PRTG Network Monitor vs. Wireshark

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
PRTG
Score 8.7 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
Wireshark
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Wireshark is a free and open source network troubleshooting tool.
$0
Pricing
PRTG Network MonitorWireshark
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
Wireshark
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PRTGWireshark
Free Trial
YesNo
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 MonitorWireshark
Considered Both Products
PRTG

No answer on this topic

Wireshark
Chose Wireshark
It is free compared to solarwinds deep packet software. It is easier to use than tcpdump or ettercap, and it has a much better presentation of the data. It's not as in depth as PRTG Network Monitor, but for an on the spot analysis, it is better for resource management and much …
Chose Wireshark
Firstly, Wireshark is a free tool!
Easy to implement and its opensource. We had many reviews & recommendations from users in the industry. All our requirements were available in the tool.
Chose Wireshark
Both are very good products, it just came down to the price for our decision.
Chose Wireshark
Wireshark overall is just better put together and seems to operate better. Maybe it has jus been more mainstream for a longer period of time, but we like and trust it better than other alternatives at this time.
Chose Wireshark
We tried Savvius Omnipeek, it has a better interface than Wireshark and a much less intense learning curve due to the improved UI it offers. It has better analyzing capability than Wireshark and the triggers are a nice feature it offers. However, it is not free and open-source …
Chose Wireshark
Wireshark is MUCH more in-depth and easy to use. Even though the files can get large and be a bit overwhelming, there are plenty of how-to articles and forums that can help you find the desired syntax for what you are looking for. Netflow Traffic Analyzer seems like a bit of an …
Features
PRTG Network MonitorWireshark
Network Performance Monitoring
Comparison of Network Performance Monitoring features of Product A and Product B
PRTG Network Monitor
7.8
65 Ratings
4% below category average
Wireshark
-
Ratings
Automated network device discovery8.158 Ratings00 Ratings
Network monitoring9.464 Ratings00 Ratings
Baseline threshold calculation7.655 Ratings00 Ratings
Alerts8.765 Ratings00 Ratings
Network capacity planning6.746 Ratings00 Ratings
Packet capture analysis6.833 Ratings00 Ratings
Network mapping6.946 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable reports7.155 Ratings00 Ratings
Wireless infrastructure monitoring7.547 Ratings00 Ratings
Hardware health monitoring8.962 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PRTG Network MonitorWireshark
Small Businesses
NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.1 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Nmap
Nmap
Score 10.0 out of 10
PRTG
PRTG
Score 8.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Nmap
Nmap
Score 10.0 out of 10
PRTG
PRTG
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
PRTG Network MonitorWireshark
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(66 ratings)
9.4
(32 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(4 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.7
(5 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(18 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
PRTG Network MonitorWireshark
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.
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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
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
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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
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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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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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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Open Source
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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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
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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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
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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Open Source
Simple and easy setup.
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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.
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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
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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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