ManageEngine OpManager vs SolarWinds vs PRTG

Businesses depend on their networks to perform at optimal levels in order to meet their demands. Performance problems and network outages aren't only frustrating to deal with but also very costly for any company. Network performance monitoring software helps companies of all sizes proactively address performance issues and gain valuable network insights.

However, with various network monitoring software on the market to choose from, it can be difficult to find what best meets your organization's needs. When choosing a network monitoring tool, consider how it will integrate with your existing system and if it offers the features, scalability, deployment options, and maintenance needed at a price you can afford.

OpManager: A standout in network monitoring

The three network monitoring tools covered on this page include PRTG Network Monitor, SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM), and ManageEngine OpManager.

PRTG Network Monitor is uptime and bandwidth monitoring software that keeps an eye your IT infrastructure by enabling you to assign predefined sensors for every device or interface.

SolarWinds NPM is a tool generally used to monitor and analyze your network's performance by checking the status of all devices and notifying system engineers about any faults.

ManageEngine OpManager is a comprehensive, easy-to-use, and affordable network monitoring solution that can monitor network devices such as routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, wireless LAN controllers, servers, virtual machines (VMs), printers, storage devices, and everything that has an IP and is connected to the network.

Why you should choose OpManager over SolarWinds & PRTG

Discovery Rule Engine: The Discovery Rule Engine speeds up device configuration, letting you automate actions such as associating monitors to devices or adding devices to a Business View during the initial discovery.

Storage monitoring: OpManager provides real-time monitoring and management of network storage devices such as RAID and tape libraries. It also provides capabilities to manage Fiber Channel switches that are used in storage networks.

Workflow support: First-level troubleshooting steps and repetitive maintenance tasks can be orchestrated and automated using the powerful IT workflow automation engine.

With OpManager's workflow support, you can:

• Automatically stop or restart a service or process.
• Shutdown, restart, or suspend a VM.
• Execute scripts and verify their output.
• Back up network configurations automatically.
• Detect the last changes performed on a network device.

Intuitive navigation: Designed with network, operations, and IT managers in mind, OpManager doesn't require any elaborate training and has a fast learning curve for managers and technicians alike.

Resource light: Easy to use and with powerful management capabilities, OpManager enables you to reap the benefits of using a network monitoring tool without having to dedicate full-time resources to software management.

Lowest total cost of ownership: When compared to similar products on the market, OpManager offers the lowest price for the benefits it delivers. On top of this, upgrading to new versions of OpManager when they're released isn't only easy—it's completely free.

Add-ons and plug-ins: OpManager integrates with several add-ons and plug-ins to help you craft a more holistic, intelligent, and simple IT strategy.

• NetFlow Analyzer (NFA): With the NFA add-on, you can analyze network congestion and find out who or what is consuming bandwidth. Identify metrics like major bandwidth used by top N users or top N applications, or top N devices with Flow technologies such as NetFlow, J-Flow, IPFIX, NetStream, or AppFlow.
• Network Configuration Management (NCM) : With the NCM add-on, you can track the who, when, and what of network configurations in real-time and ensure your network devices function as expected.
• Firewall Analyzer (FWA): The Firewall Analyzer add-on help protect your network from Trojans and malware by monitoring firewall logs, analyzing policy effectiveness, and managing firewall rules for increased network security.
• IP Address Management (IPAM) Effectively manage your IP space by continuously tracking their use with this add-on.
• Switch Port Mapper (SPM): Use this add-on to find available switch ports in real-time by mapping occupied ports to corresponding devices.
• Applications Manager: With support for over 100 popular technologies across cloud applications, containers, application servers, and databases, the Applications Manager plug-in proactively monitors business applications and ensures revenue critical applications meet end-user expectations.

Licensing and pricing

OpManager's licensing is device-based, which means it depends on the number of devices you need to monitor. In device-based licensing, pricing depends on the device as a whole; all its components, like interfaces, ports, disks, and performance metrics, are included by default so you don't have to purchase separate licenses to monitor them. Pricing for OpManager starts at $245, and it also comes with a free, 30-day trial.

PRTG's licensing is sensor-based. A sensor is defined as a single metric on a device; for example, if you're managing a switch, the sensor may be monitoring network health or the CPU usage of the switch. As you can imagine, in this model, even administering a small network can become costly depending on how much data you need. PRTG's pricing starts at $1,750 for 500 sensors, and it also comes with a free, 30-day trial.

SolarWinds NPM is licensed based on elements, which can be a node, interface, or volume. For example, if you manage 10 switches, each with 48 ports, the total port count is 480. SolarWinds NPM requires 480 element licenses for this, while OpManager only needs 10 device licenses for the same number of switches and ports.

If you only want to monitor 100 of these 480 interfaces, it's not possible to get only 100 interface NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA) licenses. You need to buy all 480 licenses (equivalent to the base NPM license) for NTA. Pricing for SolarWinds NPM starts at $2,995, and it also comes with a free, 30-day trial.

OpManager: Easy installation and configuration

OpManager's installation and configuration is easy. Its takes less than five minutes to install, and doesn't require any other installation for its add-ons.

PRTG Network Monitor's installation process is time-consuming and requires precheck. To run this tool, you’ll need access to a Microsoft Windows Server machine with at least two CPU cores and 3GB of RAM. You’ll also need at least 250GB of disk space available.

SolarWinds NPM's installation of SolarWinds NPM isn't a difficult process. Make sure that your server has Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) installed before you kick off NPM setup; if IIS isn’t installed, you’ll be prompted to exit the NPM setup and install IIS before proceeding. The installation time of SolarWinds NPM depends on the complexity of the configured data, such as locations or tickets.

User reviews

One-on-one evaluation by third party reviewers: ManageEngine OpManager VS PRTG Network Monitor VS SolarWinds NPM.

Here's a consolidated report based on the evaluation by third-party vendors. Take a look at how users have rated OpManager against PRTG Network Monitor and SolarWinds NPM.

Disclaimer: This page is compiled from the information available on PRTG and Solarwinds' website. We have made every attempt to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information provided in this document. However, the information is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. ManageEngine is not liable for any inaccuracies in the document due to changes made on their websites or any development made to the their product subsequent to the date of publication of this document (August, 2023). Please refer to their websites for more information.