The 8 best hardware monitoring software for 2026

Hardware monitoring is one of an IT professional’s most important tasks. Regular and comprehensive monitoring maximizes equipment lifespans, minimizes the risk of unexpected failures, and ensures systems run smoothly.

Hardware monitoring tools are essential to this process. They provide real-time data on various hardware components so IT professionals can proactively monitor and maintain their systems.

Investing in hardware monitoring tools is a no-brainer, but what are the best options?

This article reviews the 8 best hardware monitoring tools available to IT professionals. We also look at what a hardware monitoring tool is, the types available, and their benefits.

The 8 best hardware monitoring tools for IT pros in 2026

1. Atera
2. Paessler PRTG
3. SolarWinds
4. ManageEngine OpManager
5. Zabbix
6. NinjaOne
7. Datadog
8. Datto RMM

Now we’ll review the best hardware monitoring tools 

Whether you work in an IT department or as an MSP, the solutions below help keep your organization’s hardware up to date and running.

1. Atera

1. Hardware monitoring features: Atera has a built-in network monitoring tool that allows users to view detailed data on hardware, performance metrics, and software inventory. 

The hardware and performance metrics you can monitor include:

• Hard disk usage
• Motherboard temperatures
• Motherboard fans
• Network bandwidth
• Memory usage
• CPU load

2. Other key features: Aside from comprehensive network monitoring, Atera’s key capabilities include RMM, PSA, remote access, network discovery, asset management, automated patching, scripting, and reporting. 

With Atera, IT teams don’t have to invest in redundant software for IT management.

3. AI advancements: Atera is the first IT management platform to power its platform with Agentic AI through Robin by Atera and AI Copilot.

Before hardware issues ever reach your technicians, Robin monitors your IT environment 24/7, resolving up to 92% of Tier-1 and complex Tier-2 technical incidents. It does this following a four-step resolution process:

1. Diagnose: Robin captures the request via Slack, email, Teams, the Customer Portal, or third-party ITSM tools and asks follow-up questions to get the context it needs for issue resolution.
2. Remediate: It takes the approved action directly on the device, server, or network. It performs tasks like clearing disk space, provisioning software, and solving Wi-Fi issues.
3. Verify: It confirms the issue is actually resolved before closing anything.
4. Close: It updates the ticket with the outcome and logs every action for audit.

For tasks that require a human technician, Robin hands those off automatically, with a full context of the issue. This is where AI Copilot comes in handy.

AI Copilot is available from anywhere within Atera’s platform, and you can ask it account-specific questions, such as “What is the current CPU temperature of all devices?” or “Are there any devices with low disk space?”

This AI feature is especially useful for enterprises that manage dozens of devices daily and need to troubleshoot device issues quickly.

Features and capabilities

Network monitoring is part of Atera’s RMM tool, which provides detailed data on hardware and performance metrics. Atera enables users to monitor and manage various IT components such as PCs, laptops, mobile devices, servers, switches, routers, and other SNMP-enabled devices.

IT automation is at the core of Atera’s platform. You can easily set threshold-based alerts that notify technicians when hardware parameter limits are exceeded. Once exceeded, you can then troubleshoot the issue with the help of AI Copilot, or leave it fully for Robin to resolve.

Users can also use Atera’s AI-powered script generator to automatically generate scripts for issues such as slow device performance or recurring application crashes.

User interface and usability

Atera was created with the user’s interests in mind. Its intuitive dashboards and simple interfaces are easy to use and require minimal ramp-up time.

IT departments can effortlessly set up new technician profiles, and MSPs can quickly create new customer profiles. With Atera’s Network Discovery tool, all your devices are automatically mapped out, making onboarding fast.

Atera’s IT automation profiles are also easy to configure. Users can modify the settings to their liking and schedule the automation to run at specific intervals. If users encounter any challenge whatsoever with navigating Atera, 24/7 customer support is available.

Pricing and value for money

Unlike other best hardware monitoring tools, Atera uses a transparent, pay-per-technician pricing model. Users are charged based on how many technicians use the platform, allowing optimal scalability.

Most Atera alternatives use a pay-per-endpoint pricing model, meaning the price increases based on the number of endpoints/devices managed.

Atera’s pricing plans for IT departments range from $149 to $219 per month. For MSPs, the range is $129 to $209 per month. Enterprise customers can receive a custom quote.

Atera pricing:

Atera’s pricing plans for IT departments:

• Professional: $149 per month, per technician
• Expert: $189 per month, per technician
• Master: $219 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Custom quotation. Contact sales for pricing.

Atera’s pricing plans for MSPs:

• Pro: $129 per month, per technician
• Growth: $159 per month, per technician
• Power: $209 per month, per technician
• Superpower (Enterprise): Custom quotation. Contact sales for pricing.

Get started with Atera’s free 30-day trial; no credit card is required.

Customer reviews and rating

Atera G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (1200+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on G2:

• “One unexpected benefit is the AI feature, especially Robin. It can reduce technicians’ workload by assisting with responses, ticket handling, and general troubleshooting,” Emil C. says.
• “AI is built-in on the entire ecosystem and responds based on knowledge base articles that we created ourselves (either internal only or externally visible for the customer),” Dieter S. says.

Atera Capterra rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (400+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on Capterra:

• “The ticketing and monitoring features are useful for keeping issues organized, while patch management helps reduce the amount of manual follow-up needed,” Stacie B. says.
• “Atera gives me the opportunity to maintain low overhead costs; I did find the automation function worked as expected and didn’t crash the entire dashboard,” Alison K. says.

2. Paessler PRTG

Paessler PRTG is a network monitoring solution for computers and server hardware. It grants users access to key system information, such as CPU performance and temperature, hard disk health, and memory usage, for each managed device. The solution also features predictive capabilities for early detection of issues.

PRTG recently added “MAX”, which is its AI chatbot that helps with questions and troubleshooting on your infrastructure.

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (100+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (250+ reviews)

Paessler PRTG Pricing:

• PRTG 500: $137/month for about 50 devices
• RTG 1000: $242/month for about 100 devices
• PRTG 2500: $508/month for about 250 devices
• PRTG 5000: $908/month for about 500 devices
• PRTG 10000: $1,225/month for about 1,000 devices

3. SolarWinds

SolarWinds NPM (one of SolarWinds’ products) offers a centralized solution for network monitoring. Users can monitor network devices, servers, routers, and switches. They can also measure key performance metrics such as bandwidth usage and latency. Like Atera, this solution offers a built-in alerting system for early issue detection and notification.

SolarWinds is widely considered a powerful tool for hardware and performance monitoring. It just updated its hardware monitoring by adding a hardware health poller that tracks chassis temperature, fans, and power supply status on devices. However, it lacks features such as a strong RMM, PSA, and remote access.

G2 Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (870+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (75+ reviews)

SolarWinds NPM Pricing:

• Subscription-based, starting at $7 per node per month. Visit their website for an exact quote.

4. ManageEngine OpManager

One of ManageEngine’s products, OpManager, is a network monitoring solution for IT departments and MSPs. Its Professional and Enterprise plans let users monitor the hardware components, CPU, memory, and disk of servers, computers, and other network devices.

Like Atera, ManageEngine offers a mobile app so users can manage their IT environment on the go. OpManager integrates with other ManageEngine products for extended functionality. ManageEngine has also expanded its offering with the Zia Agents, built for executing tasks autonomously on its suite.

G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (230+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (340+ reviews)

ManageEngine OpManager Pricing:

• Custom quotation. Contact ManageEngine’s sales team for pricing options.

5. Zabbix

Zabbix is an open-source IT management solution that offers network monitoring functionalities. Users can monitor a variety of health metrics such as temperature sensors, CPUs, memory, availability, and fan states. As with Atera, Zabbix automates the device onboarding process through an automated discovery tool. Zabbix 8.0 LTS also adds an MCP server for querying data inside AI chatbots.

Due to Zabbix’s open-source nature, it lacks free customer support. Users who don’t want to pay for premium support can rely on its community hub, knowledge base, and blog. Many IT teams consider this a deal breaker since the industry norm is 24/7 support (such as that offered by Atera).

G2 Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (200+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars (100+ reviews)

Zabbix Pricing:

• Zabbix has both cloud-based and self-hosted options available. The pricing for the cloud version starts at $50/month 

6. NinjaOne

NinjaOne is an endpoint management solution that supports monitoring of SNMP devices’ hardware and performance. It constantly monitors a user’s SNMP-enabled devices (such as printers) and alerts IT staff when abnormalities are detected. Alerts can arrive via SMS or email. NinjaOne provides reports and analytics for tracking performance and data-driven decision-making.

NinjaOne’s main drawback is its pricing system. It utilizes a pay-per-endpoint pricing model that charges users based on the number of endpoints/devices managed. Atera, which uses a pay-per-technician pricing model, may be more advantageous for IT teams.

G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 (5,000+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 (290+ reviews)

NinjaOne Pricing:

• NinjaOne requires you to contact their sales team to get pricing. To do this, you can fill out a form on their website.

7. Datadog

Datadog is an infrastructure monitoring software for IT professionals in various industries. To access its hardware monitoring capabilities, users need to install its agent on the physical or virtual servers. The agent collects data on metrics such as CPU usage, memory consumption, and network traffic.

Datadog enables IT teams to set threshold-based alerts and store historical data for reports and trend analysis. Its new Bits AI agents can also analyze alerts automatically and identify root causes of issues.

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (360+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 stars (700+ reviews)

Datadog Pricing:

• Free: Starting at $0/month, up to 5 hosts
• Pro: Starting at $15 per host, per month
• Enterprise: Starting at $23 per host, per month
• DevSecOps Pro: Starting at $22 per host, per month
• DevSecOps Enterprise: Starting at $34 per host, per month

8. Datto RMM

Datto RMM enables real-time monitoring of devices such as servers, VMs, PCs, laptops, and other network devices. It also offers patch management, scripting, IT automation, software management, and remote access capabilities. One of Datto RMM’s most notable features is its integration with Microsoft 365.

Datto has released many other IT management products. For example, MSPs requiring service desk capabilities may want to explore Autotask PSA. Datto’s products are designed to work together; however, Reddit users mention that the new interface changes have made using the product more difficult.

G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (540+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars (25+ reviews)

Datto RMM Pricing:

• Datto RMM’s pricing is pay-per-device, and it’s not publicly listed. However, Reddit users estimate the pricing is $2.50 per endpoint and $100 per user for Autotask PSA.

Atera’s Agentic AI approach to hardware monitoring

Most hardware monitoring tools still rely on reactive IT support models. With Atera, you can:

• Monitor hardware and device performance metrics
• Turn alerts into tickets and resolve end-user requests autonomously
• Keep devices up-to-date through autonomous patching and scripting
• Create reports to make data-driven decisions and comply with regulations

At the center of Atera is its autonomous IT agent, Robin. When an issue comes in, Robin diagnoses it and executes the fix directly on the device. And for issues that still need a human, AI Copilot is available.

Plus, with fair per-technician pricing and Network Discovery for automatically mapping out every device on your network, Atera is hard to beat.

No competitor can match our feature set (and few can match our price). To experience our platform firsthand, sign up for a free 30-day free trial.

What is a hardware monitoring tool?

A hardware monitoring tool digitally tracks and reports various physical parameters of computers, servers, and network devices. They monitor the performance and health of critical components such as the CPU, GPU, RAM, motherboard, storage drives, power supply, and cooling systems.

Hardware monitoring capabilities often belong to a more comprehensive network monitoring tool. In addition, a few solutions include hardware monitoring as part of a broader system. Atera is one of those solutions and offers a robust platform that provides detailed data on hardware, performance, and software inventory.

Types of hardware monitoring tools

Below, we’ll go through the various tools available for network monitoring.

Computer hardware monitoring software

Computer hardware monitoring software plays a vital role in maintaining the health and performance of your systems. These tools provide real-time insights into key hardware parameters like CPU usage, memory consumption, storage capacity, fan speeds, and temperature levels.

This way, users can detect potential hardware issues before they lead to system failures or reduced performance.

Network monitoring tools

Network monitoring tools enable users to monitor the hardware and performance of network devices such as PCs, laptops, mobile devices, servers, and SNMP-enabled devices. Unlike computer hardware monitoring software, network monitoring tools provide a broader view of an organization’s IT infrastructure.

More often than not, the best RMM software includes network monitoring capabilities. For example, Atera’s RMM tool hosts advanced network monitoring features.

Cloud-based hardware monitoring tools

Cloud-based hardware monitoring tools provide real-time insights into the health of hardware components. This type of software is often similar to network monitoring or computer hardware monitoring software, but it is hosted in the cloud, eliminating the need for on-premises equipment.

Cloud-based tools often have strong third-party integrations to extend functionality. For example, Atera’s cloud-based IT management solution integrates with numerous third-party tools.

Unified IT management tools

Unified IT management tools offer an all-in-one solution for managing IT infrastructure. Typically, they monitor networking hardware performance, exchange, services, and processes. The key capabilities of these tools include a strong RMM, PSA, remote access, automated patching, network discovery, and reporting.

More modern IT management tools, like Atera, also combine this with Agentic AI for autonomous endpoint management. With AI, your IT team can offload manual and repetitive tasks to AI agents, so your technicians can focus on higher-value work.

Why do you need a hardware monitoring tool?

Investing in a hardware monitoring tool has many benefits.

1. Hardware failure prevention

Hardware monitoring tools continuously track the performance and health of components, such as motherboard temperature, hard disk usage, and fan speed. 

When an issue arises, users receive automatic alerts that allow them to take prompt corrective action and resolve it.

2. Optimized system performance

The best hardware monitoring tools provide insights into how system resources, such as CPU, GPU, and memory, are used. That information allows users to (re)allocate resources according to needs and usage patterns.

This improvement prevents overspending while increasing a system’s performance and IT efficiency.

3. Extended hardware lifespan

Regular monitoring and proactive troubleshooting help optimize hardware components’ performance, ultimately extending the lifespan of a laptop.

The best hardware monitoring tools offer automated patch management so users can maintain a regular patch schedule for OS and third-party applications. 

4. Proactive troubleshooting

Hardware monitoring tools offer real-time monitoring and alerting capabilities to support proactive troubleshooting. Users can set threshold-based alerts to track hardware parameters and receive notifications when they’re exceeded.

With Atera, Robin takes this even further. Instead of just flagging issues, it autonomously fixes them directly on the device, often before end users even notice anything is wrong.

5. Comprehensive reporting

The best hardware monitoring tools can generate detailed reports on system performance, security, network utilization, and more. 

These reports provide insight into an IT infrastructure’s performance and delineate areas for improvement. They can also assist in complying with regulatory requirements.