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FortiMonitor vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

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 (15th), IT Alerting and Incident Management (7th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (5th)
SolarWinds Network Device M...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
30th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of FortiMonitor is 0.8%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is 0.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
FortiMonitor0.8%
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor0.6%
Other98.6%
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…
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…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It provides the best firewall features."
"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."
"With FortiMonitor, you can get all the logs of the traffic information of the destination or the source."
"Overall, I would recommend FortiMonitor to others."
"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."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy."
"FortiMonitor is really easy to use for monitoring the logs on FortiGate...It is a stable product."
"FortiMonitor's dashboard is very informative and user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is it shows you the utilization of devices to allow you to take proactive action before something goes down or reaches the saturation point. You can take proactive action to fix the problem before it occurs."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is it can alert you when a device is not working."
"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 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."
"Since our devices are spread out across the world, we can see the status of these devices without having to send someone physically to a remote location, which saves money."
"The deployment process is quick."
"The alerts we are getting when we start losing connection access have been helpful."
"I like the mapping that you could do and the dashboards were very pretty."
 

Cons

"I think the current features are really good for me, nothing else comes to mind right now. Maybe some small improvements could be made in the customization and configuration part of the UI to make it easier or more intuitive. Customizable UI options, like we saw in the demo, could be helpful for everyone. But in our operational environment, having clear health status and system details is crucial for us system engineers. One feature I'd really like to see is a credential management system. It would help us keep track of who's logged in and how many times, which is important due to user restrictions. Sometimes, we need to manage logins more efficiently, like logging off other users to free up credentials. So having a feature like that would be really helpful."
"FortiMonitor could improve by having compatibility with other operating systems, such as Linux."
"FortiMonitor's monitoring could be much better. It should be like, in Palo Alto."
"FortiMonitor could be improved by making it more convenient for smaller workloads, such as when configuring a few branches."
"Additionally, there are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."
"The solution's initial setup process is time-consuming."
"Sometimes, we get corruption when upgrading from firmware to the new generation, causing a lot of issues."
"Sometimes, during high CPU usage, we cannot access FortiMonitor and must refresh it."
"Integration with different tools, such as ServiceNow and Excel, can be improved."
"The security needs improvement, which is why we are moving away from Solar Winds. We have security concerns."
"The initial setup of the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could be easier. It took us approximately one month to complete the implementation."
"If everything were in the package so that everything was ready to go out of the box, that would be ideal."
"The solution lacks in performance monitoring."
"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."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could improve by being more user-friendly. The network has so many features which make it difficult to find how to configure how to use it. It is not simple to customize."
"The main disadvantage of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is the licensing cost, which is expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"FortiMonitor's price is very high."
"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 price of FortiMonitor is approximately $200 annually for 225 users. The price is competitive."
"The tool's pricing model in Vietnam is a bit high. I rate the product price as an eight out of ten."
"The product is expensive."
"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."
"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."
"Thankfully, it doesn't take a lot of manpower to install and deploy."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
27%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Retailer
5%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise14
 

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...
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...
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.
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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
I am not a positive person regarding SolarWinds Network Device Monitor.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
There are solutions that can perform better, but due to pricing for our corporate implementation, we had to stay with this solution. It accomplishes the necessary tasks, but there is room for impro...
 

Also Known As

Panopta
Network Device Monitor
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SONY, GoDaddy, HCL, ING, ARMOR, billboard
Air Rarotonga
Find out what your peers are saying about FortiMonitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.