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PRTG Network Monitor vs Spiceworks 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
7.8
Spiceworks provides high ROI as a free tool, benefiting efficiency, issue resolution, and stability despite setup time investment.
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.
The implementation reduced our employee resources from 20-25 to 5-6 employees.
 

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
7.4
Spiceworks offers excellent, free email-based support, with strong community assistance and some criticisms for lacking direct phone support.
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.
 

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
7.4
Spiceworks is scalable for small to large setups, though larger organizations may face challenges; newer versions improve scalability.
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.
 

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
6.6
Spiceworks is stable but may slow down or crash with large setups; proper configuration enhances performance and stability.
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.
 

Room For Improvement

PRTG Network Monitor needs improved features in templates, map design, performance, scalability, integration, automation, and interface flexibility.
Spiceworks users desire enhanced monitoring, scalability, reporting, integration, and user-friendly features with faster performance and lower resource consumption.
The initial auto-discovery added too many unnecessary sensors, so auto-discovery should only take the necessary sensors into consideration.
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.
 

Setup Cost

PRTG Network Monitor offers flexible pricing with all-inclusive licensing, competitive for enterprises but can become costly for large deployments.
Spiceworks provides a customizable, free help desk solution with optional costs for premium features, suitable for small to medium businesses.
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.
 

Valuable Features

PRTG Network Monitor is praised for rapid deployment, scalability, real-time monitoring, customizable alerts, and cross-vendor flexibility.
Spiceworks offers SMBs a free help desk, inventory management, user-friendly interface, and strong community support for IT needs.
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.
Additionally, it is free software.
 

Categories and Ranking

PRTG Network Monitor
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
112
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (5th), Cloud Monitoring Software (10th)
Spiceworks
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
44th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (15th), IT Asset Management (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of PRTG Network Monitor is 4.4%, up from 4.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Spiceworks is 0.4%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Infrastructure Monitoring Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
PRTG Network Monitor4.4%
Spiceworks0.4%
Other95.2%
IT Infrastructure Monitoring
 

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.
Rohit Samel - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud storage with no hardware needed and great comprehensive reports
The software is cloud-based, so I do not need to store any data locally. It is a fully software-based solution, eliminating the need for investment in hardware. We have the capability to create reports as needed. It is good software to use, as there were no incidents where I needed to contact technical support. Additionally, it is free software.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which IT Infrastructure Monitoring solutions are best for your needs.
872,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
University
14%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise45
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise10
 

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 do you like most about Spiceworks?
The solution is easy to use and easy to manage.
What needs improvement with Spiceworks?
I am unable to provide suggestions for improvement at this moment, however, I can provide feedback later. Currently, there do not seem to be any issues.
 

Comparisons

 

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
Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Symantec, Webroot, EMC, Pertino
Find out what your peers are saying about PRTG Network Monitor vs. Spiceworks and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.