Azure Network Watcher vs NetMon comparison

Microsoft and Exabeam are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Microsoft is ranked #42 with an average rating of 8.5, while Exabeam is ranked #51 with an average rating of 7.7. Microsoft holds a 0.5% mindshare in NMS, compared to Exabeam’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Exabeam users who would recommend it.

Azure Network Watcher

Read 13 Azure Network Watcher reviews

1,082 Views
1,039 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

NetMon

Read 12 NetMon reviews

1,621 Views
1,345 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Azure Network Watcher

NetMon

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 1, 2026

NetMon and Azure Network Watcher are network monitoring products with distinctive strengths. Azure Network Watcher has the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set that offers advanced integration and analytical capabilities, especially within Azure environments.

Features: NetMon focuses on real-time monitoring, customizable dashboards, and effective packet analysis. Azure Network Watcher provides robust integration with Azure services, deep analytics, and advanced automation features.

Room for Improvement: NetMon could enhance its integration capabilities and expand its analytics features. It could also improve scalability and API support. Azure Network Watcher could focus on simplifying its user interface, reducing the learning curve for new users, and offering more competitive pricing tiers.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetMon is recognized for easy deployment and responsive customer service, supporting quick issue resolution. Azure Network Watcher also supports robust deployment within Azure but may have a steeper learning curve for newcomers due to its comprehensive features.

Pricing and ROI: NetMon is cost-effective with an appealing immediate ROI for budget-conscious consumers. Azure Network Watcher, while higher priced, offers extensive capabilities, promising a good return for those using Azure-native tools extensively.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Network Watcher vs. NetMon Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher vs. NetMon

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

Azure Network Watcher

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

42nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetMon

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

51st

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (14th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Azure Network Watcher is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetMon is 0.6%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Azure Network Watcher	0.5%
NetMon	0.6%
Other	98.9%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Bijoyendra Roychowdhury

Program Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

Network monitoring provides comprehensive analytics while the interface requires further development

The quality of Azure Network Watcher is quite good in terms of the in-depth analysis you can create from these matrices. There are other monitoring tools such as New Relic, AppDynamics, and Dynatrace which provide very detailed network tracing. Cloud providers such as Azure or AWS do not have that kind of GUI-based capability at this point, but using PowerShell or Python, you can develop it yourself. From the GUI perspective, it still needs to evolve in terms of quality and standard, though overall, it is quite good for troubleshooting. Regarding areas for improvement, when comparing to other network tools beyond Azure Monitor or Azure Network Watcher, those tools can identify single failed packets. This level of granularity is not currently possible with cloud providers as they only go to a certain level rather than the granular level needed for deep troubleshooting, though they do provide hints with available matrices.

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SumitRangari

Pan India IT Infrastructure Management / End-user Services at Tata Group

Has supported real-time event detection and reporting accuracy while database integration has required extra effort

Sometimes it may be difficult to incorporate new additional databases in NetMon, and we faced some challenges at that time. However, currently, it is not giving many challenges.It is difficult to integrate NetMon with other databases. We can customize NetMon's monitoring views, but it is done by the team who handles it, as it is outsourced.

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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

"Azure Network Watcher provides valuable features based on your specific requirements and use cases, helping you monitor network bandwidth, throughput, data flow consumption, and control costs by giving insight into egress and ingress traffic, total input and output operations, bandwidth, and threats through IP identification."

"This will help the company or the administrator, by helping them see how the traffic moves, to make sure that no entities are having any communication issues or different endpoints with task issues."

"This is a stable system providing stable performance."

"The most valuable features I have found are typology, visualization, and capture."

"My advice to others looking into using Azure Network Watcher is to go for it, as you'll have the tool by default when you're subscribed to Azure VNet."

"The solution is good for monitoring device behavior."

"The most valuable feature of Azure Network Watcher is using the gateways with the connections. The monitoring is useful for the logs and application insights into the data. The traffic filtering issues when it comes to deploying those applications are helpful."

"I like the visibility."

More Azure Network Watcher pros

"Compared to many other products in the market, I think LogRhythm has the highest cost to performance ratio in terms of its value."

"We are using NetMon's real-time traffic analysis regularly with a team of four members who effectively monitor all alerts and events, which has helped them identify whether there could be a severe incident."

"Visibility is a valuable feature, the ability to see even if the traffic is not going into the firewall"

"LogRhythm NetMon's most impressive feature is that it's a bundled package, so you're not just relying on monthly data; you get a six-month view for more comprehensive indicators of compromise. This dual approach is precious. We implement LogRhythm NetMon in our cybersecurity strategy mainly for compliance and correlation of network, user, and decision activities, particularly for network firewalls and access control."

"The most valuable feature is the log, which can be analyzed by our SIEM solution."

"The initial setup is straightforward because we can deploy an open server."

"But just having it there, it's incredibly smart, incredibly easy to use, and the breadth of information we get off it is really good for investigations for us."

"NetMon's best feature is traffic analysis."

More NetMon pros

Cons

"Technical support from Microsoft needs significant improvement compared to other product vendors."

"The solution could improve by limiting the need to clarify the logs. When the clarification is minimized, it is better for everyone involved."

"It's not the most friendly or straightforward to set up. I don't see the value versus the way you have to set it up at first."

"Azure is good, however, the Fortinet GUI is more intuitive and I like it more than anything else."

"The solution could use some additional components of the network culture, not only VMs. I'd like to see some additional security features because what they currently have concentrates only on the network."

"I still use Wireshark and Azure Network Watcher to get the required data. My team captures the traffic from Azure Network Watcher, downloads it, then imports that traffic into Wireshark to get more details on the number of hits and replies, for example. If you can do that on Azure Network Watcher and have Wireshark built-in, that would make Azure Network Watcher better. If Azure Network Watcher has that functionality where you won't need a third-party tool to get what you need, that would be helpful. I'm also expecting more from Azure Network Watcher. It's more complex than knowing how the IP flows from its source to the destination. The tool also needs more open-source features, such as having some built-in Wireshark that improves monitoring for customers. Sometimes, you encounter a VPN tunnel, network, or routing issue, but finding out more about the blockage is challenging. Is it one hundred percent an Azure issue? Is it a peer issue? You don't get complete information from Azure Network Watcher, so you must use other tools and depend on your strategies to resolve a specific issue. If more features could be added in the next release of Azure Network Watcher, specifically ones you can find on open-source tools, then that would be a plus point for the tool."

"Azure Network Watcher needs to have better documentation and it needs to capture information accurately."

"Azure is good, however, the Fortinet GUI is more intuitive and I like it more than anything else."

More Azure Network Watcher cons

"The training for this product is not very good and needs to be improved."

"LogRhythm NetMon's pricing model is an area of concern that should be made a little bit cheaper in comparison to the other players in the market currently."

"There is an issue with tunneling in relation to how the connectivity is established between the end devices and where NetMon is installed. On the console, I often observe that there's a difference of a few seconds or maybe a minute, and this lag time should not be there."

"Sometimes it's hard to find the network devices' self-audit logs."

"Our customers would always like to see additional features."

"Sometimes it may be difficult to incorporate new additional databases in NetMon, and we faced some challenges at that time."

"Their technical support isn't so great."

"LogRhythm's support team isn't responsive enough - it's common to wait a day or two for someone to deal with a case."

More NetMon cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Azure Network Watcher is a little bit expensive."

"The pricing is good. It's not too expensive."

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"Price-wise, I have no information on how much Azure Network Watcher costs."

"The price of this solution is too high, so it should be made more practical and more valuable for the customer."

"LogRhythm's licensing part is something that depends on the license you want since they offer it on a perpetual and subscription basis."

"NetMon's licensing costs about $85k per year, with some extra costs for support."

"The product is expensive for smaller companies."

"Pricing is okay. There were some competitors that were extremely expensive and there were some which were really inexpensive but LogRhythm stayed in the middle of them."

"I don't have visibility into the pricing of LogRhythm NetMon as it's handled through our commercial partnerships."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

University

Government

Construction Company

Transportation Company

15%

Performing Arts

10%

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Network Watcher?

I do not have the exact setup cost information on hand, but it is available in the public Azure portal. You can access the calculator there to get detailed pricing information.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Network Watcher?

The main area for improvement is AI-based features. Currently, many intelligent tools are coming from third parties, and Azure Network Watcher needs to improve in this area. The focus should be on ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Azure Network Watcher?

Azure Network Watcher is used for monitoring network traffic. It provides insight into egress and ingress traffic, which helps determine whether consumption can be controlled. Most Azure services c...

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What do you like most about LogRhythm NetMon?

It has a very strong artificial intelligence engine.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for LogRhythm NetMon?

I don't have visibility into the pricing of LogRhythm NetMon as it's handled through our commercial partnerships.

See all answers

What needs improvement with LogRhythm NetMon?

See all answers

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

ObserverLIVE vs NetMon

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher

March 2026

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Buyer's Guide

NetMon

March 2026

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Also Known As

No data available

LogRhythm Network Monitor

Overview

Azure Network Watcher is a comprehensive network monitoring and diagnostic service offered by Microsoft Azure. It provides a range of tools and capabilities to help users monitor, diagnose, and gain insights into their Azure network infrastructure. With Network Watcher, users can capture and analyze network traffic, monitor network performance, troubleshoot connectivity issues, and gain visibility into network topology. It also offers features like packet capture, flow logs, connection monitoring, and VPN diagnostics to ensure the smooth operation of Azure networks. Network Watcher enables users to proactively identify and resolve network issues, optimize network performance, and enhance the overall reliability and security of their Azure network environment.

Microsoft

NetMon offers significant capabilities in log aggregation, traffic analysis, and real-time network insights. Its ease of use accommodates both entry-level and advanced functionalities, enhancing network visibility and threat detection.

NetMon provides seamless analytics with its real-time dashboards and advanced AI integration. The platform is designed for comprehensive monitoring and detailed analysis, making it indispensable for identifying network traffic, origins, destinations, and facilitating threat detection through lateral traffic visibility. Despite its powerful analytics and customization features, improvements in product integration, customer support, and pricing could increase its competitive edge. Connectivity, topology visualization, and server performance are areas noted for enhancement. Integration with protocols like Gflow and Netflow might alleviate agent-based restriction challenges. NetMon sends correlated data to LogRhythm SIEM for enhanced threat analysis and is used for tasks like traffic analysis and DPA.

What are NetMon's key features?

Log Aggregation: Seamless collection of diverse network logs for analysis.
Traffic Analysis: Detailed inspection of network traffic for identifying irregular patterns.
AI Integration: Advanced analytics powered by robust AI capabilities.
Customizable Dashboards: Real-time insights tailored to user requirements.
Correlation Engine: In-depth correlation of network activity for comprehensive reports.
Deep Packet Analytics: Thorough examination of data packets for granular insights.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Enhanced Threat Detection: Significant improvements in identifying lateral threats.
Comprehensive Insights: Complete visibility into network and user activities.
Efficient Monitoring: Real-time analytics streamline network monitoring processes.
Compliance Support: Strong integration supports adherence to compliance standards.

NetMon is widely adopted in industries requiring detailed traffic monitoring and security, such as finance and healthcare. Its capabilities in traffic type identification and correlated analysis make it essential for environments where detecting irregular patterns is critical. It's utilized for network security through comprehensive analysis and integration with SIEM systems.

Exabeam

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Sera-Brynn

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher vs. NetMon

March 2026

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