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Meraki Dashboard vs Nagios Core comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

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

Meraki Dashboard
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
19th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Nagios Core
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Meraki Dashboard is 1.1%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nagios Core is 2.7%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Bilal-Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless connectivity and comprehensive control over network devices
All of the features we are looking for are already in control. I think those features, which we are not currently utilizing, are already there. For example, the control for the cameras and everything else. The cameras are not connected through Meraki, but all other devices are on Meraki networks.
Nishith-Vyas - PeerSpot reviewer
Valuable reporting and alert system with room for PDF export improvements
The NetEase reporting structure needs improvement, especially the availability report, which is weak. It should be generated automatically with minimal human intervention and should be exportable as a PDF. Besides that, an integrated PDF export feature for reports is necessary. Also, the alert mechanism and graphing mechanism need to be integrated properly into Nagios Core. Currently, integrating these requires advanced Linux knowledge. Integration of more visualization tools like Grafana and Prometheus for better graphing and visualization is also recommended.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution scales well."
"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 allows for easy suite configuration. We can handle everything on there when there's a policy or any other requirement."
"The ability of the product to perform with simplicity of deployment make it a valuable solution."
"The most valuable feature is ease of use."
"An excellent dashboard that is currently unique in covering both SD-WAN and SD-LAN with built-in security."
"There is no need to swap the hardware at all the locations, and importing the APs into the Dashboard was a simple and quick process."
"Some of the features I have found valuable are the ease of access, simple configuration, and monitoring."
"Meraki Dashboard does not require a lot of maintenance. Cisco tells communicates through the Meraki Dashboard web client, it will automatically send updates to the equipment. They will send you an email on what day the updates will take place. If you want to proceed, you can click on accept, or you can decline them and schedule the updates at another time."
"Provides timely notifications."
"Dashboard provides monitor of total assets."
"I like the way the solution sends alerts and how it keeps on escalating them."
"The application performance monitoring feature is valuable."
"The solution is quite efficient."
"Other products are good but from the configuration point of view Nagios is really very lightweight. The price is really good in my opinion. Another important thing is that my Nagios engine still works with Dual core 8GB ram for the last 10 years."
"It has made the life of the network operations staff more proactive in managing the resources of the infrastructure. It prevents disasters long before they can take place."
"Key features include the GUI interface, its notification capabilities, and the real-time reporting."
 

Cons

"The MDM, however, is bad. We're using another MDM now because Meraki was so bad."
"Meraki lacks their own software for connecting to the VPN which creates some issues."
"They can improve the landing page in Meraki Dashboard. When I go into an organization, they can include a lot more infographics. They can also simplify it a bit and consolidate it. For example, if I've got five branches and I go into customer A's profile or organization, I'd like to see an infographic on the landing page providing a snippet of the entire network layout, that is, all branches in one snapshot. From there, I would like to go into the network that I want to work on or view."
"There is a need for price reductions in developing countries, as the cost of Meraki is quite high."
"The coverage has been an issue for us."
"When users are trying to roam from one location to another location, geographical tracking would be helpful."
"For instance, you should be able to see if something has been blocked by a firewall rule by looking at a live log of traffic moving through the device. It helps you troubleshoot issues and understand if your rules are working. You need to ensure the firewall is blocking the right things. That's unavailable in the Meraki Dashboard. You have to send the logs to a log server. We use SolarWinds locally, but it's not natively built into Meraki. We're also using Cisco ISA and another tool called Smoothwall."
"Third-party switches do not necessarily integrate easily with the system and this could be improved to allow for better adaptation."
"The initial setup process could be easier."
"The scalability needs improvement, it's not scalable at this time."
"Nagios Core is limited in terms of distributed setups, and there is no central view for remote data centers."
"The core version is no match for the XI version."
"The NetEase reporting structure needs improvement, especially the availability report, which is weak."
"There is room for improvement in the graphics."
"I would like to see a sensor that shows the traffic of a user and what they're doing on the network."
"The interface could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing is around under 1000 pounds. The licensing is either one year, three years, five years or ten years and during the licensing, we can choose to renew it per year or per every three years. We've got a license for three years. It's about 160 or about 200 pounds each."
"Meraki Dashboard is a utility and portal that's part of the Meraki solution."
"My view is that it's expensive, but it's the best."
"From a pricing perspective, they are still expensive."
"The price of Meraki Dashboard is not expensive because knowing that it is a cloud-based solution has its benefits."
"The solution is currently the most expensive on the market."
"It is said to be expensive."
"The licensing fees are $180 USD, per AP, for three years."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"We are using the free version."
"Nagios Core is a cheap solution."
"Nagios Core is an open source solution, and there are no licensing fees."
"Lessening the price point would be an improvement."
"We have saved a lot of time, money, and effort in reducing disaster times, which is owed to Nagios quick alerting."
"It's free."
"The enterprise version has technical support. The version we are using is free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
The aspect I find challenging about this solution is that it is too extensive and complex. For example, when comparing Meraki Dashboard to Juniper Mist, the latter is quite simple. Mist is a very a...
What do you like most about Nagios Core?
What I like about Nagios Core is that it helps me ensure everything is running smoothly by checking the status of hosts and services.
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.
 

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: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.