Checkmk vs NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE comparison

Checkmk and NETSCOUT are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Checkmk is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.5, while NETSCOUT is ranked #33 with an average rating of 10.0. Checkmk holds a 3.4% mindshare in NMS, compared to NETSCOUT’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Checkmk users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NETSCOUT users who would recommend it.

Checkmk

Read 9 Checkmk reviews

3,438 Views
3,086 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE

Read 6 NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE reviews

648 Views
408 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Checkmk

NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE and Checkmk compete in the network performance monitoring space. Checkmk often outshines with its robust feature set, offering compelling value for cost.

Features: NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE offers comprehensive network performance capabilities, remote monitoring, and real-time analytics, appealing to enterprises seeking detailed insights. Checkmk's strengths lie in its extensive monitoring, scalability, and integration with multiple third-party tools, making it suitable for diverse networks.

Room for Improvement: NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE could enhance its scalability, expand third-party integrations, and improve user interface intuitiveness. Checkmk benefits from streamlining deployment, enhancing customer support responsiveness, and simplifying initial setup processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE provides straightforward deployment and robust customer support, ensuring effective implementation. Checkmk offers flexible deployment models supported by a thriving community and extensive documentation, though the process can be intricate.

Pricing and ROI: NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE, known for competitive pricing, promises strong ROI with its insight capabilities. Checkmk, though requiring higher initial investment, delivers noteworthy long-term ROI attributed to its robust monitoring functionalities.

To learn more, read our detailed Checkmk vs. NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE

March 2025

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Helped 842,388 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

Checkmk

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (6th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (13th), Cloud Monitoring Software (12th)

NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

33rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Checkmk is 3.4%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE is 0.4%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Paolo Sala

Application performance and System monitoring at Agos

A reasonably priced tool for system and application monitoring

The main room for improvement is in the solution's presentation and the integration area. In our company, we use the integration capabilities from ServiceNow. We also have another big monitoring solution in place in our company, which is Dynatrace. At the moment, there doesn't exist an out-of-the-box integration for Dynatrace. I think that the integration and the exporting of the data collected are areas where Checkmk lacks but should try to improve the most. The only implementation of Checkmk that allows high availability is the virtual appliance that has the option for the availability of a different box. Otherwise, you have to find a way to implement it manually with some custom solution, which could be an improvement.

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Leandro Di Maria

Gerente De Ventas at Gerente de Ventas Internet Winds AG SA

Offers real-time monitoring capabilities, which help businesses optimize their operations

The tools are part of managed environments, but when the capabilities of the routers need to be increased, we use NETSCOUT to manage things at an international level. The tool's user interface is okay. It would be great if the tool could provide alerts during attacks in Spanish. In the next release, if the traffic analysis could send our company an alert before an attack starts, it would be even better. Before an attack starts, seeing the traffic behavior and activities would be great. The tool should also share alerts since it is an area where the product has certain shortcomings.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I really like the auto-discovery feature."

"The initial setup of Checkmk was easy...It is a very stable solution."

"It's versatile, scalable, and easier to use compared to other solutions like Nagios and OMD."

"Overall, from one to ten, I rate Checkmk a nine."

"The alerting system in Checkmk really works properly."

"The most valuable features of Checkmk are its resource monitoring, infra monitoring, and log factor configuration."

"Checkmk helps me compare data and foresee issues."

"We can monitor multiple sites using the product."

More Checkmk pros

"I like the single pane of glass view because it presents everything in one window, obviously. You can see it all. With a quick glance, you get a pretty good snapshot of what's going on in a particular situation."

"This is a very reliable and complete solution for troubleshooting and monitoring environments."

"I like the single pane of glass view. I like being able to go to one place instead of having to hunt around for everything."

"The most valuable feature of NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE is the network troubleshooting analysis. You can pinpoint an issue before it could shut down the network."

"The most valuable features of this solution are monitoring and maintaining traffic queuing, as well as seeing who is using the bandwidth."

"The solution's technical support team consists of good engineers and technicians."

Cons

"Checkmk does not work too easily with the PowerStore. I use a PowerShell script as Checkmk runs on Linux and a Windows system, connecting with the Checkmk agent."

"If an alert is generated for a specific pattern in the log, and if Checkmk catches that log, it will stay there even after the alert is resolved."

"The main challenge for us is that we're moving from Nagios to Checkmk, and we're still getting used to the new way of working."

"Checkmk does not allow running scripts at varying intervals."

"In Checkmk, the documentation can probably be improved a bit more."

"The initial setup is a bit complex."

"Sometimes we receive alerts, and it can become annoying when you acknowledge an alert. It is very clunky when you acknowledge the alert. The process is not very intuitive, and there are instances where it feels a bit cumbersome to acknowledge an alert."

"I think that the integration and the exporting of the data collected are areas where Checkmk lacks but should try to improve the most."

More Checkmk cons

"Before an attack starts, seeing the traffic behavior and activities would be great. The tool should also share alerts since it is an area where the product has certain shortcomings."

"The price of the solution could be reduced."

"Usability is the area with the biggest room for improvement. We've found that with NETSCOUT, while it's a fantastic product, the usability is a major factor because there are just way too many clicks. It's obvious, from our experience, that the people who are developing the product aren't using it."

"In terms of additional features, I would like to see better event notification. Right now, we put in an email address to receive an alert and it receives every event and every alert that comes out. We need something a little more granular."

"They require a lot of manual effort as traffic flows, networks, and formal times change."

"The GUI interface and dashboards could be more attractive to the customer."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Checkmk is a fairly reasonably priced solution."

"The price of Checkmk is cheaper compared to other enterprise products."

"The product is affordable."

"The price of NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE is high. The other solutions are less expensive but we cannot depend on the other solutions, they are not as stable."

"The tool's price is okay. On a scale of one to ten, I rate it as a five, where one means it is not expensive, and ten means it is the most expensive."

"Cost is contracted on a yearly basis. There is no additional cost beyond the standard licensing."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Manufacturing Company

Government

16%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Checkmk?

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it has a lot of different pieces, and they all work together...It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

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What needs improvement with Checkmk?

I frequently program functions with PowerShell, and although Bash could be used, my specialization is in PowerShell. Two of us focus on programming in PowerShell for infrastructure optimization. I ...

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What is your primary use case for Checkmk?

Currently, I use two Dell PowerStore systems, and I'm responsible for disposing of systems in our environment. We need to upgrade our systems, but we are working on less pressing issues. Right now,...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE?

The tool's price is okay. On a scale of one to ten, I rate it as a five, where one means it is not expensive, and ten means it is the most expensive.

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What needs improvement with NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE?

I use the solution in my company to analyze international traffic.

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk

March 2025

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Buyer's Guide

NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE

March 2025

Download NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE product report

Also Known As

No data available

nGeniusPULSE

Overview

Checkmk is a powerful tool for monitoring IT infrastructure, providing vital insights on servers, databases, network devices, and custom applications.

Primarily used for supervising IT infrastructure, Checkmk helps organizations ensure service availability by monitoring hosts, processes, load, storage, and network appliances. With support for both Linux and Windows environments across multiple data centers, Checkmk performs compliance checks and preserves historical data for core network devices.

What are the key features of Checkmk?

Auto-discovery: Automatically identifies new hosts and applies monitoring rules.
Custom monitoring: Enhances MySQL performance tracking.
Slack integration: Provides immediate downtime alerts.
Graphical trend analysis: Offers 400 days of trend data.
Multiple site monitoring: Ensures seamless data synchronization through task automation.
Resource and infrastructure monitoring: Configures log factors to fit budget constraints.
System metric imports: Includes servers, SQL, file systems, and application monitoring.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Time-saving: Auto-discovery and task automation streamline processes.
Proactive alerts: Immediate downtime notifications optimize response times.
Historical insights: Long-term graphical trend analysis aids strategic planning.
Cost efficiency: Resource monitoring aligned with budget constraints.

Checkmk is deployed extensively in large enterprise environments for monitoring critical infrastructure. It proves particularly useful under conditions of frequent power outages or network issues, helping maintain smooth operations. While the alert acknowledgment process and interface require improvements, and the lack of an agent-less platform complicates server management, the strengths in auto-discovery, integration, and comprehensive monitoring make Checkmk a strong contender for IT infrastructure monitoring.

Checkmk

NETSCOUT’s nGeniusPULSE delivers the visibility needed into today’s evolving IT eco-system to ensure the availability, reliability, and performance of your mission-critical business services across your multi-cloud environment, from wherever users need access.

NETSCOUT

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Banco Votorantim

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE

March 2025

Free Report: Checkmk vs. NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE

Find out what your peers are saying about Checkmk vs. NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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