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PRTG Enterprise Monitor vs SolarWinds NPM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

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

PRTG Enterprise Monitor
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
33rd
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds NPM
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
160
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (5th), Cloud Monitoring Software (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of PRTG Enterprise Monitor is 0.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NPM is 3.6%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SolarWinds NPM3.6%
PRTG Enterprise Monitor0.6%
Other95.8%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Emmanuel Appiah Boateng - PeerSpot reviewer
Network and Security Engineer at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Proactive monitoring has reduced network downtime and enables rapid incident response
The main benefits PRTG Enterprise Monitor provides for us include helping us respond quickly to network problems. For our virtualization switches, we normally use a different vendor, but I am not in charge of that particular system. I have not really used the pre-configured sensors feature in PRTG. A different team handles reporting. For now, nothing really comes to mind regarding additional functions for PRTG. I think it is good for what we use it for. I cannot really say much about technical support because I have never had a situation where I have to reach out. I would give PRTG Enterprise Monitor a final rating of eight. I would definitely recommend PRTG Enterprise Monitor to other users. I am an end user of the product. I am quite satisfied with the alerting part of PRTG, as it is quite good.
Vivek Jaiswal - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Central monitoring has improved outage alerts and now needs smarter detection and modern dashboards
Regarding the automated network topology and mapping feature in SolarWinds NPM, I am not satisfied with it. For static monitoring, it is acceptable. However, if it is possible, I would need a feature in SolarWinds in the future for some kind of malfunctioning detection, such as malware attacks or that type of environment. We did not have any facility to detect that in SolarWinds. I think it would be better to incorporate those types of features. Regarding customization options in SolarWinds, the ability to customize the dashboard has room for improvement. The dashboard is quite old, and we need some improvement in it. Nowadays, we have multiple tools with AI-based monitoring and web-based dashboards. SolarWinds also has a web-based dashboard, but I think there is scope for improvement in the UI. There may be other areas I would like to improve in SolarWinds NPM.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"From a technical perspective, the product's most valuable feature is SNMP, an open standard monitoring protocol that works across various network devices and operating systems, including UNIX and Windows."
"The solution's ability to monitor each and every aspect of our devices, such as memory utilization and port connectivity, is valuable."
"The product is easy to use and you don't need to have any training. You can use it even if you don't have an IT background."
"What I really appreciate about PRTG Enterprise Monitor is that it is very easy to set up, especially the configuration, which is not complicated, and it is very straightforward to go in and change things."
"It can identify downtimes and disruptions."
"The product's most valuable feature is network analysis."
"If an event is detected, such as a resource running low on storage or RAM, the product will notify you via email. Upon receiving the notification, action must be taken to address and resolve the issue. The feature I find most effective is its comprehensive nature. It's like having a permanent eye monitoring the network and all its nodes. Instead of manual monitoring, it detects anomalies automatically and alerts us accordingly."
"The product is easy to understand."
"SolarWinds NPM is generally used for network monitoring for all of the switches, networking equipment, as well as physical and virtual servers in the environment."
"The most valuable features are language support and technical support."
"It's easy to understand, even if you are not too technical."
"The most common feedback I receive as a consultant is how the product ultimately finds issues and bottlenecks in the enterprise that the engineers were previously unaware existed."
"It is really very flexible, a flexible solution."
"In general, I think SolarWinds is one of the most stable solutions and it has a lot of useful features for network performance monitoring."
"The most valuable feature is the graphical user interface."
"There are a lot of options for customization of the dashboard, alerts, and reports."
 

Cons

"The solution could be improved by introducing security features similar to those available in Teams, as the current version only monitors devices and does not integrate IoT or OT devices."
"The support must be improved."
"When it comes to dashboard customization in PRTG Enterprise Monitor, there are not too many options, and I think that would not be a strong point for PRTG, but for our use cases, we do not really need that kind of customization."
"The licensing policy needs to change."
"The solution could be improved by introducing security features similar to those available in Teams, as the current version only monitors devices and does not integrate IoT or OT devices."
"They should work on minimizing false positives by sending alerts promptly and confirming errors with minimal troubleshooting requirements."
"There is no unified monitoring in PRTG. It needs a lot of improvement in terms of integration."
"The licensing policy needs to change. The current model requires customers to purchase a minimum of two thousand licenses, which is not flexible for all customers."
"The solution could be enhanced. It currently lacks integration with SMS services which is something we need."
"Having more technical and support resources available in Saudi Arabia would be helpful."
"The dashboards for this solution could be improved."
"SolarWinds NPM is a stable solution, aside from the fact that they had a major hack a couple of years ago and effectively allowed the Russian government to completely hack their code, making everyone vulnerable."
"You certainly can have stability issues."
"The solution does not offer much customization so is somewhat inflexible."
"Regarding the automated network topology and mapping feature in SolarWinds NPM, I am not satisfied with it."
"If we go for the NT license, then we have to purchase the NPM, Network Performance Monitor; that is a dependency."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product's pricing an eight to seven out of ten."
"The pricing is $2,149 for software without maintenance, and licenses are sold in the minimum bundle of 500 interfaces."
"The solution is affordable."
"PRTG Enterprise Monitor's pricing is reasonable."
"PRTG Enterprise Monitor is an expensive product."
"We pay a yearly licensing fee."
"There are a lot of sub-products and it just continued to increase the price."
"It is not an expensive product."
"The solution's pricing is low compared to a lot of other tools in the market."
"Some solutions are open source and free."
"You have to license it per year, for the support. You don't really need to have support once you've already set it up. Once you install SolarWinds, you can skip on the licensing. It will still work."
"The price points are more than competitive when compared to other vendors."
"The licensing model is such that you can purchase only what you need; and then grow into the next level by paying only the difference in price and the associated maintenance costs."
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
May 31, 2015
Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Healthcare Company
13%
Educational Organization
11%
University
11%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise85
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about PRTG Enterprise Monitor?
If an event is detected, such as a resource running low on storage or RAM, the product will notify you via email. Upon receiving the notification, action must be taken to address and resolve the is...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PRTG Enterprise Monitor?
I would rate the pricing of PRTG Enterprise Monitor maybe a six. I think a six is fine, as it is reasonable and not expensive.
What needs improvement with PRTG Enterprise Monitor?
When it comes to dashboard customization in PRTG Enterprise Monitor, there are not too many options, and I think that would not be a strong point for PRTG, but for our use cases, we do not really n...
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
It actually depends on the exact purpose or kind of devices (network devices, servers, something else). Some tools are better for only network devices while others are better for a cloud monitoring...
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
We are partners with SolarWinds and we sell a lot of Network management to large enterprises also because of scalability, products like Network Performance Monitor & Netflow Traffic Analyzer ar...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor, SolarWinds Network Bandwidth Analyzer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Microsoft, Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, and MasterCard
Find out what your peers are saying about PRTG Enterprise Monitor vs. SolarWinds NPM and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.