Compare ExtraHop vs. NetScout for Network Analytics

How does the ExtraHop Performance Platform compare to NetScout?

	ExtraHop	NetScout
Sustained Throughput*	100 Gbps	27 Gbps
Advanced Machine Learning
On-Premises, Virtual, and Cloud Deployments
Cloud Integrations (Azure, AWS)
Auto-Discovery and Classification
Enterprise Protocols	70+	30
Line-Rate SSL Decryption and TLS 1.3 Support
Indexed Transaction-Level Detail with Visual Search Queries
Extensibility (Custom Dashboards, Triggers, Open APIs)	Yes	Limited
Integration Partners	Open Architecture	Limited

* full-stream reassembly, decryption, and full payload analysis before writing to disk

Why These Differences Matter

Complete Visibility Across Hybrid Environments

While NetScout forces you to invest in two monitoring interfaces for bi-directional traffic, ExtraHop delivers a single cohesive solution with one integrated UI in which you can click from a high-level view of all assets and dependencies in your environment to precise insights about specific transactions in seconds. ExtraHop also offers significantly greater visibility into your environment than NetScout by supporting over fifty protocols with full-stream reassembly as well as providing packet visibility into AWS and Azure.

Rapid Insights and Machine Learning

NetOps teams need rapid insights and advanced machine learning capabilities to address challenges like increasing infrastructure complexity and traffic volumes. NetScout has zero machine learning capabilities, and because they analyze data after writing packets to disk, the insights they provide have lost significant value by the time you can access them. ExtraHop automates discovery and classification, analyzes data before writing packets to disk, and provides ML-driven anomaly detection and guided investigations that help you slash troubleshooting time by up to 99.6%.

Cost-Effective Scalability

NetScout claims to offer 100 Gbps throughput levels, but in order to support decryption and payload analysis—both critical to manage complex infrastructures and keep up with rising encryption standards—that throughput drops to 27 Gbps. ExtraHop, on the other hand, supports 100 Gbps of sustained throughput, allows for bring-your-own storage for extended lookback, and decrypts all SSL/TLS traffic in real time with zero impact to performance. Our open architecture also allows you to stream data to partners like ServiceNow, Gigamon, Ixia, and many more while NetScout offers limited integration partnerships.