NETSCOUT Network &amp; Application Observability vs SolarWinds NPM comparison

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability vs. SolarWinds NPM

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Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score

7.0

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability enhances uptime, productivity, and savings by reducing troubleshooting time and integrating well with existing products.

Sentiment score

6.8

SolarWinds NPM is praised for reducing costs, offering quick ROI, and enhancing network management with reliable alerts and reporting.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability report

The return on investment is significant as the solution effectively reduces costs while being worth its expense.

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NPM report

Network Administrator at PT Bni Life Insurance

Customer Service

Sentiment score

5.9

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability support is praised for knowledgeable assistance, yet users desire quicker response times and more resources.

Sentiment score

6.9

SolarWinds NPM's customer service is praised, but technical support varies, with some users noting slow responses and availability issues.

They need to work on their response time and overall competence.

Regional Director at iSecureMind Integrated Solutions

The distributor's support is rated an eight out of ten, indicating room for improvement in SLA handling.

System Integrator at a construction company with 11-50 employees

I am actually happy with technical support from NETSCOUT.

For more quotes and insights, download the NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability report

General Manager at MOCOMSYS

If there is no timely response, getting a resolution is more difficult.

SJ6

Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees

Regarding technical support from SolarWinds, I find it excellent.

Vijay Samant

Assistant Manager at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees

We had contact with SolarWinds regarding the implementation, and they were helpful.

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NPM report

Network Administrator at PT Bni Life Insurance

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

8.0

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability is praised for scalability, though hardware costs challenge large-scale growth; appreciated for flexible architecture.

Sentiment score

6.9

SolarWinds NPM efficiently scales in large environments, but may require extra polling engines and face complex licensing challenges.

The solution is highly scalable and accommodates the growth needs effectively.

System Integrator at a construction company with 11-50 employees

It is not similar to software solutions Datadog or Dynatrace where they can easily add agents without problems.

For more quotes and insights, download the NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability report

General Manager at MOCOMSYS

SolarWinds NPM is scalable and effective in handling large network infrastructures.

Tochukwu Uzomba

Solutions Architect at Boch Systems Company Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NPM report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.1

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability is praised for reliability, though complex configurations and specific demands can cause occasional instability.

Sentiment score

7.5

SolarWinds NPM is praised for stability, with resource allocation and documentation adherence mitigating most upgrade-related issues.

Datadog is more stable than NETSCOUT nGeniusONE, being a SaaS-based solution compared to on-prem solutions like NETSCOUT.

Regional Director at iSecureMind Integrated Solutions

I rate the stability of NETSCOUT nGeniusONE as ten out of ten since we have not experienced any escalations or downtime issues from the end user's side.

System Integrator at a construction company with 11-50 employees

Customers are more sensitive about NETSCOUT nGeniusONE's upgrades because it has hardware.

For more quotes and insights, download the NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability report

General Manager at MOCOMSYS

For stability, I rate SolarWinds NPM as a ten, which is the best.

Vijay Samant

Assistant Manager at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees

The NPM product is stable, particularly when used for simple network monitoring.

SJ6

Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NPM report

Room For Improvement

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability requires interface simplification, better integration, enhanced analytics, reduced costs, and improved user experience and documentation.

SolarWinds NPM requires enhancements in analytics, scalability, UI, security, integration, customization, monitoring, automation, stability, and cost-effectiveness.

Customers want to have service assurance, including NPM and APM, from one vendor.

Regional Director at iSecureMind Integrated Solutions

It would be beneficial to see more AI capabilities included in nGeniusONE to further streamline processes.

System Integrator at a construction company with 11-50 employees

Many big companies Samsung and Hyundai try to build their own monitoring solutions using open-source tools and their own engineers, though it has not been successful.

For more quotes and insights, download the NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability report

General Manager at MOCOMSYS

SolarWinds needs to upscale on observability and add full-fledged observability features, including security features.

Tochukwu Uzomba

Solutions Architect at Boch Systems Company Limited

Customers have given feedback about the delayed response times from the technical team.

SJ6

Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees

I would need a feature in SolarWinds in the future for some kind of malfunctioning detection, such as malware attacks or that type of environment.

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NPM report

Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Setup Cost

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability is costly but offers valuable features and flexible licensing, though enterprise deployment can be very expensive.

SolarWinds NPM offers a flexible licensing model with competitive pricing, though costs may rise for extensive setups.

The cost depends on the size of the customer, as sizing controls the pricing.

For more quotes and insights, download the NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability report

Regional Director at iSecureMind Integrated Solutions

Regarding its high price, I give NETSCOUT nGeniusONE a seven.

Hasan Toffaha

Newwork And Collaboration Supervisor at Nafeza

The solution is considered expensive.

Network Administrator at PT Bni Life Insurance

Pricing-wise, SolarWinds NPM is more expensive than PRTG.

Tochukwu Uzomba

Solutions Architect at Boch Systems Company Limited

It is not too pricey and is adequate.

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NPM report

Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Valuable Features

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability provides comprehensive network analysis, offering visibility and quick issue resolution through its user-friendly interface and robust features.

SolarWinds NPM provides intuitive network monitoring with advanced customization, scalability, and proactive alerts, suiting diverse business needs.

The capability of real-time traffic intelligence is also very useful because it allows for the comparison between real-time and historical packet levels.

Regional Director at iSecureMind Integrated Solutions

Their analysis capability actually surpasses other APM solutions, which is why customers love it.

For more quotes and insights, download the NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability report

General Manager at MOCOMSYS

NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE has an easier dashboard to manipulate compared to SolarWinds.

Ian Munoz

Ingeniero en Telecomunicaciones at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Whenever any node is down in our network, whether it is a server or any network device, we receive information through email that the device is down.

Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The ability to customize the dashboard in SolarWinds NPM provides key benefits like saving time and money, and streamlining some processes.

Vijay Samant

Assistant Manager at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees

The most valuable feature for us is the database performance analyzer, which we use a lot.

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NPM report

Network Administrator at PT Bni Life Insurance

Categories and Ranking

NETSCOUT Network & Applicat...

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

10th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds NPM

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

161

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (7th), Cloud Monitoring Software (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability is 2.9%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NPM is 3.7%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
SolarWinds NPM	3.7%
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE	2.9%
Other	93.4%

Network Monitoring Software

Q&A Highlights

Mohammed Azher Rabbani

Lead Technical Consultant at a consultancy with 51-200 employees

Feb 07, 2020

What Is The Biggest Difference Between NETSCOUT and SolarWinds?

SolarWinds consists of several modules from NetFlow/IPFix to config management. Typically the NetFlow piece is used in comparison with NetScout nGenius/Infinistream ASI. NetScout Infinistream and nGenius is a closed Packet stream to disk solution that provides deep insight into how client-server applications work over the LAN WAN. I believe NS still has the ability to ingest NetFlow, SFlow, JFlow, and IPFix. The question you pose is quite complex for those not familiar, the only similarity is that both solutions allow IT staff the ability to obtain information from the network. NetFlow is a sampled view often collected only from WAN routers. That has been historically used for Capacity Planning and Security workflows. NetScout depends on streaming packets to disk acquiring packets from a packet broker, tap, port mirror/span session. So they are actually night and day. Netflow is a sample and does not provide the insight that a packet capture provides for those who understand them.

Monitoring has improved bandwidth insights and application diagnosis but setup and costs still need work

Featured Reviews

Hasan Toffaha

Newwork And Collaboration Supervisor at Nafeza

They need room for improvement about the spare parts. There are shortages in Egypt in their stock. We tried to make RMA for specific parts, and it took a long time. Comparing this to a vendor like Cisco, who provides any component next business day, NETSCOUT nGeniusONE took a long time. This needs more improvement. I believe it is expensive. They need to reduce its budget a little bit. Comparing to other solutions, it is very expensive.

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Central monitoring has improved outage alerts and now needs smarter detection and modern dashboards

Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Regarding the automated network topology and mapping feature in SolarWinds NPM, I am not satisfied with it. For static monitoring, it is acceptable. However, if it is possible, I would need a feature in SolarWinds in the future for some kind of malfunctioning detection, such as malware attacks or that type of environment. We did not have any facility to detect that in SolarWinds. I think it would be better to incorporate those types of features. Regarding customization options in SolarWinds, the ability to customize the dashboard has room for improvement. The dashboard is quite old, and we need some improvement in it. Nowadays, we have multiple tools with AI-based monitoring and web-based dashboards. SolarWinds also has a web-based dashboard, but I think there is scope for improvement in the UI. There may be other areas I would like to improve in SolarWinds NPM.

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Comparison Review

it_user174738

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…

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Answers from the Community

Mohammed Azher Rabbani

Lead Technical Consultant at a consultancy with 51-200 employees

Feb 7, 2020

What Is The Biggest Difference Between NETSCOUT and SolarWinds?

2 out of 5 answers

Shankar HN

IT strategist at Convergent Wireless Communications

Nov 6, 2019

From my experience, I would suggest PRTG Network Monitor over both instead of getting into details as to which one of NETSCOUT and Solarwinds is better. Both Solarwinds and NETSCOUT are expensive. NETSCOUNT is into loggerheads with Gartner report. Gartner rate Solarwinds well and PRTG Network Monitor is as good or even better than Solarwinds but far less expensive. I would recommend evaluating PRTG Network Monitor also to assess its suitability to meet your requirements.

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Jeff Soucy

IT Infrastructure Manager at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Nov 6, 2019

Although both products can overlap in what information they provide, nGenius One primarily uses packets from the network to monitor application performance and excels at deep packet analysis. SolarWinds primarily gathers data from SNMP, WMI, Netflow and other metrics to monitor the status of equipment (up, down, temperature, interface data, etc) as well as providing application performance statistics.

Read full answer

See all 5 answers

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Outsourcing Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	52

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	60
Midsize Enterprise	33
Large Enterprise	87

Questions from the Community

Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?

I would say if it’s an ISP that will build a scrubbing center, Netscout/Arbor is a good solution. In all other solutions, Imperva is a great choice.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?

Regarding its high price, I give NETSCOUT nGeniusONE a seven.

What needs improvement with NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

It actually depends on the exact purpose or kind of devices (network devices, servers, something else). Some tools are better for only network devices while others are better for a cloud monitoring...

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

From my point of view, SolarWind is the best tool.

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

We are partners with SolarWinds and we sell a lot of Network management to large enterprises also because of scalability, products like Network Performance Monitor & Netflow Traffic Analyzer ar...

Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability

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Alluvio AppResponse vs NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability

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Riverbed NPM+ vs NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability

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DX Spectrum vs SolarWinds NPM

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ManageEngine OpManager vs SolarWinds NPM

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Zabbix vs SolarWinds NPM

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IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) vs SolarWinds NPM

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Product Reports

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability

Download NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability product report

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability report

SolarWinds NPM

Download SolarWinds NPM product report

Also Known As

NETSCOUT nGenius, NETSCOUT nGeniusONE, NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE, NETSCOUT vSTREAM, NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG, Iris Session Analyzer, ClearSight Analyzer

Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor, SolarWinds Network Bandwidth Analyzer

Overview

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability enhances network operations by offering powerful packet analysis and real-time insights. It transforms raw data into intelligence and simplifies troubleshooting, ensuring effective monitoring across diverse platforms.

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability delivers comprehensive visibility and interoperability with a single pane of glass to aid in quick troubleshooting and traffic monitoring. It provides real-time insights and metrics that enhance network evaluations, helping transform raw data into actionable intelligence for better performance monitoring across diverse environments. However, it faces challenges like complexity, non-intuitive dashboard setup, and high server requirements. Enhancements in data analysis, visualization, and security features, along with improved integration with other products and detailed alerts, are needed.

What are the key features of NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability?

Packet Analysis: Provides robust packet capture and analysis for deep insights.
Single Pane of Glass: Simplifies traffic monitoring and dependency mapping.
Real-Time Insights: Offers instant, actionable information for troubleshooting.
Application Performance Metrics: Evaluates performance across network applications.
Interoperability: Ensures seamless operation across various network environments.

What benefits do users highlight?

Actionable Intelligence: Transforms raw data for strategic decisions.
Enhanced Monitoring: Facilitates efficient network operation monitoring.
Proactive Alerting: Supports real-time issue identification and response.
Bandwidth Management: Optimizes resource usage for cost efficiency.
Application Management: Monitors application performance for better user experience.

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability is widely implemented in industries such as telecom and banking for network troubleshooting and application performance management. It helps in monitoring infrastructure, capturing unknown traffic, and managing bandwidth. The tool supports security alerts, real-time communications analysis, and proactive monitoring of remote sites, aiding in efficient network operations and enhanced end-user experience.

NETSCOUT

SolarWinds NPM is a network performance monitoring tool offering a user-friendly interface with customizable dashboards. It provides real-time tracking of device health, latency, and bandwidth utilization, supporting diverse integration and scalability needs.

SolarWinds NPM's robust features include real-time monitoring of network performance and efficient tracking of device health, latency, and bandwidth utilization. The tool is appreciated for its ease of deployment, scalability, and support for integration with other tools. Features like SNMP monitoring, NetPath, and comprehensive reporting enhance its diagnostic capabilities and network visibility. However, users identify areas for improvement such as real-time analytics, advanced customization options, and enhanced scalability for larger enterprises. Better customer support, improved integrations, and security measures are also desired.

What are the key features of SolarWinds NPM?

User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies navigation and operation.
Customizable Dashboards: Allows personalized data views.
Real-Time Monitoring: Provides instant updates on network performance.
Strong Alerting Capabilities: Offers immediate notifications for issues.
Scalability: Supports growth with ease.
Integration: Works smoothly with other tools for comprehensive monitoring.
SNMP Monitoring: Tracks device stats effectively.
NetPath: Helps visualize network paths and performance.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Improved Network Visibility: Enables proactive issue resolution.
Enhanced Diagnostics: Facilitates quicker troubleshooting.
Real-Time Performance Data: Supports informed decision-making.
Ease of Deployment: Reduces setup time and complexity.
Infrastructure Monitoring: Ensures network stability and reliability.
Custom Integration: Adapts to existing IT environments.

In enterprise environments, SolarWinds NPM is deployed to monitor network health and device status, sending alerts for any issues. It provides visibility into network performance, tracking bandwidth utilization and server metrics efficiently. Its applications span from monitoring routers, switches, and firewalls to supporting infrastructure monitoring across industries.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Cerner Corporation

Microsoft, Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, and MasterCard

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability vs. SolarWinds NPM