Icinga vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor comparison

Icinga and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Icinga is ranked #15 with an average rating of 7.7, while SolarWinds is ranked #27 with an average rating of 8.0. Icinga holds a 3.4% mindshare in NMS, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Icinga users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Icinga

Read 17 Icinga reviews

3,477 Views
3,086 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Network Device M...

Read 22 SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reviews

725 Views
600 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Icinga

SolarWinds Network Device M...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor and Icinga are network monitoring tools. SolarWinds is more user-friendly, but Icinga offers better customization for complex setups.

Features: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor provides robust integration with other SolarWinds products, real-time monitoring, and graphical reporting that appeals to users looking for an integrated suite. Icinga features a flexible architecture supporting distributed monitoring and real-time performance metrics, suitable for complex network configurations.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds could improve its customization capabilities for more complex environments, expand support for third-party integrations, and enhance scalability for larger networks. Icinga may benefit from a more user-friendly interface, streamlined initial configuration, and simplified monitoring processes for novice users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor typically offers quick setup with minimal configuration and strong customer support. Icinga might take longer to set up and require more technical expertise, but it provides comprehensive documentation and community support suited for complex deployments.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds typically involves an upfront investment aligning with its ease of use and quick setup, offering a fast return on investment for straightforward deployments. Icinga, albeit potentially more time-consuming to implement initially, offers high ROI for complex environments due to its scalability and detailed monitoring abilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Icinga vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Icinga 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

Icinga

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

15th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (7th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (14th), Cloud Monitoring Software (15th)

SolarWinds Network Device M...

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

27th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Icinga is 3.4%, up from 2.3% 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

Featured Reviews

Harrison Bulley

Senior Infrastructure Engineer at Net Consulting

A stable, scalable and cost-effective solution that helps with inbuilt scripts for easy modification

I think the software is quite good, but we have had problems with getting it to recognize certain areas and amend certain checks, where we needed so we would have to create backend scripts for those checks. Though, being open source, it has the support to create backend scripts, it would be better to have these scripts in-built.

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Vijay Samant

Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees

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

"This solution has a self-healing handler where if the service is down, it is automatically restarted."

"Icinga does the job and is fairly stable."

"The best thing about the solution is how it highlights errors, the issues, and what needs my attention. The solution directs me to areas that I should look for first."

"It is really easy in Icinga to create your own plugin and integrate it without any fuss. And it works just perfectly fine."

"The drafts are easy but what I like about Icinga is that there are many add-ons that you can download."

"The ability to customize scripts and build your own queries to request information from the infrastructure elements you want to monitor. This level of personalization and customization is highly appreciated."

"Icinga has multiple automation and integration features. There is an API for everything and a web UI for configurations. The APIs enable you to automate tasks in Icinga. We can also use plugins to talk to the API. The Icinga Director talks to a database in the background, and you can import settings from the CMDB to all systems in Icinga."

"There's a module called Icinga Director, which helps us configure the product using an intuitive interface through clicks instead of creating a text configuration. It's very helpful for us."

More Icinga pros

"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."

"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is a straightforward product with valuable functionality."

"The product is useful for switches and IP phones."

"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 most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is it can alert you when a device is not working."

"The deployment process is quick."

"In terms of general network monitoring features, I find SolarWinds Network Device Monitor very flexible and comfortable to use. The software itself is extremely useful when it comes to monitoring how our data moves between different networks and environments."

"The alerts we are getting when we start losing connection access have been helpful."

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pros

Cons

"The solution lacks many features important to higher-level IT management and network support."

"I think the software is quite good, but we have had problems with getting it to recognize certain areas and amend certain checks, where we needed so we would have to create backend scripts for those checks. Though, being open source, it has the support to create backend scripts, it would be better to have these scripts in-built."

"At this time, the layout of the website is a bit difficult. It should be more user-friendly for changing the background and logos."

"One thing that Icinga lacks is the capability to create advanced and customized dashboards within the tool itself."

"Icinga’s automation could be improved."

"It needs Trap SNMP. I saw the documentation for Zabbix, that it has its own built-in product which handles SNMP traps, and there's nothing similar in Icinga or Nagios. I think this feature is most important for me."

"One of the areas that are frustrating is remote monitoring for more than one machine."

"In general, the product does not look good. However, it does what it is supposed to do. So, the improvements should focus on usability and UI."

More Icinga cons

"In terms of price, it could be less expensive."

"The reporting feature needs improvement because we are unable to configure reports that were included during initial implementation."

"It should provide user-friendly page"

"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."

"If everything were in the package so that everything was ready to go out of the box, that would be ideal."

"The way they are presenting the map of our devices needs to be improved."

"The security could always be improved."

"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."

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's an open-source solution."

"Even though Icinga's financial cost is low, it is an expensive product regarding the resources required to maintain and operate it."

"The solution is free to use."

"The solution is cheap."

"This is an open-source solution with paid support."

"It is cost-effective, and the return on investment can be very interesting because the price is low."

"We're using the free version of Icinga."

"The product is inexpensive compared to other DBM products."

"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."

"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is not an expensive solution."

"Thankfully, it doesn't take a lot of manpower to install and deploy."

"When compared with other solutions SolarWinds is more expensive."

"The price of the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is good."

"The product is expensive."

"The enterprise license is good for the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor. However, it is expensive, they should reduce their price."

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Icinga?

The best thing about the solution is how it highlights errors, the issues, and what needs my attention. The solution directs me to areas that I should look for first.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Icinga?

It is cost-effective, and the return on investment can be very interesting because the price is low. If you want to include this product in the services you offer to your customers, the return on i...

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What needs improvement with Icinga?

There is room for improvement in multi-tenancy. It's not perfect, not even really good. It's average, but it should be improved. For instance, multi-tenancy for monitoring the virtual infrastructur...

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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

Comparisons

Zabbix vs Icinga

Compared 46% of the time

Nagios Core vs Icinga

Compared 21% of the time

Checkmk vs Icinga

Compared 10% of the time

Nagios XI vs Icinga

Compared 3% of the time

Centreon vs Icinga

Compared 3% of the time

More Icinga Competitors

IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 29% of the time

ScienceLogic vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 27% of the time

FortiMonitor vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 27% of the time

Checkmk vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 10% of the time

Zabbix vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 7% of the time

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Icinga

May 2025

Download Icinga product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

April 2025

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Network Device Monitor product report

Also Known As

Icinga Cloud Monitoring

Network Device Monitor

Overview

Icinga monitors systems, network devices, infrastructure, and services, helping manage and analyze server resources. It automates ticket incidents and alerting, providing oversight of client Windows and Linux systems.

Icinga offers comprehensive monitoring of servers including CPU utilization and RAM space, facilitating automated incident management and alerting. Frequently deployed on-premises, this monitoring tool is key for managed services providers and organizations to oversee and ensure optimal performance of various environments, including applications like databases and web servers. It provides extensive features for creating custom plugins, stabilization, scalability, and high customization capabilities suitable for different infrastructure needs.

What are the key features of Icinga?

Event Handler: Facilitates automatic self-healing of systems.
Extensive Plugin Library: Offers a wide range of plugins for monitoring.
Ease of Use: Simplifies user experience with an intuitive interface and Icinga Director for easy configurations.
Open-Source Nature: Free to use, modify, and distribute.
Automation Capabilities: Integrates with APIs and Ansible Collections for automation.
Custom Plugins: Users can create and integrate their own plugins.
Stability and Scalability: Provides reliable performance across different scale infrastructures.

What are the benefits or ROI to look for when evaluating Icinga?

Critical Issue Highlighting: Effectively identifies and notifies about critical problems.
High Customization: Offers flexibility for diverse monitoring needs.
Automated Alerting: Reduces manual effort and improves response times.
Extensive Integration: Works seamlessly with other tools and platforms.

Icinga implementations span multiple industries, providing essential monitoring for IT infrastructure in healthcare, finance, and education. Managed services providers utilize Icinga to maintain and monitor client systems across various environments while ensuring optimal performance and compliance. It is highly valued in these sectors for its ability to customize monitoring, improving operational efficiency and reducing downtime.

Icinga

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

Puppet Labs, Audi, Spacex, Debian, Snapdeal, McGill, RIPE Network Coordination Centre

Air Rarotonga

Buyer's Guide

Icinga vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

April 2025

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