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Meraki Dashboard vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

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
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Network Device M...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
34th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Meraki Dashboard is 0.8%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is 0.8%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Meraki Dashboard0.8%
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor0.8%
Other98.4%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Kieran Wallace - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Engineering Manager at Nutrien Ag Solutions Australia
Centralized management has transformed global branch operations but templates and APIs still need work
I am disappointed that Meraki Sensors feature is leaving Meraki Dashboard because we use Meraki Sensors heavily across our Australian retail branches for a number of different use cases, and Meraki has discontinued the MT sensor product range, which will be getting sunset at some point. We are disappointed about that. I do not know yet if they are replacing it with something else, but I believe it may be going out to third-party manufacturers to offer that as a service that integrates. If I could improve the product in any way, I want to add that there are a number of functions in Meraki Dashboard that you can only do from the dashboard that are not available to us in the API. My role focuses heavily on automation, and that is a real pain point for us as new features come out. We really want to push Meraki to have API parity with every aspect of Meraki Dashboard. Configuration templates influence policy consistency across my distributed branches and are a big pain point for us with local site exceptions. If something needs to change for a local site requirement, then we end up having to break that site out of the template and manage it separately. The number of sites that we have had to do that for in the last couple of years has increased, which dramatically increases the management overhead for those broken-out networks, and it is slowly eroding the value that we get from templates. That is why we are looking to transition to more Terraform automation-driven configuration management and get rid of templates. I rate Meraki Dashboard a seven and not higher because templates cause us a lot of grief, and the lack of API parity is a real challenge for us. We would really appreciate seeing the API rate limit increased as well.
SG
IT Infrastructure Senior Network Technician at Autoliv
Offers some features but needs better customization and analysis tools
There are solutions that can perform better, but due to pricing for our corporate implementation, we had to stay with this solution. It accomplishes the necessary tasks, but there is room for improvement. The features are not as customizable as we would prefer, but they are workable. If configured properly, you can perform a drill-down analysis. However, I have not used this feature much for our infrastructure on the network side.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is very stable and we have been using it for five years."
"It improved the marketing solution of the company where I deployed it and it improved the way they gather marketing data tremendously."
"The fact that Meraki Dashboard is cloud-based makes it easier for me because I have less traffic going through the data center, it is more stable, and Adecco has access because the main account or main management is done by Adecco, so I am just a user of the solution, and it makes my life easier."
"For small businesses, I would recommend Meraki over pretty much anything else on the market."
"We can roll out a site without being onsite, which has saved my team about 300 onsite visits."
"The most valuable feature is knowing the wireless and switch are healthy."
"We like the visibility this solution gives us of the infrastructure."
"Meraki Dashboard is meant to be a one-stop-shop, allowing me to access my devices from anywhere around the world through a browser interface so that one person can do the job of a normal five to six-person IT team."
"Overall, it is a good user experience and the dashboards are very usable."
"Since our devices are spread out across the world, we can see the status of these devices without having to send someone physically to a remote location, which saves money."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is it shows you the utilization of devices to allow you to take proactive action before something goes down or reaches the saturation point. You can take proactive action to fix the problem before it occurs."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"There are vital features of auto-plugin core ports"
"The most valuable features of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor are the reports. We are configuring the reports, and the first reports are only about the devices. We are configuring the thresholds in order to monitor all the devices."
"Link monitoring is the most valuable feature of this solution."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is monitoring."
 

Cons

"They can improve the landing page in Meraki Dashboard. When I go into an organization, they can include a lot more infographics."
"We would like to be able to test the health of WAN connections."
"The coverage has been an issue for us."
"I believe Meraki Dashboard could be improved, particularly in reporting. What specifically would make the reporting better for me are easier exports and easier ways to set the data up."
"The biggest problem is the absence of a VPN client like AnyConnect with the device."
"Not a lot of training is available."
"It is not appropriate for large, enterprise businesses."
"There needs to be a better way of identifying some hardware. For example, there is some hardware where only the mask address is available - not the full name."
"There are solutions that can perform better, but due to pricing for our corporate implementation, we had to stay with this solution."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor lacks the granularity of other monitoring tools like LiveNX."
"When an organization's network grows, the complexity of the dashboard becomes an area of concern where improvements are required."
"If everything were in the package so that everything was ready to go out of the box, that would be ideal."
"The way they are presenting the map of our devices needs to be improved."
"The solution should have AI-powered issue-resolving capabilities"
"The data is in the system but we are unable to pull it because reporting is not integrated and versatile."
"It would be beneficial if SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could provide a feature to monitor CRC errors specifically on individual interfaces rather than the entire device. This would help in detecting intermittent issues and packet drops on main links more accurately, especially when there are CRC errors. It's important for us to be aware of these issues to avoid any voice quality problems or interruptions on our MTS links."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Meraki Dashboard is a utility and portal that's part of the Meraki solution."
"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."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"You don't have to pay for the dashboard."
"It is said to be expensive."
"I’m not sure of the exact cost, however, it’s my understanding the Meraki WiFi is around $800. That’s for a three-year license. It’s about $150 a year."
"The pricing of the tool is relatively high compared to other solutions. It comes with a premium that exceeds that of its competitors by approximately 25 percent."
"When compared with other solutions SolarWinds is more expensive."
"I rate the product's price as three to three and a half or on a scale of one to ten, where one means low price, and ten means high price."
"Well, we had a perpetual license and the renewal was $20 to $25,000."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is not an expensive solution."
"The enterprise license is good for the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor. However, it is expensive, they should reduce their price."
"The product is expensive."
"I find the cost of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reasonable for our company. Though, I'm not aware of the exact licensing cost."
"Thankfully, it doesn't take a lot of manpower to install and deploy."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
12%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise43
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki Dashboard?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Meraki Dashboard was pretty straightforward just because we have Cisco devices already in the organization. We didn't face any such pricing...
What needs improvement with Meraki Dashboard?
I don't see any such requirement of improvement for Meraki Dashboard, but since artificial intelligence is in the market, maybe with some kind of summary or some kind of notification with integrati...
What is your primary use case for Meraki Dashboard?
Our main use case for Meraki Dashboard is to monitor the network environment. We monitor our local data center and network devices using the dashboard, and when there is a certain issue, Meraki Das...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
I am not a positive person regarding SolarWinds Network Device Monitor.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
There are solutions that can perform better, but due to pricing for our corporate implementation, we had to stay with this solution. It accomplishes the necessary tasks, but there is room for impro...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
I have experience regarding the AD part, but my focus for the last 15 years has been oriented to the network side. My experience with identity tools comes more from a network perspective. We used N...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Network Device Monitor
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe
Air Rarotonga
Find out what your peers are saying about Meraki Dashboard vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.