Azure Network Watcher vs Pandora FMS comparison

Microsoft and Pandora FMS are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Microsoft is ranked #51 with an average rating of 8.3, while Pandora FMS is ranked #46 with an average rating of 8.0. Microsoft holds a 0.4% mindshare in NMS, compared to Pandora FMS’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Pandora FMS users who would recommend it.

Azure Network Watcher

Read 12 Azure Network Watcher reviews

743 Views
698 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Pandora FMS

Read 22 Pandora FMS reviews

1,376 Views
729 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Azure Network Watcher

Pandora FMS

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Pandora FMS and Azure Network Watcher are both prominent tools in the network monitoring category. Azure Network Watcher is perceived to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set and cloud-native applications, even though it comes at a higher cost.

Features: Pandora FMS is noted for its integrated alarm system and simplicity in monitoring various network elements, supporting both agent-based and agentless monitoring. It provides robust reporting capabilities and flexibility for customization. Azure Network Watcher offers cloud-native applications, packet capture, and virtual network diagnostics, emphasizing architecture-focused solutions and detailed monitoring.

Room for Improvement: Pandora FMS users suggest enhancements in cloud capabilities and easier setup, along with improved support for operating systems and integration with third-party apps. Azure Network Watcher users seek better documentation, more open-source integrations, and features to reduce reliance on external tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Pandora FMS supports hybrid and on-premises environments, praised for responsive technical support and comprehensive documentation. Azure Network Watcher is public cloud-based, with efficient deployment, though users suggest improved support and user experience.

Pricing and ROI: Pandora FMS offers competitive licensing with open-source options, leading to high ROI. Azure Network Watcher, seen as more expensive, delivers good ROI through its advanced features. Both solutions provide significant financial returns, with Pandora FMS being cost-effective and Azure Network Watcher preferred for enterprise needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Network Watcher vs. Pandora FMS Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher vs. Pandora FMS

July 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

Azure Network Watcher

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

51st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Pandora FMS

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

46th

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (18th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (44th), Log Management (34th), Cloud Monitoring Software (28th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Azure Network Watcher is 0.4%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pandora FMS is 0.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Bijoyendra Roychowdhury

Program Manager at Capgemini

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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Gabriel Glusgold

Asociado/ at Infraestructura Informática

Personalized metrics; simplicity of data

My primary use case for Pandora is monitoring This solution has helped us improve our organization by allowing us to create a lot of metrics on several platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Unix. We then use these Pandora metrics to create an interface. We then pass the interface off to the…

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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

"We use the solution to monitor network services. It helps to capture any network issues."

"The stability is very good. I rate it a ten out of ten."

"What I like most about Azure Network Watcher is that it's focused more on the architecture. I also like that it has a packet capture feature that tells you how the packet travels and whether it's exiting Azure, etc."

"I like the visibility."

"The solution is good for monitoring device behavior."

"The most valuable feature of Azure Network Watcher is the cloud-native application firewall. It is helpful for securing databases."

"The solution is stable."

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

More Azure Network Watcher pros

"Thanks to this software and to the work of the support team, we have everything under control."

"Pandora FMS provides us with a general report (graphical) about all of the connected devices, which helps with planning new stations and tracking them."

"Features I have found most valuable with Pandora are the personalized metrics and the simplicity of data."

"The solution is so lightweight that with only 4GB of ram, it allows keeping track of up to two hundred agents from a single console."

"It is easy to create your own custom modules if you just know a little bit of scripting. If you have unique requirements, you can just make your own modules. You can even grab checks from other vendors. There are open-source checks for various things such as SMTP, etc. There is a long list of different ones from Nagios. You can just use them, and within seconds, you get yourself a check that is monitoring whatever you need. It is really flexible. I guess that's why they call it Pandora Flexible Monitoring System (FMS). It is reliable. It does the job, and it alerts. It is also surprisingly feature-rich. Our network guy just recently asked about a particular protocol to monitor the bandwidth on the network, which is not a common protocol. When I looked it up, and I found that they cover it. It is very mature for a not-so-known product."

"This solution has screens that are easy to understand and provide a wealth of information."

"It allows me to quickly see the status of all of my printers, switches, computers, and virtual machines to determine if any system has fallen."

"Thanks to its flexibility, I have been able to adapt the tool to our servers and find out quickly how their console works."

More Pandora FMS pros

Cons

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

"Lacks sufficient security features."

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

"The initial setup and deployment could be improved to be simplified."

"Azure Network Watcher could improve by having other built-in applications. For example, an application to log activities for in and outbound traffic."

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

"I would like to see in the future if we can troubleshoot as a firewall because it is equipment as a network player and some diagnostics."

"User experience could be improved."

More Azure Network Watcher cons

"When it comes to the definition of local Software Agents for the first time in the open-source version, it can become very tedious."

"Their support is good, but it is just online communication. It would be great to be able to just call someone and talk to them instead of always writing. It works well for me because I am a decent communicator in email, but some people might find it difficult to describe in a written fashion and communicate with them that way. There is a learning curve to the interface, but once you get used to it, it is actually very powerful. They have a lot of options, but people struggle with the interface. They've improved it though, and it is getting better. They need to keep improving the learning curve to help buy-in. I'm the guy that manages it, so I'm comfortable with it. They can refine the upgrade agents to be easier. They can also do more refinement in end-user usability because not everyone is strong technically, and people who aren't strong technically might be averse to the product, even though it has come a long way. It has a complete GUI and everything."

"The price for Pandora FMS is expensive."

"Pandora could deliver better analytics out of the box. You can work around these limitations with the help of other tools like Grafana. The shortcomings are mostly on the graphical side. The built-in report generators are a bit limited in some areas."

"An update to the Android app would be appreciated."

"We would like to see improvement in the mainframe integration that this solution is capable of."

"In the future, we may have double the number of devices, and we do not want to have any issues with performance in the data display."

"I think some improvements to the Android app would be good."

More Pandora FMS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"Azure Network Watcher is a little bit expensive."

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

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"Only one payment and it includes support, updates, new versions, and access to the complete library of plugins except for SAP and z/OS."

"You get the license and it includes updates, new versions, and access to the complete library of modules."

"Growing the solution or migrating to the Enterprise version is easy, and various plans are available."

"You have to pay for the number of agents and models that you are monitoring. I would rate the cost at three with one being the most expensive and five being the cheapest."

"Pandora FMS is easy to implement and the pricing of licenses is competitive."

"In terms of money, the Enterprise version is the cheapest that I have found after a market study."

"The Open Source Community Edition is great to just explore the software, or use it on medium-sized infrastructures."

"My rule of thumb would be that if you need more than thirty agents, and you lack an automation tool such as Chef or Puppet, you will save a lot of time and money going to the Enterprise edition."

More Pandora FMS pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

11%

University

Government

13%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Computer Software Company

Media Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Network Watcher?

I like the visibility.

See all answers

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

It is affordable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Network Watcher?

User experience could be improved.

See all answers

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Comparisons

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Compared 23% of the time

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Compared 23% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 18% of the time

Nmap vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 18% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 18% of the time

More Azure Network Watcher Competitors

Zabbix vs Pandora FMS

Compared 21% of the time

Wazuh vs Pandora FMS

Compared 14% of the time

LibreNMS vs Pandora FMS

Compared 11% of the time

Checkmk vs Pandora FMS

Compared 7% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Pandora FMS

Compared 5% of the time

More Pandora FMS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher

August 2025

Download Azure Network Watcher product report

Buyer's Guide

Pandora FMS

August 2025

Download Pandora FMS product report

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

Pandora FMS is a monitoring as a service (MaaS) solution that is ideal for companies with at least 100 or more devices. Instead of multiple, difficult-to-integrate monitoring systems, Pandora FMS is an all-in-one solution that is easy to use. The software is able to untangle complicated technology infrastructures to easily identify the root cause of issues in order to find the most efficient solution. It does so by analyzing everything in your system, from databases and applications to services and desktops, as well as communications.

Pandora FMS Features

Pandora FMS has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Application Monitoring (APM)
IoT monitoring
Log collection
Inventory
Issue management / ITSM
Mainframe monitoring
Network monitoring
Remote control
Synthetic monitoring
Service oriented monitoring
Server monitoring
User experience monitoring
Virtualization & cloud

Pandora FMS Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Pandora FMS. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Comprehensive overview: Pandora FMS provides a comprehensive overview of your system to make troubleshooting easy. It also provides all the tools to monitor and analyze an extensive range of data, from traffic to connectivity.

Easy forecasting: With Pandora FMS, you can use your network diagram for forecasting solutions, which gives you the necessary info you need to perform maintenance.

Proactive solutions: Issues are proactively addressed. Pandora FMS provides alerts 24/7 so you can deal with problems before they grow even bigger. This also helps your organization eliminate any down time.

Solve future problems: Another benefit of implementing Pandora FMS is that it enables you to optimize your services to ensure that future issues are minimized. In addition, they offer around-the-clock monitoring and automated solutions. As a result, the solution enables you to operate your organization with maximum efficiency all the time, saving you money and time.

Personalized service maps: Pandora FMS allows you to create detailed, personalized service maps that can help you identify any shortcomings in your system and address them as soon as possible.

SLA and availability reports: With Pandora FMS, you receive critical alerts when SLA levels aren’t met, which also helps you understand when your applications and systems are not meeting your business goals.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Pandora FMS solution.

PeerSpot user Marc C., Systems Analyst at a university, says, "It is easy to create your own custom modules if you just know a little bit of scripting. If you have unique requirements, you can just make your own modules. You can even grab checks from other vendors. There are open-source checks for various things such as SMTP, etc. It is really flexible. It is reliable. It does the job, and it alerts. It is also surprisingly feature-rich. It is very mature for a not-so-known product."

Another reviewer, Alexandre J., comments, “What I value most about Pandora FMS is the simplicity of working with it. The speed of locating problems and to be able to solve them quickly, so that it affects our client's network infrastructure as little as possible, is very valuable.

Thanks to Pandora FMS we have everything unified in the same point and it is highly efficient.”

Pandora FMS

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Rakuten, Prosegur, Repsol, Teléfonica, Allianz, Ottawa Hospital, Hughes

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher vs. Pandora FMS

July 2025

Free Report: Azure Network Watcher vs. Pandora FMS

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