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NETSCOUT vSTREAM vs PRTG Network Monitor comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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 vSTREAM
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
86th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
PRTG Network Monitor
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (5th), Cloud Monitoring Software (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of NETSCOUT vSTREAM is 0.5%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PRTG Network Monitor is 2.6%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
PRTG Network Monitor2.6%
NETSCOUT vSTREAM0.5%
Other96.9%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

KL
Network Engineer at Inniti Network Solution
A user-friendly solution that is easy to install and improves visibility
I would like to see improvements made to the user guide. From my personal experience, it is helpful to see a list of steps describing what to do next in different situations. An example is what to do and what to back up in the case of certain types of failure. There are also cases where a customer can't understand specific features. Enhancements to the user guide would be helpful for this. More features for network fragmentation would be helpful.
MC
Senior consultant at Cambridge Institute of Technology
Has reduced troubleshooting time and improved issue detection through sensor alerts and team collaboration
PRTG Network Monitor can be improved because the dashboard themes feel outdated. It should be updated to a newer version for the new Gen Z customers. The notification sound options are limited unless customized. Restarting probes after Windows updates is necessary, and there should be some kind of automatic restart. The initial auto-discovery added too many unnecessary sensors, so auto-discovery should only take the necessary sensors into consideration.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"vSTREAM gives us better visibility and reporting about our network infrastructure, allowing for cost-optimization."
"One of the valuable features is the packet decoding."
"The generation of KPI-like information that feeds to the nGeniusONE (management) server is the most valuable feature."
"Sometimes it took a month to troubleshoot something that we can now do within days."
"From a network point of view, we can see the state of the network, as well as bandwidth usage and downtime."
"The auto-pause for sensors during maintenance windows is awesome, as there are no false alerts till now and the built-in SNMP tester tool has saved me multiple times during setups, making PRTG Network Monitor a one-stop monitoring solution for my industry."
"With PRTG, we normally know of issues with our servers before anybody reports them."
"The fact that I can use custom MIB files to customize my sensors for the things that are not there as a default is a good feature."
"I would be happy to recommend PRTG; I have no qualms with it whatsoever, it does what we need it to do and is flexible."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Its initial setup process is fast and easy."
"The installation is not that complex."
 

Cons

"I would say that this is not a scalable solution."
"I would like for it to have a smaller footprint of the virtual appliance and better performance."
"The stability is okay, but sometimes we see that the memory on the server is not 100 percent correct and we need to stop and start the software to have it reallocated again."
"I would like to see improvements made to the user guide."
"Room for improvement exists in filtering in the packet decode."
"PRTG's application monitoring sensor is not strong."
"From time to time, you need to reboot the PRTG probe server."
"The reporting features look very technical and that can be improved."
"The technical support could respond a little bit quicker."
"PRTG Network Monitor needs to show bandwidth utilization in proper graphs. It isn't easy to learn."
"Integration into service management ticketing systems could be better. They should simplify the integration into big service management platforms like ServiceNow, Remedy, and Cherwell."
"When you email the support team, they take three to seven days to respond and resolve simple issues."
"We're using more cloud services now. It would be useful to be able to get information back from these cloud services in detail, and display any issues within PRTG for the rest of our systems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing is quite expensive."
"The pricing is comparable."
"The price of PRTG Network Monitor is more expensive than other solutions, such as OP Network Manager."
"We are licensed for 2500 endpoints."
"Right now, the smallest sensor pack that they have is just a bit out of range for me, as a business. This kills me, as I need the product. Therefore, there is always a balance between needing to buy it or continuing their free version."
"When you have a lot of devices, PRTG Network Monitor can be costly."
"The scalability is there, but smaller companies might need CAM software to be able afford the product."
"We pay nothing for it. Its 100 sensors have allowed us to put a magnifying glass on some systems, providing an extra layer of detail. Therefore, our outgoing is nothing and our incoming is a lot of useful data that we can react to proactively."
"Because we are only on the free version, we have a limited number of sensors. Therefore, we are not monitoring as much as we want to be to obtain historical information."
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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
Construction Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
Retailer
7%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business60
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise50
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
PRTG network monitor is one of the best tool i have ever used for the monitoring. It have auto discovery option. it avoid the configuring the device in PRTG. It automatically discover the device an...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PRTG Network Monitor?
The pricing was higher at the beginning, but the recurring licensing cost is affordable and reasonable. Overall, the pricing, setup cost, and licensing is fair for our industry. They have quoted us...
What needs improvement with PRTG Network Monitor?
The reporting features look very technical and that can be improved. If they can change the report so everyone can understand it, that would be helpful.
 

Also Known As

vSTREAM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Metropolitan Police Agency, Banpara, PropertyRoom.com
Jameson Bank, Sidnix, RungeICT, MedicalAnimal, Truck-lite, GamingGrids, The Covell Group, Forsythn County Schools, NetMass, Musgrove Park Hospital, Lanes Health, Columbia Southern University, Vodafone, Intrust Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about NETSCOUT vSTREAM vs. PRTG Network Monitor and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,948 professionals have used our research since 2012.