The PingPlotter Alternative
That Does More
Everything PingPlotter does & more. Bi-directional testing. NPM, APM & SNMP. Advanced diagnostics & troubleshooting.
4.96 Average Rating (169 Reviews)
Everything PingPlotter Does,
And Beyond
Get Network Monitoring, Observability and Troubleshooting with Obkio.
PingPlotter built its reputation on diagnostic excellence in ICMP monitoring, and that reputation is well-deserved. For over 20 years, network professionals have relied on its traceroutes and intuitive interface to solve connectivity problems quickly and effectively.
But modern networks have evolved. Multi-cloud architectures, distributed workforces, SD-WAN deployments, and always-on SaaS applications demand more than on-demand troubleshooting. Tools like PingPlotter tell you what's wrong after someone notices a problem. You launch a session, run diagnostics, and troubleshoot reactively.
Today's IT teams need to detect issues before users notice them, diagnose root causes in minutes rather than hours, and prove performance degradation to vendors with concrete historical data. That requires more than ICMP monitoring. You need a tool that offers bidirectional visibility, correlation across multiple data sources, and continuous baseline tracking.
That's where Obkio extends PingPlotter's ICMP Monitoring capabilities into an all-in-one, continuous network monitoring, observability and troubleshooting platform. With NPM, SNMP, & APM correlation and automated diagnostics in one unified interface, you don’t need to juggle multiple tools anymore. It's not about replacing what works; it's about extending those capabilities to meet modern network demands.
Why Choose Obkio Over PingPlotter?
Go beyond classic ping and traceroutes. Monitor, diagnose and troubleshoot your network and applications more efficiently and effectively.
Continuous Synthetic Monitoring
Beyond ICMP pings, Obkio exchanges UDP synthetic traffic every 500ms between distributed agents, simulating real application behaviour (VoIP, video, SaaS).
Bidirectional Visibility
PingPlotter shows outbound paths. Obkio automatically tests both directions. Go beyond "where" to "why."
Distributed Agent Architecture
Monitor from any network location (offices, cloud regions, data centers) with centralized visibility. No need to install desktop software on multiple workstations.
Multi-Source Troubleshooting
Obkio combines ICMP, UDP synthetic traffic, application performance data, and SNMP device metrics in one view. See the complete picture from the end-user perspective.
Enterprise Capabilities, Scalable Pricing
Get features typically reserved for enterprise tools (multi-site monitoring, advanced correlation, unlimited users) with pricing designed for SMBs and MSPs.
What PingPlotter Does vs. What Obkio Adds
PingPlotter for on-demand diagnosis, Obkio for continuous, proactive observability and troubleshooting.
PingPlotter does one thing exceptionally well: traceroute-based diagnosis and ICMP monitoring.
Obkio integrates this capability into a complete Network Performance Monitoring platform with SNMP, APM, and automated diagnostics—eliminating the need to juggle multiple tools.
Get Better Visibility With Synthetic Monitoring That Goes Basic ICMP
Obkio is the PingPlotter alternative that goes beyond ICMP: Network Monitoring & Observability that mirrors the real user experience.
While PingPlotter tests using ICMP (the standard protocol for connectivity testing), Obkio uses multiple techniques. Obkio uses ICMP for traceroutes while continuously testing real application performance with synthetic UDP traffic exchanged every 500ms between agents.
- ICMP gets special treatment: Routers often prioritize, rate-limit, or block ICMP entirely for security reasons
- Synthetic UDP mirrors reality: Behaves exactly like real applications (VoIP calls, video conferences, SaaS traffic) even when there are no active users
- Continuous testing catches anomalies: Detects intermittent issues and brief congestion, often invisible to 2.5-second ICMP tests
ICMP tells you if the path exists. Synthetic traffic tells you if your applications will perform well on that path.
The PingPlotter Alternative with Bi-Directional Performance Testing
See both sides of your network because the return path is often where performance issues hide.
ICMP tests one direction: your location outbound to the destination. You see the path your packets take, leaving your network. The problem is, Internet routing doesn't work that way. Return paths are different. Unidirectional testing shows you half the picture, often the wrong half.
Obkio deploys distributed Monitoring Agents at all your key network locations (offices, data centers, cloud regions). These agents continuously exchange synthetic traffic between them, testing both directions automatically.
You see the complete reality: Site A → Site B and Site B → Site A simultaneously.
Monitor actual user experience on every segment:
- Office to office (branch → headquarters)
- Site to cloud (your network → AWS/Azure/GCP)
- Site to Internet (offices → critical SaaS applications)
Asymmetric routing. Congested peering points. One-way packet loss. These problems only appear when you test both directions. With PingPlotter, you're blind to them. With Obkio, they're impossible to miss.
Monitor, Diagnose & Troubleshoot With Multiple Sources of Data
PingPlotter shows you where the symptom appears. Obkio shows you where, why, and how to fix it, with all performance data automatically correlated.
ICMP shows where latency spikes or packets drop. Now what? You manually investigate: Is that your equipment or your ISP's? What's the interface utilization? Are other sites affected? What else changed at that time? You're switching between tools, building the story yourself.
IT teams need multiple data sources to understand the "WHY" of network performance issues. Obkio does this automatically by correlating five monitoring and troubleshooting protocols.
More Protocols. Better Visibility.
"Don't stop at 'where.' Discover 'why.'
Synthetic NPM & APM
Continuous synthetic UDP traffic is exchanged every 500ms between distributed agents to measure network (Internet, SD-WAN, MPLS, SASE) and application (VoIP, video, SaaS) performance. See how jitter, packet loss, and latency affects users.
SNMP Device Monitoring
Router, switch, and firewall metrics (CPU utilization, bandwidth consumption, interface errors) correlated automatically with performance data. Instantly see if problems stem from device overload or circuit issues.
Visual Traceroutes
Automatically run visual traceroutes across Monitoring Sessions and to Extra IP destinations. Like PingPlotter's core strength, but always running and automatically correlated with every other data source.
Destinations (ICMP)
Monitor standalone IP addresses without deploying agents: ISP gateways, DNS servers, critical SaaS endpoints. Get PingPlotter-style ICMP monitoring while maintaining your comprehensive agent-based visibility.
Obkio Offers Visibility & Diagnostics in One, Eliminating Tool Sprawl
Don't use three to five other tools to get complete visibility. Obkio consolidates that stack into one platform.
With separate tools, you detect an issue, launch PingPlotter for traceroutes, open your SNMP browser for device utilization, check other sites manually, build a timeline in spreadsheets, and then correlate everything yourself.
With Obkio, you click the alert and see correlated data ready for action, traceroute, device metrics, affected sites, historical context, all in one view:
- Continuous monitoring + visual traceroutes in one interface
- SNMP for monitoring the performance of routers, switches, firewalls and more
- Automated diagnostics with multi-source correlation
- Centralized historical data for trends and vendor disputes
- Unified alerting across all monitoring types</span>
Benefits stack up fast. Single login for your entire team. No monitoring gaps from using separate alerting systems. Simplified licensing without juggling multiple vendors.
Do You Still Need PingPlotter If You Have Obkio?.
No, you don't
Obkio includes visual traceroutes, ICMP monitoring via Network Destinations, and on-demand diagnostic capabilities, everything PingPlotter does. Plus continuous monitoring, SNMP device metrics, APM correlation, automatic root-cause analysis, and long-term historical data.
What does this mean for PingPlotter users?
For reactive diagnosis, you can launch it and use it on demand. But if you need to go further, Obkio does everything PingPlotter does (visual traceroutes, ICMP monitoring), and more.
Pricing That Scales With Your Network
From Single Sites to Global Networks: Plans That Fit Your Budget
Obkio's pricing works differently because the use case is different. You're not buying diagnostic software for individual users; you're deploying a continuous monitoring platform across your network infrastructure.
Pricing is based on monitoring agents (network locations) rather than user seats, which means your entire IT team, from junior techs to senior engineers to management, accesses the same data without additional costs.
- 14-Day Proof Of Concept
- Single and home offices
- SMEs with less than 3 locations
- Mid to large multisite networks
- MSPs & large businesses
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Colleges and Universities
Our plans come with a free 14-day trial, and no credit card is required, ensuring you can explore our offerings risk-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
PingPlotter is for on-demand diagnostics. If that's your primary need, it's a good choice. Obkio is designed for proactive monitoring: 24/7 observability, automatic detection of issues, correlation with SNMP and APM, and intelligent alerting. They're two different philosophies—reactive diagnosis vs preventive monitoring.
Yes, if you're looking for a complete monitoring platform. Many customers used PingPlotter for troubleshooting, then deployed Obkio for continuous monitoring. Obkio's Visual Traceroute & ICMP Monitoring (Network Destinations) eliminates the need for PingPlotter in most use cases.
PingPlotter and Obkio aren't directly comparable in price because they offer different functionality. The question isn't 'which is cheaper?' but 'which tool fits my need?' If you only want on-demand diagnostics, PingPlotter is more economical. If you want to prevent problems before user impact, Obkio offers more visiblity and troubleshooting features.
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Get a free POC with Obkio's 14-day trial. Identify network problems & collect data to troubleshoot.
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