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Meraki Dashboard vs Nagios XI comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 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
20th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Nagios XI
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
58
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (8th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (15th), Cloud Monitoring Software (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Meraki Dashboard is 1.3%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nagios XI is 3.2%, down from 4.1% 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.
Amir  Said - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective alerting enhances network monitoring experience with an easy setup
We love Nagios XI due to the fact that JPS Web is very useful. JPS monitors the modem and performs switching, monitoring the computer, and performing switching. We implement some applications and traffic monitoring. The alerting system is very effective. For instance, if we have an alarm on some RAM storage if the traffic is cut or dropped.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Meraki dashboard deserves an Oscar."
"The product can scale if you need it to."
"The ability to view the entire project stack, including the camera, features, and routers, which I believe are the most important or relevant components."
"The ease-of-use and the analytics are really effective tools."
"We've been spending a lot less time on tickets and deployments, so we have more time to do other things."
"It is very stable and we have been using it for five years."
"It can analyze the traffic that it is picking up from what may be a rogue access point, and it is able to identify those and send relevant notifications."
"There are some whitelist blacklist capabilities in the MX dashboard, which is very helpful."
"Nagios XI helps us monitor the bandwidth of the internet connection, HTTP, DNS, active directory services, and exchange data availability. We have multiple servers to monitor databases, availability of servers, and ping."
"The installation is no problem. I've installed Nagios several times."
"It's a monitoring agent. It's designed to do one thing. Its most valuable feature is its monitoring."
"I can monitor a software made in-house to software of bigger companies."
"I can monitor a phone on a desk to very big servers of any company."
"It's great for monitoring IT services infrastructure."
"An excellent solution that is easy and intuitive to implement."
"The most valuable feature is the monitoring of processes."
 

Cons

"Lacks an alert notification when there are IP or DNS issues."
"The MDM, however, is bad. We're using another MDM now because Meraki was so bad."
"Something that needs to be improved, is the fact that you if you don't renew the subscription license, it stops working. I would also like to see SSL BPM support for anything else."
"What needs improvement in Meraki Dashboard is its configuration. It'll also be better if the tool has more functionality, and that is what I'd like to see in its next release."
"There is a need for price reductions in developing countries, as the cost of Meraki is quite high."
"I think this product could be improved with a CLI for more directives."
"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."
"The initial setup is complex and can be made more straightforward."
"The GUI could be improved. It's a bit too basic, and maybe having a GraphQL interface would resolve this."
"The way Nagios displays information isn't easy for a new user to understand. It's not intuitive enough. You need to read some tutorials or be trained to understand what it's displaying. Also, I think it needs more features to improve network visibility because there are some things you can't detect."
"The product does not have SAP monitoring."
"The product could be optimized to improve the administrative user experience via the Nagios Core Configuration (NCC) GUI module."
"The interface could be more user-friendly."
"I would like to see more customization in the network map because it is a bit tricky to use it."
"The tool's AI model needs to be fixed."
"The PNP4Nagios plugin not working easily with XI is an issue for me, because some open source monitoring plugins do not work out of the box. But in the end, you learn to live with it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing for Meraki Dashboard is paid every year, and it's on a per-device model that costs roughly $300 to $400 per device, but that comes with full support and troubleshooting, etc. Compared to similar products, Meraki Dashboard is quite high-end, but the costs you pay are all-in."
"The pricing for a small setup is only a few hundred dollars a year. The fee is subscription-based."
"The licensing fees are $180 USD, per AP, for three years."
"The solution is currently the most expensive on the market."
"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."
"You don't have to pay for the dashboard."
"Typically, the license model is for one, three, and five years. They can just be a bit more flexible around it and look into providing an option for 24 months."
"The Meraki Dashboard has more competitive pricing."
"The licensing fees for this solution are approximately $3,000 USD per year."
"It is good to contact experts for advice about what is the best solution for your specific infrastructure and enterprise."
"Nagios Core does not have any payment, but Nagios XI requires payment for the license."
"This solution is very expensive, at approximately $5,000 USD when I purchased it, which is why I haven't upgraded my version in several years."
"For the cost of the commercial product and support, and taking into account the open source characteristics of it, I believe it is difficult to a better value."
"As it is not an agentless tool, I think it is expensive."
"You can grow into the higher-priced scale as they learn how to utilize the features for Nagios XI."
"The pricing is high with separate licensing for the product and support."
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 31, 2015
Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
53%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

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?
There is a need for price reductions in developing countries, as the cost of Meraki is quite high. Additionally, it would be beneficial if Meraki Dashboard could integrate more Cisco devices such a...
What do you like most about Nagios XI?
It is an open-source platform with valuable features for performance and stability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nagios XI?
The pricing for the Nagios XI product is good and better than other solutions. I would give it a four or five.
What needs improvement with Nagios XI?
The user interface needs improvement. Many tools have poor user interfaces, making them hard to manage and navigate.
 

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
Nagios has over one million users globally, including AOL, DHL, McAfee, MCI, MTV, Yahoo!, Universal, Toshiba, Sony, Siemens, and JPMorgan Chase.
Find out what your peers are saying about Meraki Dashboard vs. Nagios XI and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.