Nagios Core vs PRTG Enterprise Monitor comparison

Nagios and Paessler GmbH are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Nagios is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.2, while Paessler GmbH is ranked #36 with an average rating of 7.3. Nagios holds a 3.0% mindshare in NMS, compared to Paessler GmbH’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Nagios users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Paessler GmbH users who would recommend it.

Nagios Core

Read 51 Nagios Core reviews

4,161 Views
3,242 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

PRTG Enterprise Monitor

Read 9 PRTG Enterprise Monitor reviews

411 Views
305 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Nagios Core

PRTG Enterprise Monitor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Nagios Core and PRTG Enterprise Monitor are competing network monitoring solutions. PRTG Enterprise Monitor seems to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive suite of features, despite higher costs and complexity.

Features: Nagios Core offers flexible plugin architecture, enabling broad customization and integration with third-party tools. It provides a modular approach that allows organizations to tailor their monitoring needs but may require more technical input. PRTG Enterprise Monitor provides an all-in-one platform, including bandwidth monitoring, traffic analysis, and a variety of pre-configured sensors. It is designed to handle larger IT environments with an integrated feature set, offering robust monitoring capabilities out of the box.

Room for Improvement: Nagios Core could improve in ease of deployment and direct customer service, as it relies heavily on community support. Its interface might be enhanced for a more modern user experience. PRTG Enterprise Monitor could benefit from offering more flexible pricing models to accommodate smaller organizations. Reducing complexity in its feature set might appeal to users with less technical expertise. Improving the depth of customization options could help cater to specific advanced monitoring scenarios.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PRTG Enterprise Monitor facilitates a user-friendly setup with guided configurations and strong customer service support, making it suitable for fast deployment scenarios. Conversely, Nagios Core requires a higher level of technical expertise for installation and configuration, as it lacks formal direct customer support services. However, its open-source nature offers extensive community-driven assistance, which may be attractive to technical teams.

Pricing and ROI: Nagios Core’s open-source model reduces setup costs, potentially offering higher ROI for organizations able to leverage its community-driven ecosystem. PRTG Enterprise Monitor, with its all-inclusive pricing strategy, simplifies budgeting and delivers value through its comprehensive feature set and service. Despite higher initial costs, it offers a substantial ROI for enterprises needing robust, all-encompassing monitoring solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Nagios Core vs. PRTG Enterprise Monitor Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Nagios Core vs. PRTG Enterprise Monitor

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 850,236 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

Nagios Core

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

11th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (13th)

PRTG Enterprise Monitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

36th

Average Rating

7.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Nagios Core is 3.0%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PRTG Enterprise Monitor is 0.5%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Nishith-Vyas

Tech Lead at STL Digital Limited

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.

Read full review

Moshiur-Rahman Khan

CEO at IOPoint.com

Offers perfect real-time bandwidth monitoring and SNMP functionality

The licensing policy needs to change. The current model requires customers to purchase a minimum of two thousand licenses, which is not flexible for all customers. They should consider a more flexible licensing approach. Furthermore, alignment with customer expectations rather than offering numerous features that are not requested would be beneficial.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution's most valuable feature is that it offers proper alerting capabilities."

"The most valuable features are the reports and the way it generates the report in a graphical manner."

"We mostly use Nagios Core to integrate with Python and Bash Script."

"Alert calls occur anytime a service goes down or a matrix is difficult and that helps us to quickly restore service and transfer work."

"I like that it's very simple to install, easy to manage and deploy, and easy to use for monitoring."

"We use the product to monitor server applications."

"The reporting structure and the feature set are valuable to me."

"Nagios Core integrates with tools like Splunk, Datadog, or Dynatrace. It is usually used as a feed to provide more technical information about devices or hosts to another system."

More Nagios Core pros

"The solution's ability to monitor each and every aspect of our devices, such as memory utilization and port connectivity, is valuable."

"The product is easy to use and you don't need to have any training. You can use it even if you don't have an IT background."

"The product is easy to understand."

"The product's most valuable feature is network analysis."

"It provides a vast array of options for dashboard creation and monitoring of the activities within the environment."

"From a technical perspective, the product's most valuable feature is SNMP, an open standard monitoring protocol that works across various network devices and operating systems, including UNIX and Windows."

"I would recommend PRTG Enterprise Monitor to others as it works well with Android devices, and you can try the free version before purchasing."

"The solution offers perfect real-time bandwidth monitoring and SNMP functionality."

More PRTG Enterprise Monitor pros

Cons

"Nagios Core does not have a graphic display."

"The core version is no match for the XI version."

"The NetEase reporting structure needs improvement, especially the availability report, which is weak."

"t was a little hard to get our setup represented in the configuration."

"The initial setup process could be easier."

"The interface could be improved."

"I believe Nagios Core will need to provide an option for big data platforms in the future."

"I would like to see a sensor that shows the traffic of a user and what they're doing on the network."

More Nagios Core cons

"The solution could be improved by introducing security features similar to those available in Teams, as the current version only monitors devices and does not integrate IoT or OT devices."

"They should work on minimizing false positives by sending alerts promptly and confirming errors with minimal troubleshooting requirements."

"The licensing policy needs to change."

"There is no unified monitoring in PRTG. It needs a lot of improvement in terms of integration."

"The licensing policy needs to change. The current model requires customers to purchase a minimum of two thousand licenses, which is not flexible for all customers."

"The solution could be improved by including a processing monitor, possibly with a language interface like Lua, allowing for writing custom sensors and processing outcomes of inputs."

"The solution could be improved by introducing security features similar to those available in Teams, as the current version only monitors devices and does not integrate IoT or OT devices."

"The support must be improved."

More PRTG Enterprise Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using the free version of Nagios Core."

"Most the plugin features are free."

"Nagios Core is an open source solution, and there are no licensing fees."

"The Nagios Core (PNP4Nagios + Core) is free and can be setup by Netadmin within a few hours. The only additional cost is the cloud server."

"Lessening the price point would be an improvement."

"The enterprise version has technical support. The version we are using is free."

"Nagios Core is a cheap solution."

"It's free."

More Nagios Core pricing and cost advice

"I rate the product's pricing an eight to seven out of ten."

"The solution is affordable."

"The pricing is $2,149 for software without maintenance, and licenses are sold in the minimum bundle of 500 interfaces."

"PRTG Enterprise Monitor is an expensive product."

"PRTG Enterprise Monitor's pricing is reasonable."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

850,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

University

13%

Computer Software Company

13%

Educational Organization

11%

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What do you like most about PRTG Enterprise Monitor?

If an event is detected, such as a resource running low on storage or RAM, the product will notify you via email. Upon receiving the notification, action must be taken to address and resolve the is...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PRTG Enterprise Monitor?

I have no idea about the pricing as I am not the sales person. The sales team coordinates these matters.

See all answers

What needs improvement with PRTG Enterprise Monitor?

The solution could be improved by introducing security features similar to those available in Teams, as the current version only monitors devices and does not integrate IoT or OT devices.

See all answers

Comparisons

Icinga vs Nagios Core

Compared 26% of the time

Nagios XI vs Nagios Core

Compared 17% of the time

Zabbix vs Nagios Core

Compared 14% of the time

Centreon vs Nagios Core

Compared 9% of the time

OP5 Monitor vs Nagios Core

Compared 4% of the time

More Nagios Core Competitors

PRTG Network Monitor vs PRTG Enterprise Monitor

Compared 100% of the time

More PRTG Enterprise Monitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Nagios Core

April 2025

Download Nagios Core product report

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

April 2025

Download PRTG Enterprise Monitor product report

Overview

This is IT infrastructure monitoring's industry-standard, open-source core. Free without professional support services.

Nagios

PRTG Enterprise Monitor serves enterprises by ensuring comprehensive monitoring of servers, services, and applications, empowering users to track sensor data effectively and detect performance or security issues across their networks.

PRTG Enterprise Monitor is widely recognized for its capability to efficiently monitor technical sensors such as ping, uptime, CPU load, and memory usage. It supports users in tracking network resource performance, detecting malicious activity, and preventing failures. Its custom frameworks enable monitoring of certificate expirations and process availability. The intuitive interface requires no specialized IT background, featuring agentless operations that enhance responsiveness and SNMP monitoring valued across platforms. The tool is appreciated for its anomaly detection and notification features, allowing users to address issues proactively. Installation is straightforward and support is robust, although users seek enhancements in real-time SMS alerts, SAP system integration, fault management, and more flexible manual configurations.

What are the key features of PRTG Enterprise Monitor?

Network Analysis: Offers in-depth insights into network performance.
Custom Dashboards: Provides a library for tailored dashboard creation.
Alerting System: Effective user notifications prevent escalation of issues.
Agentless Monitoring: Enhances response times without installing agents.
SNMP Monitoring: Useful for monitoring multiple platforms.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Easy Installation: Simplifies the setup process for companies.
Proactive Anomaly Detection: Identifies and resolves issues swiftly.
Comprehensive Coverage: Ensures efficient fault detection and management.
User Support: Strong support capabilities aid troubleshooting.

Enterprises in industries such as IT services, finance, and healthcare rely on PRTG Enterprise Monitor for monitoring critical infrastructure. This includes ensuring internet connectivity, monitoring mail services, and tracking network performance and security, thereby maintaining operational efficiency and service availability.

Paessler GmbH

Sample Customers

Airbnb, Cisco, PayPal, FanDuel

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Nagios Core vs. PRTG Enterprise Monitor

April 2025

Free Report: Nagios Core vs. PRTG Enterprise Monitor

Find out what your peers are saying about Nagios Core vs. PRTG Enterprise Monitor and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

850,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Nagios Core vs. PRTG Enterprise Monitor report.

See our list of best Network Monitoring Software vendors.

We monitor all Network Monitoring Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.