Nmap vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer comparison

The compared Nmap and SolarWinds solutions aren't in the same category. Nmap is ranked #16 in NMS , with an average rating of 8.8, and holds a 0.8% mindshare in the category. SolarWinds is ranked #4 in NTA , with an average rating of 7.7, and holds a 6.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Nmap users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Nmap

Read 23 Nmap reviews

3,266 Views
3,005 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...

Read 43 SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer reviews

2,928 Views
1,054 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Nmap

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Nmap and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer 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: March 2026).

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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:

ROI

Sentiment score

7.8

Nmap offers cost savings and efficiency for businesses, despite limitations, with users noting significant financial benefits like bug bounty earnings.

Sentiment score

4.0

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer offers ROI through bandwidth management, yet budget-conscious users consider cheaper alternatives with similar features.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Nmap report

There is a return on investment when purchasing SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, as in the long run, there is a return on investments.

Raja Xabi

Technical Manager at APRAL

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.1

Nmap users benefit from community support and online resources, seldom needing formal technical support due to its robust functionality.

Sentiment score

6.5

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's customer service receives mixed feedback, with varying response times and expertise contributing to inconsistent experiences.

I have never reached out to customer support because Nmap never gave me any troubles.

Sai Aditya Panda

Student at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Nmap report

I am very satisfied with their technical support, rating it nine out of ten.

Rivka Alexander

Content Specialist at PeerSpot

They often say that only premium subscribers receive support within one or two hours.

RajasekharMaturi

Technical Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

I would rate support eight out of ten.

DeepakVyas

Global-Manager Network & communications at Secure Meters Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

8.2

Nmap is renowned for scalability, handling vast networks efficiently, praised for adaptability despite lacking cloud capabilities.

Sentiment score

6.6

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is scalable but costly, with performance challenges in large infrastructures due to licensing and capacity limits.

Nmap's scalability is of a gold standard.

Sai Aditya Panda

Student at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Nmap report

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is a scalable solution, and by adding licenses, I can use the same deployment and instance to onboard more elements and nodes.

Raja Xabi

Technical Manager at APRAL

The license is based on the count of the ports.

DeepakVyas

Global-Manager Network & communications at Secure Meters Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.1

Nmap is highly rated for stability and reliability, though some Windows users report issues after long-term use.

Sentiment score

6.4

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is stable and reliable, though occasional performance issues exist, especially in demanding environments.

Nmap has never crashed, and it is an amazingly optimized tool.

Sai Aditya Panda

Student at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Nmap report

The solution is quite stable.

RajneeshKumar3

Manager Observability at ICE

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer report

Room For Improvement

Nmap requires a GUI, faster scans, enhanced reporting, vulnerability assessments, advanced features, and improved stability for better usability.

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer needs improved integration, AI, documentation, performance, security, UI, and reduced licensing costs for better user experience.

Nmap could potentially become a GUI and provide automatic reports with one-click downloads.

Sai Aditya Panda

Student at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Nmap report

It should be like a Meraki cloud, where if you are familiar with Meraki devices, you can locate any device directly on the world map.

DeepakVyas

Global-Manager Network & communications at Secure Meters Limited

Ideally, NetFlow should have a robust alerting mechanism.

RajasekharMaturi

Technical Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

The licensing model of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is always an issue for users because competitors offer unlimited and perpetual licenses, and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model is quite costly compared to other brands.

Raja Xabi

Technical Manager at APRAL

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer report

Setup Cost

Nmap offers a free version and paid options for enterprises needing enhanced features and commercial support flexibility.

Enterprise users find SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer valuable, though its pricing can be high compared to alternatives, especially when scaling.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Nmap report

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model is quite costly compared to other brands.

Raja Xabi

Technical Manager at APRAL

provide a rating of nine out of ten

Rivka Alexander

Content Specialist at PeerSpot

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer report

Valuable Features

Nmap's powerful features offer comprehensive network analysis, vulnerability identification, and flexibility, making it essential for security audits and bug bounty projects.

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer provides traffic analysis, bandwidth monitoring, and customizable reporting for efficient network management and performance tracking.

Nmap will be a little difficult for beginners because of the learning curve and the CLI-based system, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes very powerful.

Sai Aditya Panda

Student at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Nmap report

It provides proactive monitoring, rather than waiting for applications to go down due to heavy bandwidth or latency.

RajneeshKumar3

Manager Observability at ICE

The integration of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer with other SolarWinds tools such as Network Performance Monitor is very important for our network visibility.

Raja Xabi

Technical Manager at APRAL

The best feature is customizable reporting, which includes network diagrams and monitoring of various types of bandwidth usage and peak times.

Rivka Alexander

Content Specialist at PeerSpot

For more quotes and insights, download the SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer report

Categories and Ranking

Nmap

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (16th)

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (4th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Management solutions, they serve different purposes. Nmap is designed for Network Monitoring Software and holds a mindshare of 0.8%, up 0.5% compared to last year.
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, on the other hand, focuses on Network Traffic Analysis (NTA), holds 6.3% mindshare, up 5.4% since last year.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Nmap	0.8%
Zabbix	4.3%
SolarWinds NPM	3.6%
Other	91.3%

Network Monitoring Software

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer	6.3%
Darktrace	16.5%
Cisco Secure Network Analytics	10.1%
Other	67.1%

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)

Featured Reviews

Sai Aditya Panda

Student at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Penetration testing has become efficient as I identify open ports and security risks with confidence

Nmap could potentially become a GUI and provide automatic reports with one-click downloads. For example, the report could show all the open ports for an IP address with a professionally formatted report. This is a far-fetched suggestion and not really required, but it could make the work a little better. On a scale of one to ten, I give Nmap a solid nine. I mean, how can you fix something that is not broken? Nmap is already the best, and I do not think there are any other features that can be added. Its job is reconnaissance, so I do not think there is more to add to it. However, if I get any ideas, I will let them know about this.

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Raja Xabi

Technical Manager at APRAL

Improved bandwidth management and network visibility have resulted in financial benefits and streamlined operations

There is always room for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, such as implementing instant reporting based on business intelligence reports and more granular filters in their dashboard to improve the GUI view and reporting. The licensing model of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is always an issue for users because competitors offer unlimited and perpetual licenses, and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model is quite costly compared to other brands. If users are comfortable with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, they have to make the hard decision to invest, and it's suggested from a user's perspective that SolarWinds should improve their financial model and licensing to become competitive, especially for small to medium businesses.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Construction Company

10%

Government

University

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Healthcare Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	26

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

I have worked from 1973 with all kind of systems in large enterprises across the world. And have experience with all kind of software in monitoring from infra to end to end, it depends on the funct...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?

Regarding improvement, the application monitoring capabilities are not exceptional. If SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer could improve in that area, it would be helpful. It is less AIOps driven a...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

Darktrace vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Nmap

March 2026

Download Nmap product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

March 2026

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer report

Download SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer product report

Also Known As

No data available

Netflow Traffic Analyzer

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

SolarWinds Netflow Traffic Analyzer enables you to capture data from continuous streams of network traffic and convert those raw numbers into easy-to-interpret charts and tables that quantify exactly how the corporate network is being used, by whom, and for what purpose.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

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

Oceaneering International, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, 335th Signal Command, Immofori

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March 2026

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