Forward Enterprise vs NetBrain comparison

Forward Networks and NetBrain are both solutions in the Network Automation category. Forward Networks is ranked #19, while NetBrain is ranked #5. Forward Networks holds a 3.2% mindshare in NA, compared to NetBrain’s 9.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Forward Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 75% of NetBrain users who would recommend it.

Forward Enterprise

Read 1 Forward Enterprise review

617 Views
450 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

NetBrain

Read 6 NetBrain reviews

3,197 Views
1,630 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

Forward Enterprise

NetBrain

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Forward Enterprise and NetBrain based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Cisco, Broadcom and others in Network Automation.

To learn more, read our detailed Network Automation Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Network Automation

February 2026

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Helped 884,976 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

Forward Enterprise

Ranking in Network Automation

19th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Modeling and Simulation (21st)

NetBrain

Ranking in Network Automation

5th

Average Rating

7.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Troubleshooting (17th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Network Automation category, the mindshare of Forward Enterprise is 3.2%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetBrain is 9.4%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Automation Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
NetBrain	9.4%
Forward Enterprise	3.2%
Other	87.4%

Network Automation

Featured Reviews

Rozita Ahmadi

IT Architectural System Expert at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

Plenty of useful features, and simple implementation

Forward Enterprise has improved the way my organization functions All the features are valuable in Forward Enterprise. Forward Enterprise could improve by increasing flexibility. Additionally, there should be an Android version or desktop. I have been using Forward Enterprise for approximately…

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Deborah Gamelin

Vice President at Asset Track for Cloud, LLC

Good monitoring and troubleshoot capabilities, improves overall network traffic visibility

In my organization, we had 130,000 network devices that needed to be brought into the solution and mapped. NetBrain can handle the scale but the engineers that manage those devices have to go in and update all of them to allow NetBrain permission to poll them. It can get a little stressful for everybody when you're trying to roll out new stuff when you've got other issues that have to be addressed with other devices. In some cases, our devices had no automation at all. One example is the Cisco 3650. Right now, if you went through the inventory list, you see that we have different versions running. Some are on one version, whereas others are on another version. The problem with upgrading them is that they need to be done overnight because we don't want to disrupt any network traffic during business hours. Consequently, it could take us years to upgrade the versions before we can even get them onto these new tools. This may be an internal issue but it's a big one when you have a lot of devices. Even if you had 10,000 devices, it's still an issue. You have to consider the compatibility of the device against the tool, and being able to use certain commands to upgrade it.

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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

"All the features are valuable in Forward Enterprise."

"Forward Enterprise has improved the way my organization functions."

"NetBrain is a very simple tool."

"NetBrain is very good when it comes to network mapping, as it looks for different assets within the network available, so router, firewall, applications, et cetera, and it gives you the full mapping, asset mapping along with the full range including the firmware software update and all those things."

"Other advice to users considering the solution would be: go with NetBrain."

"Chain management is a good feature. I don't get it on other solutions."

"NetBrain is faster, better and level sets the engineering technical sets."

"This tool is exactly what we wanted and needed."

"Enables maps to be drawn out."

"Once it's up and running and you don't have the strange requirements I had, and you just want some basic maps, it'll work."

More NetBrain pros

Cons

"Forward Enterprise could improve by increasing flexibility. Additionally, there should be an Android version or desktop."

"Netbrain must get AWS functionality done."

"Each device needs to be configured to allow NetBrain to poll for the information it needs, which can be very time-consuming for a large network."

"Licensing is based on a per-device basis, which means that it can get very expensive if you have a large number of devices."

"It's okay on the value, a bit expensive for just maps, but makes it a lot easier to see things visually and take it from there."

"It would be nice if the setup was a little simpler. Also, if the solution could provide more training materials for new people coming into our company so they can quickly learn how to use the functionalities."

"When I used the installed product before, I wasn't very satisfied with the support."

"The IP interface brief isn't consistent."

"The solution could integrate more automation."

More NetBrain cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay for the solution annually."

"Licensing is based on a per-device basis, which means that it can get very expensive if you have a large number of devices."

"The product is expensive, but less expensive than some of the competition and worth the price."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

20%

Government

Energy/Utilities Company

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Comparisons

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Forward Enterprise

Compared 15% of the time

Cisco DNA Center vs Forward Enterprise

Compared 9% of the time

More Forward Enterprise Competitors

ThousandEyes vs NetBrain

Compared 11% of the time

SolarWinds Network Automation Manager vs NetBrain

Compared 10% of the time

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs NetBrain

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco DNA Center vs NetBrain

Compared 7% of the time

Auvik Network Management (ANM) vs NetBrain

Compared 4% of the time

More NetBrain Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Automation

February 2026

Download Forward Enterprise product report

Buyer's Guide

NetBrain

March 2026

Download NetBrain product report

Overview

The company provides a robust network assurance and verification platform to reduce business risk and improve network operations.

Forward Networks

Managing today’s networks with yesterday’s manual processes is no longer a viable solution. NetBrain’s network automation platform provides actionable insights into your network to help you make better and faster decisions - particularly when you’re troubleshooting, securing, and making changes to the network.

NetBrain

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

CompuCon, TD Ameritrade, Move Inc.

Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Cisco, Broadcom and others in Network Automation. Updated: February 2026.

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