No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

PRTG Network Monitor vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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 Network Monitor
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (5th), Cloud Monitoring Software (9th)
SolarWinds Network Device M...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
31st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of PRTG Network Monitor is 2.6%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is 0.8%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
PRTG Network Monitor2.6%
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor0.8%
Other96.6%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

MC
Senior consultant at Cambridge Institute of Technology
Has reduced troubleshooting time and improved issue detection through sensor alerts and team collaboration
PRTG Network Monitor can be improved because the dashboard themes feel outdated. It should be updated to a newer version for the new Gen Z customers. The notification sound options are limited unless customized. Restarting probes after Windows updates is necessary, and there should be some kind of automatic restart. The initial auto-discovery added too many unnecessary sensors, so auto-discovery should only take the necessary sensors into consideration.
SG
IT Infrastructure Senior Network Technician at Autoliv
Offers some features but needs better customization and analysis tools
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 improvement. The features are not as customizable as we would prefer, but they are workable. If configured properly, you can perform a drill-down analysis. However, I have not used this feature much for our infrastructure on the network side.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"PRTG Network Monitor offers valuable features that save a lot of time as the reports are automatically available, and I rely on them because they provide proof during escalation, with exact downtime logs and related information."
"My advice to others is if you can't afford SolarWinds and those other expensive solutions, PRTG Network Monitor is the best value for money."
"It is pretty simple to use, which is always a good thing. It's been very reliable in updating us if any issues crop up."
"The solution provides us with needed feedback on our IT infrastructure. It gives us really good quality of service when it comes to monitoring of available space and available resources. It allows us to preempt issues before they become a problem for the business."
"The initial setup was easy. We didn't have any issues with the process and everything rolled out smoothly."
"The authentication links into our standard Active Directory authentication, which is very good."
"It's very easy to manage when you've got time to do some work on it: things like adding devices, adding groups, adding sensor clusters, and being able to clone and move stuff around."
"I would recommend this solution because it's great for monitoring network traffic and producing reports."
"The deployment process is quick."
"Link monitoring is the most valuable feature of this solution."
"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."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is a straightforward product with valuable functionality."
"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 real-time, we know when there's an issue on our network and it helps us to be proactive to solve the situation."
"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."
 

Cons

"The technical support could respond a little bit quicker."
"It would be good if there were better graphical interfaces when you have it on multiple monitors... Because we have so many servers, things can get lost in the fog a little bit. Maybe having a better way of showing different geographies, Flash, etc., would help."
"I'd like to see the inventory of the device improved."
"PRTG Network Monitor can improve by having better integration with devices."
"They need to address the slowness issue that sometimes occurs with PRTG Network Monitor."
"The possibility to export the part of the sensor we made would be helpful."
"PRTG access works best from the web GUI. There are dedicated apps on Windows/Android/iOS, but they are slow and don’t work as well as the web GUI."
"The clustering aspect needs improvement, as there is a bit of confusion about you do when hit that 5000 probe mark."
"The data is in the system but we are unable to pull it because reporting is not integrated and versatile."
"Integration with different tools, such as ServiceNow and Excel, can be improved."
"There were certain aspects that weren't supported exactly. I was just able to monitor some basic things."
"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."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor lacks the granularity of other monitoring tools like LiveNX."
"It would be beneficial if SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could provide a feature to monitor CRC errors specifically on individual interfaces rather than the entire device. This would help in detecting intermittent issues and packet drops on main links more accurately, especially when there are CRC errors. It's important for us to be aware of these issues to avoid any voice quality problems or interruptions on our MTS links."
"The reporting feature needs improvement because we are unable to configure reports that were included during initial implementation."
"There is no mobile version of this product, and our team should be able to access it using a mobile device."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of PRTG is reasonable. PRTG's competitors like SolarWinds and ManageEngine charge more for the same functionality."
"Our licensing costs are 10,000 euros over three years."
"We have an unlimited perpetual license, so we just pay support costs and it can scale throughout the organization."
"At the moment I'm only using 500 sensors. I pay yearly, so it's a cost that's easily swallowed."
"If you are not too sure about it, try the free version. Then, if you like it, you can go to the paid version and roll it out."
"I would like better pricing models for smaller businesses. The free version is fantastic, but it's too restrictive. If they could just get up to 200 sensors for a reasonable fee for on-premise, I would give PRTG my credit card right now."
"We looked at PRTG and SolarWinds. From a cost side perspective, compared to PRTG, and from what you get back from it, PRTG was sort of a hands down the winner."
"The pricing is reasonable for the features provided."
"Well, we had a perpetual license and the renewal was $20 to $25,000."
"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."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is not an expensive solution."
"The price of the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is good."
"The product is expensive."
"When compared with other solutions SolarWinds is more expensive."
"The enterprise license is good for the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor. However, it is expensive, they should reduce their price."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.
909,948 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

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
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business60
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise50
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
PRTG network monitor is one of the best tool i have ever used for the monitoring. It have auto discovery option. it avoid the configuring the device in PRTG. It automatically discover the device an...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PRTG Network Monitor?
The pricing was higher at the beginning, but the recurring licensing cost is affordable and reasonable. Overall, the pricing, setup cost, and licensing is fair for our industry. They have quoted us...
What needs improvement with PRTG Network Monitor?
The reporting features look very technical and that can be improved. If they can change the report so everyone can understand it, that would be helpful.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
I am not a positive person regarding SolarWinds Network Device Monitor.
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...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
I have experience regarding the AD part, but my focus for the last 15 years has been oriented to the network side. My experience with identity tools comes more from a network perspective. We used N...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Network Device Monitor
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Jameson Bank, Sidnix, RungeICT, MedicalAnimal, Truck-lite, GamingGrids, The Covell Group, Forsythn County Schools, NetMass, Musgrove Park Hospital, Lanes Health, Columbia Southern University, Vodafone, Intrust Bank
Air Rarotonga
Find out what your peers are saying about PRTG Network Monitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,948 professionals have used our research since 2012.