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SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer vs Wireshark comparison

The compared SolarWinds and Wireshark solutions aren't in the same category. SolarWinds is ranked #4 in NTA , with an average rating of 7.7, and holds a 6.1% mindshare in the category. Wireshark is ranked #4 in NT , with an average rating of 9.2, and holds a 14.3% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of SolarWinds users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Wireshark users who would recommend it.
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...
Read 43 SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer reviews
  • 2,434 Views
  • 876 Comparison Views
83% willing to recommend
Wireshark
Read 63 Wireshark reviews
  • 3,127 Views
  • 1,407 Comparison Views
98% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and Wireshark based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Darktrace, Auvik, Cisco and others in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA).

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To learn more, read our detailed Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) Report (Updated: March 2026).
Buyer's Guide
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
March 2026
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Helped 884,076 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

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (4th)
Wireshark
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Network Troubleshooting (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Management solutions, they serve different purposes. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is designed for Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) and holds a mindshare of 6.1%, up 5.5% compared to last year.
Wireshark, on the other hand, focuses on Network Troubleshooting, holds 14.3% mindshare, up 12.9% since last year.
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer6.1%
Darktrace18.0%
Cisco Secure Network Analytics11.2%
Other64.7%
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
Network Troubleshooting Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Wireshark14.3%
AirMagnet Survey PRO10.3%
LinkRunner8.1%
Other67.3%
Network Troubleshooting
 

Featured Reviews

Raja Xabi - PeerSpot reviewer
Raja Xabi
Technical Manager at APRAL
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.
Read full review
DonniUgalde - PeerSpot reviewer
DonniUgalde
Senior I.T. Systems Engineer at Pro Techs MSP
Provides visibility into the network, and the GUI is easy to use
I wish the filters were a little bit more prepopulated. It would have been easy to hit a drop-down and select a filter. If I only wanted to look at DCP, UDP, or IP, it would be easy to filter it out. Advanced network knowledge is required to get a lot out of the tool. However, it's very easy to install and deploy. It would be nice if there were some handheld Android devices with a Wireshark-specialized application that would allow us to mirror a Cisco port. Then, we can just plug into the port and click the green start button, and it will start ingesting the packet capture. Then, we won’t be using a laptop. The only downside is that we must have a laptop and connect a network cable. Some new laptops don't have network ports, so we have to get another adapter. Having an all-in-one device, like NetAlly or Fluke, and some of their network devices would be cool.
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

"It allows us to pinpoint which protocol is overloading the link."
"This solution gives us important information about the utilization of protocols, particularly in terms of how often they are used."
"As it offers enterprise solutions, it has all the essential features for business."
"The most helpful feature of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is bandwidth analysis, which lets you see who's hogging your network."
"This tool provides insights into top utilization applications or it identifies which circuit or application is consuming the most on the complete one-gig circuit traffic path."
"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."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"We conduct network traffic analysis for a couple of key reasons. First, we look for traffic anomalies, such as unexpected increases or decreases in network traffic within specific segments. This helps us determine if the network needs to be re-architected."
More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer pros
"Setup is very easy. It's also possible to change source code and compile if you want to change something in the code, because it's free."
"It is a stable product. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature of Wireshark is the ability to choose a destination of flow that has not been working as expected."
"The feature to incorporate Voice over IP (VoIP) incidents into network traffic analysis is valuable. Capturing voice or SIP communication allows for examination of interactions between SIP clients and SIP servers. This helps the team investigate or analyze issues related to call center servers and operators."
"The transmission and reception issues are valuable."
"The initial setup is simple."
"Wireshark is very user-friendly; even someone with basic IT knowledge can use it."
"Wireshark saves a lot of time, especially with network troubleshooting."
More Wireshark pros
 

Cons

"Deployment needs improvement. The process is complicated, requiring attention to infrastructure settings and installation of components like the origin application server, platform, close storage, and policy agents."
"The tool itself is very complicated, so training is required to handle it effectively."
"The solution needs better log management and log coordination with tools."
"The price of the solution is a bit high for our clients. They should consider adjusting their price model."
"An area for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is the dashboarding. The user interface also has room for improvement because it's currently clunky."
"This solution does not do a very good job when I am trying to look deeper into my internal network, in particular with respect to individual ports."
"It's scalable, but it could be simplified because it's not completely easy."
"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."
More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer cons
"Wireshark is restricted when any sort of encryption is involved, such as XSL encryption or DLX."
"Whenever we select one of the packets, in terms of the number of bytes, for example, there are three planes, and in the detailed plane, I have to count the number of bytes manually."
"We'd like to be able to extract the output into an Excel table."
"We would like the product to be developed so that it doesn't rely on internet access for installation. We would like to see all of the components required to be integrated into the installer."
"The average person would probably find Wireshark hard to use. When I first installed it, I was overwhelmed by all the data it was shooting out. It doesn't make sense until you start doing some research and figure out what everything means. It isn't the most user-friendly tool. It just provides so much information."
"A room for improvement in Wireshark is its ease of use for beginners. It could be better. Another room for improvement in the tool is for it to provide more details about the traffic load. At the moment, Wireshark is adequate for me, so there isn't anything I'd like added to it in its next version."
"It is difficult to scale this solution."
"You need good network connectivity to download during the setup, otherwise, it might take a while."
More Wireshark cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For our environment, we pay approximately $25,000 USD yearly."
"NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is reasonably priced."
"The price of this solution is exceptional."
"The licensing for this solution is based on the number of nodes."
"I don't have information on the licensing cost for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer because it's bundled with another SolarWinds solution. My organization has seven different models and pays for the license yearly. My organization also had to deploy additional pollers, but the cost wasn't very expensive, though I can't give the exact numbers."
"The pricing is really good."
"The solution's licensing is high-priced."
"We have licenses for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer. In terms of pricing, its license is not that expensive versus other tools such as HP."
More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer pricing and cost advice
"It's a stand-alone tool. If there is a commercial license for it I am unaware of it."
"The tool is free."
"The solution is open source so is free."
"Wireshark is free software, so you can download it and use it for free with no licensing fees."
"We are using a freeware version of this solution, so there are no licence costs involved."
"We're using the free version of Wireshark."
"Wireshark is open-source and free of charge."
"It is free to download and install. It runs on multiple platforms, so how can you go wrong?"
More Wireshark pricing and cost advice
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) solutions are best for your needs.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Healthcare Company
7%
University
6%
University
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise26
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

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...
See all answers
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...
See all answers
What needs improvement with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
Regarding improvement, the application monitoring capabilities are not exceptional. If SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer could improve in that area, it would be helpful. It is less AIOps driven a...
See all answers
What do you like most about Wireshark?
The GUI is easy to use.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Wireshark?
Wireshark is priced at a medium range, not too high, not too low. The pricing could be more flexible, and they might make it more expensive. That said, compared to other products, it is competitive.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Wireshark?
The speed of the Internet could be improved, especially its performance. Performance can sometimes be a challenge due to numerous factors.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer
February 2026
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer reportDownload SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer product report
Buyer's Guide
Wireshark
February 2026
Wireshark reportDownload Wireshark product report
 

Also Known As

Netflow Traffic Analyzer
No data available
 

Overview

SolarWinds Netflow Traffic Analyzer enables you to capture data from continuous streams of network traffic and convert those raw numbers into easy-to-interpret charts and tables that quantify exactly how the corporate network is being used, by whom, and for what purpose.
SolarWinds
Wireshark is the world's foremost network protocol analyzer.
Wireshark
 

Sample Customers

Oceaneering International, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, 335th Signal Command, Immofori
Comversion, ADP, Talbots
Buyer's Guide
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
March 2026
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