Azure Network Watcher vs PRTG Network Monitor comparison

Microsoft and Paessler GmbH are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Microsoft is ranked #42 with an average rating of 8.5, while Paessler GmbH is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.6. Microsoft holds a 0.5% mindshare in NMS, compared to Paessler GmbH’s 2.9% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Paessler GmbH users who would recommend it.

Azure Network Watcher

Read 13 Azure Network Watcher reviews

1,676 Views
1,626 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

PRTG Network Monitor

Read 113 PRTG Network Monitor reviews

14,738 Views
10,317 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Azure Network Watcher

PRTG Network Monitor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

PRTG Network Monitor and Azure Network Watcher are competitors in the network monitoring category. Based on their features, Azure Network Watcher seems to excel in environments heavily invested in cloud due to its native capabilities.

Features: PRTG Network Monitor offers extensive notification features, diverse sensors for network insights, and adaptability across environments. Azure Network Watcher provides network diagnostic tools, integrated firewall capabilities, and cloud-native features enhancing its utility in cloud deployments.

Room for Improvement: PRTG Network Monitor could enhance intuitive data presentation, desktop application usability, and scalability. Azure Network Watcher needs improvements in AI features, visualization clarity, and better documentation to facilitate analytics and integration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PRTG Network Monitor is versatile and deployable on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments, but users report slow support responses. Azure Network Watcher is aimed at public cloud setups with generally quicker support response times.

Pricing and ROI: PRTG Network Monitor has varied pricing, often seen as costly for larger setups, yet users experience good ROI via cost savings. Azure Network Watcher is reasonably priced, especially for basic use, with ROI benefits from efficient cloud resource management.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Network Watcher vs. PRTG Network Monitor Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher vs. PRTG Network Monitor

April 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 893,915 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Azure Network Watcher

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

42nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

PRTG Network Monitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

113

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (4th), Cloud Monitoring Software (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Azure Network Watcher is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PRTG Network Monitor is 2.9%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
PRTG Network Monitor	2.9%
Azure Network Watcher	0.5%
Other	96.6%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Bijoyendra Roychowdhury

Program Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

Network monitoring provides comprehensive analytics while the interface requires further development

The quality of Azure Network Watcher is quite good in terms of the in-depth analysis you can create from these matrices. There are other monitoring tools such as New Relic, AppDynamics, and Dynatrace which provide very detailed network tracing. Cloud providers such as Azure or AWS do not have that kind of GUI-based capability at this point, but using PowerShell or Python, you can develop it yourself. From the GUI perspective, it still needs to evolve in terms of quality and standard, though overall, it is quite good for troubleshooting. Regarding areas for improvement, when comparing to other network tools beyond Azure Monitor or Azure Network Watcher, those tools can identify single failed packets. This level of granularity is not currently possible with cloud providers as they only go to a certain level rather than the granular level needed for deep troubleshooting, though they do provide hints with available matrices.

Read full review

madhan kumar hs

software engineer at Capgemini

Alerting precision has reduced incident response times and improved department-level network visibility

The auto-pause sensor during the maintenance window is good without any false alerts, and it prevents me from getting flooded with alerts during planned maintenance, helping department heads understand their own network usage better. It has reduced incident response time by giving clearer ownership of each alert, ensuring alerts go to the proper recipient. SNMP testers and auto-pause are among the best features of PRTG Network Monitor, which is particularly useful for different departments such as HR and finance, where alerts can be filtered accordingly. The alerting features and dashboard of PRTG Network Monitor are very helpful, especially in our industry. However, the dashboard can look cluttered on smaller screens, which is one negative aspect. PRTG Network Monitor has impacted us positively; we have stopped getting flooded with alerts during planned maintenance or unplanned outages. Compared to others, this gives specific alerts very quickly and helps department heads understand their own network usage better, thus reducing incident response time so that each alert has clear ownership.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Azure Network Watcher provides valuable features based on your specific requirements and use cases, helping you monitor network bandwidth, throughput, data flow consumption, and control costs by giving insight into egress and ingress traffic, total input and output operations, bandwidth, and threats through IP identification."

"The most valuable feature of Azure Network Watcher is the cloud-native application firewall, which is helpful for securing databases."

"I like the visibility."

"We use the solution to monitor network services. It helps to capture any network issues."

"The solution is good for monitoring device behavior."

"This is a stable system providing stable performance."

"The stability is very good. I rate it a ten out of ten."

"The solution is stable, there are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze, it's reliable."

More Azure Network Watcher pros

"From my somewhat more high-level view, the summary dashboards are excellent, they give me what I need, and having spoken to the operations guys, it gives them everything they need."

"The most valuable feature of PRTG Network Monitor is the different monitoring probes available."

"The feature set is brilliant; it does everything that we need it to do, and if it doesn't, then there is a nice forum that we can jump on."

"I really love the activity library. It gives the flexibility to discover data and metrics about my interface and data server."

"Nice product with an easy interface to use and a large variety of sensors."

"The pricing of the solution is pretty good; we don't find it too unreasonable, and it offers good integration capabilities with an initial setup that was easy and rolled out smoothly."

"We have asked questions of their technical support and they have a very good response time."

"Currently, we are competing in the market with SolarWinds and ManageEngine, they are good, but we come out winning."

More PRTG Network Monitor pros

Cons

"Technical support from Microsoft needs significant improvement compared to other product vendors."

"Azure Network Watcher could improve by having other built-in applications. For example, an application to log activities for in and outbound traffic."

"Lacks sufficient security features."

"I still use Wireshark and Azure Network Watcher to get the required data. My team captures the traffic from Azure Network Watcher, downloads it, then imports that traffic into Wireshark to get more details on the number of hits and replies, for example. If you can do that on Azure Network Watcher and have Wireshark built-in, that would make Azure Network Watcher better. If Azure Network Watcher has that functionality where you won't need a third-party tool to get what you need, that would be helpful. I'm also expecting more from Azure Network Watcher. It's more complex than knowing how the IP flows from its source to the destination. The tool also needs more open-source features, such as having some built-in Wireshark that improves monitoring for customers. Sometimes, you encounter a VPN tunnel, network, or routing issue, but finding out more about the blockage is challenging. Is it one hundred percent an Azure issue? Is it a peer issue? You don't get complete information from Azure Network Watcher, so you must use other tools and depend on your strategies to resolve a specific issue. If more features could be added in the next release of Azure Network Watcher, specifically ones you can find on open-source tools, then that would be a plus point for the tool."

"Azure Network Watcher needs to have better documentation and it needs to capture information accurately."

"The solution could improve by limiting the need to clarify the logs. When the clarification is minimized, it is better for everyone involved."

"Azure is good, however, the Fortinet GUI is more intuitive and I like it more than anything else."

"It's not the most friendly or straightforward to set up. I don't see the value versus the way you have to set it up at first."

More Azure Network Watcher cons

"When using PRTG Network Monitor it is beneficial if you have prior experience with it, the user interface could improve."

"I would like a more straightforward ability to create dashboards and maps. The network maps should be a bit more flexibility in the GUI to do what we need to do."

"More training videos for installing and configuring PRTG Network Monitor would have been nice, especially when working with a lot of devices."

"PRTG Network Monitor can improve Layer 2 and Layer 3 network maps and the GUI more user-friendly. Additionally, they should bundle the features so I can monitor everything on one particular device."

"If PRTG Network Monitor could reconsider the pricing structure to make it more accessible to everyone, it would become a more stable product in the market for the future."

"Needs ability to monitor standard notification time (notify after X time)."

"It would be good if there were better graphical interfaces when you have it on multiple monitors... Because we have so many servers, things can get lost in the fog a little bit. Maybe having a better way of showing different geographies, Flash, etc., would help."

"In a very few cases, customers want more detailed reports, which we cannot meet."

More PRTG Network Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"Price-wise, I have no information on how much Azure Network Watcher costs."

"The pricing is good. It's not too expensive."

"Azure Network Watcher is a little bit expensive."

"Our licensing costs are 10,000 euros over three years."

"The price is actually on the cheaper side. If you're going with the unlimited license code, it's very cheap compared to competitors unless you're going for something free, like Zabbix. But you get what you pay for, and it doesn't have the full suite of products or tools like SolarWinds or a ScienceLogic."

"We bought a license for 4000 sensors."

"The price is pretty comparable."

"All monitoring system is close to the same pricing scheme."

"We are satisfied with the price."

"It is expensive."

"The licensing fees are billed annually and there are no costs in addition to this."

More PRTG Network Monitor pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

893,915 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user174738

IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

May 31, 2015

Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor

I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

22%

Construction Company

10%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	59
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	50

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Network Watcher?

I do not have the exact setup cost information on hand, but it is available in the public Azure portal. You can access the calculator there to get detailed pricing information.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Network Watcher?

The main area for improvement is AI-based features. Currently, many intelligent tools are coming from third parties, and Azure Network Watcher needs to improve in this area. The focus should be on ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Azure Network Watcher?

Azure Network Watcher is used for monitoring network traffic. It provides insight into egress and ingress traffic, which helps determine whether consumption can be controlled. Most Azure services c...

See all answers

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

PRTG network monitor is one of the best tool i have ever used for the monitoring. It have auto discovery option. it avoid the configuring the device in PRTG. It automatically discover the device an...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PRTG Network Monitor?

The pricing was higher at the beginning, but the recurring licensing cost is affordable and reasonable. Overall, the pricing, setup cost, and licensing is fair for our industry. They have quoted us...

See all answers

What needs improvement with PRTG Network Monitor?

The reporting features look very technical and that can be improved. If they can change the report so everyone can understand it, that would be helpful.

See all answers

Comparisons

Kentik vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 17% of the time

Nmap vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 15% of the time

Ixia Network Taps vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Network Monitor vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 6% of the time

ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 6% of the time

More Azure Network Watcher Competitors

Zabbix vs PRTG Network Monitor

Compared 4% of the time

Centreon vs PRTG Network Monitor

Compared 4% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs PRTG Network Monitor

Compared 3% of the time

WhatsUp Gold vs PRTG Network Monitor

Compared 3% of the time

Splunk AppDynamics vs PRTG Network Monitor

Compared 3% of the time

More PRTG Network Monitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher

May 2026

Download Azure Network Watcher product report

Buyer's Guide

PRTG Network Monitor

April 2026

Download PRTG Network Monitor product report

Overview

Azure Network Watcher provides advanced network monitoring capabilities including packet capture, cloud-native firewall, and traffic diagnosis, aiding in VPN troubleshooting and security enforcement with enhanced visibility and alerting features.

Azure Network Watcher is essential for monitoring, diagnosing, and analyzing network traffic. It efficiently handles VPN connection issues and enhances network security by capturing and analyzing traffic to assess performance or latency problems. The tool facilitates traffic flow control, security rule verification, and bandwidth monitoring. Users benefit from its capabilities in diagnosing service connections, offering insights into network activity, and identifying potential threats, crucial for maintaining compliance and efficient network management.

What are the key features of Azure Network Watcher?

Packet Capture: Enables detailed network traffic inspection to troubleshoot issues.
Cloud-Native Application Firewall: Provides enhanced protection for applications running in the cloud.
Traffic Monitoring: Allows for real-time analysis and troubleshooting of network traffic.
NSG Flow Logs & AI-Based Monitoring: Enhances flow control and threat detection.
Alerting & Threshold Configuration: Offers customizable alerts via Azure Monitor for proactive management.

What benefits can users look for in reviews?

Improved Network Security: Helps in identifying and mitigating threats efficiently.
Enhanced Visibility: Provides clear insights into network operations and potential issues.
Compliance Support: Assists in maintaining regulatory compliance with thorough monitoring capabilities.
Effective Bandwidth Management: Facilitates control and optimization of network bandwidth.

In industries like finance and healthcare, Azure Network Watcher is implemented to ensure robust security and compliance, crucial for safeguarding sensitive data. It aids retail and manufacturing sectors in optimizing network performance and maintaining seamless connectivity, supporting their digital infrastructure needs.

Microsoft

PRTG Network Monitor offers seamless network health tracking with flexible alerting and robust scalability. Its real-time monitoring and compatibility across diverse technologies enhance operational efficiency.

PRTG Network Monitor stands out by providing intuitive dashboards and detailed reporting to efficiently monitor network health, significantly reducing manual checks. Its quick setup and comprehensive compatibility cater to diverse environments. The alert system and real-time monitoring enable proactive maintenance, while custom scripting and a broad range of sensors allow for personalized monitoring options. Enhancements are suggested in database management, integration capabilities, Unix support, pricing, application performance, and dashboard customization. Users benefit from enhanced error messaging, flexible licensing, and better training resources.

What are the key features of PRTG Network Monitor?

Ease of Use: Intuitive dashboard makes network monitoring straightforward.
Flexible Alerting: Provides prompt notifications for proactive maintenance.
Scalability: Adapts to various network sizes and complexities.
Compatibility: Works across diverse technologies and environments.
Custom Scripting: Allows tailored monitoring options for specific needs.

What benefits should users seek in PRTG Network Monitor reviews?

Operational Efficiency: Reduces the need for manual network checks.
Real-Time Monitoring: Enables instant response to potential issues.
Enhanced Infrastructure Oversight: Facilitates comprehensive management of network devices.
Proactive Maintenance: Alerts help prevent potential disruptions.
Central Dashboard: Manages infrastructure across multiple locations effectively.

In industries like IT, telecommunications, and healthcare, PRTG Network Monitor is employed for comprehensive monitoring of systems, servers, and networks. It assists in tracking uptime, connectivity, and alerts for potential issues, offering tailored options like monitoring traffic flows and hardware health through custom sensors and scripts.

Paessler GmbH

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Jameson Bank, Sidnix, RungeICT, MedicalAnimal, Truck-lite, GamingGrids, The Covell Group, Forsythn County Schools, NetMass, Musgrove Park Hospital, Lanes Health, Columbia Southern University, Vodafone, Intrust Bank

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher vs. PRTG Network Monitor

April 2026

Free Report: Azure Network Watcher vs. PRTG Network Monitor

Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Network Watcher vs. PRTG Network Monitor and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

893,915 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Azure Network Watcher vs. PRTG Network Monitor report.

See our list of best Network Monitoring Software vendors.

We monitor all Network Monitoring Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.