AWS X-Ray vs Instana Dynamic APM comparison

AWS X-Ray
Read 6 AWS X-Ray reviews
  • 6,961 Views
  • 6,225 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
Instana Dynamic APM
Read 13 Instana Dynamic APM reviews
  • 3,838 Views
  • 3,079 Comparison Views
83% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2023

We performed a comparison between AWS X-Ray and Instana Dynamic APM based on real PeerSpot user reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: AWS X-Ray takes one to two days to set up depending on the level of segmentation desired, while Instana Dynamic APM has a quick and easy setup process that only takes around 20 minutes. Docker installation is required for Instana Dynamic APM.
  • Features: AWS X-Ray is strong in identifying errors and providing compliance and security insights, while Instana Dynamic APM has real-time data generation, detailed monitoring, user-friendly GUI, middleware for flow visualization, great dashboards, and dynamic detection capabilities with the best SLI and SLA features.
  • Pricing: AWS X-Ray pricing is based on usage and is more affordable as companies scale up, while Instana Dynamic APM's pricing is generally reasonable, but one reviewer found it a bit high compared to other vendors. Licensing costs for both were consistently described as reasonable.
  • Service and Support: While AWS X-Ray received limited feedback and one user rated it an eight out of ten, Instana Dynamic APM has mixed reviews with some users experiencing slow and unreliable support from IBM. However, there were also positive experiences shared. 
  • ROI: AWS X-Ray's ROI is uncertain, with mixed experiences from different users. On the other hand, Instana Dynamic APM has been a proven profitable investment for companies.

Comparison Results: Instana Dynamic APM provides real-time data generation with one-second granularity, quick implementation, and comprehensive monitoring of application behavior and user experience. It also has a user-friendly interface, excellent dashboards, and dynamic detection capabilities, making it the preferred solution. While AWS X-Ray is functional, it could benefit from improvements in areas like log filtering, KPIs, and user interface. Instana Dynamic APM has a simpler initial setup process and reasonable pricing, with some reviewers claiming it surpasses competing products.

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To learn more, read our detailed AWS X-Ray vs. Instana Dynamic APM Report (Updated: May 2024).
Buyer's Guide
AWS X-Ray vs. Instana Dynamic APM
May 2024
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Categories and Ranking

AWS X-Ray
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Instana Dynamic APM
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
21st
Average Rating
7.4
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Market share comparison

As of June 2024, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the market share of AWS X-Ray is 4.4% and it increased by 24.4% compared to the previous year. The market share of Instana Dynamic APM is 1.0% and it decreased by 41.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
Unique Categories:
No other categories found
No other categories found
 

Featured Reviews

Parth Solanki - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 29, 2022
Saves time, is relatively cheap, and helps find errors
It's basically like a cloud stack.  You can trace your entire HTTP request. Once you have submitted any request, it will be addressed as a 500 Error or 401 Error, or if there is any exception happening when this request, and how much time will take. X-Ray can trace all the information about the…
Read full review
KS
Dec 4, 2023
The solution has a good auto-instrumentation feature, but its monitoring is pretty weak
We use Instana Dynamic APM to do application monitoring for the OpenShift Container Platform Instana Dynamic APM gave us insight when there wasn't a lot of stuff on the market. The most valuable feature of Instana Dynamic APM is auto-instrumentation. The solution's monitoring is pretty weak and…
Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most promising feature of AWS X-Ray is that you can debug the issues through the proper logs. You can also get an analysis out of the logs for some use cases, though I have yet to try all the features of AWS X-Ray."
"It is a very scalable solution."
"AWS X-Ray is a strong solution and has a smooth integration process."
"AWS X-RAY identifies bottlenecks in terms of stability and performance and how long certain data lives in terms of response time and duration."
"The solution has made it easier for us to trace the problems that we have with our requests and to monitor the timing of each step in each request we do in our endpoints."
"The most important one is compliance. We're able to achieve our regulatory levels. We're able to achieve the security level that we need for the federal government."
"The primary selling point of this product is its unparalleled transparency into the infrastructure."
"Visually, it's very good. It provides everything needed for dynamic detection, which is very useful."
"Sometimes it's able to provide a proper RCA on its own. It's able to correlate different events that occurred and that becomes like an RCA in itself."
"It's great for monitoring services and applications."
"If a key monitored value has crossed a threshold, it sends out an alert. And the solution is able to intelligently find out if something is beyond the range that it normally resides in."
"The most valuable feature of Instana Dynamic APM is auto-instrumentation."
"The overall capabilities are the most valuable."
"Its GUI is really good and it easy to understand for non-technical users."
More Instana Dynamic APM pros
 

Cons

"The user interface is sometimes kind of confusing to understand. It's not very user-friendly."
"Like most Amazon products, the user interface, configuration, and tuning aren't the easiest. That's the biggest reason why people tend to go to products like TerraForm and Terragrunt. We use TerraForm and Terragrunt. So, for setting things up and interacting with X-Ray, it's definitely the user interface that can be better."
"I do not have any notes in terms of improvements."
"If you have a small team, it's probably overkill."
"What needs to be better in AWS X-Ray is the log filtering. Predefined filters could be helpful because the power of analytics comes from how you can filter the data. I also want to see more KPIs from AWS X-Ray."
"They can improve how traces are sent to other providers."
"The solution's monitoring is pretty weak and should be improved."
"While it is already quite good, there is room for improvement in terms of providing better functionality"
"Its SLI and SLA features need improvement in setting up alerts."
"Maybe log monitoring could be better."
"The integration could be improved with more plugins or open API."
"I think that Instana should improve the university and the certification process, so the users can find experts in Instana with their certification module process."
"They could improve the product’s dashboards and provide more dashboard options."
"We should be able to go back to scenarios during or before the issue. There should be something like a history playback. Such a feature or functionality would be good."
More Instana Dynamic APM cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for AWS X-Ray is a six out of ten."
"As you develop a relationship with Amazon, your pricing gets lower. You get credits for the amount of the system you use, and then if you're the government, you can get government pricing. For commercial users, there's a hump when you go from small to medium to big enterprise. Small businesses can live pretty easily off the free tier in a lot of cases, but when you go from a medium to a big enterprise, it becomes more expensive on a per-user basis. I'd like to see that curve going in a different way where pricing can be driven down while people are trying to adopt the technology."
"The solution is a bit expensive."
"Pricing is quite competitive. Dynatrace, AppDynamics, and New Relic were all several times more expensive than Instana, both the on-prem and the SaaS versions. Price-wise they are a lot more competitive than anyone else out there."
"The solution's pricing is comparable to other products."
"Its pricing isn't a big pain point. Its pricing seems to be better than some of the other competing products in the market, but they also have some of the features and functionalities that are better than Instana."
"The pricing is $1,200 per year which is a bit high compared to other vendors."
"It's reasonably priced and manageable, especially for individuals who grasp the significance of application monitoring."
"Instana Dynamic APM is more affordable for small and medium-sized companies compared to other vendors."
"The solution is less expensive than one of its competitors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS X-Ray?
AWS X-Ray is a strong solution and has a smooth integration process.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS X-Ray?
The solution is a bit expensive.
See all answers
What needs improvement with AWS X-Ray?
They can improve how traces are sent to other providers.
See all answers
What do you like most about Instana Dynamic APM?
The platform’s most valuable feature is the ability to monitor the performance of containers for request and response analysis.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Instana Dynamic APM?
Instana Dynamic APM is more affordable for small and medium-sized companies compared to AppDynamics and Dynatrace.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Instana Dynamic APM?
They could improve the product’s dashboards and provide more dashboard options. Additionally, the server and database monitoring needs enhancement compared to other vendors.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Datadog vs AWS X-Ray
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Azure Monitor vs AWS X-Ray Logo
Azure Monitor vs AWS X-Ray
Compared 15% of the time
New Relic vs AWS X-Ray Logo
New Relic vs AWS X-Ray
Compared 14% of the time
Sentry vs AWS X-Ray Logo
Sentry vs AWS X-Ray
Compared 13% of the time
Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) vs AWS X-Ray Logo
Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) vs AWS X-Ray
Compared 11% of the time
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Dynatrace vs Instana Dynamic APM Logo
Dynatrace vs Instana Dynamic APM
Compared 36% of the time
AppDynamics vs Instana Dynamic APM Logo
AppDynamics vs Instana Dynamic APM
Compared 20% of the time
New Relic vs Instana Dynamic APM Logo
New Relic vs Instana Dynamic APM
Compared 8% of the time
Elastic Observability vs Instana Dynamic APM Logo
Elastic Observability vs Instana Dynamic APM
Compared 8% of the time
IBM Application Performance Management vs Instana Dynamic APM Logo
IBM Application Performance Management vs Instana Dynamic APM
Compared 8% of the time
More Instana Dynamic APM Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
AWS X-Ray
June 2024
AWS X-Ray reportDownload AWS X-Ray product report
Buyer's Guide
Instana Dynamic APM
June 2024
Instana Dynamic APM reportDownload Instana Dynamic APM product report
 

Learn More

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Instana
 

Overview

AWS X-Ray is a powerful debugging and performance analysis tool offered by Amazon Web Services. It allows developers to trace requests made to their applications and identify bottlenecks and issues. 

With X-Ray, developers can visualize the entire request flow and pinpoint the exact location where errors occur. It provides detailed insights into the performance of individual components and helps optimize the overall application performance. 

X-Ray integrates seamlessly with other AWS services, making it easy to trace requests across different services and identify dependencies. It also offers a comprehensive set of APIs and SDKs, enabling developers to instrument their applications and capture valuable data for analysis. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, AWS X-Ray is a valuable tool for developers looking to improve the performance and reliability of their applications.

Instana’s Enterprise Observability Platform, powered by automated Application Performance Monitoring, discovers and maps all services, infrastructure, and their inter-dependencies automatically. Instana ingests all observability metrics, traces each request, profiles every process, and updates application dependency maps in real-time to deliver the context and actionable feedback needed by Dev+Ops to optimize application performance, enable innovation, and mitigate risk to help them add value and efficiency to the pipeline. Learn more at https://instana.com.

 

Sample Customers

COMCAST, ConnectWise, skyscanner, AirAsia, cookpad, cimpress, VTEX, zowdow
Daxko Lifts Fitness Studios Through COVID Regulations with Quick Engineering PivotsAltissia Meets SLAs to Support Student DeadlinesImmocloud Unlocks Observability to Modernize Real EstateEnento Group Boosts Service Reliability with Real-Time Visibility into Application Performance Instana’s Observability for Amazon EKS Helps Yara Deliver Digital Farming Solutions
Buyer's Guide
AWS X-Ray vs. Instana Dynamic APM
May 2024
Free Report: AWS X-Ray vs. Instana Dynamic APM
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