10 Best Network Monitoring & Management Tools in 2024

We’ve listed the 10 best network monitoring and management tools today based on actual scores from leading review sites, such as G2 and Capterra.

Network management is an essential aspect of any successful IT business. Stated simply, network management is the process that identifies, tracks, and maps a network’s health so that you gain complete visibility over your network. The goal of network management is to help you proactively manage your IT environment and reduce the risk of zero-day vulnerabilities and other cybersecurity threats.

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Table of Contents

Best network monitoring & management software

1. NinjaOne
2. Auvik
3. Domotz
4. ManageEngine OpManager
5. PRTG Network Monitor
6. Datadog Network Performance Monitoring
7. Dynatrace
8. WhatsUp Gold
9. Nagios XI
10. Zabbix

• Final Scores

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Do I need network monitoring & management tools?

Modern-day networks comprise different endpoints, such as routers, switches, virtual machines, and servers, all interconnected to form an organization’s IT infrastructure. As more businesses become remote and distributed, securing your network from various cyber threats has become increasingly important.

Remember that each element of the modern-day network significantly increases the attack surface for cybercriminals to target. Great network management tools give you the visibility you need to carefully monitor and control these endpoints and ensure the smooth, uninterrupted performance of your organization’s network.

A great way to think about network management is like your car dashboard: The different symbols flash when certain parameters are met, such as when your car has low fuel or someone is not wearing a seatbelt. Knowing something is “wrong” allows you to rectify the situation and prevent an accident. In a similar fashion, network management tools are warning alarms that help you maintain the health and safety of your IT business.

5 important components of network management tools

It’s worth noting that the primary purpose of network management is to deliver a secure, efficient, and reliable network to all your end users. As such, any good network management tool should be able to offer these 5 essential features.

1. Centralized network monitoring

Your IT team must ensure all necessary endpoints are connected and visible in your IT network. The best way to achieve this is through centralized network monitoring, which allows you to perform all tasks in a single dashboard. This is particularly important for remote or hybrid teams.

2. Automated management

Ideally, your network monitoring tools should leverage automation to reduce the need for manual intervention. This also lowers the risk of human error or redundancy and frees your IT technicians to focus on higher-value tasks.

3. Exhaustive and detailed message logging

Any good network management tool can generate, store, and report message logging. This helps you meet industry standard KPIs and other compliance IT compliance protocols. The most common logging mechanism for network management is the Syslog protocol, which records and transmits log messages across a wide range of systems.

4. Configuration management

Because remote work has become more prevalent, it’s important that your IT team can maintain computer systems, servers, applications, and other IT components in their desired state, wherever they’re located. Configuration management is essential to any network management tool so that you can easily diagnose any network issues and monitor your entire IT infrastructure.

5. Network Analytics

Your network management tool needs to collect and analyze real-time data to improve your network’s performance, reliability, visibility, and security. A good software provider should utilize automation so your IT staff can spend less time on repetitive tasks.

Now that we’ve discussed the basics of network management and what makes a great network management tool, let’s examine the best options available on the market today.

 

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10 best network monitoring & management tool solutions

All G2 & Capterra ratings data as of September 2024.

1. NinjaOne

NinjaOne provides native network monitoring software in its endpoint management solution, which has been rated #1 on G2 for years. One of the main advantages of its network management tool is that it offers single-pane visibility into all your SNMP devices, from routers to switches to firewalls. With NinjaOne, you gain complete visibility into the health and performance of your IT network so that your team can become more efficient.

The best part? Ninja’s network monitoring includes over 50 OID templates for common device types, including Dell, iDRAC, HP iLO, Synology NAS, and APC UPS devices.

Over 17,000 customers worldwide trust NinjaOne for its network monitoring and management solution because of its fast, accurate, and real-time polling and visibility. Designed by IT for IT, the team at Ninja has built a powerful and lightweight solution to automate the hardest parts of IT so that you and your team can focus on your core competencies without worry. The numbers speak for themselves:

• 98% customer satisfaction score (CSAT)
• 95% of all Ninja clients report increased IT efficiency after only a few days of using the platform.
• 94% reduced ticket volumes and ticket resolution times
• 93% saved time on patching
• 71% replaced more than four tools with NinjaOne

NinjaOne network monitoring software gives you the tools and features you need to optimize your IT network. Its solution offers 24/7 monitoring so that you are immediately notified of network abnormalities. This allows you to proactively act and remediate any issue. Further, all data in its network monitoring solution is encrypted in motion and at rest. It also employs MFA as another layer of security.

NinjaOne is also SOC 2 certified. As with all Ninja products, you can realize better business outcomes, improve employee efficiency while optimizing the user experience, and scale securely with cloud-native speed and agility in only a few months.

NinjaOne reviews on G2

NinjaOne reviews on Capterra

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2. Auvik

Auvik is a cloud-based network management and monitoring software that automates a variety of time-consuming tasks, such as documentation and monitoring. Users can proactively manage diverse networks, endpoints, and SaaS applications in a single dashboard.

Auvik’s platform empowers IT teams to confidently navigate their IT network with less friction and lower operational risk. It does this by providing total visibility into the key parts of your IT infrastructure, contributing to more proactive management.

See how Auvik compares with NinjaOne or read this in-depth analysis of Auvik alternatives.

Use cases

• Centralized management
• Automated alerts
• Centralized Syslog

Shortcomings

• Better suited for more experienced IT professionals
• Could improve its mobile support
• Does not support all network devices – users are recommended to check Auvik compatibility before purchase

Auvik reviews on G2

Auvik reviews on Capterra

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3. Domotz

Domotz is a cloud-based software that helps IT technicians remotely monitor, manage, and troubleshoot networks and connected devices. The SaaS company markets itself as a powerful solution for MSPs and IT teams of all sizes across all industries.

Its solution has integrated features, such as network configuration management, versioning and backup, network topology map, integrations with PSA, and documentation and ticketing systems.

Use cases

• Unified dashboard
• Integrations
• Network topology map

Shortcomings

• May slow down when you manage many devices
• Mapping feature relies on SNMP compatibility and only for specific brands
• User-interface could be improved

Domotz reviews on G2

Domotz reviews on Capterra

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4. ManageEngine OpManager

OpManager is a ManageEngine product specifically designed for IT teams to gain visibility and control over their networks, servers, and applications. According to its website, ManageEngine OpManager is an easy-to-use solution that enables IT teams to preemptively resolve potential threats.

It is a popular tool among mid-sized to larger IT teams because it provides real-time and deep visibility into network devices, servers, virtual machines, and switches. It is specifically designed for multi-vendor enterprise IT networks.

See how ManageEngine compares with NinjaOne or read a more in-depth analysis of ManageEngine alternatives.

Use cases

• Real-time network monitoring of device health, availability, and performance
• IT workflow automation
• Email and SMS alerting

Shortcomings

• Backup feature for devices could be further improved
• Many G2 users have expressed their desire for better customer support
• The notification tool can sometimes disappear after an upgrade and needs to be manually turned on again

ManageEngine OpManager reviews on G2

ManageEngine OpManager reiews on Capterra

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5. PRTG Network Monitor

PRTG Network Monitor is the network monitoring software by Paessler AG. The solution is used to monitor local and wide area networks (LANs and WANs), servers, websites, apps, and more. Unlike other software providers, PRTG is a classic on-premises monitoring solution.

Aside from central monitoring, PRTG Network Monitor offers high flexibility and easy scalability for IT, OT, and IoT infrastructures. IT teams have full administrative control of their IT infrastructures, which are run on dedicated services, and have complete flexibility regarding hardware maintenance, backups, and upgrades.

See how PRTG compares with NinjaOne or read a more in-depth analysis of PRTG alternatives.

Use cases

• Bandwidth monitoring
• Preconfigured sensors for monitoring devices
• Automatic network discovery

Shortcomings

• Alert and notification features could be improved
• Complex email alert setting
• Limited built-in libraries

PRTG Network Monitor reviews on G2

PRTG Network Monitor reviews on Capterra

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6. Datadog Network Performance Monitoring

Datadog Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) is a well-known network management software that offers end-to-end visibility into on-premises and cloud networks. Aside from providing real-time network insights, Datadog allows you to also track key network metrics, such as TCP retransmits and connection churn.

Its NPM can be used to monitor Windows and Linux devices and containerized environments orchestrated with Istio service mesh.

Use cases

• Real-time monitoring
• Integrations
• Network mapping

Shortcomings

• Has a steep learning curve
• Documentation can be complex to learn
• Customer support could be better improved

Datadog Network Performance Monitoring reviews on G2

Datadog Network Performance Monitoring reviews on Capterra

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7. Dynatrace

The Dynatrace platform is intended for businesses of all sizes to observe their networks with state-of-the-art analytics and automation. Its network monitoring tool contextually analyzes data to understand connections and drive better answers. Leveraging automation, Dynatrace also allows you to easily discover and examine key business processes.

Dynatrace offers unified observability and security with its Davis® hypermodal AI. This enables IT teams to modernize and automate cloud operations.

Use cases

• Infrastructure observability
• Security analytics
• Enterprise-grade privacy and compliance management

Shortcomings

• Better suited for more experienced IT professionals
• Delays in problems alerting
• Dynatrace could improve its user interface.

Dynatrace reviews on G2

Dynatrace reviews on Capterra

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8. Progress Whatsup Gold

Progress WhatsUp Gold allows your IT team to quickly identify and resolve issues either through the cloud or on-premises infrastructure. The company provides complete visibility into the status and performance of all applications, network devices, and servers.

WhatsUp Gold Layer 2/3 discovery allows you to discover, map, and monitor every connected endpoint in your IT network. This helps significantly reduce the time needed to detect and remediate any connectivity issue.

Use cases

• Network availability
• Performance monitoring
• Real-time alerting

Shortcomings

• Reporting tool could be improved
• According to some G2 users, most patching needs to be implemented manually
• Alerting occasionally produces false positive notifications

Progress WhatsUp Gold reviews on G2

WhatsUp Gold reviews on Capterra

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9. Nagios XI

Nagios XI offers enterprise-grade monitoring, alerts, and analysis of your IT network. The solution runs on the Nagios Core 4 monitoring engine, which uses high-efficiency processes for scalability and effectiveness.

One of its main marketing propositions is that it allows IT teams to proactively monitor, detect, and resolve problems through alerts sent through email, SMS, Slack, or Microsoft Teams.

Use cases

• IT infrastructure monitoring
• Centralized management
• Proactive alerts

Shortcomings

• Moderate learning curve
• Customization can be complex
• The user interface could be improved

Nagios XI reviews on G2

Nagios XI reviews on Capterra

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10. Zabbix

Zabbix is an enterprise-class software that monitors the health and integrity of networks, servers, virtual machines, and applications, among others. Because it uses a flexible notification mechanism, IT business leaders are immediately notified of any technical issue or vulnerability so they can remediate problems right away.

The platform provides a single pane of glass view of your whole IT infrastructure stack, enabling IT teams to easily monitor their network and server infrastructures, cloud deployments, APIs and websites, servers and applications, and IoT devices and sensors.

Use cases

• Single pane of glass management
• Flexible deployment options
• Unlimited scalability

Shortcomings

• Customer support could be improved
• May be better suited for more experienced IT professionals
• Limited documentation

Zabbix reviews on G2

Zabbix reviews on Capterra

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Comparison of best NMS software (G2)

 

Comparison of best NMS software (Capterra)

 

Final scores and summaries of network monitoring & management tools

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Our rankings formula

To derive the final score for each vendor, we employed a weighted formula that takes into account various metrics. Here’s how it breaks down:

Final Score = w1 * G2 Overall Star Rating + w2 * Capterra Overall Star Rating + w3 * G2 Good Partner in Doing Business + w4 * Capterra Customer Support+ w5 * G2 Total Number of Reviews (Scaled) + w6 * Capterra Total Number of Reviews (Scaled) + Other Factors

Where:

w1 = 0.15 (Weight for G2 Overall Star Rating)
w2 = 0.15 (Weight for Capterra Overall Star Rating)
w3 = 0.2 (Weight for G2 Good Partner in Doing Business)
w4 = 0.2 (Weight for Capterra Customer Support)
w5 = 0.1 (Weight for G2 Total Number of Reviews, Scaled)
w6 = 0.1 (Weight for Capterra Total Number of Reviews, Scaled)

Other Factors include additional metrics like ease of use, each multiplied by their corresponding weights:

w7 = 0.05 (Weight for G2 Ease of Use)
w8 = 0.05 (Weight for Capterra Ease of Use)

Finding the best network monitoring & management tools for your business

Today, IT technicians need to work with a comprehensive set of network management tools to ensure everything is working properly—from preventing downtime to guaranteeing their network’s overall health and security.

When using this guide, keep in mind that there is no one “perfect” solution for every company. However, the most suitable network management solution offers the appropriate tools for your specific pain points.

NinjaOne’s network monitoring and management tool is custom-built into its endpoint management solution so everything works together seamlessly—giving you the tools you need to experience radical efficiency from day one.

If you’re ready, request a free quote, sign up for a 14-day free trial, or watch a demo.