PRTG Network Monitor vs. SolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)

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.
$1,750
perpetual license
SolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
SolarWinds Web Performance Monitoring (WPM) is a website and SaaS application performance monitoring tool. It utilizes synthetic and real user monitoring for proactive issue detection and performance reporting. WPM is designed to be scalable with business needs.N/A
Pricing
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
Editions & Modules
PRTG 500
1,750
perpetual license
PRTG 1,000
3,200
perpetual license
PRTG 2,500
6,500
perpetual license
PRTG 5,000
11,500
perpetual license
PRTG XL 1
15,500
perpetual license
PRTG Enterprise
Custom Pricing
subscription license
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PRTGSolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
Network Performance Monitoring
Comparison of Network Performance Monitoring features of Product A and Product B
PRTG Network Monitor
7.0
55 Ratings
16% below category average
SolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
-
Ratings
Automated network device discovery7.449 Ratings00 Ratings
Network monitoring7.654 Ratings00 Ratings
Baseline threshold calculation6.647 Ratings00 Ratings
Alerts7.655 Ratings00 Ratings
Network capacity planning6.639 Ratings00 Ratings
Packet capture analysis5.328 Ratings00 Ratings
Network mapping7.539 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable reports7.448 Ratings00 Ratings
Wireless infrastructure monitoring7.338 Ratings00 Ratings
Hardware health monitoring6.852 Ratings00 Ratings
Monitoring Tasks
Comparison of Monitoring Tasks features of Product A and Product B
PRTG Network Monitor
-
Ratings
SolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
10.0
1 Ratings
23% above category average
Remote monitoring00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Multiple Server Monitoring00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Automated alerts and notifications00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Reporting
Comparison of Reporting features of Product A and Product B
PRTG Network Monitor
-
Ratings
SolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
10.0
1 Ratings
28% above category average
Performance data reports00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Customizable reporting00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Data visualization00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
PRTG Network Monitor
-
Ratings
SolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
10.0
1 Ratings
41% above category average
Administrator access control00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
Small Businesses
NinjaOne
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Score 9.2 out of 10
Atera
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Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Nmap
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Score 8.8 out of 10
ManageEngine Site24x7
ManageEngine Site24x7
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Nmap
Nmap
Score 8.8 out of 10
ManageEngine Site24x7
ManageEngine Site24x7
Score 9.2 out of 10
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User Ratings
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(55 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(17 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
PRTG Network MonitorSolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
Likelihood to Recommend
Paessler
If there are a number of different protocols and devices to monitor PRTG is really an all in one solution. There are network specific solutions, telephony solutions, server solutions, etc - but this tool can do anything. Even if you don't use this tool as your main "monitoring solutions" every IT professional should have access to this tool for at least troubleshooting purposes. If you are looking for something specific built for a task you may be able to find [a] more direct and easy tool to use that would be easier and quicker to setup as customization is not needed.
Read full review
SolarWinds
We've found WPM to be a fit for every web application that we wanted to monitor. If you have a web app that you'd like monitoring/alerting for then WPM may work for you. So far our only struggles have been when after logging in the app launches a new tab.
Read full review
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
  • Testing web applications
  • Ability to log in to secure sections of websites in order to test user authentication
  • Provides a detailed history of steps taken and provides print screens of each step. If an error occurs you can see the web page to better diagnose issues.
Read full review
Cons
Paessler
  • 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.
Read full review
SolarWinds
  • The recorder is clunky and must be run on a local machine.
  • It does not support frames.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Paessler
It is now an essential tool for monitoring and maintaining the health of our network and systems.
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
I am giving this a 6 simply because I have never had to contact support. The online documentation is adequate for most things, and the user-maintained knowledgebase is excellent. The few times I have run into issues that were not easily resolvable with intuitive UI, I was able to find the answers that I needed either in the PRTG-provided documentation, the knowledgebase, or with a quick online web search.
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SolarWinds
Solarwinds support is top-notch, and while we rarely have to call them, they are always very helpful when we do.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Paessler
I have deployed and tested three products for evaluation I found [PRTG Network Monitor] very easy to deploy, the deployment literally took not more than one hour including basic configuration and network discovery. After deployment few configuration changes and creation of maps, reports and little tweaking is required. [Then] it would go through its process of recommendation that took some time to complete, while [on] other hand other software's took lot of time to install and configure. And features were also missing, which resulted in decision in favor of [PRTG Network Monitor].
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SolarWinds
At the time we purchased WPM we were not aware of alternatives and therefore did not compare them.
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
  • Better reporting of down states to allow for SLA reporting
  • Better alerting during certain failure conditions which allows the IT org to respond faster
  • More thorough history to review past errors and see screenshots of the errors.
Read full review
ScreenShots