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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Paessler PRTG

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/APRTG 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.

    $2,149

    per year

    SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)

    Score6.1 out of 10
    N/ASolarWinds Web Help Desk is ticketing and IT asset management software. It is designed to simplify help desk management. This solution includes built-in ticketing management, asset management, change management, and knowledge base capabilities.

    $533

    per year per user

    Pricing
    Paessler PRTGSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Editions & Modules
    PRTG 500
    $2,149
    per year
    Hosted 500
    $2,149
    per year
    PRTG 1,000
    $3,899
    per year
    Hosted 1000
    $3,899
    per year
    PRTG 2,500
    $8,099
    per year
    Hosted 2500
    $8,099
    per year
    PRTG 5,000
    $14,199
    per year
    Hosted 5000
    $14,199
    per year
    PRTG 10000
    $17,899
    per year
    PRTG Enterprise
    Custom Pricing
    subscription license
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Paessler PRTGSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—SolarWinds also offers Perpetual licensing starting at $1129 per technician.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Paessler PRTGSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Considered Both Products
    Paessler
    No answer on this topic
    SolarWinds
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    41 Answers
    89%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    40 Answers
    89%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    42 Answers
    78%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    28 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    38 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    Features
    Paessler PRTGSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Network Performance Monitoring
    Comparison of Network Performance Monitoring features of Paessler PRTG and SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Feature
    Paessler PRTG
    7.3
    67 Ratings
    8% below category average
    SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    -
    Ratings
    Automated network device discovery7.260 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network monitoring9.666 Ratings00 Ratings
    Baseline threshold calculation8.557 Ratings00 Ratings
    Alerts8.867 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network capacity planning6.448 Ratings00 Ratings
    Packet capture analysis6.234 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network mapping5.447 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable reports5.857 Ratings00 Ratings
    Wireless infrastructure monitoring6.249 Ratings00 Ratings
    Hardware health monitoring9.264 Ratings00 Ratings
    Incident and problem management
    Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Paessler PRTG and SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Feature
    Paessler PRTG
    -
    Ratings
    SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    9.2
    20 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Organize and prioritize service tickets00 Ratings8.020 Ratings
    Expert directory00 Ratings8.014 Ratings
    Subscription-based notifications00 Ratings9.817 Ratings
    ITSM collaboration and documentation00 Ratings9.014 Ratings
    Ticket creation and submission00 Ratings9.010 Ratings
    Ticket response00 Ratings9.010 Ratings
    Self Help Community
    Comparison of Self Help Community features of Paessler PRTG and SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Feature
    Paessler PRTG
    -
    Ratings
    SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    8.0
    9 Ratings
    0% below category average
    External knowledge base00 Ratings7.07 Ratings
    Internal knowledge base00 Ratings9.09 Ratings
    Multi-Channel Help
    Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Paessler PRTG and SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Feature
    Paessler PRTG
    -
    Ratings
    SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    9.2
    10 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Customer portal00 Ratings9.78 Ratings
    Social integration00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    Email support00 Ratings9.010 Ratings
    Help Desk CRM integration00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Paessler PRTGSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Small Businesses
    Auvik
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Help Scout
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    PingPlotter
    Score9 out of 10
    LiveAgent
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Nmap
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Front
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Paessler PRTGSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.8
    (68 ratings)
    6.8
    (20 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.9
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (7 ratings)
    6.8
    (5 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (19 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Paessler PRTGSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Paessler
    integrates seamlessly with Windows servers via WMI and PowerShell, providing deep insights into resource usage, performance metrics, and system health. It's excellent at tracking CPU, memory, disk space, and event logs, enabling rapid troubleshooting and proactive maintenance. PRTG Network Monitor also effectively monitors Fortigate devices, providing detailed data on firewall health, traffic patterns, bandwidth utilization, VPN status, and security alerts. This visibility helps detect and resolve network security issues promptly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    SolarWinds WHD is well suited if you have a limited budget, as it costs less than many help desk software packages that are more full featured and modern in their design. It is not well suited to an environment where you want to manage inventory, users, purchases and tickets all in one package. It has an asset feature that we don't use but that looks quite limited. We track our assets and users separately from this.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Paessler
    • Switch monitoring and finding out if there are communication issues or throughput alerts are reached
    • Big picture view of the whole infrastructure and what is functioning and what is not
    • Uptime tracking is great and lets us know for how long a device is down or overall uptime
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    • Customized reporting allows us to track our service and support better, and find where we need improvements. This allows us to constantly upgrade our service levels and keep the customers happy.
    • Detailed tracking and response to the end users have led to quicker remediation of tickets. We are able to see where we need a better response or where to add additional resources for support.
    • Overall metrics allow us to staff properly for our tickets by location and remote users.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Paessler
    • Licensing on a per entity basis can be cumbersome for devices which have a ton of monitoring points like network switches\routers. Each sensor may count against a license, which could be a lot of you were monitoring every TX\RX of an SFP for example
    • A better method to easily template\copy monitors across devices
    • The navigation in the web GUI could be a little more straightforward in terms of the hierarchy
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • Because of AD integration, users sometimes try logging in with their email address and not AD credentials. The user then calls stating they can't put a ticket in, it would be nice if there was a method of matching the AD Email field with a login.
    • Setting up new techs with the building they are responsible for can be a little messy
    • I would like to see the UI updated. It looks old, even in the latest releases.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Paessler
    I would renew it because the platform has brought us many technical and economic benefits that make the cost-benefit ratio very good. Additionally, to do so does not require large investments in training, licensing or infrastructure, and at the administration level, extensive knowledge is not required to be able to bear it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    We are definitely going to be sticking with Web Help Desk for the foreseeable future since the product is very inexpensive for the features that it provides, the integration that it has with our existing systems, and the ease for managing users, assets, locations, and tickets. Web Help Desk is a great product that is backed by even better support, which is well worth looking into if you are considering moving to a new ticketing system.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Paessler
    The tool is very intuitive to use and it is Windows-based (everybody knows how to use Windows) so it's easy to get into. Every time is setup in a hierarchy so if you have a good initial hierarchy design, it will really reduce administrative effort down the road.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    I give it this rating based on my experience with SNOW which I would rate lower because it is so difficult to find anything in SNOW. It might be better with more time to configure but we "had a box to check" and it met that requirement and I haven't had time to refine it.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Paessler
    PRTG does everything we need it to do and more. Ease of use, ease of management and maintenance and clarity of monitoring of hundreds of different types of device and service gives this a large advantage over other products on the market that I have tried. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs a network monitoring product in their environment and even to people who don't know they need a solution yet!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    SolarWinds is a great customizable and affordable ticketing system. We use SolarWinds Web Help Desk for IT and Software
    Development trouble ticket tracking and resolution. The reporting that
    SolarWinds provides is great since it helps us discover problem areas and fix
    those areas so they don't keep reoccurring
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Paessler
    It's very important that de project's teams have different member of the TI. We have learned too late the importa of Security Analyst at the design architecture moment. We have to rebuild part of the implementation for made this big mistake.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    Take the time to roll out a test VM to configure and make changes to before doing a live deployment, this way you don't end up with a VM that has been tweaked and re-tweaked until it's perfect and instead end up with a final, polished product. I would also recommend taking the time to read through the support forums for figuring out minor issues that may pop up, chances are that you aren't going to be the first one to encounter them. When all is said and done, SolarWinds Support is VERY responsive and you shouldn't hesitate to contact them.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Paessler
    PRTG offers more versatility in monitoring when compared to the other solutions we tested. The other solutions were also limited as far as customization options, which made them less adaptable to our networks. When compared to Auvik, for instance, we prefer PRTG as it offers immediate notifications through the desktop client - not limited to email notifications as with Auvik. We also appreciate the fact that PRTG can be self/on-prem hosted vs Auvik's cloud model. This makes for an easier deployment and less firewall adjustments to allow traffic to cloud-hosted solutions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    Web Help Desk is definitely lacking in the UI/UX department compared to most other ticketing systems I have used int he past. It's very utilitarian; however, what it lacks in UI it makes up for in extensibility and customization. The main issue that the developers need to address is the use of a Web Objects back-end.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Paessler
    • The ability to analyze multiple pieces of information in one place, especially with historical data, has saved our IT department time and headaches. It would be so much more difficult to trace an issue without PRTG, just relying on event logs and an open task manager window.
    • The cost is not cheap, so it's an expense that hits the bottom line like everything else. Figure in hardware costs as well, ideally a server outside of your main environment.
    • I keep saying this, but the historical data piece is worth so much. There's really no good way to collect all of that information in one place without something like PRTG. And that definitely saves time and money in the long run.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • Amazing impact on our Organization, we are much more organized since we implemented SolarWinds Web Help Desk
    • The ROI is in the statistics! The application cost pennies to run compared to what the product will do for your organization.
    • I challenge you to find a better product for the price!
    • Our documentation has improved since we implemented SolarWinds Web Help Desk
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) Screenshots

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