Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Corelight vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

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

Corelight
Ranking in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
6th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Network Detection and Response (NDR) (19th)
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...
Ranking in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
3rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) category, the mindshare of Corelight is 10.5%, up from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is 5.6%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
 

Featured Reviews

Dan Jeske - PeerSpot reviewer
An open-source solution that gave us insight into our clients' network traffic flow
We use the solution for packet capture sampling. We offer it as part of our managed service. It's so we can identify east-west traffic on a customer's network Corelight is low-cost and made on open-source, and the code is Zeek. It's an easy way for us to get visibility in a client's environment.…
Raja Xabi - PeerSpot reviewer
Improved bandwidth management and network visibility have resulted in financial benefits and streamlined operations
There is always room for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, such as implementing instant reporting based on business intelligence reports and more granular filters in their dashboard to improve the GUI view and reporting. The licensing model of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is always an issue for users because competitors offer unlimited and perpetual licenses, and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model is quite costly compared to other brands. If users are comfortable with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, they have to make the hard decision to invest, and it's suggested from a user's perspective that SolarWinds should improve their financial model and licensing to become competitive, especially for small to medium businesses.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's an easy way for us to get visibility in a client's environment."
"Corelight is easy to use."
"The most valuable feature is the embedded IDS from Suricata."
"It is easy to deploy and easy to handle."
"It's easy to create additional dashboards specific to supporting specific tasks."
"As it offers enterprise solutions, it has all the essential features for business."
"It allows us to pinpoint which protocol is overloading the link."
"They have instructional videos and other information available on the site to assist you with learning it."
"For managing the traffic, it provides you a response about whether the traffic is down, up, or heavy, which is a very powerful feature. It has a good response time. We have been using this solution for many years, and we don't have any problem with this solution."
"I like that it is able to monitor multiple devices and it's vendor-agnostic."
"What I like the most is the bandwidth assessment."
"This solution gives us important information about the utilization of protocols, particularly in terms of how often they are used."
"It doesn't cost too much."
 

Cons

"Machine learning could be a good improvement, but it's very costly."
"Corelight hasn’t added features in a long time."
"They can enhance the interface of the product. They can make it more interactive and also easier to use for feature access."
"In the next release, building a graphical user interface would be helpful."
"The solution’s architecture is complex and difficult to understand. There are multiple machines and VMs."
"It does not flow. It cannot do our metric performance monitoring. So it is very limited. They can do it but in a very limited fashion. It is only good for SNMP-based alerts."
"There are some areas for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer. There are some challenges with the solution when compared to other monitoring tools such as difficulty in operations and difficulty with backup installation. My team is currently trying out different solutions but would need to see how it goes."
"Currently, it shows only the top ten applications or ports in use, while the remaining data appears as 'remaining traffic,' causing confusion."
"I would like to see better customization capabilities."
"There is a lack of documentation ......as well as a lack of dashboards."
"One area that we struggle with is the price. Because the price of this solution is so high, we are largely unable to introduce it into the local market, and only the banking sector has the means to afford it."
"The price of the solution is a bit high for our clients. They should consider adjusting their price model."
"The solution should improve its automation feature. It's quite limited compared to other products."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's a yearly fee and depends on what you are looking for."
"We have licenses for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer. In terms of pricing, its license is not that expensive versus other tools such as HP."
"The price of this solution is exceptional."
"For our environment, we pay approximately $25,000 USD yearly."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The pricing is really good."
"Pricing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is very high. I have a customer that needs the solution but doesn't have the budget for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer because the problem is that you can't use the solution only. You have to buy requirements such as the SolarWinds NPM first, and some companies don't have the budget for all the required components and modules. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer can cost up to $10,000, and some customers don't have that budget. Another product has all the modules that SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer has, with a very low price, that can be a replacement, which is ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer. PRTG is another solution that can replace SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer."
"SolarWinds' pricing structure is the primary reason why some customers opt for another solution such as ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer. In NTA, you are charged per port, meaning that if you have a 24-port switch you will be charged for 24 individual nodes. ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer, on the other hand, charges per switch, such that if you add a switch, the entire switch will count as one single node."
"Licensing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is paid yearly, and there are no additional costs that you need to pay apart from the standard licensing fees because you don't need to purchase another solution to make SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer work. Pricing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is more expensive than other solutions."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) solutions are best for your needs.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
21%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is the biggest difference between Corelight and Vectra AI?
The two platforms take a fundamentally different approach to NDR. Corelight is limited to use cases that require the eventual forwarding of events and parsed data logs to a security team’s SIEM or ...
What do you like most about Corelight?
It's easy to create additional dashboards specific to supporting specific tasks.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Corelight?
The solution is too expensive compared to others. If you have the technical knowledge, it's good. Corelight is a very big gap between you and others if you’re new.
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
I have worked from 1973 with all kind of systems in large enterprises across the world. And have experience with all kind of software in monitoring from infra to end to end, it depends on the funct...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
The licensing model of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is always an issue for users because competitors offer unlimited and perpetual licenses, and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer's model i...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
There is always room for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, such as implementing instant reporting based on business intelligence reports and more granular filters in their dashboa...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Netflow Traffic Analyzer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Education First
Oceaneering International, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, 335th Signal Command, Immofori
Find out what your peers are saying about Corelight vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.