Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Meraki Dashboard vs Nagios Core comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
1.0
Meraki Dashboard improves efficiency by reducing time spent on IT tasks, with ROI seen within three to four years.
Sentiment score
8.8
Nagios Core reduces downtime and costs with quick alerts, providing full ROI and eliminating expensive monitoring tools.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
Meraki Dashboard support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, but some concerns exist about wait times and reliance on documentation.
Sentiment score
5.1
Nagios Core relies on community support, praised for stability and resources, but lacks official help compared to Nagios XI.
When our site went down, Cisco's technical support was very responsive and effective, so I would rate them nine out of ten for their support.
L3 Techical Support Engineer at IT Solutions Consulting
The support response time can be slow, sometimes taking up to fifteen hours.
Senior Assistant Director Information Technology at a non-tech company with 10,001+ employees
For technical support, I would give it a ten.
Network Technology Project Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.4
Meraki Dashboard provides excellent scalability and flexibility, suitable for businesses of various sizes, with high ease of deployment.
Sentiment score
6.7
Nagios Core shows scalability for large networks but may need customizations and integrations for distributed environments.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
5.6
Meraki Dashboard is highly stable and reliable, with users rating its performance nine or ten out of ten.
Sentiment score
8.2
Nagios Core is highly stable and reliable with minimal footprint, supporting extensive monitoring without network burden.
We have not encountered any downtime related to the Meraki cloud feature in the last five years.
Senior Assistant Director Information Technology at a non-tech company with 10,001+ employees
I tried many other solutions at work, however, in terms of Nagios, I haven't seen any disruption or downtime.
Senior System Administrator at Interactive Group
 

Room For Improvement

Enhancements needed in Meraki Dashboard include licensing, user-friendliness, integration, documentation, navigation, AI, scalability, and reporting features.
Nagios Core needs a more intuitive interface, better scalability, and features like enhanced reporting and integration with modern tools.
Improving AI could be a significant role-changer for many aspects.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The cameras are not connected through Meraki, but all other devices are on Meraki networks.
IT Manager at Fawaz
There is a need for price reductions in developing countries, as the cost of Meraki is quite high.
Senior Assistant Director Information Technology at a non-tech company with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Meraki Dashboard is viewed as expensive, with licensing costs varying based on devices and implementation scale.
Nagios Core is a free, cost-effective open-source tool, but requires Linux expertise and incurs hosting and maintenance costs.
The cost of the Meraki solution is high, which may not be affordable for smaller companies, especially in developing countries.
Senior Assistant Director Information Technology at a non-tech company with 10,001+ employees
If we involve a third-party vendor, the price will definitely go up.
IT Manager at Fawaz
I would rate the pricing for Meraki Dashboard as one.
Network Technology Project Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Meraki Dashboard offers user-friendly, cloud-based management with robust security and analytics, ideal for IT professionals and non-tech users.
Nagios Core provides flexible, low-resource monitoring with customization, automation, efficient alerts, and integration support for reliable IT performance visibility.
Meraki Dashboard offers an exceptional centralized management solution that allows easy updates and monitoring of various network features, including bandwidth usage and content filtering.
Senior Assistant Director Information Technology at a non-tech company with 10,001+ employees
The most valuable feature for me is the cloud dashboard.
Senior Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
It summarizes everything in one place, which is very important for our organization.
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
If you want to grasp everything of your IT equipment on a single interface, you can use Nagios.
Senior System Administrator at Interactive Group
 

Categories and Ranking

Meraki Dashboard
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
19th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Nagios Core
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Meraki Dashboard is 0.8%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nagios Core is 1.9%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Nagios Core1.9%
Meraki Dashboard0.8%
Other97.3%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

MURALI NIDAMANURI - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Dashboard provides comprehensive network security and management capabilities
I don't have specific handy names. Meraki Dashboard uses multiple functions where we can configure SSIDs, firewall policies, DHCP, multiple VLANs and DHCP configurations, VLAN configurations, access control policies, MAC binding, client access based on MAC authentication and certificate-based authentication. We have configured SSO for Windows Active Directory by configuring the RADIUS services. We have implemented many customer requirements in Meraki Dashboard. With the detailed visibility feature of Meraki Dashboard, I get connected clients information, including how much data each client downloaded and what applications they accessed. I can obtain detailed data including ISP links level monitoring and speed. I can perform speed tests, generate analytics reports, convert to Excel based on each user for each department, create dashboards, monitor and limit bandwidths, and restrict specific URLs. The advanced security configuration in Meraki Dashboard is useful for network security. Substantial security can be achieved within Meraki Dashboard itself, eliminating the need for additional firewalls to protect your network. You can configure WAN monitoring, users' ACLs, URL filtering, web filtering, and department-wise access configuration for specific client applications. It's completely cloud-managed, and in a simplified way, you don't need to visit any physical infrastructure to monitor activities. Apart from access points, everything is in the cloud. We have monitored IoT solutions, CCTV monitoring, and can detect and control intrusions. When people connect IoT devices to your network, Meraki Dashboard can detect what device it is and control those access controls, even with different operating systems.
HY
Senior System Administrator at Interactive Group
Monitoring solution provides comprehensive visibility across IT infrastructure
The good thing about Nagios Core is it covers everything. Everything in the IT domain, you can monitor anything. You can even monitor printers, the ports of printers, Core workstations, and storage. You can monitor the workflow Core and the utilization of computes. If you want to grasp everything of your IT equipment on a single interface, you can use Nagios. It's the best one. It provides dashboards, and you can also configure your emails and alerts with it. If something is critical, you can configure it to notify via emails. It has a very handy dashboard, providing live alerts and visibility for everything.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.
879,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise26
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise22
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Meraki Dashboard?
We greatly utilize the network because we can plug it into the DNS, VPN, or equipment. It's very good. Meraki Dashboard enhances wireless network management. We appreciate its flexibility, as it al...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki Dashboard?
The cost of the Meraki solution is high, which may not be affordable for smaller companies, especially in developing countries.
What needs improvement with Meraki Dashboard?
Improving the AI capabilities would be beneficial as the machine should learn more extensively. The future is AI-driven. Network availability is crucial based on machine understanding, so the machi...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nagios Core?
Nagios Core is a free and open-source product. We don't charge for the product itself, but we charge for the man-hour costs related to installation, configuration, ongoing operation, and maintenance.
What needs improvement with Nagios Core?
The dashboard should be improved. It's very simple. I don't have a very clear or specific suggestion. You can change the skin of the dashboard, however, it's good for me.
What is your primary use case for Nagios Core?
I was a senior system administrator. I've been using Nagios Core for more than ten years now. It can be used to monitor hosts, such as machines, and monitor services of any kind. I'm using it to mo...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe
Airbnb, Cisco, PayPal, FanDuel
Find out what your peers are saying about Meraki Dashboard vs. Nagios Core and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.