# Network monitoring and management: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "network monitoring tool" and as "network management and automation software", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Added to the November 2026 Edition. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/network-monitoring-and-management

**Standing:** Zabbix leads with 27% of first choices; verdict contested. 49 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Zabbix](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/zabbix/index.md) | 27% | 20% | 49 |
| 2 | [ManageEngine OpManager](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/manageengine-opmanager/index.md) | 24% | 2% | 44 |
| 3 | [Auvik](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/auvik/index.md) | 22% | 11% | 27 |
| 4 | [Paessler PRTG Network Monitor](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/paessler-prtg-network-monitor/index.md) | 8% | 11% | 56 |
| 5 | [LibreNMS](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/librenms/index.md) | 6% | 4% | 24 |
| 6 | [LogicMonitor](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/logicmonitor/index.md) | 4% | 6% | 31 |
| 7 | [SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/solarwinds-network-performance-monitor/index.md) | 2% | 14% | 35 |
| 8 | [Nagios](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/nagios/index.md) | 2% | 32% | 37 |
| 11 | [Datadog Network Monitoring](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/datadog-network-monitoring/index.md) | 0% | 8% | 36 |
| 12 | [Checkmk](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/checkmk/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 11 |
| 13 | [New Relic](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/new-relic/index.md) | 0% | 8% | 12 |
| 14 | [Site24x7](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/site24x7/index.md) | 0% | 10% | 10 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 114 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: no first choice
- GPT-5.4 mini: ManageEngine OpManager; alternatives Datadog Network Monitoring, LogicMonitor, Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: LogicMonitor; alternatives Auvik, Datadog Network Monitoring, ManageEngine OpManager, Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
- Perplexity Sonar: Paessler PRTG Network Monitor; alternatives Auvik, ManageEngine OpManager, SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
- Grok 4.20: ManageEngine OpManager; alternatives Auvik, NinjaOne, Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
- Mistral Small: ManageEngine OpManager; alternatives Datadog Network Monitoring, Kentik, LogicMonitor, SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Auvik; alternatives LogicMonitor, ManageEngine OpManager, Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
- Llama 4 Maverick: Zabbix; alternatives Checkmk, Kentik, ManageEngine OpManager, New Relic
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: ManageEngine OpManager; alternatives LogicMonitor, Paessler PRTG Network Monitor, SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor, Zabbix
- Kimi K2: Auvik; alternatives LogicMonitor, ManageEngine OpManager, Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Paessler PRTG Network Monitor; alternatives LogicMonitor, ManageEngine OpManager, SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor, Zabbix
- MiniMax M2.5: ManageEngine OpManager; alternatives Datadog Network Monitoring, LogicMonitor
- GPT-6 Luna: Auvik; alternatives LogicMonitor, Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
- Muse Glimmer 30B: LogicMonitor; alternatives LiveNX, ManageEngine OpManager, Paessler PRTG Network Monitor

## Sources the answers cite

66 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 13 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- softwareadvice.com: 37 answers, 43 citations
- capterra.com: 29 answers, 46 citations
- checkmk.com: 19 answers, 21 citations
- newrelic.com: 17 answers, 17 citations
- pathsolutions.com: 16 answers, 16 citations
- ir.com: 15 answers, 16 citations
- g2.com: 14 answers, 20 citations
- manageengine.com: 13 answers, 20 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://softwareadvice.com/network-monitoring (33 answers)
- https://checkmk.com/blog/best-network-monitoring-tools (19 answers)
- https://capterra.com/network-monitoring-software (17 answers)
- https://newrelic.com/blog/observability/network-performance-monitoring-tools (15 answers)
- https://ir.com/guides/network-monitoring-tools (14 answers)
- https://netwrix.com/en/resources/blog/network-monitoring-tools (13 answers)
- https://pathsolutions.com/blog/best-network-monitoring-tools (13 answers)
- https://dotcom-monitor.com/blog/best-network-monitoring-software (11 answers)
- https://kentik.com/kentipedia/best-network-monitoring-tools-2026 (10 answers)
- https://comparitech.com/net-admin/network-monitoring-tools (9 answers)

## Warned against

- Nagios: 12 of 37 labels negative. "Zabbix, LibreNMS, Nagios, and similar tools can be excellent, but configuration, upgrades, templates, integrations, backups, and support may fall on your team." (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt)
- Zabbix: 10 of 49 labels negative. "Free/Open Source. Extremely powerful and customizable, but requires significant Linux/sysadmin expertise to maintain and tune. Only choose this if you have strong engineering talent." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, scale prompt)
- Paessler PRTG Network Monitor: 6 of 56 labels negative. "Reddit community sentiment: Strongly discouraged by networking professionals" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt)
- SolarWinds Orion: 5 of 6 labels negative. "CISA issued a rare emergency directive calling on all federal agencies to "review their networks for indicators of compromise and disconnect or power down SolarWinds Orion products immediately."" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
New leader: Auvik (26%) to Zabbix (27%). Margin 5 points, within noise.

- Zabbix: 17% to 27%, +10. Inside the floor by 1 point · rank 3 → 1 of 114.
- Auvik: 26% to 22%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 1 → 3 of 114.
- Datadog Network Monitoring: 4% to 0%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 6 → 11 of 114.
- Paessler PRTG Network Monitor: 11% to 8%, −3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 4 of 114, unchanged.
- ManageEngine OpManager: 22% to 24%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 2 of 114, unchanged.
- LogicMonitor: 2% to 4%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 8 → 6 of 114.
- Nagios: 4% to 2%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 7 → 8 of 114.
- Progress WhatsUp Gold: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 10 → 106 of 114.
- LibreNMS: 6% to 6%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 5 of 114, unchanged.
- SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 9 → 7 of 114.
- Checkmk: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 21 → 12 of 114.
- New Relic: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 41 → 13 of 114.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.