Scanopy vs SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper

Scanopy is for IT teams and MSPs who want a dedicated network diagram automation tool which works alongside their existing monitoring platform. SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper is for enterprise teams that standardize on Microsoft tools and need Visio-native network diagram exports. The table below puts the two side by side on discovery, the four topology views, pricing, and licensing, including SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper's trade-offs.

Scanopy vs SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper: head to head

How they compare

SolarWinds NTM and Scanopy both scan a network over SNMP, CDP, and LLDP and turn it into topology diagrams, so on the surface they do the same job. The difference is what you get at the end. NTM is a standalone Windows desktop application whose signature output is a Microsoft Visio export — it auto-populates Visio SmartShapes from the scan, and that single feature makes it the default in shops that standardize on Visio for compliance documentation. Scanopy is a web-based tool: one daemon discovers the network and produces an interactive map you open in a browser, share by link, embed via iframe, and export as SVG, PNG, HTML, Confluence, Mermaid, or PDF.

The real trade-off is a web-based living map versus Windows-bound Visio files, plus the product's trajectory. NTM has no web interface, no API, and no embeddable output, and its result is a static file you regenerate each time you rescan. It has also received only maintenance and security updates since roughly 2016 — SolarWinds staff stated on the THWACK forum in 2017 that "there is no current roadmap for the product." If your deliverable is a Visio file for auditors, NTM is the better fit and the export is the whole reason to run it. If you want a shareable, browser-based map that refreshes on a schedule and isn't tied to Windows, Scanopy is the better fit, and it's flat monthly with unlimited hosts, commercially self-hostable, or free under AGPL-3.0.

Where NTM wins is that Visio export. Scanopy exports SVG, PNG, HTML, Confluence, Mermaid, and PDF, but not native Visio SmartShapes — and for an organization whose documentation standard is Visio, that one format can outweigh everything else.

When to choose which

Choose Scanopy when: You want live maps over on-demand Visio exports: automatic L2, L3, workload, and application views, per-host service detection, flat pricing regardless of host count, and a free, self-hostable Community edition. It sits alongside your monitoring stack rather than replacing it.

Choose SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper when: Enterprise teams that need compliance-ready documentation with Visio exports. The Visio export alone makes it the default choice in organizations that standardize on Microsoft tools.

This is a focused, two-tool comparison.Weighing other options too? See the best SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper alternatives. For all 13 tools side by side, see the full comparison of automated network diagram tools.

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