to the switch anymore. They can just do AutoTest and information is provided online. So, I no longer have to send a specialist. I can have my technician run these very complex tests. It saves me on resources, time, and site visits. When it comes to troubleshooting, based on my experience, it has given very useful and very helpful information, especially for my field technicians. It has reduced my visits and the amount of presence because it gives a very comprehensive report on your network tests. It tests multiple variables and multiple parameters and gives a very informative report that makes it easy to pinpoint what is the root cause. There are many tools in this one solution. It's basically a bunch of toolkits or tool sets in one device, which makes it very powerful testing equipment.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Auvik has decreased our mean time to resolution. It's easier to find the devices on the network and pull out the information. Of course, the SNMP is also good to get the logs. It helps in the network debugging or if we have to find any problems."

"The automated network topology map is excellent; it shows connected networks, where they're going, and what they're visible on."

"I've found the topology mesh graph helpful, and I like the other features that factor into my work with Kubernetes."

"I don't worry about the scalability of the solution because it is quite a broad, scalable, modern platform."

"I like the fact that it's easy to set up and learn our network. I've used some other systems where it takes a lot of time and effort to manage the monitoring system, so you get what you put into it. The nice thing about Auvik is that you put the credentials in, put the agent on the network, and it just does its thing. It sets up alerts that you would most likely turn on anyway without even having to do it. If you add another new device to the network, it detects it and sets alerts up for that device. With the other systems that I've used, I had to manually add those devices in and manually set the alerts for new devices. I like that it's an almost set-it-and-forget-it sort of system."

"Interestingly, Auvik can manage hardware life cycles. You can see which devices are reaching the end of their lives. It does a built-in audit, but the solution's strength is automated discovery. Auvik does this really well."

"The most valuable features of Auvik are the alerting and monitoring. Those functions mean it easily more than pays for itself. I have it integrated with Slack with multiple channels set up for our IT office. When just about any part goes down that I have assigned in the alerting portion, it will let the right people know within minutes."

"Monitoring is probably the most active thing Auvik does for us. If a particular device on the network goes down, we have that granularity to see which network element is causing the problem."

More Auvik Network Management (ANM) pros

"I've found the VLAN test feature to be most valuable. That's because not many devices do VLAN tests. Normally, I have to send a center technician to check a line and see if it's alive. If it's working, then I have to send a network technician out to log into a switch and see which port it's on and on which VLAN that port is. That's two persons and two separate visits. This device does all of this in a matter of seconds, and that has saved me a lot of time, troubleshooting, and resources."

"I like the fact that I can tell the equipment to stop at a certain point during the test of a cable, to see whether or not there is basic connectivity. I can stop it before it starts pinging the outside world, such as Google or, perhaps, our core network switch. Those basic results—do I have a basic connection and power—finish up fast and I can move on."

"In terms of documenting ad hoc additions and other changes to wired ethernet connections, this product is very good. It keeps the information in the cloud and I have the ability to name it. This makes it very nice and easy to see."

"The most valuable feature is the end-to-end testing with the "dart," as they call it, where you can test for faults in the cable or if they've been terminated properly."

"Performance testing is the most valuable feature. It gives a brief summary of the information we're looking at, such as latency, jitter, and the available throughput."

"The solution's ability to simplify network validation and configuration of copper and fiber Ethernet networks is very useful to me. Otherwise, I’m guessing. Having a tool that I can trust doesn't solve all problems, but for the problems it solves, I can trust that it has told me “yes” or “no.” I would rate it highly for that."

"The AutoTest feature makes it easy for you on both ends. It's an excellent feature, especially if you're by yourself. You plug one end in and you hit AutoTest. It sits and waits for you to plug in the other end and it starts testing."

"The LLDP decoding is better than on some of the other devices that we've used. Specifically, it goes beyond the minimum of the LLDP data to decode, and it shows the LLDP port descriptions. That makes it vastly simpler to identify which port you're connecting to on a switch that's patched back to some other building, rather than having to figure out an SNMP index or something else."

Cons

"I would like to use different network protocols that we could implement."

"The solution's interface isn't the most user friendly, however, once you get used to it and once you get into the groove and have a little bit of experience, it's pretty nice."

"Automatic configuration backups would be an excellent feature for network devices and access points. The solution could take a backup of the configurations weekly and store that, which would be very nice."

"If I could make a wish list of things that I would like to see from Auvik, I would definitely love to see more vendor integration with specific manufacturers. They've got that integration with Cisco, but it would be awesome to also have that with other major brands, such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo. It should have integration with more vendors, and in general, being able to quickly and easily access vendor-specific tools from the portal would be amazing."

"I wish their bandwidth monitoring were more real-time than it currently is."

"One drawback I found with Auvik was its inability to generate clear network diagrams."

"Price sensitivity is an issue in the country where we use Auvik because of our exchange rate. It would be helpful if they could offer a slightly more affordable price in this region. I'd also like to see Auvik introduce more AI-driven features."

"I requested that Auvik implement an alarm system to notify me immediately of any disruptions or anomalies."

More Auvik Network Management (ANM) cons

"It is very stable. That being said, there is one feature that is not quite as stable as the rest of the product. You can leave it plugged into a location where you're doing some work and connect to it remotely by a program called VNC... sometimes that function breaks down, if you've been running for a couple of days... if you're remotely controlling it, you're probably not right next to it. That can be modestly annoying."

"They should allow firmware updates even if you don't have an AllyCare contract. I'm in a situation right now where they've released firmware for bug fixes, but we cannot access those, which makes the device almost useless. You almost want to just throw it out the window because they're not supporting their product unless you have an AllyCare contract."

"It's a little bit tough getting used to at first, but once you get the hang of it, and once you start using it more, like anything, it gets easier. The difficult part, at first, is knowing where to find each test and how to use the tests."

"Unlike using an application like Wireshark, this device gives us no way to see network packets specifically to look at what's going on. It doesn't have the capability."

"One area where LinkRunner could be improved is the battery life. Depending on which tests are run, it gets a decent six to eight hours. However, sometimes we need to do back-to-back shifts to meet a deadline, and we need access to an outlet to keep it plugged in and charging. It takes about an hour or two to charge."

"A feature that I would like to see is the ability to send a tone down the cable. That would be great. I have to use a separate tool for that. If I'm trying to troubleshoot a cable that is not plugged into a network switch, I need the ability to tone."

"Being really nitpicky about the LinkRunner G2, I wish the form factor was a little bit smaller. However, I'm sure that the size of the unit is compromised by the fact that the battery is large. If that were to mean having less battery life, I would not change it."

"It runs tests quickly, but it takes a while to boot up. It's somewhat disappointing that LinkRunner takes some time to turn on. When I arrive in the space, I usually spend the first two minutes waiting."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For small businesses with many devices, the tool is potentially unaffordable. Auvik Networks Inc. is competing with other companies offering very expensive products. Still, there's a gap in the market and potentially a lot of lost revenue for smaller customers, especially those with complex IT environments."

"Auvik is expensive, but given how much we use it and how many hours it is saving over the year, it is justified."

"The price is a little high, and the product could be more cost-friendly. We work with many small and medium-sized businesses, so the cost can be hard to justify. We try to work around that, but it would be nice if Auvik were more cost-effective. Most enterprise-level businesses we work with have their own internal monitoring solutions, whether Nagios or SolarWinds."

"While Auvik's pricing was attractive, we ultimately had to make budget cuts."

"The pricing gets pretty expensive because it is per device that is managed. It is not per site, so it can get pricey."

"Auvik's pricing is very competitive compared to other network management solutions."

"The tool's pricing is reasonable."

"They are way too lenient in their pricing. To put that simply, I can have an entire network being monitored and it will cost nothing, as long as I'm not monitoring the firewall or the switches."

More Auvik Network Management (ANM) pricing and cost advice

"The 10Gig ones are quite expensive, and we have only two of them, but I know that this option was cheaper than the other 10Gig option we looked at, and we're very happy with it."

"I would buy another one if I had a chance but they're too expensive. If they made it a bit cheaper, I think a lot of network engineers and network administrators would immediately jump onto it."

"It's reasonably priced in my market. It provides good value for money. The device is competitively priced as compared to other solutions. It gives you a lot of functionality and saves you a lot of time and resources. I see it as a good buy and good value for money. I stand for it."

"The area where the product could be improved is by having a lower cost so that I could have more than one. The price is competitive, but everybody would always like to see the price go down. I'd buy another one if it were cheaper."

"The cost of this device is very expensive, especially with the NetAlly Care on top of the costs. It is not for personal use and would be very expensive for smaller businesses."

"Its pricing is all right. Of course, from the business point of view, the cheaper it is, the better it is, but I prefer to spend a bit more money to get a quick response, which is helpful especially when we are onsite or in a very critical situation. We are not only paying for the product. We are paying for the people behind the product in terms of developers and technical support. When you need some help, they will be behind it, and they'll support you. There are no additional costs other than the standard licensing fee."

"I didn't have to buy it, but if I was going to have my choice, I wouldn't buy it just because of the price point. It works pretty well to do one thing. For the cost, it is definitely not worth it. There are other products out there that can do the same thing for probably 70% less. I am not aware of any additional costs."

"It's expensive but you definitely get what you pay for. I would buy another one if I had to."

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

University

10%

Healthcare Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	140
Midsize Enterprise	31
Large Enterprise	21

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Auvik?

The most valuable feature for us in Auvik is the network topology.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Auvik?

I only know the pricing for the first year of Auvik Network Management (ANM). After that, pricing is managed by my manager.

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What needs improvement with Auvik?

I had thought about requesting an AI interface for Auvik Network Management (ANM), but I think they already have that now. The only issue I see is that the pricing was a bit much for our needs; if ...

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Comparisons

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SolarWinds NPM vs Auvik Network Management (ANM)

Compared 7% of the time

Liongard vs Auvik Network Management (ANM)

Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 29% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Auvik Network Management (ANM)

October 2025

Download Auvik Network Management (ANM) product report

Buyer's Guide

LinkRunner

September 2025

Download LinkRunner product report

Overview

Auvik Network Management provides comprehensive network monitoring with competitive pricing, offering advanced features and free management of non-critical devices.

Auvik Network Management is known for its intuitive interface and real-time network visibility. Users benefit from features like automated network discovery, mapping, alerting, and TrafficInsights for cost-effective bandwidth monitoring. Its integration with ConnectWise and ticketing systems enhances device inventory updates, SNMP monitoring, and network troubleshooting. However, improvements are needed in reporting, integration capabilities, network map accuracy, customization, and alert configuration. Users suggest expanding device support and improving navigation and monitoring features.

What are Auvik's most important features?

Automated Network Discovery: Seamless identification and mapping of network devices.
Real-Time Visibility: Immediate insights into network performance and health.
Configuration Management: Automated backups and configuration control.
TrafficInsights: Monitor bandwidth use without expensive decryption.
Remote Access: Efficient remote management and troubleshooting.

What benefits should users look for in Auvik reviews?

Cost-Effectiveness: Pay only for critical devices, manage others for free.
Integration: Works with ConnectWise and ticketing systems for streamlined management.
Ease of Use: User-friendly design for quick deployment and operation.
Proactive Alerting: Identify and address network issues swiftly.
Rapid Deployment: Quick setup and immediate use across networks.

Auvik Network Management is widely used by managed service providers and enterprises for network monitoring across industries. It enables efficient management of firewalls, switches, routers, and ensures connectivity over multiple locations. This solution aids in identifying issues, automating backups, and facilitating remote access, offering critical insights on network traffic and device performance. Companies leverage its features to enhance network management and performance.

Auvik

LinkRunner AT 3000 & 4000. Next Generation Copper and Fiber Ethernet AutoTester. Fast and comprehensive validation of network links and powerful copper and fiber network connectivity troubleshooting. Tests from 10Mbps to 10Gbps, PoE, VLAN, switch port, path analysis, packet capture, topology mapping and so much more!

NetAlly

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Philips Healthcare, HCA Healthcare, University of South Dakota, Memorial Hermann, Baltimore County Public Schools, Aaramrak.

Buyer's Guide

Auvik Network Management (ANM) vs. LinkRunner

September 2025

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