SolarWinds Network Automation Manager vs vRealize Network Insight comparison

SolarWinds and VMware are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. SolarWinds is ranked #108, while VMware is ranked #40 with an average rating of 8.3. SolarWinds holds a 0.1% mindshare in NMS, compared to VMware’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 50% of SolarWinds users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of VMware users who would recommend it.

SolarWinds Network Automati...

Read 2 SolarWinds Network Automation Manager reviews

501 Views
175 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

vRealize Network Insight

Read 47 vRealize Network Insight reviews

1,734 Views
1,248 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Network Automati...

vRealize Network Insight

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

vRealize Network Insight and SolarWinds Network Automation Manager are competing in network management and visibility. vRealize Network Insight seems to have the upper hand in analytics and visualization, whereas SolarWinds Network Automation Manager excels in automation features.

Features: vRealize Network Insight offers advanced analytics, comprehensive flow-based monitoring, and enhanced troubleshooting capabilities. SolarWinds Network Automation Manager provides seamless network configuration, robust fault management, and extensive automation tools.

Room for Improvement: vRealize Network Insight could enhance its automation capabilities, expand its on-premise resource support, and improve integration with non-native systems. SolarWinds Network Automation Manager might aim to offer better analytics features, a more intuitive interface for non-technical users, and enhance its visualization tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: vRealize Network Insight provides flexible deployment options including cloud-based solutions, emphasizing ease of installation and scalability. Its customer service is highly rated. SolarWinds Network Automation Manager requires more on-premise resources but benefits from a strong support framework, providing users with ample assistance.

Pricing and ROI: vRealize Network Insight typically involves higher initial costs but offers substantial ROI due to its comprehensive features and network visibility. SolarWinds Network Automation Manager presents lower upfront costs, with a strong ROI appeal driven by its efficient automation and cost-effectiveness in network management.

To learn more, read our detailed SolarWinds Network Automation Manager vs. vRealize Network Insight Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Network Automation Manager vs. vRealize Network Insight

July 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

SolarWinds Network Automati...

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

108th

Average Rating

5.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Automation (15th)

vRealize Network Insight

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

40th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (42nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of SolarWinds Network Automation Manager is 0.1%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of vRealize Network Insight is 0.6%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Giulio Valeri

Owner at SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS SRL

Threat detection failures, poor technical support, and expensive

We use the solution to manage all of our customer's systems. We monitor and decide if everything is okay and if not, we do changes when needed. For example, if there is a need to change the antivirus software we can automate the process and install the new one. There are scripts within the software…

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Shaijith KB

Senior System Specialist at General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA)

Comprehensive management and detailed reports benefit operations while improvements are needed in support and maintenance

We have Tanzu and OpenShift. We have OpenShift, Canonical, and the Tanzu one. The Tanzu platform from VMware is a Kubernetes platform. We haven't completely installed Tanzu yet; we installed the vROps part. vRealize Network Insight is beneficial because you can control the East-West traffic. vRealize has a component called NSX, which has East-West traffic controlling and micro-segmentation, that is one of the best options, and we have the layer extension, layer 2 extension possible through NSX. If you have anything accountable in any business, even in a candy business, having proper accountability on what you are selling and buying will save a lot. If you don't know what you're selling and buying, you will end up with a loss. My team does not use the flow analytics feature; we have a security and network monitoring team, which is a different SOC team. I am using it as an administrator internally. We perform different tasks including costing analysis, capacity management, and many other things. vRealize Network Insight has a concern about the maintenance part, as it requires a person to monitor it completely. It's not something you install and your report will be generated automatically. You have to work on this properly to get the insights. vRealize Network Automation, vRealize Operations, and vRealize Network Insight are completely related to the network. I cannot say much about these network aspects because I am on the operations side, but overall, the vRealize suite is good for reporting perspective or any ISO-related documentation; this is very helpful. The product is called vRealize Operations Manager, and now it is referred to as Aria or vAria. I am now a Senior System Specialist. We use different metrics because we have multiple departments, and we can monitor utilization and comparisons with the previous year. On a scale of one to ten, I rate this solution a seven.

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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

"The solution offers so many great resources, it makes them a powerhouse in the market."

"The installation is easy."

"The most valuable feture is NetFlow to help us understand how VMs communicate with each other over ports that are known and ports that are also unknown to us. Our company is a security company, so it's very important for us to know exactly which VMs are doing what at all times."

"The automation collects all the relationships between servers, allowing us to visualize these relationships and organize the migration into waves."

"The tool's ease of configuration and use and the availability of information and artifacts through professional services and the web are key factors that customers find valuable."

"It helps a lot because, until now, we didn't have the tools to figure out the micro level, VM-to-VM kind of traffic; that was not in the current environment. We could not figure out VM-to-VM communication from the other tools. This is the tool which gives us end-to-end transparency."

"We can see everything going on in NSX and get a good picture of our environment."

"I like being able to see the flows coming in and out of the product. In terms of monitoring network flows, we use it to verify whether or not different servers/applications should be communicating with each other."

"The solution has helped improve our organization by directing the network traffic using SDN."

"The most valuable feature for us is that insight into what our network is really doing - it's a fairly complex network. Not having to go through thousands of lines of network configuration to find firewall ports that were open or closed, for various ports, was very valuable. It went out and found everything we need very quickly."

More vRealize Network Insight pros

Cons

"The price could be a bit lower."

"We did not like SolarWinds because it was not able to communicate between UPSA and our accounting system. They should have better integration."

"There could be some deeper analytics into packet inspection and trace flows. It could use some kind of machine learning to look at Layer 7 traffic for potential malware or corrupt packets."

"The IT infrastructure industry is expected to evolve towards a hybrid cloud model in the next five to ten years. In this model, most of the customer's resources reside on-premise within a private cloud setup, such as VMware. Another segment operates within public cloud environments like Azure and AWS, and a portion remains in traditional data centers. There should be seamless interoperability between public and private clouds. AWS and VMware need to work together to make it possible. Whether users interact with on-premise infrastructure or configure resources in the public cloud, the user experience must be seamless."

"The solution is very much viewer centric and it would be nice if it would transcend just the virtual infrastructure."

"After you use it for a little while you become accustomed to it but the layout doesn't feel very intuitive. You have to dig around and find the exact place where you can find the information, where you can actually see your east-west traffic, etc. I would like them to bring that information more to the forefront, instead of having to find it."

"It just needs to be more reliable and more accurate. At some point, there are some things where it does not match properly."

"The compatibility with each and every component of the infrastructure is the main thing that I am looking for. I would like them to make sure that it's compatible with different kinds of storage systems, etc. I have seen the compatibility list. I feel it can be more compatible than it is right now."

"I would like to see more reporting features, more dashboards."

"I would like to see them expand the capabilities to infrastructure types other than just VMware."

More vRealize Network Insight cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of SolarWinds Network Automation Manager is fair. However, it is more expensive than ConnectWise."

"It has brought more money into our company."

"I rate vRealize Network Insight's pricing a seven point five out of ten."

"It reduces costs. It takes something that may be challenging and makes it more usable and visual by being able to bring in tools, seeing what their impact is, such as microsegmentation and application rationalization, and seeing it quickly."

"It's an expensive product because we have a lot of nodes."

"We have spent less time investigating network flows, so it is absolutely cost-effective."

"It's a little expensive, but for what you're getting out of the product, you often see the trade-off. It depends on the type of licensing you have. It might be a little too pricey for some."

"vRealize Network Insight is expensive."

"Cost always has room for improvement, you could always make it cheaper. But I think it's a good value for what you pay for it."

More vRealize Network Insight pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

15%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Performing Arts

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about vRealize Network Insight?

The tool's ease of configuration and use and the availability of information and artifacts through professional services and the web are key factors that customers find valuable.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vRealize Network Insight?

In VMware you have to buy a separate license for it. We have VVF and VCF-type of licenses, and if you want to go with this NSX and sort of higher-end professional services, you need to go with VCF....

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What needs improvement with vRealize Network Insight?

There is room for improvement as not all cases are getting resolved, and we often do not get L3 support directly, having to go through L1 and L2, resulting in delays that usually are a headache for...

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Network Automation

July 2025

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vRealize Network Insight

July 2025

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Also Known As

SolarWinds NAM

Arkin

Overview

Scale environments from 1,000 to tens of thousands of nodes with comprehensive performance, traffic, WAN, and switch port monitoring, automated change and configuration management, and IP address management in an integrated network automation software solution.

SolarWinds

VMware vRealize Network Insight delivers intelligent operations for software-defined networking and security. It helps customers build an optimized, highly-available and secure network infrastructure across multi-cloud environments. It accelerates micro-segmentation planning and deployment, enables visibility across virtual and physical networks and provides operational views to manage and scale VMware NSX deployments.

VMware

Sample Customers

Maalem Financing Company, School City of Hammond

NTTi3, VCIX-NV, VMware Networking and Security Business Unit, Illumio, CompuNet

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Network Automation Manager vs. vRealize Network Insight

July 2025

Free Report: SolarWinds Network Automation Manager vs. vRealize Network Insight

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