Observer Apex vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor comparison

Viavi Solutions and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Viavi Solutions is ranked #109, while SolarWinds is ranked #30 with an average rating of 7.8. Viavi Solutions holds a 0.1% mindshare in NMS, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of SolarWinds users are willing to recommend the solution.

Observer Apex

Read 1 Observer Apex review

246 Views
224 Comparison Views

0% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Network Device M...

Read 23 SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reviews

835 Views
802 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Observer Apex

SolarWinds Network Device M...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Observer Apex and SolarWinds Network Device Monitor based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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

To learn more, read our detailed Network Monitoring Software Report (Updated: October 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

October 2025

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Helped 870,697 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

Observer Apex

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

109th

Average Rating

0.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Network Device M...

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

30th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Observer Apex is 0.1%, down from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor	0.6%
Observer Apex	0.1%
Other	99.3%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Jeroen-Dubbelman

Director at Bitrate

Has good network visibility

The primary use case is for monitoring and troubleshooting. We also use it for security. The correlation of data in Apex helps to get full visibility of the entire enterprise. Apex is where we get the end-user experience score from one to ten. Network visibility is the most valuable feature.…

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Vijay Samant

Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Monitor network utilization and manage bandwidth efficiently with live monitoring and reliable fault management capabilities

I use SolarWinds Network Device Monitor for monitoring network utilization, bandwidth utilization, uptime, and downtime. It also assists in incident management SolarWinds Network Device Monitor provides live monitoring capabilities, which are very useful. Its fault management capabilities are…

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

"Network visibility is the most valuable feature."

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is it can alert you when a device is not working."

"The alerting functionality in SolarWinds Network Device Monitor helps us stay informed during off-hours by sending alerts if our main links or devices are impacted, allowing us to quickly address any issues."

"In terms of general network monitoring features, I find SolarWinds Network Device Monitor very flexible and comfortable to use. The software itself is extremely useful when it comes to monitoring how our data moves between different networks and environments."

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is it shows you the utilization of devices to allow you to take proactive action before something goes down or reaches the saturation point. You can take proactive action to fix the problem before it occurs."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"The alerts we are getting when we start losing connection access have been helpful."

"This product proactively tells us about issues before the users notice."

"I like the mapping that you could do and the dashboards were very pretty."

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pros

Cons

"The pricing and AI can be improved."

"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor lacks the granularity of other monitoring tools like LiveNX."

"It should provide user-friendly page"

"If everything were in the package so that everything was ready to go out of the box, that would be ideal."

"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could improve by being more user-friendly. The network has so many features which make it difficult to find how to configure how to use it. It is not simple to customize."

"The solution should have AI-powered issue-resolving capabilities"

"The security could always be improved."

"Integration with different tools, such as ServiceNow and Excel, can be improved."

"The initial setup of the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could be easier. It took us approximately one month to complete the implementation."

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's expensive."

"The product is expensive."

"Well, we had a perpetual license and the renewal was $20 to $25,000."

"I find the cost of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reasonable for our company. Though, I'm not aware of the exact licensing cost."

"The price of the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is good."

"When compared with other solutions SolarWinds is more expensive."

"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is not an expensive solution."

"I rate the product's price as three to three and a half or on a scale of one to ten, where one means low price, and ten means high price."

"Thankfully, it doesn't take a lot of manpower to install and deploy."

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	14

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Observer Apex?

Network visibility is the most valuable feature.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Observer Apex?

It's expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Observer Apex?

The pricing and AI can be improved.

See all answers

What do you like most about SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?

I rate the product's initial setup process a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is a difficult phase and ten is an easy process.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?

I am not a positive person regarding SolarWinds Network Device Monitor.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?

There are solutions that can perform better, but due to pricing for our corporate implementation, we had to stay with this solution. It accomplishes the necessary tasks, but there is room for impro...

See all answers

Comparisons

ThousandEyes vs Observer Apex

Compared 100% of the time

More Observer Apex Competitors

ScienceLogic vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 24% of the time

FortiMonitor vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 17% of the time

IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 15% of the time

ThousandEyes vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 10% of the time

Checkmk vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 9% of the time

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

October 2025

Download Observer Apex product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

September 2025

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Network Device Monitor product report

Also Known As

No data available

Network Device Monitor

Overview

Observer Apex offers a smart, search-based launch page that intelligently interprets users’ inputs, guiding them to one of three pre-engineered workflows to solve most IT service issues in less than three steps.

Viavi Solutions

Network Device Monitor is a free tool that makes it easy to monitor the real-time performance and health of a single device on your network with a desktop dashboard that alerts you when your device is in trouble.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Capita

Air Rarotonga

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

October 2025

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