6 Best PRTG Alternatives for Network Monitoring in 2024!

Finding a suitable alternative to PRTG for network monitoring and management can be tough, but we're hear to simplify the process. We've grabbed the most similar products to PRTG, most of which have the same features and others have more features and better (lower) price points, and listed them below.

Here is our list of the top Paessler PRTG Alternatives:

Auvik Network Management – EDITOR’S CHOICE This cloud-based SaaS package is a strong alternative for the network monitoring features of PRTG and it goes one step further by providing network configuration management, which PRTG doesn’t have. Get a 14-day free trial.
Atera – FREE TRIAL This cloud platform provides tools for managed service providers to support the monitoring and management of client systems and includes network monitoring. Access 30-day free trial.
ManageEngine OpManager – FREE TRIAL A monitoring system for networks and servers that performs network discovery and creates an inventory and map for ongoing monitoring. Available for Windows Server and Linux. Access the 30-day free trial.
Site24x7 – FREE TRIAL This cloud platform offers a combination of network, server, and application monitors plus Web asset performance tracking. Access the 30-day free trial.
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor This SNMP-based monitoring system performs automatic network device discovery and creates constantly updated inventory and maps as a basis for live monitoring.
Nagios Available in free and paid versions, this package monitors networks, servers, and applications and can be extended by free plug-ins. Rund on Linux.

Many of these products share the same feature sets as PRTG, including but not limited to the following:

Multi-Vendor Sensors built-in
Bandwidth Monitoring using Netflow, sFlow, SNMP, WMI and more!
Application and Server Monitoring
Alerts, Notifications and Reporting Capabilities and Schedules
IPv4 and IPv6 Support
Server and Network Uptime/Downtime Monitoring
QoS and VOIP Monitoring capabilities
Web and Mobile Accessibility
Automatic Network Discovery and Mapping
SLA Monitoring and more!

The best PRTG Alternatives

Below you'll find a quick list of all the software packages we'd recommend for a PRTG alternative or replacement altogether. Most of these have Free trial periods along with extensive documentation and tutorials for getting setup within minutes.

1. Auvik Network management – FREE TRIAL

Auvik Network Management provides a strong alternative to PRTG’s SaaS version. This system enrolls a network by installing an agent on a server on the site. This unit scans the network and discovers all devices, uploading that information to the Auvik cloud server, which assembles a hardware inventory. Information about switches and routers also includes the devices connected to each interface. Thus, Auvik is able to use the inventory data to create a network map.

Auvik Network Management provides the following features:

Network discovery that repeats, noting changes to the network
Creates and manages a hardware inventory and a network map
Scans devices for statuses with the Simple Network Management Protocol
Collects network traffic data using NetFlow, IPFIX, sFlow, and J-Flow
Archives the configurations of network devices and rescans every 60 minutes to compare current settings
A cloud-based dashboard that can be accessed from anywhere through any standard Web browser

Pros:

A flat rate subscription regardless of how many endpoints and sites are being monitored
Traffic analysis that identifies external connections and their locations
Protocol analysis and major traffic generator reports
Rogue device detection
Network configuration protection

Cons:

No on-premises version

The cloud-based system is easy to set up and you can try it out with a 14-day free trial.

EDITOR'S CHOICE

Auvik Network Management is our top pick for a PRTG alternative because this package is a strong rival to the PRTG system with many of the same functions. The Auvik system is based in the cloud, so it competes directly with the newer SaaS version of PRTG rather than the on-premises version for Windows Server. Like PRTG, this system sets itself up with an autodiscovery feature. That service generates a hardware inventory and a network map. This network documentation is the foundation of the monitoring tool. SNMP-based device polling checks that there are no hardware problems on the network. Device agents send out warnings if they discover component failures. The other main service in the platform is its network traffic analyzer. This communicates with switches and routers to extract traffic statistics, using the NetFlow, sFlow, J-Flow, and IPFIX flow protocols. The dashboard shows traffic statistics such as top talkers and the main external correspondents for connections. This platform also includes a network configuration manager – a function that PRTG does not provide.

Download: Start a 14-day FREE Trial

Official Site: https://www.auvik.com/features/#trial

OS: Cloud-based

2. Atera – FREE TRIAL

Atera is designed for managed service providers (MSPs). It includes systems for the management of an MSP business and also tools for technicians in order to support the systems of clients. This bundle of technician tools includes network, endpoint, and application monitoring tools that rival those of PRTG.

Important features of Atera are:

Automatic system monitoring that ensues unattended
Alerts for performance issues
A patch manager for Windows, macOS, and software packages
A ticketing system and team management package
Remote access tools for maintenance and support actions

The Atera package is a cloud platform that is provided on a subscription, which can be paid monthly or annually.

Pros:

Lightweight cloud-based tool
Built with MSPs in mind, and includes RMM and PSA tools built-in
The framework is highly customizable, making Atera extremely flexible
Can scale and support multiple databases in a multi-tenant environment
Packaged pricing makes Atera accessible to any size business

Cons:

Atera is MSP focused, smaller organizations may not use all multi-tenant features

Packages start at $129 per technician per month on an annual basis. You can start with a 30-day free trial.

Atera Start a 30-day FREE Trial

3. ManageEngine OpManager – FREE TRIAL

ManageEngine has been upping its game with its well featured OpManager software solution for network monitoring. There pricing model is based on the number of devices your trying to monitor at any given time (like PRTG), which some businesses and purchasing managers might sway away from.

OpManager is a great option for an PRTG alternative and here are some highlights:

Network Health Monitoring of your LAN/WAN
Proactive VOIP and QoS Monitoring
Layer 1 & 2 Network Mapping
WAN Monitoring (including Latency for SLA requirements)
Policy and Configuration Management
Flow-Based Bandwidth Analysis
And much More

Pros:

Designed to work right away, features over 200 customizable widgets to build unique dashboards and reports
Leverages autodiscover to find, inventory, and map new devices
Uses intelligent alerting to reduce false positives and eliminate alert fatigue across larger networks
Supports email, SMS, and webhook for numerous alerting channels
Integrates well in the ManageEngine ecosystem with their other products

Cons:

Is a feature-rich tool that will require a time investment to properly learn

Start a 30-day free trial to work out your requirements.

ManageEngine opManager Download a 30-day FREE Trial

4. Site24x7 – FREE TRIAL

Site24x7 is a cloud platform of monitoring services that covers all of the network, server, and application monitoring systems in PRTG and adds on log management and Web asset monitoring. This system is delivered from the cloud, so you don’t have to host it on your own servers.

The useful services of Site24x7 include:

Network discovery, device inventory creation, and network topology mapping
Constant device monitoring with SNMP
A bandwidth analyzer that uses NetFlow, J-Flow, sFlow, CFlow, IPFIX, NetStream, and AppFlow
Server hardware and performance monitoring
Application dependency mapping and performance monitoring
Real-user monitoring and synthetic for websites that can be launched from more than 120 locations

Pros:

Flexible cloud-based monitoring option
Offers a host of out-of-box monitoring options and dashboard templates for SQL server
Allows administrators to view dependencies within the application stack, good for building SLAs and optimizing uptime
Offers root cause analysis enhanced by AI to fix technical issues faster
Can unify SQL monitoring across multi-cloud environments

Cons:

Site24x7 is a feature-rich platform with options that extended beyond databases management, may require time to learn all options and features

Get started with a 30-day free trial.

Site24x7 Start a 30-day FREE Trial

5. SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) really stands out amongst the rest for being at the top of their game in terms of network monitoring and added functionality to their already great product line. Many of you might be familiar with the SolarWinds Orion platform of which all their products integrate into it making it a versatile program for expansion and integration of other services and software they offer.

NPM provides the following features:

Performance, Fault and Uptime/Downtime Monitoring of Network Assets and Resources (via Netflow, sFlow, SNMP Monitoring, jFlow and much more)
Automatic Network Topology Mapping and Drawings (Wired and Wireless discovery and segmentation)
NetPath Technology for Hop-by-Hop analysis of Critical Network paths
Capacity Forecasting along with Alerting/Reports
Hardware Health Stats and Monitoring
Performance and Availability Reports
Network Performance Base-lining

Pros:

Takes a holistic approach to server performance and health monitoring
Supports auto-discovery that builds network topology maps and inventory lists in real-time based on devices that enter the network
Supports both SNMP monitoring as well as packet analysis, giving you more control over monitoring than similar tools
Uses drag and drop widgets to customize the look and feel of the dashboard
Robust reporting system with pre-configured compliance templates

Cons:

Designed for IT professionals, not the best option for non-technical users

SolarWinds Really brings the Best to the Table and is probably the Best substitute for PRTG at the time of this writing. Download a 30-day free trial.

6. Nagios

Nagios is another great PRTG alternative that will help in monitoring your network devices and computers efficiently. The setup is a little different from SolarWinds' offering, as Nagios is actually open source and some admins shy away from that. (We've recently gone through the best Nagios alternatives and found out that SolarWinds actually has the functionality to import Nagios script natively, which is really convenient).

Nagios has some great features that will assist you in moving away from PRTG if that is your goal.

Nagios has some of the following features:

Nagios core for its Monitoring Engine
Graphs, Reports and More
Automated Capacity Planning for Future Upgrades
Custom Config Wizard
Manage User Accounts and Custom Roles

Pros:

Simple, yet informative interface
Flexible alerting options support SMS and email
A wide range of community-designed plugins are available for free

Cons:

The open-source version lacks the support found in paid products

Conclusion

Finding the right software to replace PRTG can be a challenge, but we've broken down some great substitutes and alternatives to Paessler and how they relate in terms of feature sets and monitoring capabilities. We'll keep adding to this list and update it as more software products become available that provide similar functionality, features and reporting capabilities.

Some reasons why people are looking to switch their network monitoring and management software include greater visibility into their networks and pricing.

Many prefer SolarWinds NPM over some of the options we've listed above because of its constant updating and scanning of your network to keep all new devices, switches, servers and other network equipment updated, mapped and diagrammed out within the software.

This proves to be very beneficial when there are network latency or outages and you need an almost real-time look into your network to see which devices are causing these issues.

We suggest you give SolarWinds NPM a try (or one of the others mentioned above) and you'll quickly realize that its one of the best decisions you'll make in your environment.

Download Free NOW!