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Azure Network Watcher vs WhatsUp Gold comparison

Microsoft and Progress Software are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Microsoft is ranked #42 with an average rating of 8.5, while Progress Software is ranked #21 with an average rating of 8.7. Microsoft holds a 0.5% mindshare in NMS, compared to Progress Software’s 2.4% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Progress Software users who would recommend it.
Azure Network Watcher
Read 13 Azure Network Watcher reviews
  • 1,318 Views
  • 1,265 Comparison Views
92% willing to recommend
WhatsUp Gold
Read 25 WhatsUp Gold reviews
  • 8,365 Views
  • 5,019 Comparison Views
85% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

WhatsUp Gold and Azure Network Watcher are competing in the network monitoring space. Azure Network Watcher seems to have the upper hand due to its extensive range of monitoring features and platform integration options.

Features: WhatsUp Gold provides comprehensive network device monitoring, real-time alerts, and an intuitive dashboard that aids in identifying issues. Its flexibility in monitoring various network components is a key asset. Azure Network Watcher offers packet capture, network diagnostics, and seamless integration with Azure services, ideal for cloud environments.

Room for Improvement: WhatsUp Gold could expand its cloud integration capabilities and enhance scalability for large networks. Improving its data analytics features would also provide more insights. Azure Network Watcher could simplify its initial setup to appeal to non-technical users. Adding more user-friendly interfaces and enhancing offline monitoring capabilities would broaden its appeal.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WhatsUp Gold is recognized for a straightforward installation process, beneficial for organizations seeking quick deployments. Its customer service is noted for rapid assistance. Azure Network Watcher's deployment can be complex due to its reliance on cloud configurations, although it benefits from extensive documentation and Azure's support.

Pricing and ROI: WhatsUp Gold generally offers a more accessible setup cost, providing favorable ROI for businesses seeking cost-effective monitoring. Azure Network Watcher might involve higher setup costs but delivers substantial ROI through advanced capabilities and integration, enhancing network visibility for organizations committed to the Azure cloud platform.

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To learn more, read our detailed Azure Network Watcher vs. WhatsUp Gold Report (Updated: April 2026).
Buyer's Guide
Azure Network Watcher vs. WhatsUp Gold
April 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
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
WhatsUp Gold
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
21st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (29th), Server Monitoring (15th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (18th), Configuration Management (20th), Log Management (35th), Cloud Monitoring Software (22nd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 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 WhatsUp Gold is 2.4%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
WhatsUp Gold2.4%
Azure Network Watcher0.5%
Other97.1%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Bijoyendra Roychowdhury - PeerSpot reviewer
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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EC
Erik Cheng
Technical Manager at Quan Hung Gourmet
Efficient monitoring with detailed customization, yet complexity remains
The best feature of WhatsUp Gold is the automatic generation of topology and its integration with virtualization and wireless. I have used the automated device discovery with this topology feature. The interactive map feature helps me manage the topology because sometimes we cannot draw the topology correctly, so we need to manually edit the connections. The alerting system is very tunable and customizable, but it's a little complicated to use. Many customers cannot manage it by themselves and need support from us, the provider. We always use the dashboards in the SOC, where we constantly display a dashboard or multiple dashboards. This allows us to know immediately if the connection or bandwidth is full or if the connection is broken.
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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

"This is a stable system providing stable performance."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Network Watcher is the cloud-native application firewall. It is helpful for securing databases."
"I like the visibility."
"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."
"It provides good visibility."
"The solution is good for monitoring device behavior."
"The stability is very good. I rate it a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Network Watcher is the cloud-native application firewall, which is helpful for securing databases."
More Azure Network Watcher pros
"The most valuable feature is the auto-discovery function."
"The new version has a lot of improved features."
"The interface in the last few years it has been a lot greater, they are much more user-friendly. I like the interface."
"The most valuable feature is the monitoring of resources."
"The most valuable feature is the monitoring of resources."
"NetFlow monitoring, real-time monitoring, and surveys have been the most valuable features for our business."
"We no longer have to manually search for problems because we are alerted when something in the network goes down."
"We primarily use the solution to check the state of the network, monitoring thousands of devices and all of the internal network, and it is the first tool we use to see the state of the network for real-time monitoring."
More WhatsUp Gold pros
 

Cons

"Azure Network Watcher could improve by having other built-in applications, for example, an application to log activities for inbound and outbound traffic."
"Azure is good, however, the Fortinet GUI is more intuitive and I like it more than anything else."
"Azure Network Watcher needs to have better documentation and it needs to capture information accurately."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"Azure Network Watcher could improve by having other built-in applications. For example, an application to log activities for in and outbound traffic."
More Azure Network Watcher cons
"I would like to see better integration with switches so that you can see what is connected to each port, what the traffic is, and have a network map automatically generated."
"My understanding is that there are better products out there that do a better job."
"Setting up WhatsUp Gold is complicated and not easy because it requires managing SNMP and many complex settings in the devices it's monitoring, and fine-tuning it to fit our needs is also not very easy."
"The initial setup of WhatsUp Gold is a medium range of difficulty levels. However, if it is your first time it could be difficult."
"The product is old and not updated."
"Pricing is too high relative to how many devices we use. The price list is not linear to number of devices."
"The tool should focus on increasing its market share, as it is the only area of concern where improvements are needed."
"Improvements are needed in integration, especially for WhatsApp call and messages. Our region heavily uses WhatsApp Messenger for communication, and integration with this platform would be beneficial."
More WhatsUp Gold cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The pricing is good. It's not too expensive."
"This is a well priced solution."
"The price of WhatsUp Gold is good."
"The most valuable feature is the cost compared to other solutions."
"There are some subscription charges that are quite heavy. I need to pay for support every year and these charges can be quite expensive. Aside from the initial cost for the tool, you need to pay additionally for support."
"There is a license needed to use WhatsUp Gold."
"I'm not sure, but it's expensive. We don't pay any additional fees."
"The choice of version depends on the number of points, or devices, that you want to monitor, and this makes the product expensive."
"It is per device, per year. The pricing is very clear. If you have a service agreement, you get all of your major upgrades and minor upgrades. It was under $10,000 to go all-in with all of the different add-ons for it."
More WhatsUp Gold pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Construction Company
9%
Government
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise14
 

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...
See all answers
What do you like most about WhatsUp Gold?
The interactive mapping interface for scrolling, zooming, and drilling down on an element to learn about a network issue is good. When we see a network there will sometimes be a spot that has one l...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WhatsUp Gold?
Clients find the licensing calculator confusing, but we simplify this for them by collecting relevant information first. The licensing is based on devices, providing better cost-effectiveness than ...
See all answers
What needs improvement with WhatsUp Gold?
It would be great if WhatsUp Gold could add features that simplify management with AI, as it is currently too complicated to manage.
See all answers
 

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Compared 6% of the time
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Compared 4% of the time
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Compared 3% of the time
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Compared 3% of the time
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PRTG Network Monitor vs WhatsUp Gold
Compared 3% of the time
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NinjaOne vs WhatsUp Gold
Compared 3% of the time
More WhatsUp Gold Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Azure Network Watcher
April 2026
Azure Network Watcher reportDownload Azure Network Watcher product report
Buyer's Guide
WhatsUp Gold
March 2026
WhatsUp Gold reportDownload WhatsUp Gold 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

Explore and manage your entire network infrastructure effortlessly with WhatsUp Gold's robust layer 2/3 discovery, creating a detailed interactive map from the edge to the cloud. Monitor devices, wireless controllers, servers, virtual machines, applications, and traffic flows across various environments. Real-time alerts ensure optimal performance, allowing you to meet or exceed SLAs. The platform offers customizable maps, dashboards, and alerts for easy network management. Quickly resolve issues with intuitive workflows, reducing Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR). WhatsUp Gold's integrated log management provides easy visibility and control of device log data, allowing monitoring, filtering, searching, and alerting on syslogs or Windows logs. Archive logs to comply with regulatory requirements and preserve historical data, all through a user-friendly interface. Streamline network monitoring and issue resolution with WhatsUp Gold, making network management efficient and hassle-free.

Progress Software
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Artoni Trasporti, Austin Independent School District, Banca Marche, Burke County North Carolina, Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine, Clayco, Community Integrated Care, Desca, Deutsche Bergbau, Flexi-Van, Gropper, Hamleys, Hammonds Furniture, Knowledge IT, Idras S.P.A., Sibeg, Swann Engineering, Trivium Lindenhof
Buyer's Guide
Azure Network Watcher vs. WhatsUp Gold
April 2026
Free Report: Azure Network Watcher vs. WhatsUp Gold
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Network Watcher vs. WhatsUp Gold and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
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