We compared Meraki Dashboard and Nagios XI across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:
Features: Meraki Dashboard users like its centralized console, cable testing, firmware updates, and group policy features. The solution is also praised as user-friendly, stable, and scalable. Nagios XI received positive feedback for its versatility and adaptability. It offers a diverse selection of plugins and scripts for monitoring needs.
Room for Improvement: Users say Meraki Dashboard could improve its client VPN, hardware discovery, and integration with external solutions, Some users mentioned a need for more comprehensive documentation and granular control. Users have suggested Nagios XI could improve integration, simplify configuration, and make the platform more user-friendly. Nagios XI users also suggest improvements to network visibility and cloud discovery.
Service and Support: Meraki Dashboard's customer service receives mixed feedback. Some users spoke fondly of the technical support they received, while others expressed frustration over long wait times and had a hard time finding the right person to help them. Some Nagios XI customers complained about the lack of chat or phone support options.
Ease of Deployment: Users said Meraki Dashboard was effortless and intuitive to set up, noting that features like templates and configuration cloning saved time during deployment. Some Nagios XI users found the setup to be relatively simple, while others considered it challenging. Deployment can take a few months to complete, and there’s a steep learning curve.
Pricing: Opinions on Meraki Dashboard's pricing varied, with some users finding it pricey and others deeming it fair. Nagios XI’s pricing is considered reasonable and transparent, with no extra charges.
ROI: Meraki Dashboard simplifies IT operations, and some users expect returns within a few years. Nagios XI users reported positive outcomes overall, but some said visibility limitations lower the solution’s ROI.
Comparison Results: Meraki Dashboard is a scalable, user-friendly solution with a smooth, painless setup made easy by built-in templates and features like configuration cloning. However, some users complained that the solution is too expensive and needs better integration with non-Cisco platforms. Nagios XI is an affordable, flexible solution with a broad feature set and a selection of helpful plugins. At the same time, users say the setup can be complex, and some expressed a desire for more convenient ways to contact support.
"We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points."
"The single dashboard is a valuable feature."
"What I found most valuable in Meraki Dashboard is that it's well-organized, easy to use, and practical."
"There is no need to swap the hardware at all the locations, and importing the APs into the Dashboard was a simple and quick process."
"Meraki Dashboard does not require a lot of maintenance. Cisco tells communicates through the Meraki Dashboard web client, it will automatically send updates to the equipment. They will send you an email on what day the updates will take place. If you want to proceed, you can click on accept, or you can decline them and schedule the updates at another time."
"It is very easy to manage. It has good security, and it is working well with our firewall."
"The ability of the product to perform with simplicity of deployment make it a valuable solution."
"The most valuable feature is knowing the wireless and switch are healthy."
"The product can scale if you need it to."
"The most valuable features are the ease of use and a single-pane-of-glass that allows us to identify issues across the entire network from one dashboard."
"An excellent solution that is easy and intuitive to implement."
"The most valuable feature is the dashboard, where I can have a single screen that provides a summary for hundreds of servers."
"Though I downplayed the administrative NCC GUI, this is by far the strongest aspect of the Nagios XI product."
"The Script Module in Nagios is really easy to use and is really cost efficient."
"Nagios XI is stable."
"Nagios XI is a simple monitoring tool with performance management."
"The installation is no problem. I've installed Nagios several times."
"Nagios XI helped me to draw the network and check for system failures."
"The technical support needs improvement."
"The Wi-Fi side needs improvement."
"Meraki Dashboard could improve the user interface by making it more user-friendly. The configuring can at times be difficult."
"You can't really clone or replicate a device, that sort of feature would be useful. You can clone the site but you cannot clone the device."
"Meraki lacks their own software for connecting to the VPN which creates some issues."
"An area for improvement in Meraki Dashboard is licensing management because it's a little complex. Product licensing can be made a little bit easier through license concurrency and a more straightforward approach to applying the license to products and services."
"I would like to see an alert event feature to monitor what users are downloading and how to block some applications."
"The initial setup is complex and can be made more straightforward."
"It's a very complex system. Customers have told me that sometimes there are lots of advanced features that are available and that you can change in the dashboard, but sometimes it's very hard to know what they are."
"More integration would be an improvement."
"The technical support is variable - sometimes I get answers, but most of my tickets go unanswered."
"Nagios XI can improve network and hardware monitoring, these parameters should be simplified to allow usage for monitoring. Additionally, if there was automatic reporting it would be helpful."
"There's room for improvement in the visibility, and in the ability to extract information. Stuff like this should be more simple."
"It can be quite difficult to know which drivers and agents to use when setting up."
"The Configuration Wizard needs improvement, because not all vendors are present."
"The pricing has recently risen. I know they've changed what is covered under the license, however, it doesn't change the way we use it and adds nothing to our experience, and yet we now have to pay more."
"I would like to see support for notification via SMS."
"Open-source software is usually not user-friendly."
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Meraki Dashboard is ranked 9th in Network Monitoring Software with 51 reviews while Nagios XI is ranked 8th in Network Monitoring Software with 54 reviews. Meraki Dashboard is rated 8.6, while Nagios XI is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Meraki Dashboard writes "Incredibly easy to use, great troubleshooting and prevention of malicious events". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Nagios XI writes "Great for monitoring IT services infrastructure with nice tools and helpful notifications". Meraki Dashboard is most compared with Cisco DNA Center, SolarWinds NPM, ThousandEyes, Mist AI and Cloud and Centreon, whereas Nagios XI is most compared with Nagios Core, Zabbix, PRTG Network Monitor, Wireshark and Icinga. See our Meraki Dashboard vs. Nagios XI report.
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