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Nagios XI vs Nmap comparison

 

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

Nagios XI
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
58
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (12th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (20th), Cloud Monitoring Software (23rd)
Nmap
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
17th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Nagios XI is 2.4%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nmap is 0.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Nmap0.8%
Nagios XI2.4%
Other96.8%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Emmanuel Appiah Boateng - PeerSpot reviewer
Network and Security Engineer at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Simplifies setup and requires user interface enhancement
Nagios XI is easy to install, which sets it apart from other open-source solutions I've tried. Typically, setting up a monitoring system on Linux involves cloning files from GitHub, building it, and installing many dependencies, but with Nagios XI, it wasn't like that. Nagios XI simplifies our setup and reduces the time spent configuring monitoring tools.
AntoSebastin - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Consultant - APAC at Logon Software
Scans the network and identifies vulnerabilities on each machine
Nmap is mostly helpful during compliance checks. We run the scanner to see how many devices are on our network and find vulnerabilities in those that aren't compliant. We also use it monthly to scan our network and identify devices that aren't connected properly. This helps us detect any issues related to the operating systems of these devices. The tool's most valuable feature is its vulnerability scanning. It allows us to scan a specific range of IP addresses and discover devices within that range. This makes it easy to identify devices and view their details. Port scanning is crucial for network management tasks. It helps us identify vulnerabilities by finding open ports that may be unused or misconfigured. This tool makes it easy to detect such issues. The OS detection feature is great. Unlike other tools, Nmap provides accurate information about asset vulnerabilities, helping us easily detect and address them. Using Nmap provides value to the company, especially during compliance audits. It helps generate reports on assets, updates on workstations, and insights into network activities and potential attacks. Additionally, Nmap detects vulnerabilities and provides port details, allowing us to close unused ports on the client machines.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Nagios allows us to configure any device so that we can send pager alerts when people don't have access to emails. It also allows us to schedule downtime and maintenance."
"The most valuable feature is the monitoring of processes."
"It's a monitoring agent. It's designed to do one thing. Its most valuable feature is its monitoring."
"An excellent solution that is easy and intuitive to implement."
"Nagios is the best monitoring tool that I have ever worked on."
"The dashboard allows you to see what's going on in the overall system."
"Nagios is stable and it's easy to use the monitoring software, which is why we chose this product."
"Nagios has good scalability."
"The solution really is not comparable to other products because of its many features."
"We chose this solution because it supports several frameworks, including coding frameworks."
"The initial setup was simple."
"It enables us to delve deeper and identify the services and open ports on the system and visualize this information on a dashboard automatically."
"It is most efficient network scanner right now."
"It’s an excellent tool and allows its users a multitude of solutions to scan a network."
"Nmap has a powerful command line tool and a set of diagnostic features."
"Nmap is free and should stay this way."
 

Cons

"Nagios XI doesn't provide scripting. For example, if we have built up multiple IPX tunnels from a base location to a data center location and want to monitor or trigger an alert if the tunnel goes down, Nagios XI does not automatically send alerts notifying us that the tunnel is down."
"Business services monitoring is still really basic."
"There's room for improvement in the visibility, and in the ability to extract information."
"The product does not have SAP monitoring."
"The product's stability could be even better."
"The interface could be more user-friendly."
"We are implementing our hybrid cloud strategy, and it will most likely not be suitable for monitoring our public cloud assets."
"We often need to develop custom plugins to get Nagios to work the way we want it to work because the features we need are not always available in Nagios."
"The challenge often lies in finding suitable courses and professional resources."
"The price is high and could be cheaper."
"The solution should increase the number of features under a free license."
"I would like something more user-friendly to use and export data to various software."
"The solution's initial setup could be better."
"It takes a bit of time to get familiar with the solution and its options."
"Since I started using Nmap, it has been completely based on the command prompt and I think it would help other users if they implemented a decent GUI as well."
"Nmap major operates through the CLI; there's no GUI component, and that's where the challenge is."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing costs are reasonable."
"Nagios XI is an expensive solution."
"The licensing fees for this solution are approximately $3,000 USD per year."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"I am using the standard free version of Nmap."
"It's an open-source product, and I haven't seen any premiums. Options are available for those who purchase, but for my use case, everything I need is available in the community and forums."
"It's an open-source solution. Commerically, only the support service is available."
"I am using the free version of Nmap."
"The solution is free of cost."
"Nmap is an open-source and free product."
"Nmap is an open-source product. You don't need a license to install it."
"The solution is free of cost, but there are specific services that we have to buy."
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
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
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
9%
University
9%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise21
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What is your primary use case for Nagios XI?
I normally use Nagios XI for our servers. It's not particularly used for network equipment, however, I use it for monitoring our server performance, including CPU, memory, data, and services runnin...
What do you like most about Nmap?
Nmap is mostly helpful during compliance checks. We run the scanner to see how many devices are on our network and find vulnerabilities in those that aren't compliant. We also use it monthly to sca...
What is your primary use case for Nmap?
Nmap is used for network scanning to map the network, identify devices, and assess their status. It helps determine open ports and services running on a particular endpoint or server within an ente...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Nagios has over one million users globally, including AOL, DHL, McAfee, MCI, MTV, Yahoo!, Universal, Toshiba, Sony, Siemens, and JPMorgan Chase.
Lockheed Martin, Eastern Bank Boston, Perspecta, Harris Corporation, Discovery Communication
Find out what your peers are saying about Nagios XI vs. Nmap and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.