Azure Bastion vs Packetbeat comparison

Microsoft and Elastic are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Microsoft is ranked #44 with an average rating of 8.8, while Elastic is ranked #66 with an average rating of 8.0. Microsoft holds a 0.4% mindshare in NMS, compared to Elastic’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Elastic users who would recommend it.

Azure Bastion

Read 12 Azure Bastion reviews

1,771 Views
673 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Packetbeat

Read 2 Packetbeat reviews

378 Views
374 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Azure Bastion

Packetbeat

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Azure Bastion and Packetbeat based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Zabbix, Auvik, Datadog and others in Network Monitoring Software.

To learn more, read our detailed Network Monitoring Software Report (Updated: January 2026).

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Network Monitoring Software

January 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

Azure Bastion

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

44th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (10th), Microsoft Security Suite (25th)

Packetbeat

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

66th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

2.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Azure Bastion is 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Packetbeat is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Azure Bastion	0.4%
Packetbeat	0.3%
Other	99.3%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Ashadeep Parida

IT Manager at NTT DATA

Access servers securely over private networks but need better data transfer solutions

Azure Bastion is primarily used to access servers securely without exposing them to the public network. It is configured in a private network to allow accessing an environment without public exposure Azure Bastion eliminates the need for a jump server by providing secure access to servers without…

Read full review

Mohammed-Abdelalim

Assistant Vice President at QualityKiosk Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Network analytics have delivered lightweight, integrated visibility for search, observability, and security

Packetbeat analyzes specific protocols and is not suitable for full capture of all network traffic and network flows. I recall that Packetbeat can cover a limited number of protocols including ICMP, but not as deeply as other solutions. It covers NetFlows and these types of flows, but not at the level of a deep packet capture that you can find in the market where it taps every single packet in the network. Packetbeat is more about bringing statistics about the packets, but it doesn't capture these packets. The development intention of Packetbeat appears to be to provide a window for application monitoring and performance analytics, and for that purpose, it is doing sufficiently well. However, if the vendor has another goal to build a similar network monitoring solution that exists in the market, which is outside of Elastic's business nature, Packetbeat is a sensor that needs to be improved to the level of deep packet capture where it loses no packets in the network. That improvement would take Elastic to another level.

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 solution's most valuable feature is that it is easy to use...It is modernized, so I can create complex infrastructures."

"The interface is available in the edit portal."

"The ability to operate the product with scripting is excellent."

"It provides all the security to us. Without getting on the internet, we can access our servers. We can access our desktop through our web browser. We don't need to run the mstsc command and login to the VM. All those things are not required."

"Azure Bastion makes it easy to provide quick virtual machine access to our customers."

"The most significant advantage lies in its runbook features, particularly beneficial for our infrastructure team."

"Overall, I had a very positive experience."

"Azure Bastion is preferable because you just switch it on and off you go."

More Azure Bastion pros

"Elastic's scalability, in terms of cluster robustness, is definitely the most valuable feature."

"The beauty of Packetbeat is that it is easy, free, and lightweight, while other solutions are expensive and will accumulate a huge amount of data."

Cons

"You are charged for retrieving your own data."

"There is room for improvement with AI features. I would like to see integrated AI features with Azure Bastion, especially for connectivity issues."

"The protocol speed could be faster."

"The solution breaks down sometimes."

"Azure Bastion does its job. However, it would be nice to have the capability to cut and paste across desktops, similar to old-fashioned Remote Desktop emulation."

"Currently, Azure Bastion does not allow for direct data transfer between desktops. A storage solution must be created to transfer data, and this requires additional permissions like ACL or NFS."

"There are some challenges because Bastion is more compatible with Edge but not with the other browsers. As an organization, it doesn't make sense that we have to use only Edge. We should be able to access Bastion over Chrome, Mozilla, or Opera. It should be our choice."

"We are not able to copy and paste files directly into the server over the patch host. We have to transfer files over to Azure Storage."

More Azure Bastion cons

"The scalability of the agent itself could be improved."

"Packetbeat analyzes specific protocols and is not suitable for full capture of all network traffic and network flows."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is a lower decision point than high-quality security for our organization. Better security comes at a cost, but it's worth it, and that's what we tell our customers."

"It does not save money for us."

"Azure Bastion's pricing is good."

"The tool is cheaply priced. I would say that the product is free to use."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	6

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Bastion?

Microsoft's pricing is on the higher side and could be more competitive. Startups and small organizations often prefer AWS ( /products/amazon-aws-reviews ) or GCP due to their lower costs, while la...

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What needs improvement with Azure Bastion?

Azure Bastion does its job. However, it would be nice to have the capability to cut and paste across desktops, similar to old-fashioned Remote ( /products/remote-reviews ) Desktop emulation. I am u...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Azure Bastion?

We use Azure Bastion ( /products/azure-bastion-reviews ) as an administration tool to access Azure ( /products/microsoft-azure-reviews ) Virtual Servers.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Packetbeat?

Elastic is pretty cheap for large enterprises but unaffordable for small ones.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Packetbeat?

I think that the scalability of the agent itself could be improved. It is also a bit limited in terms of capabilities. When a customer needs to customize the collection, I think it's tougher there.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Packetbeat?

I've been using Packetbeat ( /products/packetbeat-reviews ) for call centers, for logs, for observability, network monitoring, and some search engine optimization.

See all answers

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Compared 12% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Bastion

January 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

January 2026

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Overview

Azure Bastion is a service you deploy that lets you connect to a virtual machine using your browser and the Azure portal. The Azure Bastion service is a fully platform-managed PaaS service that you provision inside your virtual network. It provides secure and seamless RDP/SSH connectivity to your virtual machines directly from the Azure portal over TLS. When you connect via Azure Bastion, your virtual machines do not need a public IP address, agent, or special client software.

Microsoft

Packetbeat is an open-source real-time application monitoring tool designed to capture network packets and provide insights into application performance and network congestion.

Packetbeat allows IT professionals to monitor network traffic efficiently by collecting and analyzing packets. It provides valuable insights into network latency and helps identify performance issues. It is part of the Elastic Stack, making it easy to integrate with Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana for sophisticated data analysis and visualization. Its open-source nature adds flexibility for customization, catering to specific monitoring needs.

What are the crucial features of Packetbeat?

Real-time packet capture: Enables immediate analysis and monitoring of network packets.
Protocol analysis: Supports analysis of various protocols like HTTP, DNS, and MySQL.
Seamless integration: Works efficiently with other Elastic Stack components.
Open-source: Offers customization and adaptability for IT requirements.

What benefits or ROI should be expected?

Cost efficiency: Leveraging open-source software reduces license costs.
Enhanced visibility: Provides detailed insights into network operations.
Scalability: Can be scaled to monitor expansive networks as needs grow.

In industries like finance and healthcare, where network uptime and data integrity are crucial, Packetbeat is implemented to monitor network performance and troubleshoot issues promptly. Its ability to analyze traffic in real-time ensures that potential bottlenecks are addressed swiftly, maintaining operational efficiency.

Elastic

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

January 2026

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