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FortiMonitor vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor comparison

Fortinet and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Fortinet is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.4, while SolarWinds is ranked #28 with an average rating of 8.0. Fortinet holds a 0.7% mindshare in NMS, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.
FortiMonitor
Read 15 FortiMonitor reviews
  • 1,404 Views
  • 755 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
SolarWinds Network Device M...
Read 22 SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reviews
  • 710 Views
  • 594 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor and FortiMonitor are products in the network monitoring space. FortiMonitor appears to have the upper hand due to its superior features, providing deeper insights into network operations, despite its complex deployment.

Features: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor offers reliable performance, efficient monitoring capabilities, and straightforward pricing. FortiMonitor includes advanced analytics, integration capabilities, and a broader feature set, appealing to those seeking comprehensive monitoring solutions.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could enhance its advanced analytics capabilities, integration options, and broaden its feature set. FortiMonitor might improve by simplifying deployment, offering more budget-friendly pricing, and refining its user interface for easier navigation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is known for its easy deployment and effective customer support, attracting organizations seeking a quick setup. FortiMonitor has a more complex deployment model but provides comprehensive customer support, guiding users through its complexity.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor has competitive setup costs, offering a strong return on investment for basic monitoring needs. FortiMonitor requires a higher initial investment but delivers excellent returns for organizations needing detailed network insights, highlighting the value of its comprehensive capabilities against the economical value of SolarWinds for simpler requirements.

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To learn more, read our detailed FortiMonitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
FortiMonitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
April 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

FortiMonitor
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
14th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (14th), IT Alerting and Incident Management (7th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (3rd)
SolarWinds Network Device M...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
28th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of FortiMonitor is 0.7%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is 0.5%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

JaimeVasquez - PeerSpot reviewer
Monitoring capabilities keep operations running smoothly and alerts enhance proactive system management
We use FortiMonitor to monitor the infrastructure of our customers. We check on what is happening with their operations, monitor bandwidth, ensure configurations are appropriate for the customer, and identify if anything is going wrong The most valuable features of FortiMonitor are its redundancy…
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Vijay Samant - PeerSpot reviewer
Monitor network utilization and manage bandwidth efficiently with live monitoring and reliable fault management capabilities
I use SolarWinds Network Device Monitor for monitoring network utilization, bandwidth utilization, uptime, and downtime. It also assists in incident management SolarWinds Network Device Monitor provides live monitoring capabilities, which are very useful. Its fault management capabilities are…
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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

"FortiMonitor's dashboard is very informative and user-friendly."
"FortiMonitor is 100% stable."
"FortiMonitor has a very intuitive dashboard, which makes it particularly helpful for analyzing traffic, alerts, and other information."
"FortiMonitor has a very intuitive dashboard, which makes it particularly helpful for analyzing traffic, alerts, and other information."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of FortiMonitor is the overall ability to monitor the health of the environment."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy."
"The solution helps to see client infrastructure. It has many boxes and blinks green or red when the station goes up or down. We have different domains for the device groups that we monitor."
More FortiMonitor pros
"SolarWinds is flexible and works with multiple vendor devices."
"The alerting functionality in SolarWinds Network Device Monitor helps us stay informed during off-hours by sending alerts if our main links or devices are impacted, allowing us to quickly address any issues."
"This product proactively tells us about issues before the users notice."
"I rate the product's initial setup process a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is a difficult phase and ten is an easy process."
"The product is useful for switches and IP phones."
"Link monitoring is the most valuable feature of this solution."
"I like the mapping that you could do and the dashboards were very pretty."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is monitoring."
More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pros
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the FortiMonitor report. It is not ideal for showcasing to tech customers or managers, especially when trying to display high CPU usage from logins within a specific range of months or the most recent month."
"Sometimes, we get corruption when upgrading from firmware to the new generation, causing a lot of issues."
"FortiMonitor could be improved by making it more convenient for smaller workloads, such as when configuring a few branches."
"The solution's initial setup process is time-consuming."
"Sometimes, during high CPU usage, we cannot access FortiMonitor and must refresh it."
"FortiMonitor's monitoring could be much better. It should be like, in Palo Alto."
"FortiMonitor needs to improve its alert system."
"There are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."
More FortiMonitor cons
"SolarWinds pricing is on the higher side, and in India, every customer is cautious about commercial aspects."
"The security needs improvement, which is why we are moving away from Solar Winds. We have security concerns."
"Although I haven't explored all of the features available, I wouldn't mind if the software were made to be a bit more customizable."
"It would be beneficial if SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could provide a feature to monitor CRC errors specifically on individual interfaces rather than the entire device. This would help in detecting intermittent issues and packet drops on main links more accurately, especially when there are CRC errors. It's important for us to be aware of these issues to avoid any voice quality problems or interruptions on our MTS links."
"Integration with different tools, such as ServiceNow and Excel, can be improved."
"The way they are presenting the map of our devices needs to be improved."
"If everything were in the package so that everything was ready to go out of the box, that would be ideal."
"The solution is not user-friendly."
More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are additional costs needed for certain functionality, such as scalability."
"FortiMonitor's price is very high."
"The tool's pricing model in Vietnam is a bit high. I rate the product price as an eight out of ten."
"The price of FortiMonitor is approximately $200 annually for 225 users. The price is competitive."
"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."
"Compared to other solutions, FortiMonitor is a very expensive solution."
"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."
"Well, we had a perpetual license and the renewal was $20 to $25,000."
"The price of the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is good."
"The enterprise license is good for the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor. However, it is expensive, they should reduce their price."
"Thankfully, it doesn't take a lot of manpower to install and deploy."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is not an expensive solution."
"I find the cost of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reasonable for our company. Though, I'm not aware of the exact licensing cost."
"I rate the product's price as three to three and a half or on a scale of one to ten, where one means low price, and ten means high price."
"When compared with other solutions SolarWinds is more expensive."
More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
29%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Retailer
6%
Healthcare Company
5%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 do you like most about SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
I rate the product's initial setup process a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is a difficult phase and ten is an easy process.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
SolarWinds pricing is on the higher side, and in India, every customer is cautious about commercial aspects.
See all answers
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor should include automatic diagrams in its network solutions. Additionally, there is a challenge with having to add an additional polling engine after 10,000 element...
See all answers
 

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)
April 2025
FortiMonitor reportDownload FortiMonitor product report
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
April 2025
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reportDownload SolarWinds Network Device Monitor product report
 

Also Known As

Panopta
Network Device Monitor
 

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
Network Device Monitor is a free tool that makes it easy to monitor the real-time performance and health of a single device on your network with a desktop dashboard that alerts you when your device is in trouble.
SolarWinds
 

Sample Customers

SONY, GoDaddy, HCL, ING, ARMOR, billboard
Air Rarotonga
Buyer's Guide
FortiMonitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
April 2025
Free Report: FortiMonitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
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We monitor all Network Monitoring Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.