PRTG Network Monitor vs. SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
PRTG
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
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.
$2,149
per year
SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Solarwinds® Kiwi Syslog® Server is a syslog management tool for network and systems engineers. It receives syslog messages and SNMP traps from network devices (routers, switches, firewalls, etc.), and Linux®/Unix® hosts. Users can filter and view these messages based on time, hostname, severity, etc., and set up custom alerts. Kiwi Syslog Server has built-in actions to react appropriately to syslog messages. There are also log archival and clean-up features to help comply with security policies.
$319
Per Instance
Pricing
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
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
One Time Price
$319.00
Per Instance
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PRTGSolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Considered Both Products
PRTG
Chose PRTG Network Monitor
Compared to SolarWinds licensing model on monitors, we bought PRTG xl-1 unlimited license monitoring any device without any difficulty and not specific to servers, devices, network devices. We monitor any device in our organisation. We monitor location, temperature, specific …
SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Chose SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
PRTG is a great package and very useful, but the jump from the free 100 sensor price model to the first tier of the paid model is WAY too expensive. SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server is very inexpensive and provides us with the results we needed for log monitoring.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Network Performance Monitoring
Comparison of Network Performance Monitoring features of Product A and Product B
PRTG Network Monitor
8.1
64 Ratings
1% below category average
SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
-
Ratings
Automated network device discovery8.257 Ratings00 Ratings
Network monitoring9.563 Ratings00 Ratings
Baseline threshold calculation7.954 Ratings00 Ratings
Alerts9.064 Ratings00 Ratings
Network capacity planning7.345 Ratings00 Ratings
Packet capture analysis6.733 Ratings00 Ratings
Network mapping7.945 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable reports7.954 Ratings00 Ratings
Wireless infrastructure monitoring8.146 Ratings00 Ratings
Hardware health monitoring8.961 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Small Businesses
NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.3 out of 10
SolarWinds Papertrail
SolarWinds Papertrail
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Nmap
Nmap
Score 9.9 out of 10
PRTG
PRTG
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Nmap
Nmap
Score 9.9 out of 10
PRTG
PRTG
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(64 ratings)
8.0
(7 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.3
(4 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(18 ratings)
9.9
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Likelihood to Recommend
Paessler
It is well suited for an environment that deploys networking equipment and is needing monitoring 24/7. It works well to deliver real time data and alerts that are suited for taking action and notifying groups of members. It is less appropriate for use cases that involve only a few devices that don’t have dedicated teams looking for problems or uptime.
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SolarWinds
To monitor syslog events Kiwi syslog much helpful and needed .Its saving human efforts and cost.Easy to check on GUI panel flow and status of server ,start and stop services we can do them from GUI panel it self . Recent version also no need C++ libraries to install .We can store the ingested events and archive based on our threshold criteria .We can import and export INI file which contain everything what we have configured
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Pros
Paessler
  • 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.
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SolarWinds
  • Collection of SNMP traps a reliable and stable collection server for these is crucial to troubleshooting and time to ROS. Kiwi excels at this.
  • Easy to install set up and train users on.
  • The free version is a good free tool and handy to use for personal labs and other smalle use cases.
  • SNMP traps to user readable format is great, sometimes syslog and smnp messages can be hard to interpret and read with out a knowledge of how to do this.
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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
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SolarWinds
  • Minimalistic; If you're looking for something with analysis features look elsewhere.
  • Operating System support is Windows only.
  • Some management features cannot be configured via web interface.
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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.
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SolarWinds
No answers on this topic
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.
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SolarWinds
Kiwi Syslog has the best usability of any syslog server. While not being able to offer the most features, the ones it does have are intuitive and easy to work with. Everything that it has is where you think it should be. If you can't find it in the menus, it doesn't exist.
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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!
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SolarWinds
Because the solution is so simple to use and implement, support wasn't very necessary. The one time I did call them to better understand where logs were stored, they were very helpful and friendly. Kiwi has been around for some time and not a lot has changed over the years, so support for it is pretty straightforward and quick.
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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.
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SolarWinds
No answers on this topic
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.
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SolarWinds
PRTG is a great package and very useful, but the jump from the free 100 sensor price model to the first tier of the paid model is WAY too expensive. SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server is very inexpensive and provides us with the results we needed for log monitoring.
Read full review
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.
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SolarWinds
  • 100 ROI overall business prospective
  • Every time we have to monitor disk space ,Because sometime its will not work properly
  • Saves recourses expenses
  • Large and small scale project very helpful
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ScreenShots

SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server Screenshots

Screenshot of Manage syslog messages and SNMP traps from network devices, including Linux, UNIX, and Windows systems from a single console.Screenshot of Trigger email alerts, run scripts, log to file or ODBC database, forward messages, and more.Screenshot of Schedule automated log archival and cleanup to help you comply with SOX, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc.Screenshot of View graphs of syslog statistics over specific time periods.Screenshot of Filter and monitor log messages on an intuitive syslog viewer web console with multiple custom views.Screenshot of Perform advanced message filtering by host name, host IP address, priority, or time of day.