PRTG: Infrastructure Monitoring Ledger 2026

Part of the Infrastructure Monitoring Ledger (edition 2026-10-04). How the scores work: methodology.

Snapshot

Tier: Leader incumbent
Owner: Turn/River Capital, private equity, majority since 2024-05; Paessler AG became Paessler GmbH in 2024-09
Licence model: Annual subscription per sensor tier (500 to 10,000 sensors, Enterprise Monitor by quote); freeware 100 sensors; perpetual ended 2024-07
Products scored: PRTG Network Monitor 26.3 with Multi-Platform Probe, PRTG Enterprise Monitor with ITOps Board, PRTG MSP Edition
Latest release: PRTG 26.3.124, 2026-09-16
Next signal: Roadmap in development: AI Incidents root-cause analysis, UVexplorer topology maps in core, API v2 parity; OIDC SSO still in discovery
Archetype: Sensor-priced mid-market favourite
Evidence grade: B. Version history and price pages are primary (A); the AI evidence dates anomaly detection and GPU sensors differently from the release history.

Scorecard

Dimension	Score	Direction
Capability today	74.2 / 100	higher is better
Momentum since end of 2022	+2.6 points	higher is better
Credibility	18.5 / 25	higher is better
Commercial risk	16.0 / 25	lower is better
Technical lock-in	13.5 / 25	lower is better
Integrator fit	13.0 / 20	higher is better
AI leverage	7.0 / 20	higher is better
Ledger Index	59.6 / 100	balanced weights

Capability by domain

Scores 0 to 5 against fixed anchors; total is weighted to 100.

Domain (weight)	2016	2019	2022	Today
Server, virtualization and storage (12)	3.5	4	4	4
Network monitoring (12)	3.5	3.5	4	4
Application and service monitoring (10)	3.5	3.5	4	4
Data collection and scale (12)	3.5	3.5	4	4
Alerting and event management (12)	3	3.5	3.5	4
Visualisation and reporting (8)	3.5	3.5	4	4
Logs and traces (8)	3	3	3	3
Automation and remediation (8)	3	3.5	3.5	3.5
Security and compliance (8)	2.5	3	3.5	2.5
New-platform support (VMware exit) (10)	1	1.5	2	3.5
Total / 100	60.6	65.6	71.6	74.2

Year by year: 2016: 60.6 · 2017: 60.6 · 2018: 61.4 · 2019: 65.6 · 2020: 66.6 · 2021: 68.8 · 2022: 71.6 · 2023: 71.6 · 2024: 71.6 · 2025: 70.0 · 2026: 74.2

What moved the score

Year	Domain	Change	Points	Trigger
2018	Security and compliance	2.5 → 3	+0.8	18.1: TOTP two-factor login; TLS 1.2 by default
2019	Alerting and event management	3 → 3.5	+1.2	19.x: multi-step escalation chains, notification schedules, Teams and Slack
2019	Automation and remediation	3 → 3.5	+0.8	19.x: HTTP actions with JSON payloads to Jira, ServiceNow, Redmine; API v2 GA 2025-11; IaC only community
2019	New-platform support (VMware exit)	1 → 1.5	+1.0	19.x: AWS and Azure sensors; Nutanix only through community SNMP templates
2019	Server, virtualization and storage	3.5 → 4	+1.2	18.4/19.2: Redfish health and disk sensors, Cisco UCS, Dell EMC Unity; Proxmox only in 2026
2020	Application and service monitoring	3.5 → 4	+1.0	20.1: ITOps Board business-service views in Enterprise Monitor; no OpenTelemetry or dependency mapping
2021	Data collection and scale	3.5 → 4	+1.2	20.1 Enterprise Monitor over many cores; 21.1 Linux Multi-Platform Probe; single core still about 10,000 sensors
2021	New-platform support (VMware exit)	1.5 → 2	+1.0	21.3: Kubernetes through Prometheus exporter scraping
2022	Network monitoring	3.5 → 4	+1.2	22.4: Meraki switch and wireless, FortiGate SD-WAN, BGP AS flow tracking
2022	Security and compliance	3 → 3.5	+0.8	22.4: MFA enforced per user group; audit trail of user actions
2022	Visualisation and reporting	3.5 → 4	+0.8	Enterprise Monitor ITOps Board executive service dashboards; 23.3 SLA Reporter
2025	Security and compliance	3.5 → 2.5	-1.6	Minus 1.0: CVE-2018-9276 and CVE-2018-19410 added to KEV 2025-02 (the security record); no SSO yet
2026	Alerting and event management	3.5 → 4	+1.2	ITOps Board 3.22: service-level correlation and deduplication; AI root cause still in development
2026	New-platform support (VMware exit)	2 → 3.5	+3.0	26.1, 2026-03: native Proxmox VE sensors and templates; AHV still by scripts; no XCP-ng or KubeVirt

Direction, 2023 to 2026

Each item carries one theme and one driver (V vision, C customer need, M market window, U upstream, P portfolio).

Date	Item	Theme	Driver
2023-03	23.1: Multi-Platform Probe with remote self-update	D4 Collection and scale	C
2023-09	Acquires ITPS: SLA Reporter and Data Exporter	D6 Visualisation and reporting	P
2023-10	Acquires Qbilon for IT landscape discovery	D1 Server and virtualization	P
2023-11	23.4: Multi-Platform Probe 3.0; API v2 provisioning endpoints	D4 Collection and scale	C
2024-04	Anomaly Detection sensor GA	D7 AI-assisted operations	V
2024-05	Turn/River Capital takes majority ownership	D12 Packaging and licensing	P
2024-07	Perpetual licences discontinued, subscription only	D12 Packaging and licensing	P
2024-09	24.3: native NVIDIA GPU sensor	D1 Server and virtualization	M
2025-04	25.1: Kerberos authentication for Windows monitoring	D9 Security	C
2025-11	25.4: API v2 device lifecycle GA; Data Hub on Windows	D11 Ecosystem openness	C
2026-03	26.1: native Proxmox VE sensors and templates	D1 Server and virtualization	M
2026-05	Acquires UVnetworks for L2/L3 topology and configuration backup	D2 Network	P
2026-06	26.2: AI documentation assistant	D7 AI-assisted operations	V
2026-09	26.3: rewritten v2 sensor suite; Siemens S7-1200/1500 sensors	D1 Server and virtualization	C

Centre of gravity: Server and virtualization (4), Collection and scale (2), AI-assisted operations (2)
Driver mix: Vision 14%, Customer need 36%, Market window 14%, Upstream 0%, Portfolio 36%

Credibility: 18.5 / 25

Criterion	Score	Basis
Cadence	4.5	Three or four dated stable releases a year plus a preview channel
Roadmap transparency	4	Written public roadmap by phase (discovery, planning, development); no open issue tracker
Say-do	4	18 of 26 items shipped, 2 partial, 6 pending; about 18 of 20 due items delivered, API v2 took up to 24 months
Velocity	3.5	Mostly sensor additions and v2 rewrites; bigger steps came through acquisitions
Lifecycle stability	2.5	Perpetual licences and XL1 ended 2024; Python Script Advanced sensor removed 2025

Say-do record, 2023 to 2026: 26 items 2023-2026: 18 shipped, 2 partial (Qbilon integration, AI Incidents root cause), 6 pending in discovery or planning (OIDC SSO, PWA, maps editor, AI sensor builder, ACI, F5), none dropped. Proxmox took nine months from roadmap to GA.

Commercial risk: 16.0 / 25 (lower is better)

Criterion	Score	Basis
Price and licence volatility	4.5	Perpetual licences and renewals ended 2024-07; XL1 unlimited licence retired
Purchase constraints	3	Subscription only, one licence per core server; small tiers and 100-sensor freeware remain
Channel and access	1	Public prices, freeware, open downloads and manuals, three-tier partner programme
Owner stability	4	Turn/River majority since 2024-05, also owns SolarWinds; new CEO 2025-09
Cost of staying supported	3.5	No perpetual maintenance path left; staying supported means annual subscription

Security record of the product itself: CVE-2018-9276 (notification command injection) and CVE-2018-19410 (core privilege escalation) were added to KEV on 2025-02-04, inside the 2023-2026 window: minus 1.0 from Security. Both were fixed in 2018 (18.2.39 and 18.4.46), more than six years before listing (the security record).

Technical lock-in: 13.5 / 25 (lower is better)

Criterion	Score	Basis
Formats	4.5	Proprietary .dat and .raw history files; configuration in one encrypted XML file tied to the host
Export path	3	History via API as CSV, JSON, XML and Data Exporter to SQL; config not importable elsewhere
Stack coupling	3.5	Windows-only core with its own store and probe protocol; agentless SNMP, WMI, SSH collection
Hardware / cloud coupling	0.5	Any Windows server, offline licence activation, fully air-gapped
Skills and tooling coupling	2	Easy to learn but PRTG-specific; PowerShell community tooling

Integrator fit: 13 / 20

Criterion	Score	Basis
Partner programme openness	4	Silver, Gold and Platinum partner tiers with portal, deal registration and NFR licences
Multi-tenancy and self-service	3	MSP edition with per-client probes, group permissions, white-label reports, monthly billing; no hard tenant isolation
API and infrastructure-as-code	3	API v1 and OpenAPI-based API v2 (GA 2025-11); PrtgAPI, Ansible and Terraform only community
Skills and certification	3	Paessler Certified Monitoring Expert and Sales Professional exams

AI leverage: 7 / 20

Strand	Today	Latest step
AIOps on monitoring data	2	2024: 24.2/24.3: Anomaly Detection sensor GA and native NVIDIA GPU sensor
AI platform stack	1	2026: 26.2: AI documentation assistant, help content only
AI-assisted operations	2	2024: 24.2: Anomaly Detection sensor GA; alerts only, no summaries or actions
Agent openness	2	2025: 25.4: API v2 with OpenAPI GA; no MCP server

AI say-do: 2 announced, 2 GA (anomaly sensor, GPU sensor), 0 preview, 0 dropped; the vendor roadmap adds an AI documentation assistant (shipped), AI Incidents root cause (partial) and an AI sensor builder (pending). Today the AI only flags anomalies.

Reading

Paessler is modernising PRTG around v2 sensors, cross-platform probes and acquired topology and configuration tools, while extending into OT. The record shows steady quarterly releases and a public roadmap, but Proxmox, topology and API v2 arrived late and SSO is still in discovery. Buyers get simple sensor pricing and air-gapped operation, against a Windows-only core, proprietary data files, an end to perpetual licences and a private-equity owner.

Open questions and evidence caveats

The AI evidence dates the anomaly sensor (2024) and GPU sensor differently from the release history (anomaly detection in 20.3).
UVexplorer topology and NCM are credited half a step because the core integration is still listed as in development.
The KEV deduction rests on 2018 flaws listed in 2025; current builds are patched.
ITOps Board correlation and deduplication apply to Enterprise Monitor only.