Paessler PRTG – The complete alternative to ControlUp

Choosing between Paessler PRTG and ControlUp depends on several factors, such as your specific network monitoring needs, budget, and technical resources available in your organization.

PRTG is ideal:

• If you prefer an all-in-one, easy-to-use solution with minimal setup time.
• If you need sophisticated, customizable visualizations like dashboards and network maps.
• If you want to monitor an unlimited number of remote locations and networks at no extra cost.
• If you prefer high scalability and a software tailored to large, complex environments.
• If you want to get real-time alerting, custom notifications, and automated reporting.
• If you want to have the choice between an on-premises or cloud-based solution.
• If you want a straightforward licensing model at a comparatively low price.

ControlUp might be your choice:

• If you primarily need to monitor digital employee experience and VDI environments.
• If you require deep insights into end-user experience metrics for virtual desktops.
• If you need specialized monitoring for Citrix, VMware Horizon, or Microsoft AVD environments.
• If you want strong remediation capabilities for end-user computing issues.
• If you prefer a solution with built-in employee engagement features for feedback collection.

PRTG offers superior automation capabilities that help your IT teams streamline workflows and reduce manual tasks. With PRTG, you can set up automated responses to specific events, schedule regular tasks, and create custom scripts for remediation. While ControlUp provides some automation for VDI environments, PRTG delivers comprehensive automation across your entire infrastructure, including Windows and Linux systems, firewalls, and network devices.

Yes, PRTG delivers true end-to-end observability across your entire IT ecosystem. Unlike ControlUp, which focuses primarily on DEX (Digital Employee Experience) monitoring, PRTG monitors everything from network performance to application performance metrics (APM). You get real-time insights into your complete infrastructure with a unified management platform that eliminates the need for multiple management tools.

PRTG provides monitoring for DaaS and virtual desktop environments with specialized sensors for Azure, Citrix, and VMware. You can track performance metrics, user logon times, and resource utilization without additional costs. While ControlUp specializes in VDI monitoring, PRTG offers these capabilities as part of a complete monitoring solution that covers your entire infrastructure, not just the virtual desktop components.

Absolutely! PRTG integrates seamlessly with DevOps workflows through its extensive API and custom scripting capabilities. You can incorporate monitoring data into your CI/CD pipelines, track application performance across development and production environments, and ensure optimal performance throughout the development lifecycle. Unlike ControlUp's limited DevOps functionality, PRTG provides the flexibility to support modern development practices.

PRTG offers robust endpoint management capabilities that extend beyond what ControlUp provides. You can monitor and manage endpoints across distributed networks, track performance metrics, and identify issues before they impact users. While ControlUp focuses on VDI endpoints, PRTG monitors physical and virtual endpoints, giving you complete visibility across your entire endpoint ecosystem.

PRTG excels at real-time monitoring with customizable dashboards that display live data from across your infrastructure. You can set up alerts based on thresholds you define and receive instant notifications through multiple channels. Unlike ControlUp, which primarily focuses on user experience metrics, PRTG provides real-time insights into network traffic, server performance, application behavior, and much more, giving you a comprehensive view of your entire IT environment.

PRTG delivers exceptional value for IT support teams with its all-inclusive pricing model. You pay for sensors, not data volume, making costs predictable regardless of how much you monitor. Unlike ControlUp's complex pricing structure or other competitors like Pandora FMS, PRTG provides all functionality without hidden costs or add-ons, making it the smarter choice for budget-conscious organizations.

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.