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PRTG Network Monitor vs SolarWinds NPM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 21, 2025

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
6.6
PRTG Network Monitor enhances efficiency by reducing downtime, manpower, and costs through automation and simplified monitoring systems.
Sentiment score
7.2
SolarWinds NPM enhances infrastructure visibility, delivering cost reductions, faster issue resolution, and significant ROI through optimized resource management.
It provides accurate data for utilization, allowing us to monitor and optimize our investments in WAN connection capacity.
After introducing PRTG Network Monitor, we have saved time, and it's easy for everybody to monitor everything.
I have seen a return on investment with PRTG Network Monitor as it has saved a lot of time, and its monitoring has reduced manpower requirements, which has been helpful.
The return on investment is significant as the solution effectively reduces costs while being worth its expense.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
PRTG Network Monitor offers helpful customer service, but mixed reviews on support responsiveness, with users appreciating its intuitive design.
Sentiment score
6.9
SolarWinds NPM support gets mixed reviews, praised for expertise yet noted for delays and aggressive sales tactics.
They resolve our queries 24/7.
The setup process is well-documented, making it easy to deploy.
Tutorials are available so I can manage any issue with PRTG Network Monitor easily.
If there is no timely response, getting a resolution is more difficult.
We had contact with SolarWinds regarding the implementation, and they were helpful.
They have good technical support.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
PRTG Network Monitor excels in scalability, efficient performance, and ease of use, effectively managing diverse IT infrastructures.
Sentiment score
6.9
SolarWinds NPM is scalable, adapts well to infrastructures, but may face performance and cost issues on virtual platforms.
On a scale of one to ten, scalability is rated as 9.5.
PRTG Network Monitor has the ability to scale and add new devices.
You can install them in each network, even if they are not connected, and it works.
SolarWinds NPM is scalable and effective in handling large network infrastructures.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
PRTG Network Monitor remains stable with minimal downtime, though occasional issues arise from user errors and configuration limits.
Sentiment score
7.5
SolarWinds NPM is stable with issues from server limits and bugs, resolved through updates and proper configuration.
We haven't needed vendor support for the last three years, which demonstrates the product's stability.
PRTG Network Monitor is stable in my experience, and I have not encountered issues with crashes or downtime.
PRTG Network Monitor is very stable and requires low maintenance.
The NPM product is stable, particularly when used for simple network monitoring.
 

Room For Improvement

PRTG Network Monitor needs improved features in templates, map design, performance, scalability, integration, automation, and interface flexibility.
SolarWinds NPM users report issues with network discovery, UI features, costs, automation, support, and security improvements are needed.
They need to improve application performance monitoring, error tracing mechanisms, and log management.
PRTG Network Monitor should provide syslog monitoring since it is not available at this time.
PRTG Network Monitor can sometimes be too detailed and cluttered at the beginning, making it heavy to use.
SolarWinds needs to upscale on observability and add full-fledged observability features, including security features.
Customers have given feedback about the delayed response times from the technical team.
Features such as taking backup of the devices or configurations of the devices can be included in further versions of SolarWinds NPM.
 

Setup Cost

PRTG Network Monitor offers flexible pricing with all-inclusive licensing, competitive for enterprises but can become costly for large deployments.
SolarWinds NPM pricing varies by setup size, with initial costs, tiered licensing, and maintenance fees influencing total expenses.
The licensing part is a recurring license for every year, which is very affordable, making PRTG Network Monitor budget-friendly.
Pricing is by the number of devices, not by sensor.
The prices are very high for PRTG Network Monitor.
The solution is considered expensive.
Pricing-wise, SolarWinds NPM is more expensive than PRTG.
 

Valuable Features

PRTG Network Monitor is praised for rapid deployment, scalability, real-time monitoring, customizable alerts, and cross-vendor flexibility.
SolarWinds NPM offers ease of deployment, real-time monitoring, customizable alerts, and user-friendly design for efficient network management.
PRTG Network Monitor already provided me with 100 free sensors, which is enough for my network monitoring.
PRTG Network Monitor has a good dashboard that shows each and every piece of information, so we can easily find out what is happening with the systems.
These reports help me in my day-to-day work, and I rely on them because they provide proof during escalation, with exact downtime logs and related information.
The most valuable feature for us is the database performance analyzer, which we use a lot.
SolarWinds NPM has specific modules for monitoring different network capabilities, which provides rich features for carrying out specific tasks.
It provides a detailed overview of the network, which is valuable.
 

Categories and Ranking

PRTG Network Monitor
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
5th
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
5th
Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
111
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds NPM
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
3rd
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
4th
Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
159
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of PRTG Network Monitor is 4.1%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NPM is 4.4%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SolarWinds NPM4.4%
PRTG Network Monitor4.1%
Other91.5%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user585186 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 17, 2017
 

Featured Reviews

madhan kumar hs - PeerSpot reviewer
Alerting precision has reduced incident response times and improved department-level network visibility
The auto-pause sensor during the maintenance window is good without any false alerts, and it prevents me from getting flooded with alerts during planned maintenance, helping department heads understand their own network usage better. It has reduced incident response time by giving clearer ownership of each alert, ensuring alerts go to the proper recipient. SNMP testers and auto-pause are among the best features of PRTG Network Monitor, which is particularly useful for different departments such as HR and finance, where alerts can be filtered accordingly. The alerting features and dashboard of PRTG Network Monitor are very helpful, especially in our industry. However, the dashboard can look cluttered on smaller screens, which is one negative aspect. PRTG Network Monitor has impacted us positively; we have stopped getting flooded with alerts during planned maintenance or unplanned outages. Compared to others, this gives specific alerts very quickly and helps department heads understand their own network usage better, thus reducing incident response time so that each alert has clear ownership.
Tochukwu Uzomba - PeerSpot reviewer
Rich modular monitoring capabilities offer tailored monitoring needs with good support
SolarWinds NPM is used for monitoring different solutions like database, infrastructure, and network performance. Each of these requires separate solutions, and SolarWinds provides modular options for monitoring Based on my experiences, SolarWinds NPM can handle large network infrastructures…
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Answers from the Community

it_user585186 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 17, 2017
Mar 17, 2017
I used both products. Without even thinking twice I will go with PRTG. Solarwinds will take you weeks to finish configuration and tweaking to your environment. I didn't like the user interface, too much data, difficult to navigate. It is way more expensive than PRTG. And they will charge you for every add on extra. I love PRTG. The installation is fast simple and clean. User interface easy to n...
2 out of 16 answers
it_user457173 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 12, 2017
Sorry you are? Regards, Ben Lee +65 9858 5697 SolarWinds Channels Manager, Sales (Singapore, Malaysia & Brunei)
it_user203934 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 12, 2017
I used both products. Without even thinking twice I will go with PRTG. Solarwinds will take you weeks to finish configuration and tweaking to your environment. I didn't like the user interface, too much data, difficult to navigate. It is way more expensive than PRTG. And they will charge you for every add on extra. I love PRTG. The installation is fast simple and clean. User interface easy to navigate. You can build your customized dashboards. They have 100s ready to go sensors and you can add your own. You can monitor almost whatever you want servers, networking, devices, circuits, ports on the switches, firewalls...They will charge you just for number of sensors you are using. Solarwinds is a monster, PRTG is much simple and doing better job than solarwinds. Definitely PRTG
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business57
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise43
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise84
 

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 do you like most about PRTG Network Monitor?
The tool is integrated with our email for the alerts.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PRTG Network Monitor?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for PRTG Network Monitor is that it is reasonable.
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

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
Microsoft, Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, and MasterCard
Find out what your peers are saying about PRTG Network Monitor vs. SolarWinds NPM and other solutions. Updated: October 2025.
872,019 professionals have used our research since 2012.