SolarWinds Alternatives 2026: Licensing Changes, Costs and 10 Better-Value Tools

Quick answer: The strongest SolarWinds alternatives in 2026 are Paessler PRTG (published sensor-based pricing, self-hosted or hosted), LogicMonitor (SaaS for hybrid estates and MSPs), Auvik (cloud network mapping), ManageEngine OpManager (on-premises, perpetual or subscription), Datadog (per-device network monitoring inside a wider observability suite), and Zabbix or Checkmk if you want free, open-source software. Most teams searching for alternatives are reacting to SolarWinds’ move to subscription-only, node-based licensing, so this guide compares cost as well as features. All prices are vendor-published, checked September 2026.

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) was for years the default network monitoring tool in mid-size and enterprise IT. Three things have pushed teams to look around: the 2020 Orion supply-chain compromise, the shift from perpetual licenses to subscriptions, and the company’s 2025 take-private by Turn/River Capital. This guide explains what SolarWinds costs today, what changed in its licensing, and which alternatives fit which kind of team. If you want a quick list of products in the category, our SolarWinds NPM alternatives page has one; this article focuses on licensing and cost.

SolarWinds Alternatives Compared

Tool	Deployment	Published pricing	Free option	Best for
SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted (baseline)	Self-hosted	$8 / $14 / $17.50 per node per month, subscription only, billed annually	30-day NPM trial	Existing Orion estates
Paessler PRTG	Self-hosted (Windows) or Paessler-hosted	$200 to $1,642 per month paid annually, by sensor count	Freeware, 100 sensors; 30-day unlimited trial	SMB and mid-size networks
LogicMonitor	SaaS with collectors	$16 / $27 / $53 per hybrid unit per month (starting list)	15-day trial	Hybrid enterprises and MSPs
Auvik	SaaS only	Quote, per device	14-day trial, no card	Automated network mapping and config backup
ManageEngine OpManager	Self-hosted (Windows or Linux)	From $95 (Standard, 10 devices), $145 (Professional, 10 devices), $4,595 (Enterprise, 250 devices), annual billing; perpetual also offered	Free edition, 3 devices	Teams that want to keep an on-prem, perpetual option
Datadog Network Device Monitoring	SaaS	$7 per device per month billed annually ($8.50 month-to-month)	Trial	Teams already on Datadog
Zabbix	Self-hosted, open source; Zabbix Cloud	No license fee; paid support by quote; Zabbix Cloud from $50 a month	Fully free software	Linux-skilled teams at any scale
Checkmk	Self-hosted or cloud	Community free; Pro from €190 a month, Ultimate from €275 a month, billed annually (EUR shown)	Community edition	Large host counts on a budget
Nagios XI	Self-hosted	Standard from $2,595 for 100 nodes, first year of maintenance included	Free edition, 7 nodes	Teams with Nagios plugin experience
Domotz	SaaS with on-site collector	$35 per site per month, unlimited devices	14-day trial	MSPs and multi-site SMBs
Kentik	SaaS	Pro $2,000 per month billed annually	30-day trial	Flow analytics for large and service-provider networks

Why Are Teams Looking for SolarWinds Alternatives in 2026?

1. Subscription-only, node-based licensing

SolarWinds now sells its Orion-based monitoring as SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted, the renamed Hybrid Cloud Observability. Its pricing page states: “Licensing is node-based, subscription only, and billed annually”, and SolarWinds’ licensing documentation describes the licenses as “multi-year contracts, billed annually”. When a subscription expires, SolarWinds says “polling new data for the product stops.”

For long-time customers, the bigger change is what happens to existing perpetual licenses. SolarWinds’ on-premises product terms (last updated December 19, 2025) say that when you buy a subscription, your prior licenses “are hereby terminated and converted into and superseded by the subscription licenses”. Several competitors and resellers have published claims about specific cut-off dates and renewal increases; SolarWinds’ own pages do not state those figures, so get a written renewal quote before you plan around them.

2. NPM is no longer a standalone line on the price list

The NPM product page still exists, with a 30-day trial and a “Get a Quote” button, and says NPM’s features “are also available as part of Observability Self-Hosted”. But the main SolarWinds pricing page now lists only Observability SaaS and Observability Self-Hosted. Teams that bought NPM alone are often being moved into a broader bundle priced per node.

3. Ownership and trust

Turn/River Capital agreed to buy SolarWinds on February 7, 2025 for $18.50 per share, about $4.4 billion in enterprise value, and the deal closed on April 16, 2025, when SolarWinds stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Private-equity ownership often brings pricing and packaging changes. Some security teams also still weigh the December 2020 Orion compromise, which prompted CISA’s Emergency Directive 21-01 ordering federal agencies to disconnect affected Orion products.

What Does SolarWinds Cost Now?

SolarWinds product	Price (vendor-published, checked September 2026)	Notes
Observability Self-Hosted Essentials	From $8 per node per month	Billed annually; Enterprise editions required above 1,500 nodes
Observability Self-Hosted Advanced	From $14 per node per month	Billed annually
Observability Self-Hosted Premier	From $17.50 per node per month	Billed annually
Observability SaaS, network and infrastructure	$15.75 per node per month	Multi-year contracts billed annually; network devices and hosts count 1:1
Observability SaaS, logs	$5.00 per GB per month	Add-on module
Network Topology Mapper	From $1,977	Perpetual license, still sold
Engineer’s Toolset	From $1,997	Perpetual license, still sold

Sources: solarwinds.com pricing, Observability Self-Hosted pricing and Observability SaaS pricing pages. Note that SolarWinds’ main pricing page advertises Observability SaaS as starting at $8 per node per month, while its SaaS pricing page lists network and infrastructure observability at $15.75. For network monitoring, budget on the $15.75 figure. One useful detail from the licensing docs: “ICMP nodes don’t consume a license when you monitor availability only (ping).”

What Does It Cost to Replace SolarWinds? A 200-Device Example

Here is how list prices compare for a network of 200 monitored devices, using each vendor’s published pricing. These are estimates for comparison only: real quotes vary with minimums, discounts and the modules you need.

Option	How it is sized	Estimated list cost per year
SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted Essentials	200 nodes x $8 x 12	$19,200
SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted Advanced	200 nodes x $14 x 12	$33,600
SolarWinds Observability SaaS (network)	200 nodes x $15.75 x 12	$37,800
Paessler PRTG 2500	200 devices at about 10 sensors each = 2,000 sensors	$8,904
LogicMonitor Essentials	200 hybrid units x $16 x 12	$38,400
Datadog Network Device Monitoring	200 devices x $7 x 12	$16,800
Domotz	One site x $35 x 12 (unlimited devices)	$420 per site
Zabbix	Open source, self-supported	$0 license; your server and staff time

The takeaway: PRTG and the open-source tools are the cost-cutting moves; LogicMonitor and SolarWinds SaaS are priced similarly and compete on breadth and hosting; Datadog is attractive mainly if you already pay for its other products. See our PRTG pricing breakdown and LogicMonitor pricing guide for how each vendor counts units.

The Best SolarWinds Alternatives in 2026

1. Paessler PRTG: best for published, predictable pricing

PRTG is the most direct swap for NPM in small and mid-size networks. It is self-hosted on Windows (or hosted by Paessler), priced by sensor, and every tier includes all features, unlimited remote probes and a failover cluster. PRTG went subscription-only on July 1, 2024 too, but it publishes every price. Plans run from PRTG 500 at $200 a month to PRTG 10000 at $1,642 a month, paid annually. PRTG reviews.

2. LogicMonitor: best SaaS replacement for hybrid estates and MSPs

LogicMonitor replaces the Orion server with SaaS: collectors inside your network, everything else in LogicMonitor’s cloud. Pricing is per hybrid unit ($16, $27 or $53 per month by package), with a 15-day trial. It fits teams consolidating network, server, cloud and log monitoring, and MSPs that need multi-tenancy. LogicMonitor reviews.

3. Auvik: best for automated network mapping

Auvik is SaaS-only and built around discovering and mapping the network automatically, plus configuration backup. Pricing is by quote “based on the devices you manage”, and Auvik says many device types, such as access points, printers, UPS units and NAS devices, do not count toward licensing. There is a 14-day trial with no credit card. Auvik reviews and LogicMonitor vs Auvik.

4. ManageEngine OpManager: best if you want to stay on-premises

OpManager is the closest like-for-like on-prem alternative, running on Windows or Linux, and ManageEngine still offers both perpetual and subscription plans. Published starting prices are $95 for Standard and $145 for Professional (10 devices each) and $4,595 for Enterprise (250 devices), shown with annual billing. A free edition covers 3 devices. OpManager reviews.

5. Datadog: best if you already use Datadog

Datadog Network Device Monitoring costs $7 per device per month billed annually, and Cloud Network Monitoring $5 per host. It is compelling when network data needs to sit next to Datadog APM and infrastructure data; on its own, it is a SaaS network monitor without the depth of Orion’s network configuration tools.

6. Zabbix: best free, open-source replacement

“Zabbix open source software has no license fee”, and Zabbix says you can run it in production without a subscription. Paid support tiers are quoted, and Zabbix Cloud starts at $50 a month for teams that do not want to host it. Expect more setup work than SolarWinds. Zabbix reviews.

7. Checkmk: best open-source option at scale

Checkmk’s free edition is now called Checkmk Community, aimed at small infrastructures. Paid editions are priced per service; Checkmk shows Pro from €190 a month and Ultimate from €275 a month, billed annually (euro prices were displayed; check the page for your region). Checkmk reviews.

8. Nagios XI, Domotz, Kentik and WhatsUp Gold

• Nagios XI: on-prem, priced by node count, from $2,595 for 100 nodes (Standard) including the first year of maintenance; free edition for 7 nodes. Nagios XI reviews.
• Domotz: $35 per site per month with unlimited devices, popular with MSPs. Domotz reviews.
• Kentik: flow-based network analytics, Pro at $2,000 a month billed annually.
• Progress WhatsUp Gold: on-prem, perpetual or subscription, quote only.

PRTG Alternatives: When PRTG Is the Tool You Are Leaving

Many PRTG users are also looking around. The common reasons: PRTG’s own move to subscriptions on July 1, 2024 (perpetual licenses with maintenance are no longer sold), a core server that runs only on Windows, and sensor-based pricing that jumps a tier when you add a site. The best PRTG alternatives by situation:

• You want to stay free: Zabbix or Checkmk Community. Both run on Linux, which PRTG’s core does not.
• You want SaaS with no server: Auvik for network-first teams, LogicMonitor for hybrid estates, Domotz for multi-site MSPs.
• You want on-prem with a perpetual option: ManageEngine OpManager.
• You have grown past 10,000 sensors: compare PRTG Enterprise Monitor (from $1,671 a month for 10,000 sensors) with LogicMonitor and SolarWinds Observability.

Head-to-head pages: Auvik vs PRTG, OpManager vs PRTG and PRTG vs LogicMonitor. For more options see PRTG alternatives.

Is PRTG Better Than SolarWinds?

For small and mid-size networks, PRTG is usually simpler and cheaper: in our 200-device example, PRTG 2500 lists at $8,904 a year against $19,200 for SolarWinds Self-Hosted Essentials. SolarWinds is stronger for large, network-heavy estates that need deeper configuration management, NetFlow and multi-module observability. PRTG’s core runs only on Windows, and neither vendor sells new perpetual licenses.

Who Is SolarWinds’ Biggest Competitor?

It depends on the market. In network monitoring, the tools most often compared with SolarWinds are PRTG, ManageEngine OpManager, LogicMonitor and Auvik. In broader observability, SolarWinds competes with Datadog and Dynatrace. In IT management for MSPs, its former sister company N-able and NinjaOne are the usual comparisons.

Do People Still Use SolarWinds?

Yes. SolarWinds still sells Observability Self-Hosted and SaaS, and still offers perpetual standalone tools such as Network Topology Mapper and Engineer’s Toolset, plus a list of free tools like Traceroute NG and Kiwi Syslog Server Free Edition. Existing customers usually re-evaluate at renewal, when the subscription terms apply.

SolarWinds vs Zabbix: Key Differences

• Cost: Zabbix has no license fee; SolarWinds Self-Hosted starts at $8 per node per month.
• Platform: Zabbix runs on Linux; SolarWinds’ Orion platform runs on Windows Server.
• Effort: SolarWinds gives you more out-of-the-box network views and wizards; Zabbix needs more template and configuration work.
• Support: Zabbix support is a separate subscription, quoted by response coverage; budget for it if you need guaranteed response times.

How to Choose a SolarWinds Alternative

1. Get your SolarWinds renewal quote in writing first. It is the number every alternative has to beat.
2. Count what each vendor bills: nodes (SolarWinds), sensors (PRTG), hybrid units (LogicMonitor), devices (Datadog, Auvik), sites (Domotz).
3. Decide on hosting: if running the Orion server was the pain, go SaaS; if data must stay on-prem, compare PRTG, OpManager, Zabbix or Checkmk.
4. List the Orion modules you really use. NetFlow, configuration backup and IP address management are often the hard parts to replace.
5. Run two trials in parallel on the same subset of devices for two weeks.

If SNMP polling is the part of Orion you rely on most, see our guide to SNMP monitoring tools, and for flow and bandwidth analysis, monitoring network traffic. Browse more tools in our network monitoring software category.

Related reading: 13 Best Network Monitoring Software and Tools for 2026 (With Pricing)

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