Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent all kinds of network issues.
Specialized tools have the advantage of being laser-focused on a specific use case or set of use cases.
But they also have a big downside. To do more, you’ll need to add more tools to your tech stack. And that means more complex workflows, more costs, more admin, and, well, a bigger risk that critical issues might fall through the cracks.
Paessler PRTG is designed to be both deep and wide. It can handle all your organization’s requirements — application performance monitoring, response time monitoring, AWS and Azure, error tracking, website monitoring, and more.
That means you can keep a close eye on your network’s health and performance, debug issues quickly, and make smart optimization decisions more quickly, without having to constantly switch between different screens, or manually piece data together.
PRTG packs all the functionality you need to keep your IT infrastructure in top shape, in one single tool designed to offer you the most intuitive user experience possible.
Powerful automations and accurate, real-time updates put you in the driver’s seat, enabling you to minimize downtime and run a more stable, reliable network. Plus, it couldn’t be simpler or quicker to set up.
Quick installation with automatic network discovery and smart setup for instant monitoring
Custom dashboard creation via drag & drop with easy-to-read visualized overviews
Different user interfaces for web, desktop, and mobile apps for monitoring on the go
Network of qualified implementation partners to support you with a smooth migration to PRTG
Diagnose network issues by continuously tracking the health, availability, and performance of your entire IT infrastructure. Show hardware parameters, application performance, network traffic, bandwidth usage, and other key metrics in real time. Visualize data in clear graphs and dashboards to identify problems more easily. Gain the overview you need to troubleshoot all kinds of issues in your network.
Device tree view of the complete monitoring setup
Custom PRTG dashboard for keeping an eye on the entire IT infrastructure
Live traffic data graph in PRTG
FEATURE | PRTG PRTG | Better Stack Better Stack |
|---|---|---|
One tool for your entire network | PRTG All monitoring features included | Better Stack Specializes in uptime monitoring, incident management, and log management for web applications, APIs, and cloud infrastructure, not full-spectrum network monitoring |
Easy setup, intuitive monitoring | PRTG User-friendly interfaces for web, desktop, and mobile | Better Stack User-friendly cloud-based setup |
Automatic network discover | PRTG Included | Better Stack Not supported |
Real-time alerts & notifications | PRTG Advanced, highly customizable alerting via different notification methods | Better Stack Supported |
Custom maps & dashboards | PRTG Custom dashboard creation via drag & drop | Better Stack Supported, but less flexible than PRTG's map designer |
Agentless monitoring | PRTG No need to install agents on the monitored systems | Better Stack Can only monitor basic network endpoints |
On-premises or cloud-based | PRTG Flexible deployment options available | Better Stack Cloud-based deployment only |
Enterprise version | PRTG Available | Better Stack Available |
Freeware version | PRTG Available for up to 100 sensors, free for life | Better Stack Available |
Distributed network monitoring | PRTG Monitoring an unlimited number of remote locations included | Better Stack Not supported |
Server & application monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | Better Stack Supported |
Network performance monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | Better Stack Not supported |
Bandwidth monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | Better Stack Not supported |
Network traffic analyzer | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra costs | Better Stack Not supported |
Cloud services monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | Better Stack Supported |
Virtual infrastructure monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | Better Stack Not supported |
Storage resource monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | Better Stack Not supported |
Database monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | Better Stack Supported |
Web performance monitoring | PRTG Out-of-the-box integration, no extra cost | Better Stack Supported |
Supports leading technologies | PRTG SNMP, flow protocols, packet sniffing, WMI, HTTP, ping, SQL, and much more | Better Stack Supported via integrations |
Create your own scripts | PRTG Own PRTG API included for custom sensors and scripts | Better Stack Supported, but less flexible than PRTG |
Includes technical support | PRTG Expert support included, no extra costs | Better Stack Expert support only available on paid plans |
“All-around winning
network monitor”
“The real beauty of PRTG is the endless possibilities it offers”
“PRTG Network Monitor
is very hard to beat”
Small local deployment? Large network with several distributions spread across three continents? Somewhere in between?
With 250+ preconfigured sensors, the ability to create your own, and support for unlimited devices, there's no network PRTG can't handle. And, with 100 fully featured sensors free, forever, it doesn’t matter if your IT budget is limited and you’re the only team member.
Track every single performance metric from one monitoring platform: uptime, downtime, bandwidth, status pages, SSL certificates. Even whether SaaS vendors are meeting SLAs. Better still, real-time in-app, SMS, and email notifications let you know promptly if there are issues, so you can prevent bottlenecks and critical system outages.
Use it on premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid setup — the choice is yours. PRTG comes in two flavors: Network Monitor and Cloud Monitor. And if your network uses Linux, we've got you covered too, with a fully Linux-compatible hosted solution.
No agents or other third-parties required. PRTG natively supports all major monitoring protocols: SNMP, WMI, Windows performance counters, flow technologies, SSH, HTTP/S, FTP, and DNS, giving you endless options for highly effective, low-impact monitoring. But you also have the option of setting it up as an agent if you prefer.
Start monitoring your IT infrastructure, without paying a cent. PRTG's free plan isn't just for "personal projects" — you can use it with up to 100 sensors. That's great for your budget, and for scalability too. It's much easier to adapt to growth if you start as you mean to go on.
You are interested to know if PRTG could be an alternative to your Better Stack implementation?
PRTG is set up in a matter of minutes and can be used on a wide variety of mobile devices.
We also compared PRTG with other monitoring tools:
Opsview is feature-packed and scalable but complex to set up with opaque pricing. PRTG offers enterprise-grade features in a user-friendly environment with transparent pricing.
Netreo offers configurability but is resource-heavy and requires manual tweaking. PRTG is powerful, flexible, works out of the box, and has budget-friendly pricing.
OpenNMS is hard to beat for flexibility and configurability, but making the most of it requires time, patience, and expertise. PRTG is just as powerful and offers a high level of customization, but it's much quicker and easier to set up.
New Relic offers strong asset performance management and observability, but full IT infrastructure monitoring can be costly and requires a fair amount of manual configuration.
Real-time notifications mean faster troubleshooting so that you can act before more serious issues occur.
Partnering with innovative IT vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.
Combining their tools to a powerful solution for advanced analysis and automation, KnowledgeRiver and Paessler enable IT teams to ensure best performance for their infrastructure and networks.
A combination of Orchestra and PRTG provides the ideal solution to monitor the traditional IT Infrastructure as well as the central communication server in hospitals and industrial environments.
baramundi and PRTG create a secure, reliable and powerful IT infrastructure where you have everything under control - from the traffic in your firewall to the configuration of your clients.
Network Monitoring Software – Version 25.2.106.1114 (May 05th, 2025)
Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available
English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese
Network devices, bandwidth, servers, applications, virtual environments, remote systems, IoT, and more
Choose the PRTG Network Monitor subscription that's best for you
Choosing between Paessler PRTG and Better Stack depends on several factors, such as your specific network monitoring needs, budget, and technical resources available in your organization.
PRTG is ideal:
Better Stack might be your choice:
PRTG, hands down, for one simple reason: it's designed specifically for full-spectrum infrastructure monitoring. That means it can keep a close eye on local and remote hardware and software as well as virtualized environments and even environmental metrics like temperature and humidity.
Better Stack, on the other hand, isn't a full-spectrum network monitoring solution. Nor is it intended to be. It specializes in uptime monitoring, incident management, and log monitoring for web apps, APIs, and cloud infrastructure.
There's no clear winner here. Both PRTG and Better Stack are relatively simple and straightforward to set up. PRTG has an Auto-Discovery tool that detects every hardware and software device within a given IP address range, assigns the appropriate sensors, and starts monitoring. Better Stack similarly has a friendly, intuitive UI and a wide range of low or no-code integrations.
That said, Better Stack can only be deployed in the cloud, while PRTG also has on-premise and hybrid solutions. So, if you need a local instance, PRTG is the way to go.
Better Stack's pricing is usage-based. As the name suggests, this means that what you pay varies with how many resources you consume. Busier months will result in higher bills, while quieter months will result in lower bills. Some advanced features are only available as paid add-ons. There's also a free plan. But this is intended for personal or small-scale use, and has limits on monitors, logs, and altering.
PRTG, on the other hand, uses sensor-based pricing, with all features included in every plan. You pay for what you monitor, not for data volume or to access specific functionality. The first 100 sensors are free, for life, so you can get started with an enterprise-grade network monitoring tool at no cost.
In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, for example the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, or the free space on a disk drive. On average, you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.
Paessler conducted trials in over 600 IT departments worldwide to tune its network monitoring software closer to the needs of sysadmins. The result of the survey: over 95% of the participants would recommend PRTG – or already have.
You are interested to know if PRTG could be an alternative to your Better Stack implementation?
