13 Best Network Monitoring Software and Tools for 2026 (With Pricing)

The best network monitoring software in 2026 depends mostly on the size of your network and who runs it. For a small or mid-size business with one IT generalist, PRTG Network Monitor is the easiest all-round pick, and its freeware edition covers up to 100 sensors. Teams that want free, open-source monitoring and can spare engineering time should look at Zabbix or Checkmk. Multi-site businesses and MSPs that want a cloud dashboard with automatic network maps tend to choose Auvik or Domotz. Large or hybrid-cloud enterprises usually end up with SolarWinds, LogicMonitor or Datadog.

We compared 13 tools on deployment model, what they monitor, free options and vendor-published pricing. Every price below was checked on the vendor’s own site in September 2026. Where a vendor only gives prices on request, we say so and don’t guess.

Network monitoring tools compared

What are network monitoring tools?

Network monitoring tools continuously check the health and performance of routers, switches, firewalls, wireless access points, servers and the links between them, and alert you when something fails or degrades. Most collect data four ways: SNMP polling and traps for device and interface metrics, flow records (NetFlow, sFlow, IPFIX) for traffic analysis, packet capture for deep troubleshooting, and synthetic tests for latency and loss between sites. Our explainer on what network monitoring is covers each method in detail.

What are the best network monitoring tools for 2026?

1. PRTG Network Monitor (Paessler): best all-rounder for SMBs

PRTG installs on a Windows server and monitors everything through “sensors”: one sensor is one metric, such as the traffic on a single switch port, a ping, or a disk’s free space. It includes sensors for SNMP (including SNMP traffic on each port) and NetFlow v9 out of the box, auto-discovers devices, and ships with dashboards, maps and alerting that work without much tuning. That makes it the easiest full-featured tool for a small team to stand up in an afternoon.

• Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): subscription only. PRTG 500 is $200/month, PRTG 1000 $358/month, PRTG 2500 $742/month, PRTG 5000 $1,300/month and PRTG 10000 $1,642/month, all paid annually. Paessler estimates about 10 sensors per device, so PRTG 500 covers roughly 50 devices.
• Free: the Freeware Edition includes up to 100 sensors (about 10 devices). The 30-day trial has no sensor limit and reverts to freeware afterwards.
• Watch out for: licences can’t be combined on one server, so growing past a tier means moving up a whole tier. Very large estates are pushed to PRTG Enterprise Monitor, which starts at $1,671/month for 10,000 sensors.

2. SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor and Observability: best for large enterprises

SolarWinds NPM is one of the best-known enterprise network monitors, with deep SNMP device support, NetPath hop-by-hop path analysis and automatic topology maps. SolarWinds now sells NPM’s capabilities inside SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted (formerly Hybrid Cloud Observability), and offers a cloud version, SolarWinds Observability SaaS. The company was taken private by Turn/River Capital in April 2025.

• Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): Observability Self-Hosted starts at $8 per node per month (Essentials, which includes network performance monitoring), $14 (Advanced, adds flow monitoring and analysis) and $17.50 (Premier), on multi-year contracts billed annually. Observability SaaS network and infrastructure monitoring starts at $15.75 per node per month. Standalone NPM is quote-only.
• Free: 30-day fully functional trial.
• Watch out for: subscription only, multi-year terms, and Enterprise editions are required above 1,500 nodes. Smaller teams often find it more platform than they need.

If SolarWinds’ pricing or contract terms don’t fit, see the SolarWinds NPM alternatives.

3. Auvik: best for MSPs and multi-site networks

Auvik is a cloud-only network monitoring and management platform. You drop a collector on each site, and it discovers devices, draws a live topology map, backs up switch and firewall configurations, and alerts on problems. It supports SNMP, NetFlow, SSH and vendor APIs. Performance sites add flow analytics, application visibility and centralised syslog on top of the Essentials feature set.

• Pricing: quote-only. Auvik prices by “billable devices”: firewalls, routers, switches, wireless LAN controllers, hypervisors and certain servers. Access points, printers, UPS units, cameras, IoT and end-user devices are monitored free and don’t count. Volume discounts and MSP packages are available.
• Free: 14-day trial with all features, no credit card.
• Watch out for: SaaS only, with no perpetual licence or self-hosted option.

4. LogicMonitor: best for hybrid-cloud observability

LogicMonitor (LM Envision) is a SaaS platform that uses on-premises collectors to monitor network devices, servers, cloud services and logs from one console, with topology mapping, configuration monitoring and NetFlow. Its Edwin AI layer targets alert noise reduction in large estates. It suits enterprises and MSPs that want network and cloud infrastructure in one place.

• Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): starting monthly list prices of $16 (Essentials), $27 (Advanced) and $53 (Signature + Edwin AI) per “hybrid unit”. One hybrid unit equals one collector-monitored device, one cloud IaaS resource, seven cloud PaaS resources or five wireless access points. Essentials is limited to 999 hybrid units, and actual pricing depends on volume and contract terms.
• Free: 15-day trial of any plan.
• Watch out for: minimum quantities are not published, so request a quote early. Our LogicMonitor review goes deeper.

5. Datadog Network Monitoring: best for cloud-first teams

Datadog splits network monitoring into separate products you can mix: Network Device Monitoring (SNMP metrics and traps from routers, switches and firewalls), Cloud Network Monitoring (formerly Network Performance Monitoring; traffic between hosts, containers and cloud services), NetFlow Monitoring (NetFlow v5 and v9, IPFIX, sFlow and jFlow) and Network Path (synthetic path tests). If your servers and applications are already in Datadog, adding the network layer puts everything on one timeline.

• Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): Network Device Monitoring $7 per device per month billed annually ($8.50 month-to-month). Cloud Network Monitoring $5 per network host per month billed annually ($6 month-to-month). NetFlow Monitoring from $0.60 per million flow records per month with 15-day retention. Network Path $5 per 1,000 tests per month.
• Free: 14-day trial of the full Datadog suite.
• Watch out for: every capability is billed separately, so model your device, host and flow volumes before committing.

6. ManageEngine OpManager: best value for mid-size IT teams

OpManager is an on-premises monitor for network devices, servers and virtualisation, licensed per device (all interfaces and sensors on a device are included). It covers SNMP monitoring, fault management, maps and reporting. Traffic analysis comes from the NetFlow Analyzer add-on, which includes 2 interfaces free.

• Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): annual subscription from US$95 for 10 devices (Standard) or US$145 for 10 devices (Professional); 100 devices cost US$795 (Standard) or US$1,145 (Professional). Enterprise edition starts at US$4,595 for 250 devices.
• Free: Free Edition monitors up to 3 devices; 30-day trial.
• Watch out for: NetFlow is a paid add-on beyond 2 interfaces, and the interface feels dense next to newer SaaS tools.

7. Zabbix: best free open-source platform

Zabbix monitors networks, servers, cloud and applications with agents plus agentless collection, and supports SNMP v1, v2c and v3 and SNMP traps. Templates cover most common network vendors. It scales to very large estates with proxies, but expect to spend real time on templates, triggers and tuning. Zabbix 7.0 is the current long-term-support release.

• Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): free, “with no license fees, no device limits, and no feature gates”, in Zabbix’s words. Hosted Zabbix Cloud starts at $50/month (50 new values per second) plus storage. Paid support (Silver to Global tiers) is quote-only.
• Watch out for: no native NetFlow analysis; pair it with a flow tool if you need traffic breakdowns.

8. Nagios XI and Nagios Core: best for plugin flexibility

Nagios Core is the free, open-source engine behind a huge plugin ecosystem. Nagios XI is the commercial version, adding a web interface, configuration wizards, dashboards and reporting. XI polls SNMP and receives traps; flow analysis is a separate product, Nagios Network Analyzer ($4,995 single licence).

• Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): Nagios XI Standard from $2,595 for 100 nodes, $8,295 for 500 nodes and $14,995 for 1,000 nodes; Enterprise from $4,690 for 100 nodes. The first year of maintenance and support is included; renewal is required after that.
• Free: Nagios Core is free. Nagios XI’s free version covers 7 nodes or 100 services, whichever comes first, without support. 30-day XI trial.
• Watch out for: Core needs hands-on Linux administration, and XI’s per-node pricing climbs quickly past a few hundred devices.

9. Checkmk: best for mixed server and network estates

Checkmk monitors servers, applications and network devices with agents and SNMP (v1, v2c and v3), and auto-discovers the services on each host. It is strong for teams that want one tool for both infrastructure and network. Checkmk has renamed its editions: Checkmk Community (formerly Raw), Pro (formerly Enterprise), Ultimate, and the hosted Checkmk Cloud. Flow analysis comes through an integration with ntopng, not a native collector.

• Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): priced per monitored service (Checkmk says hosts average about 30 services). The pricing page showed euros for us: Pro from €190 per month and Ultimate from €275 per month, billed annually, for about 3,000 services; Checkmk Cloud from €240 per month for 1,000 services. Check the site in your own currency.
• Free: Checkmk Community is free and open source. Self-hosted Pro and Ultimate trials run 30 days, then continue in a free mode limited to 750 services on one site.
• Watch out for: per-service pricing needs a proper count of your estate before you compare it with per-device tools.

10. Obkio: best for WAN and ISP performance monitoring

Obkio takes a different approach: instead of polling devices, it places lightweight monitoring agents at each site (and in the cloud) and runs continuous synthetic traffic between them. That measures latency, jitter and packet loss across WAN, SD-WAN, VPN and internet links, so you can prove whether a slowdown is inside your network or at the ISP. It also polls devices over SNMP.

• Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): Starter from $249/month with 5 agents on a one-year commitment. Larger plans and Enterprise are sized through the vendor’s pricing calculator or sales.
• Free: a free-forever plan limited to 2 software agents, and a 14-day trial with Premium features (up to 10 agents).
• Watch out for: it complements, and does not replace, a device and traffic monitor.

11. NinjaOne: best for combining RMM and network monitoring

NinjaOne is best known as an RMM and endpoint management platform, and its network management system (NMS) adds SNMP v1, v2 and v3 monitoring, NetFlow and syslog for devices that cannot run an agent, such as routers, switches, firewalls and printers. For internal IT teams and MSPs already managing endpoints in NinjaOne, that avoids running a second console for the network.

• Pricing: quote-only. NinjaOne says it doesn’t publicly list full pricing; its pricing FAQ gives an indicative per-device range of $1.50 per month at 10,000 endpoints up to $3.75 per month at 50 or fewer endpoints.
• Free: 14-day trial.
• Watch out for: it is an endpoint-first platform. For deep flow analysis or large multi-vendor networks, a dedicated network monitor still goes further.

12. Domotz: best per-site pricing

Domotz runs a collector (software or a small appliance) on each site that discovers every device, maps the network, monitors via SNMP, and gives remote access to devices for troubleshooting. It is popular with MSPs and AV/security integrators because pricing is per site, not per device.

• Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): MSPs and commercial integrators pay $35 per site per month, or $17.50 with a 12-month commitment; IT teams pay $35 per location per month. Devices are unlimited, with no per-user or setup fees.
• Free: 14-day trial, no credit card.
• Watch out for: per-site pricing is excellent for many small sites and less compelling for one very large site.

13. WhatsUp Gold (Progress): best for traditional on-premises monitoring

WhatsUp Gold, from Progress, is a Windows-based on-premises monitor with automatic discovery, interactive topology maps, SNMP v1 to v3, WMI and SSH monitoring, and traffic analysis (NetFlow, IPFIX, sFlow and J-Flow) through its Network Traffic Analysis Plus module. Current editions are Business, Enterprise, Enterprise Plus and Enterprise Scale.

• Pricing (vendor-published, checked September 2026): per year for 50 devices: Business from $1,229, Enterprise from $2,049 and Enterprise Plus from $3,469, excluding taxes. Enterprise Scale is quote-only.
• Free: Free Edition monitors up to 10 devices and upgrades without reinstalling; a free trial is available.
• Watch out for: check which edition includes traffic analysis before you buy, and plan for Windows server upkeep.

What are some good free network monitoring tools?

Free tools fall into two camps: fully open-source platforms with no device limits, and freemium editions of commercial products with a cap.

Remember that “free” covers the licence, not the server, storage or the hours spent building templates and alerts. For a network under about 10 devices, PRTG Freeware is the quickest free start. For anything larger where budget is the constraint, Zabbix or LibreNMS plus Wireshark for troubleshooting is a common, capable stack. The list of free network monitoring software has more options.

How much does network monitoring software cost?

Using the vendor-published prices above, rough annual licence costs for a network of about 100 monitored devices look like this:

• ManageEngine OpManager: US$795 (Standard) to US$1,145 (Professional) per year for 100 devices.
• PRTG: PRTG 1000 (about 100 devices) is $358/month billed annually, or $4,296 per year.
• Datadog Network Device Monitoring: 100 devices at $7 is $700/month, or $8,400 per year before flow or host monitoring.
• SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted Essentials: 100 nodes at $8 is $800/month, or $9,600 per year, on a multi-year contract.
• Nagios XI Standard: $2,595 for 100 nodes, including the first year of support.
• Zabbix, Nagios Core, LibreNMS: $0 in licences.

These are our calculations from list prices, not vendor quotes. Licensing units differ (sensors, nodes, devices, hosts, sites), so count your devices the way each vendor does before comparing, and ask about volume discounts.

How to choose network monitoring software by network size

Small networks (under 50 devices, one site)

Prioritise fast setup and low cost. PRTG (freeware or PRTG 500), OpManager Standard or a free open-source tool will do the job. You need availability alerts, bandwidth graphs on your internet link and a simple dashboard, not a platform.

Mid-size networks (50 to 500 devices, a few sites)

Add flow analysis, topology maps and configuration backup. PRTG, OpManager with NetFlow Analyzer, Checkmk and Auvik all fit. If you have several sites and no local IT, a cloud tool with per-site collectors (Auvik, Domotz) saves a lot of VPN wrangling.

Large and hybrid networks (500+ devices, data centres, cloud)

Look for distributed pollers, role-based access, API integrations with your ITSM and on-call tools, and cloud coverage. SolarWinds Observability, LogicMonitor, Datadog and Zabbix (with proxies) are the usual candidates. Run a proof of concept on your hardest site first.

MSPs

Multi-tenancy and per-client reporting matter more than anything. Auvik, Domotz and NinjaOne are built for MSPs; LogicMonitor also sells to them. If you already run an RMM, check whether its network module is enough before adding another tool; our RMM software guide covers the overlap.

What should you look for in network monitoring software?

• Protocol coverage: SNMP v1, v2c and v3 at minimum; NetFlow, sFlow or IPFIX if you need to know what is using bandwidth. See our SNMP monitoring tools and network traffic monitoring tools guides.
• Auto-discovery and maps: the tool should find devices and draw topology without manual entry.
• Alerting that scales: dependencies, thresholds with duration, and routing to email, SMS, Teams, Slack or PagerDuty.
• Licensing unit: sensors, nodes, devices, hosts or sites. The cheapest list price can become the most expensive once you count your estate the vendor’s way.
• Deployment: self-hosted gives control and data residency; SaaS removes server upkeep.
• Integrations: ticketing, chat, on-call and your capacity planning process.

Browse the full network monitoring software category to compare more tools side by side.

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Frequently asked questions