SolarWinds Pricing 2026: Subscription & RMM Costs

Pricing verified: September 14, 2026

Quick answer

SolarWinds subscription pricing in 2026 depends on the product and the commercial metric. SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted starts at $8 per node per month for Essentials, $14 for Advanced and $17.50 for Premier. Those licenses are subscription-only, sold on multi-year contracts and billed annually.

Other SolarWinds products use different metrics. Service Desk starts at $39 per technician per month billed annually, Incident Response starts at $15 per user per month, database monitoring starts at $142 per database per month on SolarWinds' main pricing page, and some self-hosted tools still publish annual license starting prices such as Network Performance Monitor at $2,829 and Network Configuration Manager at $754.

The keyword "SolarWinds RMM pricing" needs an important correction: SolarWinds no longer sells its former MSP RMM product. SolarWinds spun off the MSP business into N-able in July 2021, and N-able RMM was renamed N-able N-sight in July 2022. Buyers looking for the old SolarWinds RMM should now evaluate N-sight or N-central pricing from N-able, not SolarWinds.

Key takeaways

• SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted Essentials starts at $8/node/month.
• Advanced starts at $14/node/month and Premier at $17.50/node/month.
• Observability Self-Hosted is subscription-only, multi-year and billed annually.
• SolarWinds Service Desk starts at $39/technician/month; current higher public tiers start at $99 and $124.
• SolarWinds Incident Response starts at $15/user/month for Pro and $24/user/month for Premium.
• SolarWinds' main pricing page currently shows database monitoring starting at $142/database/month.
• Standalone Network Performance Monitor currently shows a starting price of $2,829, while Network Configuration Manager starts at $754.
• SolarWinds RMM is a legacy search term. The former SolarWinds MSP business became N-able in 2021.
• N-able RMM was renamed N-sight in July 2022.
• N-sight's current main product page is demo/quote-led; an official French N-able page currently advertises a regional example of €99 for 100 nodes.

In this guide

• Current SolarWinds subscription pricing
• Observability Self-Hosted Essentials vs Advanced vs Premier
• Node-based cost examples
• SolarWinds Service Desk pricing
• Incident Response pricing
• Database pricing
• Standalone network-management product pricing
• What happened to SolarWinds RMM
• Current N-able N-sight pricing signals
• SolarWinds vs Auvik pricing models
• Hidden SolarWinds costs
• Three-year TCO

Methodology and disclosure

This guide uses current SolarWinds pricing and product pages as the primary sources. For the RMM history, it uses SolarWinds' 2021 spin-off announcement and current N-able sources. Where SolarWinds or N-able does not publish a universal dollar price, this article says so rather than presenting a third-party estimate as guaranteed current pricing.

CostLoop is not affiliated with SolarWinds or N-able. CostLoop helps organizations track recurring software costs, renewals, owners and subscription records.

SolarWinds and Auvik can compete for parts of the same IT-monitoring budget, but their pricing structures are different enough to deserve separate vendor-specific analysis. This guide stays focused on SolarWinds subscriptions, licensing metrics and the legacy RMM naming issue. For the Auvik side of a network-management comparison, use Auvik Pricing 2026. The comparison below keeps Auvik at summary depth rather than duplicating its device-class and contract analysis.

Related CostLoop guides

• Auvik Pricing 2026
• Annual vs Monthly SaaS Billing
• Hidden Costs of SaaS
• How to Negotiate SaaS Pricing
• Software Budget Template
• SaaS Cost Management
• Renewal Tracker for Software Subscriptions
• Software License Inventory
• What to Store With Every Software Subscription Record
• CostLoop Features
• CostLoop Pricing

SolarWinds pricing in 2026 at a glance

SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted pricing

SolarWinds has simplified much of its current monitoring portfolio around SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted. The product uses node-based subscription licensing and has three current editions: Essentials, Advanced and Premier.

SolarWinds documentation says these are term-based subscriptions offered through multi-year contracts and billed annually. When the subscription expires, polling new data stops. Enterprise editions are available for larger deployments, and enterprise licensing becomes especially relevant at higher node counts.

Essentials: $8 per node per month

Essentials is the entry observability tier. Current capabilities include network performance monitoring, server and application management, log monitoring and analysis, IP address management, user/device tracking, and VoIP/network quality monitoring.

Advanced: $14 per node per month

Advanced includes Essentials and adds anomaly-based alerting, a security vulnerability dashboard, flow monitoring/analysis, virtualization monitoring, server configuration management and support for separately licensed security add-ons.

Premier: $17.50 per node per month

Premier adds storage performance monitoring, web performance monitoring, Incident Response user licenses and a SolarWinds Observability SaaS Network & Infrastructure license, creating the broadest package of the three.

Observability node-cost examples

The following examples multiply SolarWinds' published starting rates by the monitored node count. They are planning examples, not guaranteed quotes. Volume discounts and enterprise requirements can change the real price.

SolarWinds states that enterprise editions are available for large environments, and its licensing documentation says enterprise licenses are available for deployments with 500 or more nodes and required above 1,500 nodes. That means large-estate buyers should not assume the simple published starting rate remains the full commercial model.

Ask SolarWinds to show the exact node count that would be billable under your intended monitoring configuration, not just the total number of discovered IP devices.

What counts as a SolarWinds node?

Node counting matters because it drives Observability Self-Hosted licensing. A monitored server, network device or other licensed node can consume capacity depending on how it is monitored and which capabilities are enabled.

SolarWinds documentation also notes that ICMP-only availability monitoring does not consume a license when the node is monitored only by ping. This can materially change the budget in environments that want simple availability visibility on a large number of devices.

SolarWinds Service Desk pricing

SolarWinds Service Desk uses technician-based pricing rather than node pricing. Current public plans are Essentials at $39/technician/month, Advanced at $99 and Premier at $124, all billed annually.

All current Service Desk plans support unlimited requestors. That means employee ticket submitters do not increase the technician license count. Asset pricing is available separately by quote.

The cost gap is feature-driven. Advanced adds higher-level automations, runbooks, virtual agent, enterprise service management, network discovery, contract management, license compliance and API access. Premier adds a broader AI layer, visual CMDB/dependency mapping, sandbox and higher API capacity.

SolarWinds Incident Response pricing

SolarWinds Incident Response currently publishes Pro at $15/user/month and Premium at $24/user/month, billed annually. Enterprise is custom-priced.

Pro includes a free notification allowance that depends on region, while extra SMS/voice notifications can generate usage charges. Premium and Enterprise include unlimited SMS/voice notifications according to the current pricing page.

SolarWinds database pricing

SolarWinds' current main pricing page lists the database category from $142 per database per month and directs buyers to request a quote. SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer also states that subscription and volume licensing options are available.

Database monitoring is therefore not directly comparable with Observability's node metric. Count the databases you need to monitor, identify whether cross-platform coverage is required, and request volume pricing at realistic production and non-production counts.

Standalone network-management product pricing

SolarWinds still publishes starting prices for several self-hosted network-management tools in addition to the newer Observability subscription model.

Network Performance Monitor currently starts at $2,829. Network Configuration Manager currently starts at $754. SolarWinds products pages describe these as published starting prices and direct buyers to request a quote. Both products currently offer fully functional 30-day trials.

These starting prices should not be mixed into the node-based Observability table. They represent a different product/licensing path.

What happened to SolarWinds RMM?

This is the most important part of the article for the secondary keyword. "SolarWinds RMM" is not a current SolarWinds product in 2026.

SolarWinds completed the spin-off of its MSP business into N-able in July 2021. SolarWinds retained the core IT management business, while N-able became the independent company focused on MSP and IT service-provider tools.

N-able later renamed N-able RMM to N-able N-sight in July 2022. N-sight combines RMM capabilities with remote control, ticketing and billing.

Current N-able N-sight pricing signals

N-able's current English N-sight product page is primarily trial/demo led and does not expose one universal U.S. list price in the main page content. Pricing should therefore be confirmed through N-able for the user's region, endpoint count and add-on scope.

N-able does publish some current regional and add-on signals. An official French N-able page currently advertises N-sight from €99 for 100 nodes. Because that is a regional price, it should not be converted into a universal global rate.

N-able's current N-sight feature summary also shows Network Device Discovery/Monitoring as an additional $29 per technician in the relevant comparison context. Optional security, backup and other ecosystem products can further change the total.

A third-party pricing directory may show a $99/month starting price for N-sight, but that should not be presented as official SolarWinds pricing. The official N-able quote remains the source of truth.

Someone searching "solarwinds rmm pricing" today is usually looking for the product lineage that became N-able N-sight. The correct 2026 answer should redirect that intent rather than pretend SolarWinds still sells the old RMM.

SolarWinds vs Auvik pricing model

SolarWinds and Auvik can compete for parts of the same network/IT-management budget, but their current commercial models are not identical. For Auvik's full device-class and cost analysis, see Auvik Pricing 2026.

Hidden SolarWinds costs and budget traps

• Volume assumptions that change between evaluation and production
• Enterprise edition requirements at higher node counts
• Advanced/Premier tier upgrades across the monitored estate
• Separately licensed security add-ons
• Service Desk asset-management pricing outside technician seats
• Incident Response notification overages on Pro
• Database volume growth
• Additional standalone modules instead of one Observability package
• Implementation, architecture and migration work
• Training beyond the included academy resources
• Multi-year commitment risk
• Annual prepayment and cash-flow impact
• Renewal uplift
• Taxes and regional pricing differences

For the general framework, see Hidden Costs of SaaS.

Why multi-year annual billing matters

Observability Self-Hosted is not simply a month-to-month $8/node product. SolarWinds says the licenses are multi-year contracts billed annually. That affects both budget and flexibility.

A three-year commitment can protect the negotiated rate, but it can also leave the business overcommitted if node count shrinks, monitoring strategy changes or the company consolidates tools. Use CostLoop's Annual vs Monthly SaaS Billing to evaluate the broader commitment trade-off.

Three-year SolarWinds TCO

For monitoring products, use the expected node growth at Year 2 and Year 3 instead of multiplying today's count by 36 months. For Service Desk, model technician growth separately from requestors. For databases, model database growth separately from infrastructure nodes.

3-year SolarWinds TCO =
subscriptions/licenses + enterprise/volume scope + add-ons
+ implementation/migration + support/services
+ usage overages + internal administration
+ renewal increases

Example: 100-node Observability deployment. These calculations use published starting prices and assume no price change, no volume discount and no node growth. They are deliberately simple planning benchmarks, not purchase quotes.

How to compare a SolarWinds quote fairly

1. List every SolarWinds product and edition in the quote.
2. Separate node-based, database-based, technician-based and user-based charges.
3. Ask which discovered nodes actually consume licenses.
4. Request the exact volume discount at current and projected quantities.
5. Confirm whether enterprise licensing is required at the target node count.
6. Separate base subscription from security, asset or other add-ons.
7. List implementation and professional-service charges separately.
8. Model the same environment for Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3.
9. Ask for renewal uplift or price-protection terms.
10. Compare against the same functional scope from Auvik, PRTG, LogicMonitor or another shortlisted platform rather than comparing unrelated entry tiers.

Negotiating SolarWinds pricing

• Bring a clean node/database/technician inventory before asking for a quote.
• Request the next volume-breakpoint price, not only today's quantity.
• Ask for tier pricing side by side so the cost of Advanced or Premier is explicit.
• Request multi-year and shorter-term options separately.
• Ask whether new nodes added mid-term inherit the negotiated unit rate.
• Negotiate enterprise add-ons and professional services before signing.
• Get the renewal notice window and price-protection language in writing.
• Avoid buying overlapping standalone modules if an Observability tier already covers the requirement.

For commercial tactics, see How to Negotiate SaaS Pricing.

What to store with a SolarWinds subscription record

• Product name and edition
• Pricing metric: node, database, technician, user or annual license
• Committed quantity
• Current actual quantity
• Unit price and volume tier
• Contract term
• Annual invoice amount
• Enterprise edition status
• Add-ons and separately licensed modules
• Implementation/professional services
• Renewal notice date
• Renewal uplift cap
• Trial or proof-of-concept notes
• Order form, quote and pricing exhibit
• Business owner and technical owner

For the broader data model, see What to Store With Every Software Subscription Record. For license hygiene, see Software License Inventory. For the wider process, see Software Budget Template and SaaS Cost Management. Start renewal review before the term locks in using CostLoop's Renewal Tracker.

Frequently asked questions

How much does SolarWinds cost in 2026?

It depends on the product. SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted starts at $8/node/month for Essentials, $14 for Advanced and $17.50 for Premier. Service Desk starts at $39/technician/month, Incident Response at $15/user/month, and the database category starts at $142/database/month.

What is SolarWinds subscription pricing?

SolarWinds uses several subscription metrics. Observability Self-Hosted is node-based and sold as a multi-year annual-billed subscription. Service Desk is technician-based, Incident Response is user-based, and database monitoring can be database-based.

How much is SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor?

SolarWinds currently publishes a starting price of $2,829 for Network Performance Monitor and directs buyers to request a quote.

How much is SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?

SolarWinds currently publishes a starting price of $754 for Network Configuration Manager.

What is SolarWinds RMM pricing in 2026?

SolarWinds RMM is no longer a current SolarWinds product. SolarWinds spun off its MSP business into N-able in 2021, and N-able RMM became N-able N-sight in 2022. Current RMM pricing should therefore be checked with N-able.

How much does N-able N-sight cost?

N-able's main current N-sight page is quote/demo led. An official French N-able page currently advertises a regional starting point of €99 for 100 nodes. Treat that as a regional example, not a universal global price.

Does SolarWinds charge per device?

For SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted, the primary metric is monitored nodes. Other products use different metrics such as databases, technicians or users.

Is SolarWinds billed monthly?

Prices are often displayed as monthly equivalents, but Observability Self-Hosted is sold through multi-year contracts billed annually. Service Desk and Incident Response also publish per-month rates billed annually.

Does SolarWinds offer volume discounts?

Yes. SolarWinds' pricing pages explicitly invite buyers to contact the company about volume discounts.

What hidden costs should I check?

Check enterprise licensing, add-ons, asset pricing, notification usage, additional modules, implementation, node growth, professional services, taxes and renewal increases.

Final verdict

SolarWinds pricing in 2026 is more transparent than a simple "contact sales" model, but buyers still need to understand the commercial metric behind each product. Observability is node-based, Service Desk is technician-based, Incident Response is user-based, and database products can use database-based licensing.

The biggest source of confusion is RMM. The old SolarWinds RMM lineage is now N-able, not SolarWinds. A good 2026 pricing guide should preserve the legacy keyword for search intent while clearly redirecting readers to the current company and product.

For most buyers, the practical decision is to normalize SolarWinds pricing around the real environment: monitored nodes, databases, technicians, users, add-ons and contract term. Then compare the three-year TCO, not just the lowest starting price.

About the author

Milosh Mladenovski is a CostLoop founder and works on subscription discovery, license inventory and recurring software cost workflows. Author profile · LinkedIn