PRTG Network Monitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
PRTG
Score 8.5 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 Network Device Monitor
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is a network diagnostic tool, from Austin-based SolarWinds.N/A
Pricing
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Network Device Monitor
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
PRTGSolarWinds Network Device Monitor
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Network Device Monitor
Considered Both Products
PRTG
Chose PRTG Network Monitor
We selected PRTG Network Monitor because it's very easy to deploy and setup. It doesn't require too many skills or resources. With the trial license you can test it and see how many info you can get about your infrastructure and choose what to put under control and how to send …
Chose PRTG Network Monitor
In comparison with two other similar tools I have used in the past, I would put PRTG in the middle strictly in terms of features/performance, but at the top when overall value is considered. While SolarWinds does have some features that PRTG lacks, it comes at a much higher …
Chose PRTG Network Monitor
Price is better than SolarWinds, and cost per sensor is a direct impact in making decisions in a medium sized business.
Chose PRTG Network Monitor
PRTG has superior performance, a greater community and online documentation, more accurate data collection, and more complete configuration and operating environment than competitors.
Chose PRTG Network Monitor
PRTG is much easier to set up and start using and pricing is much better.
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
Chose SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
For the purposes we use SolarwWnds, we get the functionality we need at a favorable price point. Additionally, we have easy adoption by our staff and any consultants we work with due to existing familiarity and/or experience with the product which brings some added efficiency …
Chose SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
SolarWinds was the commercial tool that our teams disliked the most even though it is windows only, other commercial tools had a Linux version but we found them to be unstable and/or poorly implemented. So we bit the windows bullet and installed a windows server in our Linux …
Chose SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor provides great value for money and provides a host of options which in some cases cost more in other competitors or are simple not available. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is simple to implement and can be up an running with little to no …
Chose SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
Cognizant has done extensive POC/POV on SolarWinds modules specifically on NPM and we believe it has out of the box broad range of devices, vendors, and versions monitoring and also multiple modules options like NCM for
Chose SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
I selected SolarWinds Network Device Monitor for 2 main reasons, functionality and support.
Features
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Network Device Monitor
Network Performance Monitoring
Comparison of Network Performance Monitoring features of Product A and Product B
PRTG Network Monitor
7.6
66 Ratings
5% below category average
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
-
Ratings
Automated network device discovery7.759 Ratings00 Ratings
Network monitoring9.565 Ratings00 Ratings
Baseline threshold calculation7.756 Ratings00 Ratings
Alerts8.866 Ratings00 Ratings
Network capacity planning6.147 Ratings00 Ratings
Packet capture analysis7.033 Ratings00 Ratings
Network mapping6.446 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable reports6.756 Ratings00 Ratings
Wireless infrastructure monitoring7.448 Ratings00 Ratings
Hardware health monitoring9.163 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Network Device Monitor
Small Businesses
NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.1 out of 10
Auvik
Auvik
Score 8.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA)
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA)
Score 9.3 out of 10
PingPlotter
PingPlotter
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA)
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA)
Score 9.3 out of 10
PingPlotter
PingPlotter
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Network Device Monitor
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(67 ratings)
8.4
(19 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(18 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Network Device Monitor
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.
Read full review
SolarWinds
On its own, it's a solid choice for an SMB or Mid-size Enterprise if you're price sensitive and looking primarily for core functionality. SolarWinds has a large family of products that can also be leveraged in conjunction with SWNDM. Turning the product loose on a very large environment for discovery and mapping should be done with care and concern for a number of reasons but including the performance of the product for this task. If you're looking for an all-in-one product with some presumed supporting features built in (config manager, etc.) you'll need to look elsewhere.
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
Read full review
SolarWinds
  • Monitor for and record network device configuration changes.
  • Allow for the creation, or modification, of hardening standards for multiple vendors' network devices.
  • Automate the creation of alerts that can be sent to owners for correction of compliance violations.
  • Allow you to organize a visualization of your network devices.
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
Read full review
SolarWinds
  • More security put into the product, the Orion hack was not good news.
  • More frequent releases to address small bugs rather than big releases that are rare.
  • More IPv6 related features to make it easier for people familiar with IPv4 to learn IPv6.
  • Ability to edit dashboards using JSON or another similar language.
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.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
SolarWinds
No answers on this topic
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!
Read full review
SolarWinds
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
SolarWinds
MS is meant for windows monitoring and up/down for mostly everything else. Moved away from MS System Center. Now we have better visibility and management can get reports. The other teams have added Linux to Solarwinds and also see improvements in monitoring. Whether you use snmp (v3), wmi or some other credentials to connect to you system, Solarwinds will more than likely be able to manage and monitor it.
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
  • Reduced site visits and recurring issues by 25 to 35%
  • Enables proactive warning, thereby reducing downtime caused by unforeseen issues
  • Provides a central panel for monitoring the entire network at a glance
  • Allows for SLA management thereby increasing accountability by 50%
  • Reduced time to repair by 35% as techs are more informed of root cause
Read full review
ScreenShots