Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent all kinds of network issues.
PRTG is a comprehensive monitoring software solution for your entire IT infrastructure. It lets you keep a constant eye on your servers, applications, virtual environment, and important hardware, as well as many other network components – without the need to install agents for monitoring individual systems.
With System Center Operations Manager (SCOM), which is part of the Microsoft System Center product family, you have to choose between individual functions and purchase several Management Packs as modules to access the full range of features. This will quickly drive up costs and make it difficult to decide upon the right solution.
PRTG solves all this with its unparalleled set of included network management and monitoring capabilities, its intuitive feel, easy-to-read dashboards, customizable alarms, network mapping, and more. This means you can stop juggling separate specialized tools that offer only isolated solutions and cost precious time.
IT monitoring should be quick and easy. Cumbersome and complicated network monitoring and management tools create unnecessary work for you and your IT team. PRTG makes monitoring as user-friendly as possible.
Quick installation with automatic network discovery and smart setup for instant monitoring
Custom dashboard creation via drag & drop with easy-to-read visualized overviews
Different user interfaces for web, desktop, and mobile apps for monitoring on the go
Network of qualified implementation partners to support you with a smooth migration to PRTG
Diagnose network issues by continuously tracking the health, availability, and performance of your entire IT infrastructure. Show hardware parameters, application performance, network traffic, bandwidth usage, and other key metrics in real time. Visualize data in clear graphs and dashboards to identify problems more easily. Gain the overview you need to troubleshoot all kinds of issues in your network.
Device tree view of the complete monitoring setup
Custom PRTG dashboard for keeping an eye on the entire IT infrastructure
Live traffic data graph in PRTG
FEATURE | PRTG PRTG | SCOM SCOM |
|---|---|---|
One tool for your entire network | PRTG All monitoring features included | SCOM Comprehensive monitoring solution for Windows environments, but may require additional management packs for complete coverage |
Easy setup, intuitive monitoring | PRTG User-friendly interfaces for web, desktop, and mobile | SCOM More complex setup and configuration with steeper learning curve |
Automatic network discover | PRTG Included | SCOM Network discovery included but requires more configuration than PRTG |
Real-time alerts & notifications | PRTG Advanced, highly customizable alerting via different notification methods | SCOM Customizable alerting system with email, SMS, and integration with other Microsoft tools |
Custom maps & dashboards | PRTG Custom dashboard creation via drag & drop | SCOM Dashboards available but less intuitive to create than PRTG's drag & drop interface |
Agentless monitoring | PRTG No need to install agents on the monitored systems | SCOM Requires agents for most monitoring scenarios |
On-premises or cloud-based | PRTG Flexible deployment options available | SCOM On-premises deployment with cloud integration options through Azure |
Enterprise version | PRTG Available | SCOM Available, primarily targeted at enterprise environments |
Freeware version | PRTG Available for up to 100 sensors, free for life | SCOM No free version available, only trial periods |
Distributed network monitoring | PRTG Monitoring an unlimited number of remote locations included | SCOM Supports distributed monitoring through gateway servers, but may require additional configuration |
Server & application monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SCOM Strong Windows server and application monitoring, but may require additional management packs for non-Microsoft applications |
Network performance monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SCOM Available but less comprehensive than dedicated network monitoring tools |
Bandwidth monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SCOM Basic bandwidth monitoring available, but less detailed than PRTG |
Network traffic analyzer | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra costs | SCOM Limited network traffic analysis capabilities compared to PRTG |
Cloud services monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SCOM Strong integration with Azure services, but may require additional configuration for non-Microsoft cloud services |
Virtual infrastructure monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SCOM Good Hyper-V monitoring, requires additional management packs for VMware and other virtualization platforms |
Storage resource monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SCOM Basic storage monitoring included, more advanced features require additional management packs |
Database monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SCOM Strong SQL Server monitoring, requires additional management packs for other database platforms |
Web performance monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SCOM Basic web monitoring available, but less comprehensive than PRTG |
Supports leading technologies | PRTG SNMP, flow protocols, packet sniffing, WMI, HTTP, ping, SQL, and much more | SCOM Strong with Microsoft technologies (WMI, PowerShell), more limited support for non-Microsoft protocols compared to PRTG |
Create your own scripts | PRTG Own PRTG API included for custom sensors and scripts | SCOM Supports PowerShell, VBScript, and other scripting for custom monitoring |
Includes technical support | PRTG Expert support included, no extra costs | SCOM Support typically requires additional paid support plans |
“All-around winning
network monitor”
“The real beauty of PRTG is the endless possibilities it offers”
“PRTG Network Monitor
is very hard to beat”
Use common network protocols like SNMP, flow, WMI, HTTP, SSH, and more to set up the best and most comprehensive monitoring for your IT environment, including server monitoring, application monitoring, or virtualization and cloud monitoring. In the time it takes you to install and configure SCOM, you can already keep an eye on your monitoring with PRTG – just sit back and relax.
PRTG is agentless and monitors servers, routers, switches, virtual machines, services, and much more – regardless of vendor or provider. You can easily integrate devices in the blink of an eye, using more than 250 preconfigured sensor types that PRTG offers out of the box.
In contrast, using SCOM means you need to install agents on the devices you want to monitor. It also specializes only in monitoring Microsoft-based applications, and offers limited monitoring functionality. You can only extend the monitoring scope by buying additional Management Packs, which are offered natively for some products or which some vendors offer themselves.
Unlike SCOM, the installation of PRTG takes only a few minutes. The Auto-Discovery functionality scans your network directly for available devices and automatically creates matching sensors. You can easily add more devices and sensors or customize them according to your needs.
SCOM’s installation, setup, and configuration, however, are extremely complex. SCOM not only requires access to a Microsoft SQL server for various SQL databases, but also the installation and setup of several servers for different tasks for SCOM to go live. Those who want to use the web console must also install it separately.
Even if you already own SCOM as part of the Microsoft System Center suite, costs can quickly accumulate as soon as you want to expand your monitoring. In addition to the acquisition costs for several servers, the Management Packs for various products and vendors are usually also provided only for a fee.
With PRTG, adhering to your budget is no problem. You decide what's right for you: All PRTG subscriptions include all monitoring features, whether you choose an on-premises installation or our cloud-based SaaS solution.
Bottlenecks in the company network and high downtimes are a cost factor in the company that should not be underestimated. It’s essential that you are immediately notified in case of problems. With PRTG, you can configure notifications individually and determine who should be notified at what time.
Receive customizable notifications via email, SMS, Microsoft Teams, push notifications and much more to always keep you up to date – this way, you can even fix issues proactively before they really begin to cause trouble.
You are interested to know if PRTG could be an alternative to your SCOM implementation?
PRTG is set up in a matter of minutes and can be used on a wide variety of mobile devices.
We also compared PRTG with other monitoring tools:
The basic version of the open-source tool Nagios is free of charge. But most users spent many hours to set up and customize the tool. In case of problems, browsing through forums is often the only solution.
SolarWinds might be interesting for extremely complex network environments. But it also means you need to invest in higher costs for a platform made up of different modules and add-ons (that cost extra).
Zabbix is open-source software with a strong community support. But it requires lots of manual configuration work to install and set it up. You also need to install agents on the monitored systems.
PRTG and ManageEngine might seem similar at first. However, with ManageEngine, you have to choose between individual functions and purchase several modules to access the full range of features.
Real-time notifications mean faster troubleshooting so that you can act before more serious issues occur.
Partnering with innovative IT vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.
Combining PRTG’s broad monitoring feature set with IP Fabric’s automated network assurance creates a new level of network visibility and reliability.
Rhebo and PRTG offer a comprehensive monitoring solution for IT and OT environments: from condition monitoring through to anomaly and threat detection.
UVexplorer integrates tightly with PRTG to bring fast and accurate network discovery, detailed device inventory, and automatic network mapping to the PRTG platform.
Network Monitoring Software – Version 26.1.116.1532 (February 9th, 2026)
Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available
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Network devices, bandwidth, servers, applications, virtual environments, remote systems, IoT, and more
Choose the PRTG Network Monitor subscription that's best for you
Choosing between Paessler PRTG and SCOM depends on several factors, such as your specific network monitoring needs, budget, and technical resources available in your organization.
PRTG is ideal:
Scom might be your choice:
PRTG offers a comprehensive overview of your IT systems in real time. It supports all the leading monitoring technologies, including:
With our free monitoring tool, you get:
With the freeware edition 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 address range and automatically incorporates them into your monitoring environment.
PRTG’s flexible subscription licensing makes it easy to scale up or down as needed. You pay only for the number of sensors you need. After your 30-day free trial of the unlimited version of PRTG, you can still use the free version with 100 free sensors. View our pricing.
In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, for example the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, or the free space on a disk drive. On average, you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.
Paessler conducted trials in over 600 IT departments worldwide to tune its network monitoring software closer to the needs of sysadmins. The result of the survey: over 95% of the participants would recommend PRTG – or already have.
You are interested to know if PRTG could be an alternative to your SCOM implementation?