Observium vs. Wireshark

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Observium
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
N/AN/A
Wireshark
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Wireshark is a free and open source network troubleshooting tool.
$0
Pricing
ObserviumWireshark
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Wireshark
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ObserviumWireshark
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Best Alternatives
ObserviumWireshark
Small Businesses
NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.2 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Intermapper
Intermapper
Score 8.4 out of 10
PRTG
PRTG
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco DNA Analytics and Assurance
Cisco DNA Analytics and Assurance
Score 9.1 out of 10
PRTG
PRTG
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ObserviumWireshark
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(4 ratings)
9.4
(32 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
5.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
ObserviumWireshark
Likelihood to Recommend
Observium
  • If you are on a budget, this is one heck of a tool for the price (including the ~$200/year for the Pro subscription).
  • If you are OK with maintaining and updating open source tools, this is a great tool.
  • If you are afraid of the Linux command line or live in a Windows-centric world, this might not be the tool for you.
  • If you can't stand things occasionally not working, this is probably not a good fit.
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Open Source
I don't know of any other tool that works as well as Wireshark for packet capture an inspection. It's extremely easy to get up and running, and even with little to no knowledge of how to use the tool, you can be looking at all the traffic coming off a network interface.
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Pros
Observium
  • Automatic device discovery.
  • Scalability
  • Real-time monitoring.
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Open Source
  • Light-weight software - Does not require high end specifications; also runs smoothly on Legacy systems
  • Filter function - Lets you filter you packets from thousands to tens so as to find your target much easily
  • Simultaneous capturing on all the network adapters - You can capture packets from all the Network Interface Cards (NIC's) at once.
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Cons
Observium
  • Documentation
  • Community support
  • Easy to set up but hard to customise fully
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Open Source
  • A more user-friendly interface would be nice, but then again it is not really designed for those who are not quite comfortable with this type of software.
  • Changes to functionality on updates - this can sometimes happen unexpectedly and can be an annoyance.
  • More powerful data processing would be welcomed
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Usability
Observium
No answers on this topic
Open Source
It's very simple and easy to use, although individuals not used to managing and administering networks would take some time to get familiar with it. Once they have mastered use of the application, it's easy to stay knowledgeable about it, iteration after iteration. It is well supported online through an open-source community network of professionals who are helpful in imparting knowledge and in providing assistance.
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Support Rating
Observium
It's open source. Your mileage may vary. Sometimes the provided documentation is beyond frustrating, other times it's right on the mark.
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Open Source
I don't believe Wireshark has "true" support as the software is open source. However, there is an active & friendly community around Wireshark that are more than happy to help answer questions. From a comprehensive Wiki and FAQ section on the site to the Ask a Question forum and bug tracker section, there's plenty of support options to make sure your questions and issues are addressed.
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Implementation Rating
Observium
No answers on this topic
Open Source
Simple and easy setup.
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Alternatives Considered
Observium
I haven't used other products that are similar to Observium. Observium is an open tool, with a robust feature set. There are elements of comparable monitoring across other tools, but nothing I've seen that is a complete parallel in terms of feature set and visualizations. If I were asked, I wouldn't have another tool to recommend over Observium.
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Open Source
Wireshark is a free tool that came highly recommended by one of our former network security consultants. Using the tool he was able to resolve all of our higher tier network tickets, so we observed first hand why we needed to add Wireshark into our toolset. We received in-depth instruction and training scenarios that demonstrated the effectiveness and power of the product, so we didn't spend any time reviewing competing products.
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Return on Investment
Observium
  • It is good for DC admin.
  • Only positive impact.
  • Highly recommended.
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Open Source
  • Identifying bugs in the network has never been smooth and near-perfect.
  • Wireshark has made sure our equipment and software is working properly via analyzing network data.
  • Analysis of IP packets and Sip call flaws has saved us a lot of time and confident result.
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ScreenShots