NIKSUN NetVCR vs Packetbeat comparison

NIKSUN and Elastic are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. NIKSUN is ranked #96, while Elastic is ranked #66 with an average rating of 8.0. NIKSUN holds a 0.3% mindshare in NMS, compared to Elastic’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Elastic users are willing to recommend the solution.

NIKSUN NetVCR

Read 2 NIKSUN NetVCR reviews

486 Views
481 Comparison Views

0% willing to recommend

Packetbeat

Read 2 Packetbeat reviews

378 Views
374 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

NIKSUN NetVCR

Packetbeat

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between NIKSUN NetVCR and Packetbeat based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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

To learn more, read our detailed Network Monitoring Software Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

January 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

NIKSUN NetVCR

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

96th

Average Rating

0.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Packetbeat

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

66th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

2.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of NIKSUN NetVCR is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Packetbeat is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Packetbeat	0.3%
NIKSUN NetVCR	0.3%
Other	99.4%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Himanshu Shah

Partner at Opticom Data Products

High performance, quick packet monitoring, and helpful support

The solution could improve by having automatic mitigation. For example, as soon as a problem occurs the solution alarms and mitigates the situation immediately. In a feature release of the solution they should add features related to automation and remediation. Automation would help increase level of security the solution provides.

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Mohammed-Abdelalim

Assistant Vice President at QualityKiosk Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Network analytics have delivered lightweight, integrated visibility for search, observability, and security

Packetbeat analyzes specific protocols and is not suitable for full capture of all network traffic and network flows. I recall that Packetbeat can cover a limited number of protocols including ICMP, but not as deeply as other solutions. It covers NetFlows and these types of flows, but not at the level of a deep packet capture that you can find in the market where it taps every single packet in the network. Packetbeat is more about bringing statistics about the packets, but it doesn't capture these packets. The development intention of Packetbeat appears to be to provide a window for application monitoring and performance analytics, and for that purpose, it is doing sufficiently well. However, if the vendor has another goal to build a similar network monitoring solution that exists in the market, which is outside of Elastic's business nature, Packetbeat is a sensor that needs to be improved to the level of deep packet capture where it loses no packets in the network. That improvement would take Elastic to another level.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The unique selling point of NIKSUN is its ability to scale and its reporting capabilities. NIKSUN captures the packets at a very high speed, from one GB to 160 Gbps also. It offers report granularity in nanoseconds."

"The most valuable features of NIKSUN NetVCR are its performance and forensic capabilities. Additionally, the information that the solution provides is highly detailed and useful. When dealing with network traffic packets can be sent at a high speed causing some security issues, but this solution is able to rapidly monitor the packets providing security."

"The beauty of Packetbeat is that it is easy, free, and lightweight, while other solutions are expensive and will accumulate a huge amount of data."

"Elastic's scalability, in terms of cluster robustness, is definitely the most valuable feature."

Cons

"NIKSUN is a passive solution. It provides you with you data, alerts, reports and the root cause of issues. However, it requires a person to make use of this functionality. If an event is happening and nobody attends to it, the effects of the event could be severe."

"The solution could improve by having automatic mitigation. For example, as soon as a problem occurs the solution alarms and mitigates the situation immediately."

"The scalability of the agent itself could be improved."

"Packetbeat analyzes specific protocols and is not suitable for full capture of all network traffic and network flows."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is high. There is an annual license costs."

Information not available

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Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Packetbeat?

Elastic is pretty cheap for large enterprises but unaffordable for small ones.

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What needs improvement with Packetbeat?

I think that the scalability of the agent itself could be improved. It is also a bit limited in terms of capabilities. When a customer needs to customize the collection, I think it's tougher there.

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What is your primary use case for Packetbeat?

I've been using Packetbeat ( /products/packetbeat-reviews ) for call centers, for logs, for observability, network monitoring, and some search engine optimization.

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

January 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

January 2026

Download Packetbeat product report

Also Known As

NetVCR

No data available

Overview

Powered by groundbreaking technologies, NIKSUN NetVCR redefines the way we monitor networks. It provides seamless service and application performance analytics for the right visibility into your traditional, virtual or hybrid environments. The NetVCR suite gives you unmatched insight while still dramatically reducing power consumption by 60% and requiring 80% less rack space.

NIKSUN

Packetbeat is an open-source real-time application monitoring tool designed to capture network packets and provide insights into application performance and network congestion.

Packetbeat allows IT professionals to monitor network traffic efficiently by collecting and analyzing packets. It provides valuable insights into network latency and helps identify performance issues. It is part of the Elastic Stack, making it easy to integrate with Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana for sophisticated data analysis and visualization. Its open-source nature adds flexibility for customization, catering to specific monitoring needs.

What are the crucial features of Packetbeat?

Real-time packet capture: Enables immediate analysis and monitoring of network packets.
Protocol analysis: Supports analysis of various protocols like HTTP, DNS, and MySQL.
Seamless integration: Works efficiently with other Elastic Stack components.
Open-source: Offers customization and adaptability for IT requirements.

What benefits or ROI should be expected?

Cost efficiency: Leveraging open-source software reduces license costs.
Enhanced visibility: Provides detailed insights into network operations.
Scalability: Can be scaled to monitor expansive networks as needs grow.

In industries like finance and healthcare, where network uptime and data integrity are crucial, Packetbeat is implemented to monitor network performance and troubleshoot issues promptly. Its ability to analyze traffic in real-time ensures that potential bottlenecks are addressed swiftly, maintaining operational efficiency.

Elastic

Sample Customers

Visa, FedEx, CitiGroup, IDC

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

January 2026

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