The 12 Best Network Monitoring Solutions: 2026

It’s 2026, and that means it’s time to review the best new offerings (and the best old ones) in the world of IT network monitoring. Here’s to a new year, with fewer outages and errors!

Take a look at these tools if you’re looking to implement a brand new network monitor, or just trying to avoid the same headaches from 2025.

1. SolarWinds Orion (NPM)

The "Big Rig" of Monitoring. SolarWinds is the heavy hitter. If you have a massive, complex network, it’s going to see everything. It’s powerful, but I’ll be honest: it’s expensive and a bit of a resource hog. You buy this when you have a budget, and a willingness to deal with some unwieldy customer support.

2. PathSolutions TotalView

The "Easy Button" for Troubleshooting. I love TotalView because it’s designed for the person who doesn’t have six hours to hunt down a bad cable. It looks at your switches and says, "Hey, the problem is right here on Port 5." It’s built to optimize your time, not just give you more data to sift through.

3. Paessler PRTG

The Swiss Army Knife. PRTG is just... sensible. It uses a "sensor" system that’s incredibly intuitive. Whether you’re monitoring a server’s temperature or a specific database query, the setup is a breeze. It’s perfect if you want a visual, "all-in-one" look at your world without a PhD in configuration.

4. LogicMonitor

The Cloud Specialist. If your "network" is mostly sitting in AWS or Azure, LogicMonitor is your best friend. It’s SaaS-based, so you don't have to manage the monitoring server itself. It’s slick, modern, and handles the "hybrid" world better than almost anyone else.

5. Auvik

The MSP’s Secret Weapon. If you’re an MSP managing 50 different clients, Auvik is a lifesaver. It maps out new networks automatically, which feels like magic the first time you see it. It’s built to make managing "someone else's mess" much more organized.

6. Wireshark

The Microscope. Wireshark isn't for pretty dashboards; it’s for when you need to get your hands dirty. It’s free, open-source, and shows you the literal packets moving across the wire. It’s the tool you use when everything else says "it's fine," but you know something is wrong.

7. Nagios

The "Old Reliable" Tinkerer. Nagios is for the person who loves Linux and hates paying for licenses. It’s open-source and can do anything—if you have the patience to configure it. It’s not the prettiest, but it’s battle-tested and infinitely customizable.

8. Datadog

The Modern Observability Standard. Datadog is what happens when you let developers design a monitoring tool. It’s beautiful, it’s fast, and it links your network health directly to your app performance. Great for teams that live in Slack and work in "the cloud."

9. ManageEngine OpManager

The Practical All-Rounder. OpManager is a solid choice if you want the power of the big enterprise tools but don't want to deal with their price tags. It’s a workhorse that handles multi-vendor hardware (Cisco, HP, Juniper) without breaking a sweat.

10. Zabbix

The Pro-Level Free Choice. If Nagios feels too "90s" for you, Zabbix is the answer. It’s open-source but feels much more modern. It’s incredibly scalable, though be warned: the learning curve is still a bit steep.

11. Cisco Catalyst Center

The "All-Cisco" Choice. If your server room is a sea of Cisco blue, why go anywhere else? It’s built specifically to squeeze every bit of telemetry out of Cisco hardware. It’s highly specialized, but if you’re in that ecosystem, it’s unbeatable.

12. NinjaOne

The Remote Worker’s Guardian. NinjaOne is fantastic if your "network" is actually 500 people working from home on laptops. It focuses on the endpoints, making it easy to troubleshoot a VP's laptop from halfway across the country.

Which one is right for you?

• Need it done fast and easy? Go with TotalView.

• Okay with some bloat? SolarWinds

• Living in the cloud? LogicMonitor.

• Zero budget? Nagios or Zabbix.

2026 Selection	The Value Proposition	Ideal Deployment
pathSolutions TotalView	Troubleshooting EfficiencyAutomates the search for bad cables and port errors, delivering plain-English answers that save hours of manual hunting.	Fast-Paced IT Operations
SolarWinds Orion (NPM)	Enterprise PowerA massive, "big rig" observability platform capable of monitoring sprawling, high-density corporate environments.	Fortune 500 Infrastructure
Paessler PRTG	Intuitive MonitoringUses a simple, visual sensor-based system that monitors everything from database health to hardware temperature.	Visual-First Dashboards
LogicMonitor	Cloud-Native ObservabilitySaaS-based platform designed specifically to bridge the visibility gap between AWS/Azure and on-prem gear.	Hybrid-Cloud Environments
Auvik	Network Topology KingAutomatically maps and documents complex multi-vendor networks, making "someone else's mess" easy to manage.	Managed Service Providers
Wireshark	Deep ForensicsThe "microscope" of networking, providing free, packet-level truth for when standard dashboards aren't enough.	Security Audits & Forensics
Nagios	The Tinkerer's EngineBattle-tested, open-source reliability for Linux admins who prioritize infinite customization over a polished UI.	Custom Linux Infrastructures
Datadog	Modern Full-StackBeautiful, developer-centric platform that links network health directly to modern application performance.	DevOps & Cloud SaaS
ManageEngine OpManager	Practical WorkhorseHandles multi-vendor hardware (Cisco, Juniper, HP) with enterprise power but at a more practical price point.	Mid-Market Multi-Vendor Shops
Zabbix	Scalable Open SourceA modern, high-performance alternative to legacy free tools, offering enterprise scaling for those who can handle the learning curve.	High-Scaling Open Environments
Cisco Catalyst Center	Ecosystem OptimizationThe definitive telemetry choice for environments running exclusively on Cisco blue hardware.	Cisco-Centric Enterprise
NinjaOne	Endpoint ResilienceFocuses on remote observability, making it easy to fix hardware issues for employees working from home.	Distributed Remote Workforces