Overview
What is PRTG?
PRTG Network Monitor is the flagship offering from German software company Paessler, for monitoring local and wide area networks (LANs & WANs), servers, websites, apps, and more.
TrustRadius Insights
PRTG Network Monitor an amazing tool for sysadmins
Some of my experiences with Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
PRTG is a need to have tool for IT
Network Monitoring above others
Perfect for EASY customization!
- Device …
Don't pass on Paessler's PRTG Network Monitor
We needed a more robust …
Small Scale Low Budget Monitoring Solution
PRTG Network Monitor: A turnkey, fire & forget solution!
Complex but flexible network monitoring software
PRTG NMS easier than you think.
Fast, similar and low-cost network monitoring with PRTG
PRTG Network Monitor Review
Before PRTG we used …
Light Weight Network Monitoring Tool
The right size for everyone
Awards
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Popular Features
- Alerts (55)7.474%
- Network monitoring (54)7.474%
- Automated network device discovery (49)7.373%
- Hardware health monitoring (52)6.666%
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
PRTG 500
1,750
PRTG 1,000
3,200
PRTG 2,500
6,500
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
PGT 305 : MINI PROJECT - DEMO VIDEO PRTG NETWORK MONITOR
Prtg demo | Prtg network monitor demo | Prtg
Giám sát mạng máy tính với phần mềm PRTG Network Monitor
PRTG Network Monitor Demo
PRTG Network Monitor Live Demo
Monitor Large Scale Environments the Easy Way - PRTG Network Monitor
Features
Network Performance Monitoring
A network performance monitoring system monitors the entire network for performance problems and collects performance data such as network traffic analysis performance bottlenecks, etc.
- 7.3Automated network device discovery(49) Ratings
Automated network device discovery allows all devices in the environment to be found and tracked
- 7.4Network monitoring(54) Ratings
Monitoring network device availability and performance indicators like bandwidth, packet loss, CPU, WAN links, etc.
- 6.5Baseline threshold calculation(47) Ratings
Calculation of baseline thresholds so to establish warning thresholds
- 7.4Alerts(55) Ratings
Alerts warning of critical infrastructure component failure can be sent via email or SMS or other channel
- 6.4Network capacity planning(39) Ratings
Capacity planning analyzes interface utilization, disk usage, etc. and allows identification of capacity problems well in advance of threshold breach
- 5Packet capture analysis(28) Ratings
Interception of data packets provides performance-related information such as network and application response times, and traffic type analysis
- 7.4Network mapping(39) Ratings
Dynamic mapping tool allows the network topology to be mapped showing performance metrics, and link connection and utilization
- 7.3Customizable reports(48) Ratings
Ability to schedule, generate, and deliver custom performance and availability reports
- 7.2Wireless infrastructure monitoring(38) Ratings
Ability to monitor wireless access points, controllers, and connected clients
- 6.6Hardware health monitoring(52) Ratings
Ability to monitor key hardware metrics including temperature, fan speed, and power supply
Product Details
- About
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is PRTG?
PRTG Technical Details
Deployment Types | On-premise |
---|---|
Operating Systems | Windows |
Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Comparisons
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Reviews and Ratings
(235)Community Insights
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
PRTG Network Monitor is a versatile tool that has proven to be invaluable for a wide range of users and organizations. Small and mid-sized firms with limited IT resources have found it to be an effective solution for monitoring their servers, switches, storage, and essential services almost 24/7. By providing a quick overview of many systems at once, the software saves these organizations from receiving alerts from multiple places or watching several different screens.
Telecommunications companies also benefit greatly from PRTG Network Monitor's capabilities. It allows them to monitor major backhaul telecommunication links, thousands of devices deployed in multiple locations, and even multi-tenanted virtual environments. The software's event monitoring, alerting, capacity management, and uptime reporting features provide these companies with the metrics they need for OLAs and SLAs.
Similarly, organizations rely on PRTG Network Monitor to keep a close eye on their network devices, servers, and services both locally and remotely. By providing real-time information about the system's health and alerting the team when something goes offline or down, the software enables proactive issue resolution and quicker recovery. The ability to display the software on TVs throughout the department also allows other employees to see the status of the infrastructure.
In various industries, such as R&D departments or customer service centers, PRTG Network Monitor serves as a crucial fault and performance monitoring tool. It helps these teams monitor services, databases, bandwidth utilization, server performance, and application uptime. The historical data provided by the software aids in tracking trends and establishing baselines for resources. Notably, its flexibility in configuration and customization is appreciated by users across different settings.
PRTG Network Monitor is not limited to specific sectors but offers value to many use cases. From monitoring network gear and VPN tunnels to overseeing classroom environments or casinos' game floors' kiosks, this software proves its versatility time and again. Its extensive functionality allows users to consolidate multiple monitoring systems, meet customer SLAs, and proactively address potential problems before they impact users' experience. PRTG Network Monitor truly shines as a reliable and adaptable tool for network monitoring and system availability.
Intuitive Interface: Users have consistently praised PRTG for its highly intuitive interface, which makes it incredibly easy to use and set up credentials and device monitoring. Many reviewers appreciate how the user-friendly interface streamlines the process of navigating the system.
Out-of-the-Box Monitoring: PRTG's comprehensive monitoring capabilities right out of the box have impressed numerous users. The product offers detailed monitoring without requiring extensive customization or additional packages, saving valuable time and effort during implementation.
Automatic Device Discovery: PRTG's automatic device discovery functionality has received positive feedback from several users. They highlight how this feature simplifies the setup process by automatically detecting and modeling various types of devices, ensuring hassle-free monitoring with minimal manual configuration required.
Confusing User Interface: Some users have found the user interface to be perplexing, difficult to navigate, and lacking in intuitiveness. They have expressed a desire for improvements in the management of the user interface, including visual interfaces and simplification of the top ribbon menu.
Steep Learning Curve: There is a learning curve associated with using the software, especially for those who are new to monitoring solutions. Users have reported difficulties with the setup process and the auto scan feature, and they would appreciate a more straightforward navigation system in the web GUI.
Expensive Pricing Structure: Many users find frustration with the pricing structure since costs increase significantly once they exceed the 100 sensor limit of the free version. The licensing cost is considered expensive, particularly for small businesses. Users feel that there should be a more budget-friendly software option available for medium-level customers.
Users recommend purchasing a licensed version of the software for proper functioning. They have found that the licensed version offers better performance and functionality compared to the free version.
Reviewers advise regularly updating the software to resolve any bugs or issues. By keeping the software up-to-date, users have access to the latest features, enhancements, and security patches.
Customers suggest engaging with the user community for troubleshooting assistance. By exploring the user community, users can find solutions to their queries or problems more quickly and benefit from shared tips, tricks, and workarounds.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-25 of 31)PRTG Network Monitor an amazing tool for sysadmins
- It is scalable
- It has graphical monitoring tools
- In licensed version you get almost all the features and it is pay per feature
- It is windows based specifically, so gives issue on Linux systems
- Managing too many Linux machines causes issues
Don't pass on Paessler's PRTG Network Monitor
We needed a more robust monitoring tool that was capable of delivering more in-depth monitoring of our network devices and other end-user nodes as needed. We had previously set up SNMP on most devices, but the previous free tool had limited reporting.
I was also looking for per-interface traffic stats on my Cisco inventory.
- Setup was easy.
- Adding devices/sensor is so easy.
- Support is great.
- Cost is reasonable.
- Updates are automatic.
- A more built-in dashboard would be nice.
- Licensing can be tricky since it is not device based. Currently, each sensor (IE interface) counts as a sensor license
Small Scale Low Budget Monitoring Solution
- Fault and performance monitoring
- Alerting and reporting
- Custom parameters monitoring using custom probes.
- Support monitoring of large number of devices from same instance.
- By-default integration with 3rd party tools such as Splunk, Service Now
- More stability in the product.
- Probes for cloud services monitoring.
- Allows for very easy agentless additions of monitors.
- Gives simplified views and customizable dashboards in the WUI.
- Gives excellent outputting/exporting options for structured historical data.
- The WUI overall, although it is thorough, could use some simplification to find what you are looking for.
- The WUI could also give better dependency linking, the existing tool is difficult to use.
- An HTML5/more enhanced/more interactive UI design.
- Easy usage and implementing.
- Fewer resources needed.
- Low costs for purchases and services.
- More possibilities for monitoring Windows systems, not only over SNMP.
- Easier way to create our own sensors without programming.
- Notification if VPN or internet connection is down.
- Monitoring printers for ordering toner or ink.
- Monitoring automated processes that are very important and need to be checked every day/hour.
Light Weight Network Monitoring Tool
- Out of the box default probes is available
- Distributed architecture
- Light Weight
- More integration options
- Enhanced probe management
- Application Stability and scalability is a must
The right size for everyone
- Prompt notifications when a device goes down.
- Beautiful history graph showing you uptime/statuses
- Interface is a little difficult to navigate if you aren't tech savvy.
- Configuration of hierarchy can take a bit of time to set-up.
PRTG: best solution for small or big enterprises
- Best for small to big enterprises especially XL1 - unlimited licensing.
- Auto-Discover of all the network devices, VMs in one shot and can easily monitor temperature, latency and such values with less efforts.
- Customized dashboards for NOC, alerts which glimpse, API many other features are available.
- Pricing model is very convincing for small to big business.
- API which you can pull the data from PRTG of your whole network and you can integrate with SOC. This is the best in PRTG.
- It has its own internal database and does daily auto-backups, just copy-paste is enough.
- No need to worry about database.
- Very easy to setup new sensors (new endpoints to monitor).
- High level of customization for various features.
- User-friendly, intuitive web UI.
- Documentation could be a little more thorough/easy to understand.
- Built-in reports could be expanded a little bit more.
- Does not support SSO or more than one Active Directory sync.
PRTG. Simple, powerful and reliable
- Monitor servers, CPU, memory, disk, services.
- Monitor network and bandwidth, port up/down.
- Provide options for custom solutions to meet your environment.
- Support is great and always helpful, the often forgotten value of any product.
- OID/MIB import tool.
- SNMP error, doesn't point you in the right direction.
- Being able to customize sensors for each server or application (what is being monitored)
- The variety of hardware and software sensors to choose from is great.
- The accuracy of the sensors. If PRTG is reporting a problem then that event is really happening.
- We can choose the thresholds for each sensor. So for example what is a down state or warning state.
- A lot of options regarding notifications - email, text, timeframes, normal business hours, weekend hours, etc.
- Ability to see and report on sensor history and get uptime stats.
- There is a reporting feature but the reports are not necessarily "pretty".
- The learning curve isn't real steep but it can be a little difficult to configure and get things the way you want them. Definitely trial and error.
- The automatic scan of a server includes a lot of sensors that are not really usable. And considering licensing is based on the number of sensors, it's easier to just pick the sensors you want to monitor. It would be nice if could create a template of sensors to track.
PRTG for MSP's
- System Monitoring
- Server Monitoring
- Network Monitoring
- UI can be confusing
- Notifications can be difficult to set up
PRTG Network Monitor: Affordable, Effective Network Monitoring with Excellent Support
- Huge array of sensors to allow detailed monitoring of varied systems.
- Extremely configurable and tuneable to meet custom environmental needs.
- Active Directory/LDAP integration is rudimentary and needs improvement.
- Easy to introduce a lot of network noise and load with default sensor recommendations - care is required to avoid causing load problems on endpoints.
- We've found that PRTG Network Monitor is excellent for monitoring critical endpoints, VMware health, Microsoft Exchange, and other essential items of infrastructure. PRTG Network Monitor licensing is based on the number of sensors deployed, so it's wise not to accept all of the default recommendations. Spend some time thinking about what matters. For example, there's no need for a Ping sensor on a system where you are also monitoring service states - if the service is up, pinging it is unnecessary, and if the service is down. Still, the system is up; the fact that it responds to pings is not very useful. We've found that a good approach is to let PRTG Network Monitor recommend sensors and then remove those that are not relevant to our monitoring needs.
- Paessler support is also excellent. They've been very responsive and worked with us to enhance the value of the product.
The perfect tool for the little guy
- Consistent, real-time alerts.
- A decent repository of MIB's and OID's for quick auto-discovery.
- User-friendly interface.
- Its MIB library could be expanded by quite a lot, I have to spend a lot of time with device manufacturer support when I need to monitor something specific (fan speed, firmware version, etc).
- It's really not that scaleable beyond 10,000 sensors.
The biggest problem we used to have was that we had several monitoring systems managed by different departments around the business. With the introduction of PRTG, we have been able to consolidate these systems into PRTG and manage it centrally.
PRTG gives us a really good visual overview of all the relevant things we need to monitor to meet customer SLA's and we find that with the help of the email alerts and a visual map on a large screen in the office, we can keep on top of any issues.
- Visual overview of the whole network making it easy to spot any issues straightaway.
- Email alerting that is fully customizable.
- Proactive monitoring using hundreds of different types of sensors giving the ability to actively troubleshoot issues before customers are affected.
- The probe service can be quite resource-intensive. This can cause false-positive readings from some sensors sometimes.
- The software gets updated very regularly. Whilst this is usually a good thing to fix bugs etc, it does meantime downtime of the monitoring quite often while they are installed.
- The ability to create Maps from Libraries. Very specific issue but a lot of people have been asking for it for years and it is still not available.
The only place where it would be less appropriate would possibly be an environment where multiple probes were required for geographic purposes and a probe device (ie, a PC) isn't available in each location. This is fairly unlikely, however, but would depend on the network infrastructure.
Great value for a very feature-rich product
- Great for inexpensive monitoring of devices
- There is a lot of customization options available
- Integrates with Netflow information for detailed views
- Dashboards integrate with other APM's and NOC views as well
- Could use abilities for synthetic transactions
- GUI is simplistic
Improved IT infrastructure reliability
- PTRG allows us the customization of alerts from very basic to very granular.
- It's very simple to get PTRG up and running and you can use PTRG to monitor 100 endpoints free of charge.
- PTRG is cheaper than most competitors.
- The mobile app needs work. You're not able to add sensors from the mobile app.
- I wish PTRG was cross-platform for those running Linux Servers.
- Being able to geo-tag locations.
An easy to use, cost effective monitoring system
- PRTG's mobile app is great for me. Previously I would need to be at my computer to acknowledge or pause an alert. I am not able to do that from anywhere.
- I am able to very easily purchase new licenses or renew my licenses through PRTG's website without needing to get a sales pitch. The website also offers upfront pricing. You can see right away what licenses will cost you.
- PRTG's user interface is very intuitive. I am able to even create dashboards to show non-technical admins the current health of our environment. Showing an administrator a red gauge easily gets the point across that something is wrong.
- I moved to PRTG from SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor. I was able to save a great deal of money moving to PRTG while still gaining functionality and ease of use.
- I wish the mobile app would allow me to add sensors and devices. I am only able to manage existing sensors.
- Moving from Solarwinds I lost the ability to backup switch configurations. This is the only feature I miss and causes me to utilize other methods.
PRTG - Dependable Network Monitoring for an SMB
- Very, very configurable. You can create all kinds of monitors for all kinds of things. Plus it has loads of suggestions out of the box. It can get complicated but monitoring is complicated. Pretty decent interface and good support - active community.
- I really liked how easy it was to add alerts by SMS. So easy to setup.
- I like their sizing models (for purchase). We're actually small enough that we are free. But it's not free as in stripped down - it's free because we don't use many "sensors" and don't honestly have the need.
- Although I like their sizing model for pricing they do need an intermediate level at the lower end. The first jump in the pricing model is too big.
- Because of the complexity of setting up sensors I do have some difficulty understanding what exactly I'm monitoring or what I could monitor. I figure it's there but I just don't have the time or motivation to figure it out. Not entirely sure how to solve that other than educating me...
But even with that said I LOVE PRTG. It gives me a level of confidence that things are being "watched" that I hadn't had before. In a small firm with very limited staff that is very important.
Solid option that sets the standard for its competitors
- General monitoring.
- Real-time operations map/dashboard.
- Network traffic monitoring.
- Weak with monitoring SaaS applications.
- Print monitoring could be better.
- Maps need an interface update.
Getting more in-depth monitoring and general analytics will require significantly more work. Sensors will need to be adjusted and added, and there are no pre-built maps of any kind. It just seems to lack some serious built-in "power tools."
PRTG Monitoring System
- Simple and Intuitive: PRTG is very easy to use and get into. Its interface is highly intuitive and allows you to very quickly set up credentials and add devices to monitoring.
- Low customization effort required: immediately out of the box, PRTG can provide very good detail monitoring without having to customize or add packages or plugins. It can automatically discover and model many types of device and monitor that device in great details without much tinkering.
- The vendor provides 100 free sensors which make it very easy for you to start using the product without requiring a license and get a very good understanding of the tool before making a purchase decision. The tool allows you to continue to use it for free permanently for the first 100 sensors.
- If you already have a bigger and more powerful tool, PRTG can be very good as a secondary monitoring tool which some times can help you troubleshoot, validate, and compare with your main tool.
- Windows Only: PRTG does not support any other platform. Personally, I do not like tools that run on Windows because Windows requires a frequent update, which means downtime. You want your monitoring tool to be as highly available and low maintenance as possible. That and you also require a server license and Windows consume more hardware resource than other platforms. PRTG needs to add support for Linux.
- Limited ability to do things in bulk. There is no way I know of to mass onboard devices or to mass edit devices. So you will by modifying 1 device at a time. For instance, it would be useful to modify the name or company of 200 devices in one shot.
- Somewhat weak widgets and dashboard. If you put a lot of effort into it, you can probably come out with a very useful dashboard to keep an eye on key systems/devices. However, some widgets can look nice at first but they are not so useful or easy to understand. Again, it can be done, but a lot of effort is needed to get it right.
- White interface only. This might not seem like a big deal, but if you have people who use the tool all the time to keep an eye on the system, it can strain your eyes. Need a dark theme.
PRTG monitors everything, even my enthusiasm
- Monitoring: PRTG does more than just periodic pings to see if a system is up, it has all sorts of sensors to monitor CPU usage, memory, hard drive space, specific processes, &c. It's very granular and quite robust in its capabilities. But it isn't overwhelming, as you can set up which sensors you want or don't want.
- Ease of Setup: PRTG can discover new systems, and automatically apply templates to their profile. This means, for example, a new server on the network will always get a CPU, RAM, Hard Disk, and Network sensor if you set it up that way. Even the default templates are pretty great, not a lot of extraneous sensors that clutter everything up.
- Dashboard: One of the best things about PRTG is that all this information is in one place. The dashboard view shows everything in a color-coded way, so everything is green, no worries! Yellows and reds, they stand out. From there, you can drill down and find out which specific things are in alarm without necessarily having to log in to the system.
- Alerts: PRTG also sends out e-mail alerts based on whatever parameters you configure. A hard drive is 90% full? Email the infrastructure team!
- Historical Data: Because PRTG monitors all of these systems in real time, all the time, it maintains a database of historical performance data. You can check to see which servers need more resources, or even if it's just a specific time (e.g., development always runs a database query at 2:30 pm, and you can see what that does to the CPU). It's extremely helpful for analysis.
- Horizontal Dashboard: The dashboard page is responsive, which is a good thing generally, but it works much better on a vertical monitor, especially if you have a lot of systems to monitor. If you have a horizontal layout, you have to scroll often to keep track of things (although the alerts do help). It would be nice to have an option to force a specific scale and layout.
- Database: The database PRTG uses is an internal black box. It would be nice if it were something more standard, MySQL, Microsoft SQL, &c. That way it could be tied into other things more easily, or we could write our own SQL queries against it.
- E-Mail: The internal SMTP server of the application is not always reliable. It took a lot of tweaking to get it to send alerts correctly.
That said, a small business, especially one with one or two servers and a couple of switches, probably won't find it cost effective. There would be less value in that kind of small shop to monitor everything this way, and one of the free solutions out there would probably be fine.
PRTG is a great monitoring solution for a Windows centric SMB
We also use it to keep an eye on the random network devices - building automation systems, etc. Like any monitoring system, it's useful for keeping an eye on everything and providing some historical data.
- Allows multiple sensors - we watch disk space, memory, and services on most servers.
- Alerting works well. We are notified when security cameras and badging systems go offline just as quickly as when the file server is filling up.
- Custom sensors are possible, such as monitoring inodes or web page loading time.
- Like many products, PRTG seems to like Windows better than Linux. As a mostly Linux-based shop, this can be annoying.
- I wish it could run on a Linux server.
- The dashboard isn't as useful or customizable as some products.
PRTG is great for your smaller IT department !
- PRTG is extremely useful in reporting the basics.
- Simple interface.
- A number of sensors available to monitor.
- It can be overwhelming for the first-time user. I would like to see additional basic setup features.
Easily monitor your network with PRTG
- There are many preconfigured probes to use for all types of network equipment and servers
- Alerts can be customized and configured to alert the right staff for the specific alert
- Graphs make it easy to spot trends for all probes
- Auto-discovery makes adding devices easy
- The mobile app gives you access to the system from anywhere
- Alerts configuration is a little tricky to fine tune and could be easier. It can be very granular(good), but that adds to the complexity.
- Mobile app could be a little better laid out