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FortiMonitor vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor comparison

Fortinet and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Fortinet is ranked #22 with an average rating of 9.0, while SolarWinds is ranked #27 with an average rating of 7.9. Fortinet holds a 0.7% mindshare in NMS, compared to SolarWinds’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.
FortiMonitor
Read 15 FortiMonitor reviews
  • 2,256 Views
  • 1,579 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
SolarWinds Network Device M...
Read 23 SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reviews
  • 1,914 Views
  • 1,876 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor and FortiMonitor are products in the network monitoring space. FortiMonitor appears to have the upper hand due to its superior features, providing deeper insights into network operations, despite its complex deployment.

Features: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor offers reliable performance, efficient monitoring capabilities, and straightforward pricing. FortiMonitor includes advanced analytics, integration capabilities, and a broader feature set, appealing to those seeking comprehensive monitoring solutions.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could enhance its advanced analytics capabilities, integration options, and broaden its feature set. FortiMonitor might improve by simplifying deployment, offering more budget-friendly pricing, and refining its user interface for easier navigation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is known for its easy deployment and effective customer support, attracting organizations seeking a quick setup. FortiMonitor has a more complex deployment model but provides comprehensive customer support, guiding users through its complexity.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds Network Device Monitor has competitive setup costs, offering a strong return on investment for basic monitoring needs. FortiMonitor requires a higher initial investment but delivers excellent returns for organizations needing detailed network insights, highlighting the value of its comprehensive capabilities against the economical value of SolarWinds for simpler requirements.

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To learn more, read our detailed FortiMonitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor Report (Updated: March 2026).
Buyer's Guide
FortiMonitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
March 2026
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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

FortiMonitor
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
22nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (24th), IT Alerting and Incident Management (13th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (8th)
SolarWinds Network Device M...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
27th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of FortiMonitor is 0.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is 1.0%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
FortiMonitor0.7%
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor1.0%
Other98.3%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2677554 - PeerSpot reviewer
reviewer2677554
Network Engineer III at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Managing diverse networks with detailed alerts enhances device oversight
FortiManager is very helpful in managing our networks. We use it to manage 20 farms and various networks with hundreds of devices. The version we are using provides more detail than the older dashboard. We appreciate the alerting capabilities, which are integrated with SolarWinds to notify our team via SMS.
Read full review
SG
Sorin Gogean
IT Infrastructure Senior Network Technician at Autoliv
Offers some features but needs better customization and analysis tools
There are solutions that can perform better, but due to pricing for our corporate implementation, we had to stay with this solution. It accomplishes the necessary tasks, but there is room for improvement. The features are not as customizable as we would prefer, but they are workable. If configured properly, you can perform a drill-down analysis. However, I have not used this feature much for our infrastructure on the network side.
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

"Fortinet's customer support is very good."
"Overall, I would recommend FortiMonitor to others."
"FortiMonitor has a very intuitive dashboard, which makes it particularly helpful for analyzing traffic, alerts, and other information."
"FortiMonitor's dashboard is very informative and user-friendly."
"In FortiMonitor, we're linked up with our Netgear, CactusServer, and NOC. It's really valuable because everything's migrating to one dashboard for us system engineers. We can keep an eye on traffic, blocked sites, and the health of our hardware. That last part, about knowing if something's going to fail soon, is super important. It gives us time to sort things out before any big problems happen. As a system engineer, I need to keep tabs on everything – temperature, monitoring systems, and network operations. This data is really handy because it helps me ensure our site runs smoothly, whether it's turning systems on or off. Just last night, there was a system failure, but thanks to real-time monitoring, I quickly identified the problem and got the necessary replacement parts."
"FortiMonitor is 100% stable."
"With FortiMonitor, you can get all the logs of the traffic information of the destination or the source."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is what the devices are used for. We have big backups for our Cradlepoint solutions, but FortiMonitor is a great routing device and we love working with them."
More FortiMonitor pros
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is it can alert you when a device is not working."
"Link monitoring is the most valuable feature of this solution."
"SolarWinds is flexible and works with multiple vendor devices."
"There are vital features of auto-plugin core ports"
"The alerting functionality in SolarWinds Network Device Monitor helps us stay informed during off-hours by sending alerts if our main links or devices are impacted, allowing us to quickly address any issues."
"I like the mapping that you could do and the dashboards were very pretty."
"We are doing more with SolarWinds Network Device Monitor than we were doing in the past with WhatsApp Gold; when we moved to SolarWinds Network Device Monitor, the whole observability part started to grow."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is a straightforward product with valuable functionality."
More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pros
 

Cons

"We use FortiToken, and it's a pain to use because you have to send things through your phone and then confirm by email. Only after this can you log in. It's dual-factor authentication. I wish that I could just log in or bring up a dashboard where I could log in from."
"I think the current features are really good for me, nothing else comes to mind right now. Maybe some small improvements could be made in the customization and configuration part of the UI to make it easier or more intuitive. Customizable UI options, like we saw in the demo, could be helpful for everyone. But in our operational environment, having clear health status and system details is crucial for us system engineers. One feature I'd really like to see is a credential management system. It would help us keep track of who's logged in and how many times, which is important due to user restrictions. Sometimes, we need to manage logins more efficiently, like logging off other users to free up credentials. So having a feature like that would be really helpful."
". Enhancements in the dashboard, such as clearer alerting, maintenance window management, software version tracking, and better visualization, would be beneficial."
"FortiMonitor could be improved by making it more convenient for smaller workloads, such as when configuring a few branches."
"There are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."
"FortiMonitor could be improved by making it more convenient for smaller workloads, such as when configuring a few branches."
"The solution's initial setup process is time-consuming."
"The tool's price in Vietnam is high, making it an area of concern where improvements can be made."
More FortiMonitor cons
"The reporting feature needs improvement because we are unable to configure reports that were included during initial implementation."
"In terms of price, it could be less expensive."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could improve by being more user-friendly. The network has so many features which make it difficult to find how to configure how to use it. It is not simple to customize."
"When an organization's network grows, the complexity of the dashboard becomes an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The main disadvantage of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is the licensing cost, which is expensive."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could improve the features. We don't have the complete model for the database, and the monitoring for the database is up and down. We expect that we could monitor the blocking items on the database but we don't have that feature."
"It should provide user-friendly page"
"The way they are presenting the map of our devices needs to be improved."
More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of licensing, while it may not be the most expensive option on the market, it's relatively cost-effective. You can obtain licenses at a lower cost, with the calculation being straightforward. For example, if you onboard around 5,000 devices, you'll need approximately 5,000 licenses, as each device typically counts as one license."
"Compared to other solutions, FortiMonitor is a very expensive solution."
"We have a large customer base for Fortinet, and the additional buying power got us really great discounts."
"FortiMonitor's price is very high."
"There are additional costs needed for certain functionality, such as scalability."
"On a scale from one to ten, I rate the pricing a nine since it is a good solution that is available at a cheap price."
"The tool's pricing model in Vietnam is a bit high. I rate the product price as an eight out of ten."
"The price of FortiMonitor is approximately $200 annually for 225 users. The price is competitive."
"The price of the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is good."
"I rate the product's price as three to three and a half or on a scale of one to ten, where one means low price, and ten means high price."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is not an expensive solution."
"Thankfully, it doesn't take a lot of manpower to install and deploy."
"When compared with other solutions SolarWinds is more expensive."
"I find the cost of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reasonable for our company. Though, I'm not aware of the exact licensing cost."
"The enterprise license is good for the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor. However, it is expensive, they should reduce their price."
"The product is expensive."
More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
I have a clear bias because I work for Panopta. We aren't a fit for everyone, but I can confirm that Panopta is a lot less work to stand up and maintain. It's also a lot easier to use and onboard n...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiMonitor?
FortiMonitor does save time but not significantly on costs, as there are still expenses related to procurement, installation, and licensing.
See all answers
What needs improvement with FortiMonitor?
There are areas for improvement that FortiManager is addressing. We have not yet upgraded to the latest software versions, being a full revision behind, but we plan to update soon since the current...
See all answers
What do you like most about SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
I rate the product's initial setup process a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is a difficult phase and ten is an easy process.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
I am not a positive person regarding SolarWinds Network Device Monitor.
See all answers
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
There are solutions that can perform better, but due to pricing for our corporate implementation, we had to stay with this solution. It accomplishes the necessary tasks, but there is room for impro...
See all answers
 

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)
March 2026
FortiMonitor reportDownload FortiMonitor product report
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
February 2026
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reportDownload SolarWinds Network Device Monitor product report
 

Also Known As

Panopta
Network Device Monitor
 

Overview

FortiMonitor is a comprehensive, SaaS-based digital experience monitoring (DEM) platform that helps organizations modernize their performance-monitoring tools. It provides visibility into endpoint application performance and digital experience—no matter where the user resides or where the application is hosted.

Fortinet
Network Device Monitor is a free tool that makes it easy to monitor the real-time performance and health of a single device on your network with a desktop dashboard that alerts you when your device is in trouble.
SolarWinds
 

Sample Customers

SONY, GoDaddy, HCL, ING, ARMOR, billboard
Air Rarotonga
Buyer's Guide
FortiMonitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
March 2026
Free Report: FortiMonitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor
Find out what your peers are saying about FortiMonitor vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
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