FortiMonitor vs Packetbeat comparison

Fortinet and Elastic are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Fortinet is ranked #22 with an average rating of 8.8, while Elastic is ranked #66 with an average rating of 8.0. Fortinet holds a 0.7% mindshare in NMS, compared to Elastic’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Elastic users who would recommend it.

FortiMonitor

Read 15 FortiMonitor reviews

1,869 Views
1,346 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Packetbeat

Read 2 Packetbeat reviews

378 Views
374 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

FortiMonitor

Packetbeat

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between FortiMonitor 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).

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

January 2026

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Helped 881,082 peers since 2012

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

FortiMonitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

22nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (23rd), IT Alerting and Incident Management (10th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (7th)

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 FortiMonitor is 0.7%, up from 0.7% 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 (%)
FortiMonitor	0.7%
Packetbeat	0.3%
Other	99.0%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

reviewer2677554

Network Engineer III at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Managing diverse networks with detailed alerts enhances device oversight

FortiManager is very helpful in managing our networks. We use it to manage 20 farms and various networks with hundreds of devices. The version we are using provides more detail than the older dashboard. We appreciate the alerting capabilities, which are integrated with SolarWinds to notify our team via SMS.

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.

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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

"The tool continuously improves, adapting to support new vendors and technologies. Importantly, it automates the process, triggering alerts when devices require attention, and eliminating the need for manual intervention."

"Fortinet's customer support is very good."

"In FortiMonitor, we're linked up with our Netgear, CactusServer, and NOC. It's really valuable because everything's migrating to one dashboard for us system engineers. We can keep an eye on traffic, blocked sites, and the health of our hardware. That last part, about knowing if something's going to fail soon, is super important. It gives us time to sort things out before any big problems happen. As a system engineer, I need to keep tabs on everything – temperature, monitoring systems, and network operations. This data is really handy because it helps me ensure our site runs smoothly, whether it's turning systems on or off. Just last night, there was a system failure, but thanks to real-time monitoring, I quickly identified the problem and got the necessary replacement parts."

"FortiMonitor has a very intuitive dashboard, which makes it particularly helpful for analyzing traffic, alerts, and other information."

"FortiMonitor is really easy to use for monitoring the logs on FortiGate...It is a stable product."

"FortiMonitor has a very intuitive dashboard, which makes it particularly helpful for analyzing traffic, alerts, and other information."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is what the devices are used for. We have big backups for our Cradlepoint solutions, but FortiMonitor is a great routing device and we love working with them."

"FortiMonitor is 100% stable."

More FortiMonitor 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

". Enhancements in the dashboard, such as clearer alerting, maintenance window management, software version tracking, and better visualization, would be beneficial."

"FortiMonitor's monitoring could be much better. It should be like, in Palo Alto."

"The tool's price in Vietnam is high, making it an area of concern where improvements can be made."

"Additionally, there are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."

"Sometimes, during high CPU usage, we cannot access FortiMonitor and must refresh it."

"FortiMonitor could be improved by making it more convenient for smaller workloads, such as when configuring a few branches."

"We use FortiToken, and it's a pain to use because you have to send things through your phone and then confirm by email. Only after this can you log in. It's dual-factor authentication. I wish that I could just log in or bring up a dashboard where I could log in from."

More FortiMonitor 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

"We have a large customer base for Fortinet, and the additional buying power got us really great discounts."

"In terms of licensing, while it may not be the most expensive option on the market, it's relatively cost-effective. You can obtain licenses at a lower cost, with the calculation being straightforward. For example, if you onboard around 5,000 devices, you'll need approximately 5,000 licenses, as each device typically counts as one license."

"There are additional costs needed for certain functionality, such as scalability."

"The tool's pricing model in Vietnam is a bit high. I rate the product price as an eight out of ten."

"Compared to other solutions, FortiMonitor is a very expensive solution."

"On a scale from one to ten, I rate the pricing a nine since it is a good solution that is available at a cheap price."

"The price of FortiMonitor is approximately $200 annually for 225 users. The price is competitive."

"FortiMonitor's price is very high."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	6

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

I have a clear bias because I work for Panopta. We aren't a fit for everyone, but I can confirm that Panopta is a lot less work to stand up and maintain. It's also a lot easier to use and onboard n...

See all answers

What do you like most about FortiMonitor?

In FortiMonitor, we're linked up with our Netgear, CactusServer, and NOC. It's really valuable because everything's migrating to one dashboard for us system engineers. We can keep an eye on traffic...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiMonitor?

FortiMonitor does save time but not significantly on costs, as there are still expenses related to procurement, installation, and licensing.

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

Comparisons

ThousandEyes vs FortiMonitor

Compared 19% of the time

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 10% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 9% of the time

Zabbix vs FortiMonitor

Compared 9% of the time

Datadog vs FortiMonitor

Compared 8% of the time

More FortiMonitor Competitors

Ixia Network Taps vs Packetbeat

Compared 100% of the time

More Packetbeat Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)

December 2025

Download FortiMonitor product report

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

January 2026

Download Packetbeat product report

Also Known As

Panopta

No data available

Overview

FortiMonitor is a comprehensive, SaaS-based digital experience monitoring (DEM) platform that helps organizations modernize their performance-monitoring tools. It provides visibility into endpoint application performance and digital experience—no matter where the user resides or where the application is hosted.

Fortinet

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

Sample Customers

SONY, GoDaddy, HCL, ING, ARMOR, billboard

Information Not Available

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Network Monitoring Software

January 2026

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