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NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

The compared NETSCOUT and SolarWinds solutions aren't in the same category. NETSCOUT is ranked #31 in NMS , with an average rating of 8.7, and holds a 1.1% mindshare in the category. SolarWinds is ranked #8 in SM , with an average rating of 7.6, and holds a 3.3% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of NETSCOUT users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE
Read 50 NETSCOUT nGeniusONE reviews
  • 4,281 Views
  • 3,168 Comparison Views
94% willing to recommend
SolarWinds Server and Appli...
Read 44 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews
  • 4,708 Views
  • 1,271 Comparison Views
89% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between NETSCOUT nGeniusONE and SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Zabbix, Auvik, Datadog and others in Network Monitoring Software.

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Network Monitoring Software
March 2026
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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (31st)
SolarWinds Server and Appli...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.5
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (22nd), Server Monitoring (8th), Active Directory Management (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE and SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is designed for Network Monitoring Software and holds a mindshare of 1.1%, down 1.6% compared to last year.
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor, on the other hand, focuses on Server Monitoring, holds 3.3% mindshare, up 2.5% since last year.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE1.1%
Zabbix5.0%
SolarWinds NPM3.6%
Other90.3%
Network Monitoring Software
Server Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor3.3%
Zabbix13.4%
Checkmk6.6%
Other76.7%
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

ES
EdwardShim
General Manager at MOCOMSYS
Offers detailed network monitoring but requires improvement in deployment complexity and pricing
The price is really high, making it difficult for many financial companies to purchase immediately; it will take time for them to afford any budget for the purchase. The traffic data correlation feature's effectiveness with performance issues for clients remains uncertain as there are questions that need to be addressed through engineers regarding how many customers are actually using it. Regarding pricing and value for money, while the solution has the potential to save time and money for clients in the long term, monitoring solutions for performance management or network monitoring do not cause immediate damage to a company. It could lead to damage over time, but financial and management teams typically cannot see the immediate crisis. This is why 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.
Read full review
NikhilKalwint - PeerSpot reviewer
NikhilKalwint
Technical Specialist at ServiceIO
Monitoring over a thousand systems has improved decision making and operational visibility
From an advantage perspective, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is comparatively cheaper from a commercial point of view. It is easy to install and configure, very user-friendly, and quick to get up and running, allowing you to see the early value adds in your organization. It is compatible with most technologies for monitoring with very few chances of incompatibility. Configuration also allows us to monitor all the technical parameters we are looking for, making it a very good experience for us. The alerting feature in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is a main advantage, as it alerts based on threshold breaches and can raise tickets to the ticketing system, send SMS, and email notifications, allowing engineers to work on those tickets to resolve issues and avoid further impact. The visibility into server health is a beneficial feature that I am utilizing. We widely use various application performance metrics in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor such as database monitoring and server monitoring, which are quite good enough for any monitoring solution. We utilize the customizable dashboards in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor.
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

"When we can get the data into the tool, we absolutely see a decrease in mean time to know and mean time to repair, and similarly for overall troubleshooting time."
"The VoLTE model, call search and Media Monitor were essential when we launched VoLTE. We're relying heavily on them to troubleshoot our VoLTE calls."
"It helps us get to the root cause quickly. It helps us find massive error codes, then we drill down on that error code, knowing that is the source of our problem."
"Valuable features include data threat detection, network analytics, and overall bandwidth monitoring."
"This solution provides us with increased visibility while conducting IT deployments, for example, if we have devices which have overloaded or links which have saturated, then this tool tells us exactly what is going on with that link or device, and very few tools do it at this level for things like DDoS."
"The support is good."
"We have seen ROI, saved a lot of time in triaging, found root cause identities on packet captures, and been able to feed that information back to vendors so they can fix problems with solid evidence, resulting in a measurable decrease in mean time to know (MTTK)."
"The biggest advantage of NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is that when gathering logs, which require substantial bandwidth of more than 50 TB or 100 TB of data, NETSCOUT nGeniusONE can gather as much as possible."
More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE pros
"The ROI for SolarWinds products is unmatched in the industry."
"As I mentioned in one of the other points: "Simplicity at its best"."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is the network devices' performance monitor is the best."
"AppInsight. Provides a simple way to get very in-depth monitoring configured for our most popular applications. Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint."
"It is simple to implement and can provide fairly decent Windows-based monitoring, beyond simple SNMP. It is great for monitoring newbies and smaller shops."
"The recommendations are a life saver."
"The component and cable monitoring are good, and SolarWinds is more intuitive and user-friendly than AppDynamics."
"Once we got our IT inventory organized and aligned with the business, we were able to leverage our Orion Platform to provide more than just a reactive-based monitoring service to the business."
More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros
 

Cons

"Initially, we were having a lot of issues with bugs when using version 6.1.1. There were a lot of problems with the dashboard causing confusion."
"The current solution is not easy to scale, because it is an appliance-based solution. So, you have to swap everything out."
"Some of the filters could be easier to see and to set up. That's the only thing that I've ever had any trouble with."
"This is a typical thing, but every time they do a major code upgrade, we get hit with some nasty bugs. Some of them literally stop the whole platform from collecting traffic data. They should really do more Q&A on the software stability before release."
"I would like to see improvement in the user experience. It's hard to manage it."
"I would like to see improvement in the user experience. It's hard to manage it. We need a dedicated, highly-qualified person, compared to similar tools. Obviously, it's in a higher bracket, salary-wise. That's something the NETSCOUT team needs to focus on. It's a completely niche-skill technology, where we need to have the skills to manage, maintain, and deploy it."
"Initial setup was complex."
"I'd like to see the nGeniusONE, the nGeniusPULSE, and the OptiView, their three separate products, work a little better together, a little more streamlined."
More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE cons
"SAM AppInsight for SQL: The ability to ignore fragmentation of specific indexes."
"SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could improve by having a cloud version. They have an observability platform but it still needs to be maintained by us."
"The product needs to reduce its price."
"Currently SolarWinds SAM offers AppInsight for modern versions of: IIS, Exchange, SQL Server. They have shown to be powerful and insightful tools. However, AppInsight needs to be offered for more applications: Citrix, SharePoint, AX, etc."
"The product does not explain why a problem occurred."
"In terms of the dashboards on offer, they should work to improve them."
"Some custom applications cannot be monitored, and a lot more applications need to be included."
"It needs time-based functions for monitoring. Some things need to be polled on a specific schedule or only during a specific window."
More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing is flexible, it's not tied to anything else. We can easily switch up the licensing piece... Obviously, NETSCOUT is a little bit in the higher range, but it gives you value for money. You get what you pay for."
"Like any company, we always want better pricing. The pricing is okay, but it's not a cheap solution. When you want to deploy it across an enterprise as large as ours, you go into seven figures. It's not a cheap solution to get out there."
"The scalability becomes very expensive quickly."
"It is very expensive, but it's well worth the money."
"Cost is probably the biggest drawback. Compared to some of the newer vendors that have popped up in the space, it's definitely more on the expensive side... [But] it's been able to keep its value, even in the face of the cheaper competition."
"Their pricing is very competitive with other solutions... But what I like about NETSCOUT's licensing is that it's shared across all their platforms. They don't create a new licensing scheme for every one of their products. So for nGeniusONE, you buy a certain license level, and it works on all of their products."
"This solution has saved us more than $50,000 a month and freed up 30 percent of our bandwidth."
"It can be expensive, but if you have a good configuration, based on what you are looking for, it's okay, it's manageable."
More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE pricing and cost advice
"We are on an annual license to use the solution. The price of the solution is expensive. The price is based on a bunch of factors, such as the number of engines and elements."
"I like the pricing for this SolarWinds product."
"Price can always be lower. It is neither on the expensive side nor on the cheap side. We have worked with them for a lot of years, so we get a discount due to the size of the installation."
"I would advise potential buyers to wait until the end of the quarter, end of year, or other time to place orders. There are actually great deals to be had at those times if your budget cycle can match up."
"The licenses start from USD 3000.00 and go up to USD 20,000.00 for the year. It's a perpetual license. Nothing is free in SolarWinds, anything that you need is an additional cost."
"When planning for the number of licenses to purchase, make sure you understand all of the elements within an application required to really understand performance well. In our case, we quickly came to the conclusion that an unlimited license for SAM was the way to go."
"I think SolarWinds' pricing is very decent compared to other competitors in the market."
"The tool is available for my company at a good price point."
More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise37
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise21
 

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.
See all answers
What do you like most about NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?
Regarding its high price, I give NETSCOUT nGeniusONE a seven.
See all answers
What do you like most about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?
Identifying the problem statement is easy.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?
The initial cost is quite high, but the renewal cost is reasonable.
See all answers
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?
There is definitely room for improvement besides simplifying its setup. As a non-technical person, I believe the dashboards could be improved. Everything we use appears on video walls, and we need ...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

SolarWinds NPM vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Logo
SolarWinds NPM vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE
Compared 8% of the time
Dynatrace vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Logo
Dynatrace vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE
Compared 7% of the time
Gigamon Deep Observability Pipeline vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Logo
Gigamon Deep Observability Pipeline vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE
Compared 6% of the time
ThousandEyes vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Logo
ThousandEyes vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE
Compared 4% of the time
Datadog vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Logo
Datadog vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE
Compared 4% of the time
More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Competitors
Azure Monitor vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Logo
Azure Monitor vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
Compared 8% of the time
Dynatrace vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Logo
Dynatrace vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
Compared 7% of the time
Splunk AppDynamics vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Logo
Splunk AppDynamics vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
Compared 6% of the time
Icinga vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Logo
Icinga vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
Compared 5% of the time
Opsview vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Logo
Opsview vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
Compared 4% of the time
More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE
March 2026
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE reportDownload NETSCOUT nGeniusONE product report
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
March 2026
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reportDownload SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report
 

Also Known As

NETSCOUT nGenius, nGeniusONE
SolarWinds SAM
 

Overview

The nGenius Real-Time Monitor software provides you with tools to monitor and display information about your network both historically and in real time. The nGenius Real-Time Monitor software allows you to understand your current network usage and to plan for future needs. It also allows you to proactively troubleshoot problem areas in your network.
NETSCOUT

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers powerful application and server monitoring capabilities for IT pros, enabling them to diagnose and troubleshoot performance issues faster. Do not let slow applications and downtime impact your end-users and business services. Pinpoint the root cause of application issues across various layers of the IT stack. SolarWinds SAM is affordable and easy to deploy, use, and customize. You can automatically discover your system's environment and start monitoring in about an hour. No professional services or consultation needed.

SolarWinds
 

Sample Customers

Cerner Corporation
Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite
Buyer's Guide
Network Monitoring Software
March 2026
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