Nmap vs SolarWinds ipMonitor comparison

Nmap and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Nmap is ranked #19 with an average rating of 8.6, while SolarWinds is ranked #78 with an average rating of 6.0. Nmap holds a 0.7% mindshare in NMS, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Nmap users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Nmap

Read 22 Nmap reviews

2,129 Views
1,937 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SolarWinds ipMonitor

Read 2 SolarWinds ipMonitor reviews

768 Views
468 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

Nmap

SolarWinds ipMonitor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Nmap and SolarWinds ipMonitor based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Network Monitoring Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Nmap vs. SolarWinds ipMonitor Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Nmap vs. SolarWinds ipMonitor

February 2026

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Helped 881,733 peers since 2012

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

Nmap

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

19th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds ipMonitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

78th

Average Rating

6.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (59th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Nmap is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds ipMonitor 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 (%)
Nmap	0.7%
SolarWinds ipMonitor	0.3%
Other	99.0%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

MoshiurRahman Khan

CEO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Improves network monitoring and offers insights into traffic, including VPNs

The real-time reporting feature of Nmap is particularly valuable. It generates detailed reports on the source and destination IP addresses, the protocols used, and the types of traffic. This feature is crucial for law enforcement agencies to monitor and analyze network connectivity effectively. It also has traffic analysis. For example, assessing bandwidth usage and configuring the tool to track specific types of traffic is crucial. Unlike SolarWinds, which requires configuration for this, Nmap has built-in functionality that allows it to check all 4,000 computer ports. It identifies the type of traffic each port is using and can easily generate reports on network communications between computers, whether there are 100 or 1000 in the network.

Read full review

Masud Alam

Manager at Optimum Origens Inc.

IP address management improves network efficiency but licensing cost could decrease

We are using SolarWinds for NPM and NCM, and we use IP address management for IP address monitoring. It helps us track which IP address is live and which is not. It also provides DHCP reservation and allows us to declare IP addresses for our integration. We have been using it for IP address…

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

"The tool's most valuable feature is its scripts. These scripts prove beneficial when security features may obscure or block connections. Nmap helps identify vulnerabilities across different systems, including web servers and various server types."

"The most valuable feature of the solution for security audits stems from the fact that it serves as a powerful tool with the ability to scan a large number of ports."

"Nmap is easy to use. It's a command-line interface, and the output is quite good."

"The solution detects the operating systems, which makes testing the software much easier before making the payload."

"Nmap's performance is great, and I've never noticed any issues in this respect. It really doesn't put a heavy load on the machine when using it."

"The scanning procedure includes UDP ports which sets it apart from competitors."

"The most important function, according to me, is the capability to use some arguments in the scanning. The solution's capability to go figure and do a deep dive, discovering information on specific aspects."

"Nmap has a powerful command line tool and a set of diagnostic features."

More Nmap pros

"IPAM is used for IP address reservation and tracking, helping us easily identify live IP addresses."

"The most valuable feature is the availability of end devices."

Cons

"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."

"It takes a bit of time to get familiar with the solution and its options."

"Customization is not very user-friendly in Nmap."

"The challenge often lies in finding suitable courses and professional resources."

"The price is high and could be cheaper."

"There could be a specific option to check non-pingable endpoints for the product."

"One of the drawbacks of the standard Nmap utility is that it does not come with a graphical user interface, unlike a number of other open-source alternatives such as Zenmap."

"The solution is not that easy for a beginner to learn."

More Nmap cons

"The licensing cost is high compared to open source tools."

"The solution does not include enough features and has some performance issues."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product's pricing is fine. The licensing options for Nmap include perpetual licenses and volume-based licenses. For perpetual licenses, once you purchase it, there's no need to invest in renewals. And for volume-based licenses, enterprise companies can use it multiple times based on the number of users or devices they need to scan. It's a pay-as-you-go model, similar to how you pay for what you use."

"The solution is free of cost, but there are specific services that we have to buy."

"The solution is free of cost."

"Nmap is an open-source product. You don't need a license to install it."

"I am using the free version of Nmap."

"I am using the standard free version of Nmap."

"Nmap is open source software, which suits us well because we are a manufacturing company and not an IT company, for example. If we were an IT company, we would probably need to pay for extra support or instead go for another software solution. But as it is, we don't have any need for high-end troubleshooting tools."

"The solution is open source so it is free."

More Nmap pricing and cost advice

"The solution is a bit expensive because the annual license does not include new features that are priced as add-ons."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

13%

Government

University

Retailer

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	11

No data available

Questions from the Community

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...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nmap?

I am using the free version of Nmap.

See all answers

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...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds ipMonitor?

The licensing cost is high compared to other open-source tools. Being a corporate client, we require corporate licensing, which adds to the cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds ipMonitor?

The licensing cost is high compared to open source tools. The state monitoring tools could be improved with AI integration to track IP usage history. There is no local support; we must contact thei...

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What is your primary use case for SolarWinds ipMonitor?

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Compared 8% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Nmap

Compared 7% of the time

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SolarWinds NPM vs SolarWinds ipMonitor

Compared 12% of the time

FortiMonitor vs SolarWinds ipMonitor

Compared 11% of the time

LibreNMS vs SolarWinds ipMonitor

Compared 11% of the time

Zabbix vs SolarWinds ipMonitor

Compared 9% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Nmap

January 2026

Download Nmap product report

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

February 2026

Download SolarWinds ipMonitor product report

Also Known As

No data available

ipMonitor

Overview

Nmap ("Network Mapper") is a free and open source (license) utility for network discovery and security auditing. Many systems and network administrators also find it useful for tasks such as network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime. Nmap uses raw IP packets in novel ways to determine what hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) those hosts are offering, what operating systems (and OS versions) they are running, what type of packet filters/firewalls are in use, and dozens of other characteristics. It was designed to rapidly scan large networks, but works fine against single hosts. Nmap runs on all major computer operating systems, and official binary packages are available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. In addition to the classic command-line Nmap executable, the Nmap suite includes an advanced GUI and results viewer (Zenmap), a flexible data transfer, redirection, and debugging tool (Ncat), a utility for comparing scan results (Ndiff), and a packet generation and response analysis tool (Nping).

Nmap

Monitor network devices, servers, VMware hosts and applications from one console
Receive alerts for availability and performance issues
Monitor network status on maps and NOC view
Minimize downtime by automating remediation actions
Enhance monitoring with built-in reports and dashboards

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Lockheed Martin, Eastern Bank Boston, Perspecta, Harris Corporation, Discovery Communication

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Nmap vs. SolarWinds ipMonitor

February 2026

Free Report: Nmap vs. SolarWinds ipMonitor

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