Ixia Hawkeye vs Kentik comparison

Keysight Technologies and Kentik are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Keysight Technologies is ranked #82, while Kentik is ranked #22 with an average rating of 9.0. Keysight Technologies holds a 0.5% mindshare in NMS, compared to Kentik’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Keysight Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Kentik users who would recommend it.

Ixia Hawkeye

Read 4 Ixia Hawkeye reviews

1,944 Views
1,341 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Kentik

Read 16 Kentik reviews

5,920 Views
5,269 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Ixia Hawkeye

Kentik

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Kentik and Ixia Hawkeye compete in network monitoring and performance management. Kentik's pricing and support are more favorable, while Ixia Hawkeye's features justify its higher cost.

Features: Kentik offers real-time traffic analysis, anomaly detection, and customizable dashboards. Ixia Hawkeye provides synthetic testing, service assurance, and proactive monitoring, focusing on comprehensive performance insights.

Room for Improvement:Kentik could enhance its advanced reporting capabilities, expand integration options, and improve error debugging. Ixia Hawkeye may benefit from simplified deployment options, better user interface, and enhanced scalability for smaller networks.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Kentik has a straightforward deployment model and responsive customer service focused on resolving queries. Ixia Hawkeye's deployment is complex, but its dedicated technical support is highly regarded for expertise.

Pricing and ROI: Kentik's pricing supports faster ROI due to lower setup costs and ease of deployment. Ixia Hawkeye's higher setup costs include sophisticated features that improve long-term ROI for businesses needing detailed analytics.

To learn more, read our detailed Ixia Hawkeye vs. Kentik Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Ixia Hawkeye vs. Kentik

April 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

Ixia Hawkeye

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

82nd

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Unified Communications Monitoring (5th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (65th)

Kentik

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

22nd

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (16th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Ixia Hawkeye is 0.5%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kentik is 1.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Kentik	1.9%
Ixia Hawkeye	0.5%
Other	97.6%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

José Enrique Cano Rodriguez

Assistant Consultant at Tata Consultancy

A valuable tool for optimizing network performance and security with comprehensive network monitoring capabilities, user-friendly interface, and flexibility for scripting

Distinguishing itself from network management systems like SolarWinds Orion and Dataminer, Hawkeye offers a distinctive feature. It empowers network administrators to access specialized and detailed views for specific tests, including video streaming and performance related to specific applications like video games. In contrast, SolarWinds and Dataminer typically offer a more general evaluation of network health. Hawkeye's unique capability enables a detailed analysis of network performance through specific tests, allowing administrators to identify areas in need of improvement and take precise actions to enhance network performance.

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Shubham-Saxena

Network Engineer III at Fortanix

Integrating synthetic tests and network monitoring enhances traffic pattern visualization

The Kentik support team is good. If you want me to rate them on a scale, I would give them eight. I had a call with the Kentik support team for fifteen minutes, so I'm going to give them eight for now. The reason for giving them an eight is that they are good and address our issues. They have monthly calls and discuss the product roadmap with us, including what is needed and what is not. However, when we are working on some real issues with Kentik, I sometimes feel there's a delay due to the busyness of their teams. We faced some outages and were not able to get the desired results from Kentik tools, so that took a little time to resolve.

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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

"The most valuable feature is the deployment because it's very easy to deploy real flow through the network."

"The ease of setup is the most valuable aspect of this solution. It's easy to set up and run tests."

"I would recommend Ixia Hawkeye because there are some KPIs that are very useful."

"Our customer was happiest with the price of this product."

"It empowers network administrators to access specialized and detailed views for specific tests, including video streaming and performance related to specific applications like video games."

"So far, this product is doing exactly what it is promised to do."

"We're also using Kentik to ingest metrics. It's a useful feature, and its response time, whenever we're pulling back the data, is higher than our on-prem solution."

"Having the API access allows us to do a great deal of automation around a lot of our reporting and management tools."

"This product is easily the best network monitor that I’ve ever seen or heard about."

"The biggest thing Kentik has given us is the amount of visibility we have into our own network now and knowing what's going on at a given time."

"Kentik answers the flow question: what are my flows, where are they are going, and what can I do to better optimize my connectivity."

"The drill-down into detailed views of network activity helps to quickly pinpoint locations and causes. All the information is there."

"One of the valuable features is the intuitive nature of building out reports, and then triggering actions based on specific metrics from those reports. It has a really good UI and the ability to surface data through the reporting functions is pretty good. That's helped a lot in the security space."

"Honestly, it is one of those products that I would suggest to almost any network operator."

More Kentik pros

Cons

"Ixia has one flaw, which is that they do not print the license code on the paper licenses that are shipped to the customers."

"The customization of tests and even the results can be improved."

"Ixia has one flaw, which is that they do not print the license code on the paper licenses that are shipped to the customers."

"The customization of tests and even the results can be improved."

"Improvements in network performance are essential."

"You can't delete more than one thing at a time. It would be great to be able to highlight three out of five things and delete them, whether it's a test or an actual report."

"Sometimes, the tool has complications, so we must deal with the additional support from the tool's end."

"There is a large difference between BGP and normal nodes. I don't think this plays out to the best for the customer or Kentik."

"I believe they're already working on this, but I would love for them to create better integrations from network flow data to application performance — tracing — so that we could overlay that data more readily."

"I would like to see them explore the area of cost analysis."

"I consider the pricing model as an area for improvement."

"Sometimes it's difficult to order the dimensions correctly when trying to make Sankey flow diagrams."

"We faced some outages and were not able to get the desired results from Kentik tools, so that took a little time to resolve."

"We asked for a way, regarding the potential networks that exist, to hook Kentik up with external tools like peering DBs to correlate things together and see what we can do... This is all in the [next] beta now."

More Kentik cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It cost us approximately 25,000 for two years. This is cheaper than ThousandEyes."

"In larger networks, the costs for licenses tend to be more reasonable, but for smaller networks, it appears relatively costly."

"The tool is cheaply priced."

"We have an annual contract with Kentik that we renew each year for a set number of licenses. We also have some burstable licenses which we can spin up and spin down, and those are paid as they are used."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

13%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	8

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kentik?

I would say Kentik's pricing is not cheap. From my perspective as part of the technical team, I would not categorize it as expensive, but I know it is not cheap.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Kentik?

There's always room for improvements and better relations when using any kind of product. We faced some issues with Kentik UI and alerting, which we asked them to fix, and they succeeded. They have...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Kentik?

We are using Kentik mostly for synthetic tests, and from one last year, network monitoring as well. We are using it for inter DC BGP tests and server monitoring as well.

See all answers

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DX Unified Infrastructure Management vs Ixia Hawkeye

Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

April 2026

Download Ixia Hawkeye product report

Buyer's Guide

Kentik

May 2026

Download Kentik product report

Overview

Ixia Hawkeye provides network administrators with specialized tools for video streaming and application performance analysis, offering a straightforward deployment with efficient test scheduling and performance insights.

Ixia Hawkeye is a powerful tool for detailed network performance analysis, focusing on GPON and DOCSIS networks. It facilitates tests like traceroute, STP, and video streaming assessments crucial for proof of concept and service validation in industries such as telecom. Though cost-effective, there is potential for improving test customization, graph features, and making license codes more accessible. Users leverage its throughput test to gain insights into bandwidth, latency, and packet loss while also identifying areas needing improvements such as customizable outputs and enhanced comparison tools.

What are the most important features?

Specialized Views: Offers insights into video streaming and applications.
Performance Analysis: Provides detailed results on bandwidth, latency, and packet loss.
Graph Clarity: Easy-to-read visual data representations.
Cost-Effectiveness: Competitive pricing.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Efficiency: Simplifies test scheduling and execution.
Visibility: Enhances network and application performance insights.
Accessibility: Streamlined network performance assessments.
Verification: Validates internet services with real-world applications.

In the telecom industry, solution providers employ Ixia Hawkeye for enhanced network visibility and proof of concept. Network engineers and IT specialists utilize it for conducting performance tests and generating traffic, aiding clients in sectors like telecom with comprehensive performance assessments.

Keysight Technologies

Kentik provides real-time visibility into network infrastructure, focusing on monitoring, data visualization, and flow analysis to manage traffic patterns efficiently.

With robust analytics capabilities, Kentik offers insights into BGP peering status, aids in DDoS detection, and allows for detailed telemetry through its intuitive interface. The platform's SaaS nature simplifies operations by eliminating server maintenance concerns. Multi-vendor support and synthetic testing enhance network security and performance by simulating customer scenarios, while its API offers automation for querying and reporting tasks.

What are the key features of Kentik?

Real-Time Visibility: Monitors network infrastructure effectively.
Data Visualization: Offers powerful tools for viewing complex data.
Flow Analysis: Analyzes traffic flow for optimal management.
BGP Peering Insights: Provides in-depth peering status checks.
DDoS Alerting: Notifies about potential DDoS threats.
Data Explorer: Aids in understanding traffic patterns.
Synthetic Testing: Simulates scenarios to enhance security and performance.

What benefits can be found in user reviews?

Automation: Users value the flexibility of its API for automating tasks.
Ease of Use: SaaS model streamlines user engagement, eliminating server maintenance.
Flexibility: Report customization and query settings are highly appreciated.
Enhanced Observability: Telemetry and multi-vendor support increase oversight.

Industries implement Kentik for network monitoring, traffic management, and flow data analysis across both on-prem and cloud setups. It proves valuable for detecting DDoS events, managing peering relationships, and optimizing costs, besides managing CDN configurations and performing synthetic tests in diverse environments.

Kentik

Sample Customers

EMA

Pandora, Yelp, Neustar, Box, University of Washington, Zoom, Tata, and Cogent.

Buyer's Guide

Ixia Hawkeye vs. Kentik

April 2026

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