Ixia Hawkeye vs Kentik comparison

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Ixia Hawkeye

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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: June 2026).

Ixia Hawkeye vs. Kentik

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Helped 902,988 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

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 (66th)

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 July 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Ixia Hawkeye is 0.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kentik is 1.8%, 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	1.8%
Ixia Hawkeye	0.5%
Other	97.7%

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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ADRIANA SALDARRIAGA TOBON

Sales Manager at IFX NEtworks

Client experience and cybersecurity have improved with an easy setup

The solution is valuable for client experience, especially in the financial sector. The most important feature is cybersecurity. The pricing is good, but the functionality is the most important aspect for clients. The solution is easy to deploy and requires only one person to set up, making it easy and quick. Overall, the ease of use and the fact that it meets client expectations are major positives.

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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

"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."

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

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

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

"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."

"Technical support is second to none."

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

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

"Overall, I would give Kentik nine out of ten stars."

"It offers a simple yet powerful feature of classifying applications, going beyond basic statistics."

"Before using the solution, we had to do all these manual tasks, such as running all these queries manually, and building our tech cost-report used to be a two or two-and-a-half-week effort, and using Kentik, and the automation that it provides us, we've brought that down to a day or two, which is a massive time savings."

"We have been extremely happy with the features; they were exactly what we were after."

"I am able to do a lot of work on the visualization end to create different visualizations and different ways to get information out of it."

More Kentik pros

Cons

"Improvements in network performance are essential."

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

"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."

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

"There is room for improvement around the usability of the API. It's a hugely complex task to call it and you need a lot of backing to be able to do it. I should say, as someone who's not in networking, maybe it's easier for people who are in networking, but for me that one part is not very user-friendly."

"We had faced some issues during an outage and were not able to get the desired results from Kentik tools. It took time to resolve these issues, which is why I give them eight points."

"I've checked out the V4 version of the interface and it's still a little bit clunky for me to use. I still go back to the old interface. That's definitely one that they still need to work on. It doesn't seem like everything that you get in the V3, the older interface, is there. For instance, I was trying to add a user or do the administrative tasks in V4, and I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to do that."

"It also detects anomalies proactively, but the same is not so true when it comes to real network problems, since they tend to just happen."

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

"They're moving more in a direction where they are saying, "Hey, here's information that you may be interested in or may a need," before the question has to explicitly be asked. Continuing to move in that direction would be a good thing."

"The product could strive for more improvements to become closer to perfect."

"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. With more companies going hybrid, flow logs and flow data, whether it be VPC or on-prem, matched with application performance and trace data, is pretty important."

More Kentik cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

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

"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

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

University

Comms Service Provider

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Construction Company

10%

Manufacturing 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

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Earn 20 points

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

Comparisons

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Compared 9% of the time

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs Ixia Hawkeye

Compared 8% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Ixia Hawkeye

Compared 8% of the time

Zabbix vs Ixia Hawkeye

Compared 6% of the time

DX Unified Infrastructure Management vs Ixia Hawkeye

Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

LogicMonitor vs Kentik

Compared 6% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Kentik

Compared 5% of the time

Auvik Network Management (ANM) vs Kentik

Compared 5% of the time

vRealize Network Insight vs Kentik

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Network Monitoring Software

Download Ixia Hawkeye product report

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.

Sample Customers

EMA

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

Ixia Hawkeye vs. Kentik