“PRTG: Finally there are network monitoring tools which are both powerful and easy to use!”
Free network monitoring tools
for professionals
Installed in a few minutes
Automatically discovers your
entire network
Use as Free Network Monitoring Software with 100 sensors
Tool monitors your
network 24/7
Alerts you before congestions
and emergencies occur
Monitor your network with the network monitoring tool PRTG
PRTG is a network monitoring tool that helps you to ensure that your computer systems are running smoothly and that no outages occur.
Network monitoring is also important to increase the efficiency of your network by knowing bandwidth and resource consumption.
With over 500,000 active installations, PRTG is Paessler's powerful and widely-used free network monitoring software.
PRTG fits into any budget and grows with your needs. Try the PRTG Network Monitoring Tool now for free and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.
Everything you need is contained in one simple installer, no additional downloads are required.
We make it simple for you, now and later!
Network monitoring with PRTG
Jump to the topic of your choice
- How PRTG will help you to optimize your network infrastructure
- Requirements for our network monitoring tools
- Optimize your network and avoid system downtimes
- How to set up the PRTG network monitoring tool
- Free network monitoring
- The best network monitoring tools in customer surveys
- Comparing the best network monitoring tools
- Network monitoring tool for Windows
- What should I monitor?
- Professional Network Monitoring Service for every use case
- The rundown on network monitoring tools
- FAQ about network monitoring
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PRTG |
Network Monitoring Software - Version 23.4.90.1299 (November 15th, 2023) |
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Hosting |
Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available |
Languages |
English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese |
Pricing |
Up to 100 sensors for free (Price List) |
Unified Monitoring |
Network devices, bandwidth, servers, applications, virtual environments, remote systems, IoT, and more |
Supported Vendors & Applications |
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How will our network monitoring software help you to optimize your network infrastructure?
You should use PRTG if you would like to:
- Increase profits by avoiding losses caused by undetected system failures.
- Reduce costs by buying bandwidth and hardware according to actual load.
- Eliminate server performance problems and bandwidth bottlenecks.
- Improve quality of service through being proactive.
Current status of your complete network
Requirements for our network monitoring tools
A good network monitor should be easy to install and usage should be intuitive, so that there is no need for external consultancy and training. Further necessary requirements are:
- Remote Management via web browser, PocketPC, or Windows client
- Notifications of outages by email, ICQ, pager/SMS, and more.
- Comprehensive sensor type selection
- Multiple location monitoring
- All common methods for network usage data acquisition (SNMP, Packet Sniffing, Flow, IPFIX) ought to be supported.
PRTG Device tree
Optimize your network and avoid system downtimes with the free network monitoring software by Paessler
Continuous network and server monitoring enables you to find problems and resolve them before they become a serious threat to your business. Our software helps your business to perform better:
- Avoid bandwidth and server performance bottlenecks
- Deliver better quality of service to your users by being proactive
- Reduce costs by buying bandwidth and hardware based on actual load
- Increase profits by avoiding losses caused by undetected system failures
- Find peace of mind: As long as you do not hear from PRTG via email, SMS, pager, etc. you know everything is running fine and you have more time to take care of other important business
The free version of PRTG includes 100 sensors. You will need one sensor for each individual monitoring entity. One sensor monitors for example one network service, one URL, one network connection, one port of a switch, one NetFlow export stream, one CPU load or one disk drive.
So if you are looking for a free bandwidth controller, port sniffer or a tool for windows server monitoring or web site monitoring, PRTG is the perfect free network monitoring software for you. PRTG is easy to set up, configure and use – just download the installer, use the install wizard and set up your sensors with auto-discovery, and after a few minutes and just a few clicks, you are ready to monitor network activity, downtime of network devices or services, CPU load and much more.
Need more sensors to monitor a larger IT infrastructure? See our commercial licenses here.
You can download a 30-day-trial version of our commercial licenses for free. The trial version comes with unlimited sensors.
How to set up the PRTG network monitoring tool
With the various infrastructure options in use today it can sometimes be difficult to decide which monitoring technology is right to solve your problem. PRTG offers unified IT monitoring that is intuitive to use. The autodiscovery of our free bandwidth meter makes the setup quick and easy. With its preconfigured device templates, it selects the appropriate sensor settings for servers, applications and network devices. Of course you can configure PRTG manually, too.
Download the free 30 day trial network monitoring tool. The trial supports unlimited sensors!
Free network monitoring
Many system administrators opt for free network monitoring software, if for nothing else than to avoid having to get a budget approved by a supervisor. With our monitoring tool, you get:
- A permanent freeware monitoring solution
- 100 free sensors
- Free alarm and reports features
- Licenses that cater to the needs of your company
With the freeware version of PRTG, you can get started with network monitoring in a matter of minutes. Our Auto Discovery function detects all the devices within a given IP range and automatically incorporates them into your monitoring environment.
The best network monitoring tools in customer surveys
More than 500,000 administrators worldwide put their trust in our software. Often they work for organizations that rely on a stable and secure IT infrastructure, such as manufacturing companies, hospitals, airports, cities, and universities. For example:
- Klinik in Jena uses more than 12,000 sensors to monitor its servers, routers, switches, VMWare, and LAN.
To the case study. - Aquafin monitors 600 pumping stations in the Netherlands with 30,000 sensors.
To the case study. - The Swiss pen manufacturer Prodir also monitors with PRTG.
To the case study. (in German)
Discover more examples and best practices here.
Comparing the best network monitoring tools
Many admins start with a comparison of network monitoring tools. There are a variety of specialized and all-in-one monitoring tools on the market. By comparing individual tools, you can determine which one best meets the needs of your company.
We’ve gathered a selection of reports and comparisons for you to browse:
- Collection of tools on IT Pro
- Comparison by PC Mag
- IT Pro Portal: Healthcare IT Environment
- Network-King: Network Monitoing Tools comparison
As always, the needs of your company will determine which tool you choose. Here are some of the advantages of PRTG: System administrators get one centralized monitoring tool for their entire network infrastructure. All the features of the software are included, as well as speedy, first-rate support.
Network monitoring tool for Windows
You may be one of the many admins whose IT infrastructure runs on Windows. If so, you’re in luck. PRTG is designed especially for Windows. Among other things, PRTG uses Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), performance counters, and SNMP. Here are a few things you can monitor with our Windows monitoring tool:
- Windows System Uptime
- Windows CPU Load
- WMI File
- WMI Free Disc Space
- WMI Microsoft SQL Server
- Windows Security Monitoring
- Windows Event Log Monitoring
All our WMI sensors are customizable. You define the threshold values that trigger an alarm. Learn more about WMI monitoring with PRTG.
WMI Service Sensor
What should I monitor?
The mere implementation of a network monitor is not enough. The key to effective network monitoring in real time is to ensure that the chosen tool has been configured to monitor what are essentially a network's vital signs: availability, speed and usage.
Monitoring network availability allows both internal and external parties to access the services, including websites and you can determine whether the mail servers and leased lines are working.
Monitoring network speed with bandwidth monitoring prevents your websites and network services from losing visitors or frustrate users due to slow-loading pages, files or images.
Finally, usage monitoring enables you to accurately assess CPU load and learn just what sort of work the servers are doing at times of different the day.
Adding new sensors in the network monitoring tool
General network status
With PRTG, a quick glance is all it takes to check the status of your entire network. PRTG gives you peace of mind and lets you confidently go about your other tasks. If a malfunction occurs or the status of a device changes, you'll be notified immediately and can take action at once.
Network devices
All large networks contain countless different devices made by a variety of manufacturers. These include switches, servers, workstations, and routers. Many monitoring tools can only monitor the devices of specific manufacturers while others require expensive add-ons, e.g. to monitor Cisco devices. The advantage of PRTG is that it comes with sensors for monitoring the devices of nearly every manufacturer.
Monitor network traffic
PRTG is the perfect tool for monitoring network traffic. It shows you which applications, connections, and data types are putting the greatest strain on your network. In the event of disruptions or overloads, the PRTG alarm is triggered at once.
Professional network monitoring service for every use case
The network monitoring tool PRTG includes all monitoring features to keep track of your entire IT infrastructure, check the uptime of your websites, or monitor the performance of your services. Performance monitoring, network management, capacity planning are just a few examples of tasks PRTG can help you with.
PRTG is the right network monitoring service for various settings and environments.
You don't have a Windows Server? You want a flexible cloud solution that doesn't require any hosting from your side?
Try our hosted version PRTG Hosted Monitor!
You are responsible for a large and distributed IT environment? You’re looking for a management overview in addition to all the details?
Then try our solution for large-scale IT infrastructures PRTG Enterprise Monitor!
You have a very specific scenario you want to monitor and you are not sure if PRTG can do it?
Contact your customer service!
PRTG Sunburst View
The rundown on network monitoring tools
Why do you need network monitoring?
Once a network reaches a certain size, it makes sense to monitor it permanently. Downtime and malfunctions can cause the performance of the entire company to suffer. At the same time, IT managers are under more and more pressure. They’re forced to act quickly but often don’t know where the problem lies. PRTG helps IT managers get a handle on their network.
What exactly is meant by “a certain size?”
PRTG is used by companies with a few dozen workers as well as by companies with several thousand employees. Its licenses are customized in accordance with the required number of sensors. Our software also provides peace of mind to the sysadmins of smaller networks.
Can you monitor individual devices such as a router or a switch?
You get to choose which devices are monitored by PRTG. You also get to define the scope of your monitoring. For example, you can choose to only monitor the CPU, free disk space, or certain ports.
How does monitoring work?
Our software comes with sensors that you create for each of the devices you wish to monitor. These sensors send monitoring data to the core PRTG server. Check out the following video to learn more about sensors.
FAQ about network monitoring
What is network monitoring?
Monitor an entire network environment
Network monitoring refers to the monitoring of an entire network environment. Its goal is to allow sysadmins to work in a better, quicker, and more efficient manner. Network monitoring focuses on parameters such as bandwidth consumption and the availability of network devices. Some of the monitored devices include the local and Internet-based systems in an IT environment, such as databases, applications, clouds, servers, and network infrastructures. Network monitoring allows admins to ensure their networks run smoothly, effectively, and free of errors.
Why should you monitor your network?
Identify bottlenecks and eliminate disruptions
Applications and devices that consume excessive amounts of bandwidth can bring an entire network to a standstill. It is therefore crucial that admins know exactly how much traffic is running through their networks. By monitoring traffic and bandwidth, you’ll keep a constant eye on your network capacity and can prevent disruptions caused by bottlenecks and overloads. As a result, you’ll ensure business goes on as usual at your company or organization.
Optimize performance and do away with downtime
For business processes to be successful, your servers and databases must always be up and running. If a web or mail server goes down, your company feels the pinch immediately and is forced to free up valuable resources to solve the problem. You should therefore keep a constant eye on the most important aspects of your database, including its query, connection, and response times. With comprehensive network monitoring, you’ll be able to monitor all your servers around the clock and make sure they are always operational.
Ensure devices and applications run properly
Many applications are critical for your business. You should therefore monitor your network to detect potential problems and errors before they arise. Otherwise, you run the risk of malfunctions causing serious disruptions to your business. If you want to help your coworkers be as productive as possible, you must ensure all the devices and applications in your LAN and WAN are running smoothly.
We'll make you a monitoring expert
Gain practical knowledge on how to monitor your infrastructure with Paessler PRTG. Our training sessions are planned and provided by Paessler system engineers and are suitable for different experience levels.
Create innovative solutions with Paessler’s IT partners
Partnering with innovative IT vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.
ScriptRunner
With ScriptRunner, Paessler integrates a powerful event automation platform into PRTG Network Monitor.
UVexplorer integrates tightly with PRTG to bring fast and accurate network discovery, detailed device inventory, and automatic network mapping to the PRTG platform.
UVnetworks
Still not convinced?
More than 500,000 sysadmins love PRTG
Paessler PRTG is used by companies of all sizes. Sysadmins love PRTG because it makes their job a whole lot easier.
Still not convinced?
Monitor your entire IT infrastructure
Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network.
Try Paessler PRTG for free
Everyone has different monitoring needs. That’s why we let you try PRTG for free. Start now with your trial.