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Nagios Network Analyzer vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 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

Nagios Network Analyzer
Ranking in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
12th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...
Ranking in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
3rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) category, the mindshare of Nagios Network Analyzer is 1.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is 5.6%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
 

Featured Reviews

Gilbert Mwiinga - PeerSpot reviewer
Effectively monitors the uptime of all equipment and network connectivity
There is room for improvement on the setup side. It's not very user-friendly, especially for those who aren't tech-savvy. I find it a bit hard to set up initially. It could be done better to make it easier to configure. It would be beneficial for users. For additional features, I have an idea. I'm not sure if it's already there, but it would be great to have a feature that maps the network and shows which devices are connected. It could provide information about how traffic flows and offer a visual representation of how devices are physically connected to each other. It would be like a network audit feature that displays the connections between switches and other devices. So, in future releases, a network mapping and visualization feature would be valuable.
Raja Xabi - PeerSpot reviewer
Improved bandwidth management and network visibility have resulted in financial benefits and streamlined operations
There is always room for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, such as implementing instant reporting based on business intelligence reports and more granular filters in their dashboard to improve the GUI view and reporting. The licensing model of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is always an issue for users because competitors offer unlimited and perpetual licenses, and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model is quite costly compared to other brands. If users are comfortable with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, they have to make the hard decision to invest, and it's suggested from a user's perspective that SolarWinds should improve their financial model and licensing to become competitive, especially for small to medium businesses.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Network tracking is the most valuable feature of Network Analyzer."
"Its initial setup process is straightforward."
"The network monitoring feature, especially, stands out to me."
"It is highly customizable and can be integrated well with third-party software."
"The solution offers very good system monitoring. It's easy to manage your network, as well as your hardware and software. It's really useful."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The tool's UI is user-friendly, and pricing is affordable. It is very easy to deploy and learn."
"The solution is useful for monitoring network devices."
"The bandwidth monitoring functionality is one of the most important features for our customers. When the customer notices that their bandwidth usage is too high for some reason, they will use the traffic analysis within SolarWinds NTA to identify which protocols (e.g. HTTPS) or applications are using up the bandwidth."
"I would rate NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's stability ten out of ten."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to look for any increases in bandwidth over time so that we can plan before it becomes critical."
"The monitoring is perfect, showing you the details for the utilization of resources and network bandwidth."
"The software management tools are very useful for our customers."
"The most valuable feature is the alarm that is set up to trigger based on bandwidth utilization."
"What I like about SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is that it's useful for analyzing traffic. It also has an application visibility feature that lets you control applications."
 

Cons

"The graphics and reports can be a little bit better."
"There are some loopholes you need to be aware of from a security perspective."
"I think the reports can be improved. They're adopted."
"It has an old-fashioned interface."
"There is room for improvement on the setup side."
"They need to have some automation models embedded in them."
"It's very hard to install materials. You need a lot of documentation. They should make it easier to install and configure the solution."
"The bandwidth for its front-end version needs enhancement."
"It is a scalable solution, but it is costly to scale. Therefore, I would rate scalability at eight out of ten."
"I would like to see better customization capabilities."
"This solution does not do a very good job when I am trying to look deeper into my internal network, in particular with respect to individual ports."
"Customer Support is quite complex."
"There is a lack of documentation ......as well as a lack of dashboards."
"There is room for improvement when it comes to the traffic generated by the analyzer and the analysis of that traffic."
"The licensing should be more realistic so that we can adjust the number of nodes according to my needs, rather than in fixed increments."
"If your network is on SolarWinds, and you notice that the traffic is bad because it says "user downloading a heavy file," it doesn't indicate which endpoint is downloading those heavy files. SolarWinds doesn't have the tools to be able to handle this kind of situation. You can just notice through your network device that the traffic is becoming overwhelming or heavy, but you cannot go inside and get more details related to the endpoint where it is happening. We would like SolarWinds to be able to handle this kind of situation and even manage the traffic inside a network from the endpoint to the network device. These would be good enhancements. It is mostly stable. The problem comes only when we want to add another SolarWinds model. SolarWinds has so many models, and sometimes when we want to add other models on the platforms that are reserved for our firm, it freezes. When this happens, we have to create a new VM for that model."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is cost-efficient."
"They charge around ten thousand per month for one thousand nodes. That is their overall cost, but it differs on which company you are applying to, whether you are a service provider or an enterprise."
"I rate Nagios Network Analyzer's pricing a six out of ten."
"Pricing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is very high. I have a customer that needs the solution but doesn't have the budget for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer because the problem is that you can't use the solution only. You have to buy requirements such as the SolarWinds NPM first, and some companies don't have the budget for all the required components and modules. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer can cost up to $10,000, and some customers don't have that budget. Another product has all the modules that SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer has, with a very low price, that can be a replacement, which is ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer. PRTG is another solution that can replace SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer."
"NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is reasonably priced."
"Licensing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is paid yearly, and there are no additional costs that you need to pay apart from the standard licensing fees because you don't need to purchase another solution to make SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer work. Pricing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is more expensive than other solutions."
"We have licenses for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer. In terms of pricing, its license is not that expensive versus other tools such as HP."
"SolarWinds' pricing structure is the primary reason why some customers opt for another solution such as ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer. In NTA, you are charged per port, meaning that if you have a 24-port switch you will be charged for 24 individual nodes. ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer, on the other hand, charges per switch, such that if you add a switch, the entire switch will count as one single node."
"The price of this solution is exceptional."
"The pricing is really good."
"The solution's licensing is high-priced."
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Educational Organization
27%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Nagios Network Analyzer?
The solution is useful for monitoring network devices.
What needs improvement with Nagios Network Analyzer?
It’s an old solution. It has an old-fashioned interface. The product must provide a compliance testing feature.
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
I have worked from 1973 with all kind of systems in large enterprises across the world. And have experience with all kind of software in monitoring from infra to end to end, it depends on the funct...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
The licensing model of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is always an issue for users because competitors offer unlimited and perpetual licenses, and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model i...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
There is always room for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, such as implementing instant reporting based on business intelligence reports and more granular filters in their dashboa...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Netflow Traffic Analyzer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NuBlue, St.Elisabeth Hospital, Akamit Systems, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, ValueClick, Sunrise Banks
Oceaneering International, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, 335th Signal Command, Immofori
Find out what your peers are saying about Nagios Network Analyzer vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.