Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent all kinds of network issues.
Are you reading this article because you’re searching “SolarWinds alternatives”? Or maybe you’ve experienced something less than stellar with SolarWinds and want a change. Regardless of how you found this post, odds are your IT environment is suffering from one of these issues: Unexpected renewal price hikes, frustrating dependencies between modules, or the headache of deploying and supporting multiple monitoring products.
Not with PRTG. We don’t make you buy different modules or products to monitor your network, servers, traffic flows, applications, etc. We give you the tools to do it all, in one place. PRTG can monitor anything from one installation, that includes your network devices, storage systems, cloud applications, virtual systems, databases, applications, CCTV systems, industrial environments, and more.
SolarWinds products have many different modules that each need to be configured and licensed like their Network Performance Monitor, Server & Application Monitor, and NetFlow Traffic Analyzer. But with PRTG you get all of the above, and more, included with every package.
Everything you need to monitor your IT and OT environments – all in one dashboard, with one alerting system. And our pricing is just as simple – one transparent price you see on day one, without hidden fees.
Say goodbye to surprise charges as your monitoring needs expand and spend less time managing tools and more time managing your network.
Network monitoring tools shouldn't require weeks of setup and professional services. PRTG is designed to get you monitoring fast - so you can stop the clock on downtime visibility gaps.
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 | SolarWinds SolarWinds |
|---|---|---|
One tool for your entire network | PRTG All monitoring features included | SolarWinds Modular approach requiring separate tools for comprehensive monitoring |
Easy setup, intuitive monitoring | PRTG User-friendly interfaces for web, desktop, and mobile | SolarWinds Complex setup with detailed configuration needed for full functionality |
Automatic network discover | PRTG Included | SolarWinds Manual setup required |
Real-time alerts & notifications | PRTG Advanced, highly customizable alerting via different notification methods | SolarWinds Standard alerts only |
Custom maps & dashboards | PRTG Custom dashboard creation via drag & drop | SolarWinds Standard customization only |
Agentless monitoring | PRTG No need to install agents on the monitored systems | SolarWinds Must be setup manually |
On-premises or cloud-based | PRTG Flexible deployment options available | SolarWinds Options available |
Enterprise version | PRTG Available | SolarWinds Available |
Freeware version | PRTG Available for up to 100 sensors, free for life | SolarWinds No freeware edition available |
Distributed network monitoring | PRTG Monitoring an unlimited number of remote locations included | SolarWinds Supported |
Server & application monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SolarWinds Must be setup manually |
Network performance monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SolarWinds Supported |
Bandwidth monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SolarWinds Supported |
Network traffic analyzer | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra costs | SolarWinds Standard metrics only |
Cloud services monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SolarWinds Requires additional configuration |
Virtual infrastructure monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SolarWinds Manual setup required |
Storage resource monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SolarWinds Must be setup manually |
Database monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SolarWinds Supported |
Web performance monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | SolarWinds Standard metrics only |
Supports leading technologies | PRTG SNMP, flow protocols, packet sniffing, WMI, HTTP, ping, SQL, and much more | SolarWinds SNMP, flow protocols, packet sniffing, WMI, HTTP, ping, SQL, and much more |
Create your own scripts | PRTG Own PRTG API included for custom sensors and scripts | SolarWinds API for scripts available |
Includes technical support | PRTG Expert support included, no extra costs | SolarWinds Available |
“All-around winning
network monitor”
“The real beauty of PRTG is the endless possibilities it offers”
“PRTG Network Monitor
is very hard to beat”
PRTG runs on a single Windows server, with a built-in database, so there’s no need to purchase a SQL server license. This simplifies your software costs and installation.
SolarWinds NPM depends on Microsoft SQL Server which means more licensing fees, maintenance, and configuration.
With PRTG, you can install remote probes (equivalent to "polling engines" at SolarWinds) at any number of sites and then monitor them remotely with your central PRTG installation.
Each license of PRTG includes an unlimited number of remote probes, whereas with SolarWinds products, an additional polling engine costs around $20,000.
Many features of SolarWinds monitoring software are only available at an additional charge. PRTG licenses, however, all include the full monitoring feature set and come with a flexible pricing model.
Simply determine how many endpoints you wish to monitor and the number of sensors you’ll need to do so. You can upgrade your license at any time.
By purchasing a PRTG license, you will get continuous access to the latest product updates, security enhancements, as well as support from our team of technical experts.
If you have a problem or question, our technical support department will respond within one business day. Rest assured that you'll be offered a solution that addresses your particular situation.
You are interested to know if PRTG could be an alternative to your SolarWinds implementation?
“With SolarWinds, Cacti, and SNMPC we needed three different monitoring systems to gain overview about all our systems and devices. None of these offered mobile apps which ended up being the reason why we moved to PRTG. Finding out that PRTG was able to replace all three tools was a huge additional benefit for us and helps us to save a lot of time and money.”
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.
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.
WhatsUp Gold might be your choice if you need good network mapping capabilities for networks which aren’t that complex. But to get the full set of monitoring features, you need to invest in costly add-ons.
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 SolarWinds depends on several factors, such as your specific network monitoring needs, budget, and technical resources available in your organization.
PRTG is ideal:
SolarWinds might be your choice:
PRTG can replace multiple SolarWinds applications with a single, unified monitoring platform. PRTG offers comprehensive feature coverage for many SolarWinds tools, giving you complete visibility across your entire IT infrastructure without the complexity of managing multiple separate modules.
PRTG consolidates the functionality of these SolarWinds products:
Why customers choose PRTG over SolarWinds:
Yes. PRTG offers comprehensive protocol support to monitor virtually any device, service, or application in your infrastructure.
Core monitoring protocols:
250+ preconfigured sensor types - Out-of-the-box sensors for network devices, servers, applications, databases, virtualization platforms (VMware, Hyper-V), cloud services (AWS, Azure), storage systems, and more.
Custom monitoring flexibility - Create custom sensors using scripts (PowerShell, Python, EXE/Script sensors) or REST API queries to monitor anything specific to your environment.
PRTG supports the same core protocols as SolarWinds and often provides broader flexibility for specialized or custom monitoring scenarios, all within a single, unified platform.
Absolutely. PRTG is designed to scale from small networks to enterprise infrastructures across multiple locations.
Distributed monitoring with remote probes – PRTG includes unlimited remote probes at no extra cost, allowing you to monitor distributed networks, remote sites, and locations separated by firewalls from a single central dashboard. Place probes wherever you need them (branch offices, data centers, secure networks, or cloud environments) and manage everything from one console.
Flexible licensing that grows with you – PRTG uses sensor-based licensing in straightforward tiers (500, 1000, 2500, 5000, or unlimited sensors). As your infrastructure expands, simply upgrade your license. You only pay for what you need, when you need it.
For enterprise environments – A single PRTG installation can handle thousands of sensors. For very large infrastructures (10,000+ sensors or multiple data centers), PRTG Enterprise Monitor offers enhanced scalability with multi-server clustering and advanced distributed monitoring.
Whether you're monitoring 10 devices or 10,000, PRTG scales with your growth without forcing you into complex licensing structures or expensive add-ons.
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 SolarWinds implementation?