Plixer Scrutinizer vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor comparison

Plixer and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Plixer is ranked #52 with an average rating of 8.0, while SolarWinds is ranked #30 with an average rating of 7.8. Plixer holds a 0.4% mindshare in NMS, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Plixer users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Plixer Scrutinizer

Read 15 Plixer Scrutinizer reviews

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877 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Network Device M...

Read 23 SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reviews

835 Views
802 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Plixer Scrutinizer

SolarWinds Network Device M...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor and Plixer Scrutinizer compete in the network monitoring space. Plixer Scrutinizer arguably holds the upper hand with its advanced features and data insights, potentially justifying its higher cost, while SolarWinds is noted for pricing and customer support.

Features: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor offers straightforward device monitoring, alerting, and ease of use, ideal for basic network oversight. Plixer Scrutinizer provides detailed traffic analysis, comprehensive reporting features, and enhanced threat detection, making it suitable for networks requiring deeper insights and robust performance.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds could enhance its features by offering more advanced traffic analysis, improved reporting capabilities, and increased threat detection accuracy. Plixer Scrutinizer would benefit from simplified deployment processes, reduced learning curve, and more competitive pricing strategies.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is known for quick deployment and effective customer support, making it accessible for less complex networks. Plixer Scrutinizer involves a more intricate deployment process but provides comprehensive support and guidance during setup.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is cost-effective with a lower initial setup cost, suitable for basic network needs, offering decent ROI. Plixer Scrutinizer, though requiring a higher upfront investment, delivers significant ROI through its detailed analytics and advanced functionalities, targeting enterprises requiring in-depth network visibility.

To learn more, read our detailed Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

September 2025

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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

Plixer Scrutinizer

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

52nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (11th)

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 Plixer Scrutinizer is 0.4%, up from 0.4% 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%
Plixer Scrutinizer	0.4%
Other	99.0%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Ira Mulyanti

Sales Director at ARGA SOLUSI

An affordable product with great integration capabilities

Plixer Core Platform is a valuable feature and a good software. Plixer Scrutinizer uses NetFlow analysis to monitor whatever is there in a network. Price-wise, Plixer Scrutinizer is not an expensive product. Basically, Plixer Scrutinizer is an affordable product. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that allows for customization, especially in scenarios where customers need new product features. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that can integrate with any other brand or product in the market, so it is not an area of concern.

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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…

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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

"It's agnostic as far as what your network gear is. As long as it supports an sFlow, JFlow, NetFlow, some kind of flow monitoring, Plixer will support it very well."

"We have had many requests to understand in the network which devices are connected to others. Most people don't have this information or are able to establish a map of data flow everywhere around the network. Scrutinizer can really help with this. We are using it to understand who is talking to what, how, and which protocols can help us to improve security and analyze flow."

"As a network engineer, the ability to identify what traffic on the link is consuming all the bandwidth at any given time, and provide immediate feedback to the business, is the most valuable feature."

"It helps us determine what is going on with our Internet and who is hogging it all up. If we get a real high throughput or a throughput that's going over and getting dropped fairly quickly, we can tell who (or what device) is consuming that traffic."

"The most valuable features of the solution are the ability to track what a device is doing and to go back historically. It is also able to go down to, and identify, very low levels of traffic."

"The ability to view the status of the top-10 at a glance is helpful. We immediately know which link is over-utilized or heavily used... and it's all in real-time."

"The solution helps to enrich the data context of our network traffic. It allows me to see what applications are most in use on a slightly historical basis, going back a day or week at tops. It allows me to tune QoS or traffic shaping around what's being used. It saves me from having to unnecessarily upgrade, if I don't need to."

"There are other tools out there that will do what Scrutinizer does. But what I have found with Scrutinizer is that it does it very quickly. I've taken 25 million individual data fragments from the different sensors, and it has graphed that and mapped it and presented a picture within 30 seconds. It has a very efficient database algorithm that I am really impressed with."

More Plixer Scrutinizer pros

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

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is monitoring."

"The most valuable features of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor are the reports. We are configuring the reports, and the first reports are only about the devices. We are configuring the thresholds in order to monitor all the devices."

"You can create an attractive dashboard and create a hierarchy."

"Since our devices are spread out across the world, we can see the status of these devices without having to send someone physically to a remote location, which saves money."

"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 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."

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

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pros

Cons

"The reporting structure, the front-end GUI, also needs some work. It needs some getting used to. It works fairly well, but it's a technical tool rather than a user tool. You have to understand the structure of the databases before you can really use it."

"It would be useful if there was a way to back up the configuration information. E.g., if you wanted to deploy a new instance or disaster recovery, you could quite easily deploy and restore the config, as opposed to having to restore all the NetFlow data. If there was just a button that said "backup config information", that would be good."

"Though Plixer Scrutinizer has network detection and response, it's an area that needs just a little more rounding out. Another room for improvement in the solution is its lack of SaaS offering which some customers were looking for. My company deals in small to medium businesses, mid-market, and some customers wanted the SaaS feature which Plixer Scrutinizer doesn't offer. What I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is for it to have a SaaS offering because my company also deals with educational spaces and smaller businesses that just don't have the staff that can implement this. If there's either a managed service or SaaS-based offering to just make it a little easier for those types of customers, it would be a great addition to Plixer Scrutinizer."

"From what I understand it is that the solution is not very scalable in a high volume traffic environment with a large number of flows."

"The visual acuity of how it presents data can sometimes be confusing. It takes a bit for people to spin up how to look at the graphs."

"For updating the Scrutinizer platform, when we have the actual data, it never happens in one day. Every time we have the data, we are obliged to install a new server in order to integrate the old data, and every time it has a problem. Most of the time, we were obliged to scrap all the data because we couldn't transfer it to the new server. So, it would be very good if they could improve this part."

"I wish the reporting side was easier to work with, but it does a decent job. I also wish the reporting side was a little more intuitive or they offered more reporting examples."

"Data retention needs improvement. Data retention is a thing where we are looking for a better way to collect flow data for a longer time to do forensic research on security incidents. By default, data retention is quite low. We need detailed data in safe storage for a longer time, e.g., for a couple of months. An improvement would be a way to export data into a secure long-term storage."

More Plixer Scrutinizer cons

"The reporting feature needs improvement because we are unable to configure reports that were included during initial implementation."

"The solution lacks in performance monitoring."

"When an organization's network grows, the complexity of the dashboard becomes an area of concern where improvements are required."

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

"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could improve the features. We don't have the complete model for the database, and the monitoring for the database is up and down. We expect that we could monitor the blocking items on the database but we don't have that feature."

"The security needs improvement, which is why we are moving away from Solar Winds. We have security concerns."

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

"SolarWinds pricing is on the higher side, and in India, every customer is cautious about commercial aspects."

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate Plixer Scrutinizer's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price or affordable, and ten is high price or expensive."

"There are no extra costs. It's about $8,000 a year. The bang for the buck (cost) is definitely a plus."

"Compared to some of the other tools we have, it's incredibly reasonably priced."

"The license is per device. We have 50 devices."

"Our entire solution, amortized over five years, is in the vicinity of $40,000 to $50,000 a year."

"Currently, the license for Plixer Scrutinizer is subscription-based and at a yearly fee. The price would depend on the amount of traffic you pull in. For example, there are several blocks from a 10K flow, a 40K flow, and a 100K flow, and based on the number of devices that you receive the flows from, that's the license, and it is not a per-interface pricing model, so that is a very strong, very competitive pricing feature of Plixer Scrutinizer. Licensing for the product is also not based on the number of storage, compared to some competing products that are priced based on the amount of storage you need, particularly based on the retention and the amount of data. Plixer Scrutinizer licensing is based on the device, and it's more in the direction of $10,000 because, with just $1,000, you don't have anything."

"The licensing cost for Plixer Scrutinizer is in the middle. It's not the cheapest, but it's not the most expensive. Its licensing model is based on how many exporters, how many devices export information to the system. Plixer Scrutinizer has different modules you could add such as the security module which would cost extra."

"We pay our one-off cost for the licenses, per device, in blocks of 50. And then we pay an annual maintenance fee of about $15,000 Australian, which is, at this point in time, about $9,000 US, for those 250 devices. The upfront costs for the 250-license use, were about $50,000 Australian, which is about $32,000 US."

More Plixer Scrutinizer pricing and cost advice

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

"The enterprise license is good for the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor. However, it is expensive, they should reduce their price."

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

"The product is expensive."

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

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

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

"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."

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	8

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

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Plixer Scrutinizer?

Plixer Scrutinizer is an affordable product. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that allows for customization, especially in scenarios where customers need new product features.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Plixer Scrutinizer?

I rate Plixer Scrutinizer's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price or affordable, and ten is high price or expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Plixer Scrutinizer?

I don't have deep enough knowledge to comment on what requires improvements in Plixer Scrutinizer. In Plixer Scrutinizer, scalability is an area with minor concerns where improvements are required.

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.

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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

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 28% of the time

Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 27% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 23% of the time

Kentik vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 22% of the time

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Compared 24% of the time

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Compared 17% of the time

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

Compared 14% of the time

ThousandEyes vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 9% of the time

Checkmk vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Compared 9% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Plixer Scrutinizer

October 2025

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Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

October 2025

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Network Device Monitor product report

Also Known As

No data available

Network Device Monitor

Overview

The Scrutinizer incident response system leverages network traffic analytics to provide active monitoring, visualization, and reporting of network and security incidents. The system quickly delivers the rich forensic data needed by IT professionals to support fast and efficient incident response.

Plixer

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

Oxford Networks, Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, UltiSat, Wipro, West Aurora School District 129, SUNY Geneseo College, Bloomington Public Schools, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, Kitsap Credit Union, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County Houston Texas, Carilion Clinic, Banner Health, IDEXX Laboratories, Phibro Animal Health Corporation, Goodwill Industries, Parmalat, Armstrong Coal Company, Flybe, James Walker

Air Rarotonga

Buyer's Guide

Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

September 2025

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Find out what your peers are saying about Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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