The ticket reads “internet is slow at the Oak Street office”, and the RMM shows every workstation healthy. Somewhere between the firewall, a daisy-chained unmanaged switch and an access point nobody configured since 2019 lies the answer, and without a map of the network the technician is going to spend the afternoon on site. Auvik is built for that gap: the layer below the endpoints that most RMMs only glance at. Deploy it across a client network you’re authorized to manage, and watch how quickly it turns “no idea” into a usable map.
Use with authorization only. Network discovery should run only on your own networks or on client networks you are contracted and authorized to manage.
What Auvik does
Auvik is a cloud-hosted network management platform. At each client site you deploy a collector, a small piece of software that runs on a Windows machine, a Linux host or a virtual machine inside the network. The collector discovers devices using SNMP, and credentials you supply for vendor APIs and management interfaces, then sends data to the Auvik cloud. From that you get live topology maps at layer 2 and layer 3, device inventory, configuration backup and change tracking for supported network devices, performance monitoring, alerting, syslog collection and traffic flow analysis. The vendor also offers a separate SaaS management product for tracking cloud application usage, which is outside the scope of this review.
Where it earns its keep
Topology maps that build themselves. Within an hour of deploying a collector on a reasonably configured network, you get a map of how switches, firewalls and access points connect. For onboarding a new client with no documentation, this alone can save a site visit.
Configuration backup and diffs. Auvik backs up configurations for supported devices and shows what changed and when. When a firewall rule change breaks a client’s line-of-business app, being able to diff yesterday’s config against today’s is worth a lot.
Multi-tenant by design. Each client is its own tenant under your MSP account, with separate maps, alerts and permissions. Alerts can be routed into common PSA tools, so network issues land in the same queue as endpoint tickets.
Platform access controls. Auvik supports MFA and role-based permissions that can restrict technicians to specific clients, plus an audit log of user activity. Because it stores device credentials for client networks, enforce these from day one; our securing your RMM guide applies here just as much.
Where it falls short — and who should skip it
It does not manage endpoints. No patching, no scripts on workstations, no remote control of PCs. You still need an RMM such as NinjaOne, Atera or Syncro, and a patching tool if your RMM is weak at it.
Results depend on SNMP hygiene. Unmanaged switches, devices with SNMP disabled or community strings nobody remembers all leave gaps in the map. Expect some cleanup work on older client networks before the data is complete.
Per-device cost on small clients. Pricing counts network devices, not endpoints. That is favorable for a client with 200 PCs behind a handful of switches, but a small office with many access points and switches can cost more than you expect relative to its monthly fee.
Another collector to maintain. Each site needs a collector on a machine that stays up. Budget for that machine and its patching.
Skip Auvik if the clients you support are small offices with a single consumer-grade router and no managed switches, or if you only need uptime checks, which a monitoring tool like PRTG handles.
Who it suits
Auvik suits MSPs whose clients run managed switches, firewalls and multi-AP wireless, and who want network issues to be diagnosable remotely. It is also a good fit for internal IT teams responsible for several sites without a dedicated network engineer. Leaving is relatively painless, since you can export configurations and inventory, but the alert tuning you invested in stays behind.
Licensing and cost
Auvik is a commercial subscription priced per billable network device, meaning infrastructure such as switches, routers, firewalls and access points rather than workstations and servers. Pricing is quote-based and depends on tier and volume, so check the vendor’s current pricing page and ask for a written quote. A trial is available. Before signing, count network devices per client to see which clients are profitable under this model.
How it compares
- Lansweeper inventories all asset types across a network; Auvik goes deeper on network infrastructure specifically.
- PRTG is sensor-based monitoring that covers networks, servers and applications but does not map topology or back up configurations the same way.
- The Network & Asset Tools for MSPs category puts them side by side, scored per our methodology.
Getting it safely
Start the trial from the vendor’s own site. Deploy the collector on a dedicated, patched machine or VM inside each client network, verify the digital signature of the package before running it, and create read-only SNMP and API credentials for Auvik rather than reusing admin accounts. Our where to get page explains signature and hash checks.
FAQ
What counts as a billable device in Auvik?
Network infrastructure devices such as switches, routers, firewalls and access points. Workstations and servers discovered on the network are generally not billed. Confirm current definitions with the vendor.
Does Auvik replace my RMM?
No. It manages the network layer. Endpoint monitoring, patching and remote support still belong to an RMM.
Do I need a collector at every client site?
Generally yes, one per network you want to manage, running on a machine inside that network.
Can Auvik send alerts into my PSA?
Yes, it integrates with several common PSA platforms so alerts become tickets on the right client.