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Meraki Dashboard vs Nagios Core comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

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

Meraki Dashboard
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Nagios Core
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Meraki Dashboard is 1.5%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nagios Core is 3.0%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Bilal-Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless connectivity and comprehensive control over network devices
All of the features we are looking for are already in control. I think those features, which we are not currently utilizing, are already there. For example, the control for the cameras and everything else. The cameras are not connected through Meraki, but all other devices are on Meraki networks.
Nishith-Vyas - PeerSpot reviewer
Valuable reporting and alert system with room for PDF export improvements
The NetEase reporting structure needs improvement, especially the availability report, which is weak. It should be generated automatically with minimal human intervention and should be exportable as a PDF. Besides that, an integrated PDF export feature for reports is necessary. Also, the alert mechanism and graphing mechanism need to be integrated properly into Nagios Core. Currently, integrating these requires advanced Linux knowledge. Integration of more visualization tools like Grafana and Prometheus for better graphing and visualization is also recommended.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"There are some whitelist blacklist capabilities in the MX dashboard, which is very helpful."
"What I love most about the Meraki Dashboard are its user-friendly features."
"We greatly utilize the network because we can plug it into the DNS, VPN, or equipment. It's very good. Meraki Dashboard enhances wireless network management. We appreciate its flexibility, as it allows for easy suite configuration. We can handle everything on there when there's a policy or any other requirement."
"The most valuable features are that it's easy to use and technically very complete. I can configure, do advanced troubleshooting in the dashboard, and reboot access points remotely."
"The initial setup was easy."
"The most valuable features are the ease of use and a single-pane-of-glass that allows us to identify issues across the entire network from one dashboard."
"There is no need to swap the hardware at all the locations, and importing the APs into the Dashboard was a simple and quick process."
"I find it pretty straightforward and easy to use, especially compared to old, traditional methods."
"The application performance monitoring feature is valuable."
"The most valuable features are the reports and the way it generates the report in a graphical manner."
"The notifications are definitely one of the most valuable features of Nagios Core. We know what to look for and what to expect when things are down."
"Nagios Core is very configurable. Whatever you want, you can do it."
"Other products are good but from the configuration point of view Nagios is really very lightweight. The price is really good in my opinion. Another important thing is that my Nagios engine still works with Dual core 8GB ram for the last 10 years."
"I like the way the solution sends alerts and how it keeps on escalating them."
"Alert calls occur anytime a service goes down or a matrix is difficult and that helps us to quickly restore service and transfer work."
"I would rate the overall solution ten points out of ten."
 

Cons

"The solution has a limited routing table and needs improvement by increasing the numbers as well as providing a summarization for the table."
"There are some issues with the NAT configuration, it is now impossible to some operations with the solution."
"There is a bit of a problem when you try to log in and you don't have a fixed IP address. If you're granting access, you need to log in by using the IP address. If your administrator's IP address is not a fixed IP address and it has changed, you might need to update the changed IP address in the interface. For this, you need to log in to the interface to update the IP address. This issue might not have so much to do with Meraki interface."
"In general, how I add firewall rules is not great. It is just a little bit too simple the way it is right now."
"More integration would be an improvement."
"For instance, you should be able to see if something has been blocked by a firewall rule by looking at a live log of traffic moving through the device. It helps you troubleshoot issues and understand if your rules are working. You need to ensure the firewall is blocking the right things. That's unavailable in the Meraki Dashboard. You have to send the logs to a log server. We use SolarWinds locally, but it's not natively built into Meraki. We're also using Cisco ISA and another tool called Smoothwall."
"I think this product could be improved with a CLI for more directives."
"The solution can be expensive."
"I would like to see a sensor that shows the traffic of a user and what they're doing on the network."
"Nagios Core can improve the graphical interface, it would make things a little easier."
"The interface could be improved."
"I would like to see more training videos."
"The alerting mechanism in Nagios Core could be improved."
"The dashboard should be improved."
"Nagios Core is limited in terms of distributed setups, and there is no central view for remote data centers."
"We're using the free version, which limits us in terms of the things that we can do. If we had the paid version, a lot of our issues would probably go away. For example, we can't isolate instances that are being built or updated with the production ones. When they're being built, on Nagios, they're showing in red. It'd be nice to be able to partition those off until they're all green, and then we can bring them into the environment. This is probably because we've got the free version and not the paid version. If we went for the paid version, it would probably allow us to do exactly what we want to or remove the restrictions that we have, but if we are able to isolate instances in the free version, it would make life much easier."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for a small setup is only a few hundred dollars a year. The fee is subscription-based."
"It is said to be expensive."
"Meraki Dashboard is a utility and portal that's part of the Meraki solution."
"The Meraki Dashboard has more competitive pricing."
"Meraki Dashboard's pricing is reasonable. It is sold yearly, typically for one, three, or five years. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."
"Licensing is around under 1000 pounds. The licensing is either one year, three years, five years or ten years and during the licensing, we can choose to renew it per year or per every three years. We've got a license for three years. It's about 160 or about 200 pounds each."
"The pricing of the tool is relatively high compared to other solutions. It comes with a premium that exceeds that of its competitors by approximately 25 percent."
"Typically, the license model is for one, three, and five years. They can just be a bit more flexible around it and look into providing an option for 24 months."
"Nagios Core is free to use."
"It's free."
"It's free."
"Lessening the price point would be an improvement."
"Nagios Core is an open source solution, and there are no licensing fees."
"Nagios Core is a cheap solution."
"Most the plugin features are free."
"The enterprise version has technical support. The version we are using is free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Meraki Dashboard?
We greatly utilize the network because we can plug it into the DNS, VPN, or equipment. It's very good. Meraki Dashboard enhances wireless network management. We appreciate its flexibility, as it al...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki Dashboard?
The cost of the Meraki solution is high, which may not be affordable for smaller companies, especially in developing countries.
What needs improvement with Meraki Dashboard?
There is a need for price reductions in developing countries, as the cost of Meraki is quite high. Additionally, it would be beneficial if Meraki Dashboard could integrate more Cisco devices such a...
What do you like most about Nagios Core?
What I like about Nagios Core is that it helps me ensure everything is running smoothly by checking the status of hosts and services.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nagios Core?
Nagios Core is a free and open-source product. We don't charge for the product itself, but we charge for the man-hour costs related to installation, configuration, ongoing operation, and maintenance.
What needs improvement with Nagios Core?
The dashboard should be improved. It's very simple. I don't have a very clear or specific suggestion. You can change the skin of the dashboard, however, it's good for me.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe
Airbnb, Cisco, PayPal, FanDuel
Find out what your peers are saying about Meraki Dashboard vs. Nagios Core and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,640 professionals have used our research since 2012.