Fortra's Intermapper vs SolarWinds NPM comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Fortra and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Fortra is ranked #78, while SolarWinds is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3. Fortra holds a 0.6% mindshare in NMS, compared to SolarWinds’s 3.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Fortra users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Fortra's Intermapper

Read 4 Fortra's Intermapper reviews

2,699 Views
2,618 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SolarWinds NPM

Read 161 SolarWinds NPM reviews

28,370 Views
21,845 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Fortra's Intermapper

SolarWinds NPM

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

SolarWinds NPM and Fortra's Intermapper are competing in the network monitoring solutions category. While SolarWinds NPM stands out for its reporting capabilities and integration ease, Fortra's Intermapper is preferred for its reliability and robust features.

Features: SolarWinds NPM is notable for network performance monitoring, alerting systems, and rich visualization. Fortra's Intermapper emphasizes flexibility and low resource usage, with a real-time network map for issue identification.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds NPM could benefit from reduced setup costs and improved resource efficiency. Enhancements in real-time issue visualization and simplified user interfaces may also add value. Fortra's Intermapper could enhance data aggregation capabilities and provide more comprehensive reporting. Improving the ease of deeper data analysis and expanding integration capabilities would also strengthen its offering.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds NPM provides a quick setup with a focus on user guidance and error handling. Their customer service is extensive, offering numerous informative resources. Fortra's Intermapper offers a straightforward installation with efficient system resource use, and their responsive customer support makes troubleshooting straightforward.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds NPM has a higher setup cost reflecting its wide features and support, yet it provides significant returns from detailed network insights. Fortra's Intermapper is a cost-effective option, ensuring a solid ROI with lower upfront costs and efficient network monitoring capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortra's Intermapper vs. SolarWinds NPM Report (Updated: November 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Fortra's Intermapper vs. SolarWinds NPM

November 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

Fortra's Intermapper

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

78th

Average Rating

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds NPM

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

161

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (8th), Cloud Monitoring Software (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Fortra's Intermapper is 0.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NPM is 3.6%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
SolarWinds NPM	3.6%
Fortra's Intermapper	0.6%
Other	95.8%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Andrian Lubimov

SVP of Networking and Operations at Skywire Networks

It tremendously cuts down our troubleshooting timeframe, but needs advanced SLA monitoring and reporting

They can do a better job with SLA reporting. It does some basic reporting, but it really doesn't offer the ability to monitor devices by groups, customers, or carrier to give an overall health performance of specifically-defined environments. That's where HelpSystems Intermapper could have done a better job. I would love to see advanced SLA monitoring and reporting in this solution. They already have a lot of ingredients. They already have SNMP polling. It is really about what people are looking for from SLA monitoring, especially someone who looks at the network topology. You want to see your endpoints. You want to see half of your endpoints by simply analyzing ICMP or SNMP-based availability of your endpoints. Having an ability to define your group and how you bring devices into your group would be a huge benefit.

Read full review

Vivek Jaiswal

Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Central monitoring has improved outage alerts and now needs smarter detection and modern dashboards

Regarding the automated network topology and mapping feature in SolarWinds NPM, I am not satisfied with it. For static monitoring, it is acceptable. However, if it is possible, I would need a feature in SolarWinds in the future for some kind of malfunctioning detection, such as malware attacks or that type of environment. We did not have any facility to detect that in SolarWinds. I think it would be better to incorporate those types of features. Regarding customization options in SolarWinds, the ability to customize the dashboard has room for improvement. The dashboard is quite old, and we need some improvement in it. Nowadays, we have multiple tools with AI-based monitoring and web-based dashboards. SolarWinds also has a web-based dashboard, but I think there is scope for improvement in the UI. There may be other areas I would like to improve in SolarWinds NPM.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's a nice graphical interface, a nice map, that relates Layer 1 to Layer 3, virtually instantly, to the Helpdesk support staff. It provides a default place to get critical information so we can deploy our staff."

"What is really cool about HelpSystems InterMapper is that because of its SNMP base, you can integrate all different makes and models on the same map. You, of course, can have more than one map, but you have an option to have visibility into the entire network from one centralized system. You can monitor IPs, routers, radios, DC power plants, and UPS. You can do it all from one network management and monitoring solution. That's what really makes HelpSystems Intermapper great. Another great thing about HelpSystems InterMapper is that you can really bundle different probes under one device. You can have a bundled device. You can monitor the physical status of a host based on the IP availability. You can also monitor services and actually see if anything happens. You can quickly determine whether it is the application layer, host layer, or network layer. HelpSystems Intermapper gives such a unique representation of a network. Ever since we started using HelpSystems InterMapper, we don't have to document everything in a detailed format and store it somewhere. Right now, it is really a combination of network topology, network monitoring, and network analyzing. So, in my opinion, it is awesome. When you have your SNMP topology defined, you don't require a dedicated NMS engineer to manage your system, which is another great thing about HelpSystems InterMapper. I see how our operators get so excited by having the ability to map a device or interface and connect interfaces together. HelpSystems InterMapper is also very operator friendly; not just user friendly, but also operator friendly. This is a unique feature, and it works really great."

"Right now, it is really a combination of network topology, network monitoring, and network analyzing, so, in my opinion, it is awesome."

"The most valuable features are its: log history, real-time monitoring capabilities, accuracy - the number of false positives is very low, and the mapping features."

"The solution has a couple of features which are really interesting; it's not a fancy or expensive solution but we wanted to have a cost effective one and it's doing its job pretty well."

"The graphical alerting with the ability to obtain a quick overview of a monitored device is my favorite feature."

"Put Intermapper in as your base to start from, hands-down."

"It's all today portal-based which is a good feature for us."

"SolarWinds NPM is generally used for network monitoring for all of the switches, networking equipment, as well as physical and virtual servers in the environment."

"With SolarWinds, it’s easy to monitor everything and, with a little setup, everyone can help out."

"SolarWinds is a great product that can do a lot."

"A product that is well-tested and trusted in demanding situations."

"It is scalable."

"The product covers our needs for the basic care and feeding of servers, whether they are physical or virtual."

"If your infrastructure is big, and requires a good kind of reporting tool, then SolarWinds fulfills all these requirements."

"I like that SolarWinds NPM is a strong tool for monitoring network devices, switches, and routers. It's also a user-friendly tool. My team also likes how scalable it is."

More SolarWinds NPM pros

Cons

"I have seen instances where Intermapper does not seem to recover from network changes."

"I'd love to see more of the network management side of it coming back into it."

"They can do a better job with SLA reporting. It does some basic reporting, but it really doesn't offer the ability to monitor devices by groups, customers, or carrier to give an overall health performance of specifically-defined environments. That's where HelpSystems Intermapper could have done a better job. I would love to see advanced SLA monitoring and reporting in this solution. They already have a lot of ingredients. They already have SNMP polling. It is really about what people are looking for from SLA monitoring, especially someone who looks at the network topology. You want to see your endpoints. You want to see half of your endpoints by simply analyzing ICMP or SNMP-based availability of your endpoints. Having an ability to define your group and how you bring devices into your group would be a huge benefit."

"I'd love to see more of the network management side of it coming back into it. If we were able to run scripts to bounce ports on switches, that would be great. It's asking a lot, but it's actually very doable because I do it through scripting into other products. If we could incorporate that directly into Intermapper, that would be fantastic."

"It's a smaller solution so tools are not as advanced as you would find in a larger solution"

"SolarWinds NPM can be very slow at times. The database optimization can be done to improve the product performance."

"The solution is expensive and may not be very affordable for startups or smaller companies."

"The aesthetic widgets should be dynamic widgets, so the customization can be even more customizable."

"Network discovery missed many devices."

"I would like to see integration with antivirus or other security endpoint solutions."

"SolarWinds is not an all-in-compassing product. We are looking to change away from this solution because of the documentation and the solution doesn't have enough integration in our country."

"Real-time analytics is the major weakness of the SolarWinds NPM platform today. They've done a fantastic job enabling the collection of data. Users are now demanding the ability to generate their own graphs, views, and so on; all of this must be done by an admin today."

"This solution would benefit from expanding on the capabilities within the API."

More SolarWinds NPM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"I find that the pricing is acceptable."

"SolarWinds NPM is very expensive, and we pay ten thousand yearly."

"SolarWinds NPM has different pricing models available. The cost of the solution is less than some competitors."

"You have to license it per year, for the support. You don't really need to have support once you've already set it up. Once you install SolarWinds, you can skip on the licensing. It will still work."

"It is not an expensive product."

"Though I don't remember the price for SolarWinds NPM, its price is somewhat okay when you compare it with other tools in the market. The price isn't too high and isn't too low, so it's okay."

"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten"

"I’d suggest that people be aware that licensing has tiers."

More SolarWinds NPM pricing and cost advice

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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…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

14%

Outsourcing Company

11%

Government

10%

Construction Company

Outsourcing Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	60
Midsize Enterprise	33
Large Enterprise	87

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

It actually depends on the exact purpose or kind of devices (network devices, servers, something else). Some tools are better for only network devices while others are better for a cloud monitoring...

See all answers

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

From my point of view, SolarWind is the best tool.

See all answers

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

We are partners with SolarWinds and we sell a lot of Network management to large enterprises also because of scalability, products like Network Performance Monitor & Netflow Traffic Analyzer ar...

See all answers

Comparisons

SolarWinds VoIP & Network Quality Manager vs Fortra's Intermapper

Compared 11% of the time

Zabbix vs Fortra's Intermapper

Compared 8% of the time

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability vs Fortra's Intermapper

Compared 7% of the time

ConnectWise RMM vs Fortra's Intermapper

Compared 7% of the time

vRealize Network Insight vs Fortra's Intermapper

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortra's Intermapper Competitors

Nagios XI vs SolarWinds NPM

Compared 3% of the time

DX Spectrum vs SolarWinds NPM

Compared 3% of the time

Zabbix vs SolarWinds NPM

Compared 3% of the time

ManageEngine OpManager vs SolarWinds NPM

Compared 2% of the time

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability vs SolarWinds NPM

Compared 2% of the time

More SolarWinds NPM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

October 2026

Download Fortra's Intermapper product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds NPM

October 2026

Download SolarWinds NPM product report

Also Known As

HelpSystems Intermapper

Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor, SolarWinds Network Bandwidth Analyzer

Overview

Fortra's Intermapper offers real-time network mapping and monitoring, ideal for IT teams seeking a reliable visualization and alerting tool to maintain uptime and connectivity.

Ideal for IT environments, Fortra's Intermapper provides dynamic and intuitive network mapping capabilities. Known for its ability to display an up-to-date graphical view of IT infrastructure, this solution enables proactive monitoring through instant alerts and performance insights. It helps IT teams swiftly address potential issues, ensuring consistent connectivity and performance.

What are the key features of Fortra's Intermapper?

Real-Time Network Mapping: Displays live network status for immediate infrastructure insight.
Customizable Alerts: Allows personalized notifications for targeted problem-solving.
Performance Monitoring: Tracks metrics to preemptively identify potential disruptions.
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Supports different operating systems for wider usability.
Historical Data Maintenance: Retains past network data for trend analysis and reporting.

Which benefits or ROI can users expect from Fortra's Intermapper?

Improved Network Visibility: Enhances understanding of network status and layout.
Faster Issue Resolution: Real-time alerts and monitoring minimize downtime.
Cost Efficiency: By reducing outages, operational costs decrease significantly.
Enhanced User Experience: Stable networks boost overall end-user satisfaction.

In industries such as healthcare, finance, and education, Fortra's Intermapper is a vital tool for maintaining high network performance and reliability. It plays a crucial role in environments where uptime is critical, ensuring that network issues are resolved swiftly to support essential operations.

Fortra

SolarWinds NPM is a network performance monitoring tool offering a user-friendly interface with customizable dashboards. It provides real-time tracking of device health, latency, and bandwidth utilization, supporting diverse integration and scalability needs.

SolarWinds NPM's robust features include real-time monitoring of network performance and efficient tracking of device health, latency, and bandwidth utilization. The tool is appreciated for its ease of deployment, scalability, and support for integration with other tools. Features like SNMP monitoring, NetPath, and comprehensive reporting enhance its diagnostic capabilities and network visibility. However, users identify areas for improvement such as real-time analytics, advanced customization options, and enhanced scalability for larger enterprises. Better customer support, improved integrations, and security measures are also desired.

What are the key features of SolarWinds NPM?

User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies navigation and operation.
Customizable Dashboards: Allows personalized data views.
Real-Time Monitoring: Provides instant updates on network performance.
Strong Alerting Capabilities: Offers immediate notifications for issues.
Scalability: Supports growth with ease.
Integration: Works smoothly with other tools for comprehensive monitoring.
SNMP Monitoring: Tracks device stats effectively.
NetPath: Helps visualize network paths and performance.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Improved Network Visibility: Enables proactive issue resolution.
Enhanced Diagnostics: Facilitates quicker troubleshooting.
Real-Time Performance Data: Supports informed decision-making.
Ease of Deployment: Reduces setup time and complexity.
Infrastructure Monitoring: Ensures network stability and reliability.
Custom Integration: Adapts to existing IT environments.

In enterprise environments, SolarWinds NPM is deployed to monitor network health and device status, sending alerts for any issues. It provides visibility into network performance, tracking bandwidth utilization and server metrics efficiently. Its applications span from monitoring routers, switches, and firewalls to supporting infrastructure monitoring across industries.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Greater Media Detroit, University of British Columbia, Don's Farm Supply

Microsoft, Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, and MasterCard

Buyer's Guide

Fortra's Intermapper vs. SolarWinds NPM

November 2026

Free Report: Fortra's Intermapper vs. SolarWinds NPM

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