FortiMonitor vs Spiceworks comparison

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FortiMonitor

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Spiceworks and FortiMonitor compete in network monitoring and IT management. Spiceworks holds an edge in user-friendliness and cost, while FortiMonitor offers superior advanced features and performance.

Features: Spiceworks provides network monitoring, asset management, and helpdesk tools designed for ease of use. It is cost-effective, offering functions without additional expenses. FortiMonitor features proactive monitoring, extensive security capabilities, and advanced tools, tailored for demanding IT environments.

Room for Improvement: Spiceworks may require enhancements in scalability and integration for larger organizations, as well as improved security features. FortiMonitor could benefit from cost reduction, simplification of user interface for ease of access, and expansion of community support to aid in independent troubleshooting.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Spiceworks supports easy installation with vibrant community forums aiding integration into existing systems. FortiMonitor offers straightforward deployment with professional guidance, supported by robust customer service for enhanced user satisfaction.

Pricing and ROI: Spiceworks is free, providing strong ROI via extensive free features and minimal setup costs. FortiMonitor requires a significant upfront investment but delivers substantial ROI through its comprehensive functionalities, suited for organizations needing advanced monitoring.

To learn more, read our detailed FortiMonitor vs. Spiceworks Report (Updated: July 2025).

FortiMonitor vs. Spiceworks

July 2025

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Helped 865,384 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 IT Infrastructure Monitoring

15th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (14th), IT Alerting and Incident Management (7th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (5th)

Spiceworks

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

47th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Help Desk Software (15th), IT Asset Management (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of FortiMonitor is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Spiceworks is 0.4%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Infrastructure Monitoring

Featured Reviews

JaimeVasquez

Commercial Manager at IT-Experience

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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Rohit Samel

Account Manager Enterprise Sales at Navdeep Technologies Pvt.Ltd

Cloud storage with no hardware needed and great comprehensive reports

The software is cloud-based, so I do not need to store any data locally. It is a fully software-based solution, eliminating the need for investment in hardware. We have the capability to create reports as needed. It is good software to use, as there were no incidents where I needed to contact technical support. Additionally, it is free software.

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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 offers comprehensive monitoring capabilities, allowing me to track network traffic in and out effectively."

"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."

"Overall, I would recommend FortiMonitor to others."

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

"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."

"The product's initial setup phase is easy."

"With FortiMonitor, you can get all the logs of the traffic information of the destination or the source."

"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."

More FortiMonitor pros

"If you're in the market for a low-cost service desk system, Spiceworks is a good software solution to start out with, especially when it comes to startups and those organizations that don't currently have any existing service desk software in place."

"The software is cloud-based, so I do not need to store any data locally."

"It's easy to understand."

"Spiceworks' dashboard allows you to drill down to the notes, where I can take an inventory of the network and see the devices I need to monitor."

"Tickets by e-mail, with actions by hastag."

"The solution can find all asset details automatically, whether it's a Mac address, computer name, IP address, models, etc. It's very helpful."

"The nice thing about Spiceworks is always it's free. Monitoring of printers for low toner. Finding machines that have low memory or low hard disk space."

"It shows the users that are currently logged in, which is not something that Active Directory by default will ever let you know up front."

More Spiceworks pros

Cons

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

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

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

"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."

"FortiMonitor could improve by having compatibility with other operating systems, such as Linux."

"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."

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

"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."

More FortiMonitor cons

"The customer service is okay, however, I would appreciate much more clarity on what I want to know exactly."

"The network mapping could be improved. Putting together an actual bonafide network map would be really nice."

"I would like to see more information when drilling down into access permissions, assignments management, or tagging. When I click a note or a device, I should be able to see more details about the router and modem. For example, I want to see the version, downtime, availability, latency, etc. I should have easy access to everything about our assets at a glance."

"The SNMP sniffer requires a lot of work to get right."

"Sometimes, it can be difficult to integrate what you need."

"I am unable to provide suggestions for improvement at this moment."

"One of the biggest ways in which Spiceworks could improve is by developing better and more automated workflows. For example, in another solution called ServiceDesk by ManageEngine, you can have levels of approval in the event that there is a request for new software, or when someone requests a VPN or WiFi connection. This kind of multi-stage approval feature provided by ServiceDesk does not appear to exist in Spiceworks, and it is one of their main shortcomings for me."

"Once a device was recognized on the network, Spiceworks never got rid of it even after you took it off the network. You had to go in and manually remove it."

More Spiceworks cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"FortiMonitor's price is very high."

"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."

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

"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."

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

"It's free."

"The product is free! Get it now."

"It might be about $300 annually for a bigger company. If you pay annually, it's better and cheaper."

"Seeing that it is a low-cost solution, I would advise you to go ahead with Spiceworks and experiment with it to see if you can get things working properly, especially if you currently don't have any existing service desk software in place."

"The tool is cheap."

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Comparison Review

it_user174738

IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

May 31, 2015

Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor

I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

27%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Retailer

University

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Government

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...

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 Spiceworks?

The solution is easy to use and easy to manage.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Spiceworks?

The tool is cheap.

What needs improvement with Spiceworks?

I am unable to provide suggestions for improvement at this moment, however, I can provide feedback later. Currently, there do not seem to be any issues.

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SolarWinds Network Device Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 12% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 11% of the time

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Compared 35% of the time

Zabbix vs Spiceworks

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Lansweeper vs Spiceworks

Compared 20% of the time

Freshdesk vs Spiceworks

Compared 7% of the time

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs Spiceworks

Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)

August 2025

Download FortiMonitor product report

Download Spiceworks product report

July 2025

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

From network inventory and network monitoring to help desk software, and mobile device management (MDM) to cloud services detection, Spiceworks helps you manage everything about your IT workday from one easy place.

Sample Customers

SONY, GoDaddy, HCL, ING, ARMOR, billboard

Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Symantec, Webroot, EMC, Pertino