Amazon CloudWatch vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Broadcom are both solutions in the Cloud Monitoring Software category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.9, while Broadcom is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.8. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 2.4% mindshare in CMS, compared to Broadcom’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Amazon CloudWatch

Read 48 Amazon CloudWatch reviews

4,127 Views
1,775 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

VMware Aria Operations for ...

Read 14 VMware Aria Operations for Applications reviews

2,707 Views
1,083 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Amazon CloudWatch

VMware Aria Operations for ...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

VMware Aria Operations for Applications and Amazon CloudWatch both compete in the application performance management and cloud monitoring space. VMware Aria Operations for Applications shines with its detailed analytics and user-friendly experience, while Amazon CloudWatch's comprehensive integration with AWS services gives it an upper hand in cloud-native environments.

Features: VMware Aria Operations for Applications focuses on customization with precise application insights, dashboards, and alert systems for hybrid infrastructures. Its analytics and support for on-premise environments are key strengths. Amazon CloudWatch excels in real-time monitoring and seamless integration with AWS, offering automatic dashboards and robust log management, particularly suited for AWS cloud users.

Room for Improvement: VMware Aria Operations for Applications could enhance its scalability for larger cloud environments and further streamline its integration with third-party platforms. It may also expand its real-time monitoring capabilities to match its analytics depth. Amazon CloudWatch might benefit from improving its user interface for non-AWS users and expanding analytics features. Additional support for non-AWS integration could enhance flexibility for diverse cloud setups.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware Aria Operations for Applications is known for straightforward deployment in hybrid and on-premise setups with strong customer support, ensuring minimal downtime. Amazon CloudWatch offers effortless deployment within AWS, backed by the extensive AWS support network. The deployment experience varies significantly with the infrastructure context and integration with AWS services.

Pricing and ROI: VMware Aria Operations for Applications involves higher initial costs but offers significant ROI through advanced performance insights. Its investment in detailed analytics pays off for users prioritizing performance monitoring over cloud-native integration. In contrast, Amazon CloudWatch provides cost-efficient pricing scaled by usage, ideal for AWS users targeting budget-friendly solutions. Its scalable model aligns well with businesses using AWS infrastructure, balancing cost with cloud monitoring capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon CloudWatch vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications Report (Updated: November 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications

November 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Amazon CloudWatch

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

13th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Log Management (16th)

VMware Aria Operations for ...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

17th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

13th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (15th), Container Monitoring (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Amazon CloudWatch is 2.4%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Operations for Applications is 2.0%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Amazon CloudWatch	2.4%
VMware Aria Operations for Applications	2.0%
Other	95.6%

Cloud Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Azam S M

Infrastructure Lead at Danat Fz LLC

Has provided reliable monitoring and alerting through extensive metric tracking and dashboard configuration

Amazon CloudWatch itself provides a lot of data. However, for visualization, we need to use third-party tools. We are in a process of integrating Grafana, Loki, and Prometheus to have better visualization on Amazon CloudWatch. We are also integrating Grafana with the application itself to get the application data and logs. Alternatively, there is AWS Kinesis and Glue where you can scrape the logs and have visualization, but a more easy option is Grafana. If you want to get a proper visual representation to see what is happening, then you need to integrate a third-party tool. Amazon CloudWatch has all the data, but to see what is happening, you need some third-party tool.

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ToniLindberg

senior consultant at Virtual Consultants Sverige AB

Troubleshooting capabilities have improved application monitoring and support engagement

I can see what happens end to end, which is pretty beneficial. The solution has troubleshooting capabilities, providing a direct connection to knowledge base articles from VMware Broadcom. When I encounter an error, I can search directly within the system to see what solutions have been employed by others. It has a familiar interface, which makes it easy to get started.

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

"What I found most valuable in Amazon CloudWatch is that it gives you detailed information, which I found helpful because it can even provide you with data for the past one minute, which is quite granular. That was what helped me most in terms of finding the root causes. Task automation is another valuable feature of Amazon CloudWatch."

"The initial setup is easy."

"It is a robust analytical tool and it goes beyond mere functionality and extends into the realm of providing comprehensive insights."

"It is a stable solution...I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."

"We use Amazon CloudWatch for logging."

"The most valuable features of Amazon CloudWatch are metrics, dashboards, alarms, logs, events, logs insight, and application insights."

"The detection is the most valuable feature."

"It's useful to analyze past data and compare it with recent activities."

More Amazon CloudWatch pros

"VMware comes with a support team, and if you have trouble, you can easily create a ticket, and VMware will help you. Therefore, the best aspect is the support."

"I gladly recommend VMware Aria Operations for Applications because it is cost effective and has commendable AI response capabilities."

"The solution provides single-console management for multiple VMware environments and cloud integrations, whether hybrid, private, or public cloud."

"It has a familiar interface, which makes it easy to get started."

"No issues with stability."

"The solution is great for virtualization and preparing the infrastructure in Tanzu to test products. It's very fast and has good visibility."

"The most valuable aspects of the solution are its ease of use and its ease of implementation."

"It significantly improves application performance management by offering recommendations for resource allocation to avoid wastage or overcommitment."

More VMware Aria Operations for Applications pros

Cons

"What would make Amazon CloudWatch better is if it includes more on-site checks, particularly status checks on the CPU, network input/output, etc. It would also be helpful if there's built-in swap space, disk, and memory monitoring in Amazon CloudWatch because, at the moment, my team has to configure it manually through a shell script."

"CloudWatch doesn’t monitor disk throughput by default."

"The dashboard of Amazon CloudWatch is not very customizable right now."

"It's not an advanced way of monitoring."

"The product should provide more features."

"For monitoring applications or for APM, CloudWatch has some limitations. You cannot monitor application performance from CloudWatch, and you have to go for a third-party tool."

"Improvement of SSSD logs would be beneficial."

"It's not very intuitive. It doesn't have drag-and-drop functionality to trigger actions from notifications."

More Amazon CloudWatch cons

"I find that there could be improvements in the support service response time, as the urgency varies unless specified as Priority 2 or 1 cases."

"The documentation and integration with Kubernetes could be improved."

"In the new version, I would love to see more prediction capabilities. It would be great if one could see the alerts get a little more enriched with information and become more human-friendly instead of the technical stuff that they put in there. I think those would be really awesome outcomes to get."

"The return on investment is best suited for organizations that do not have the resources for a dedicated VM environment team. However, the cost of the product doesn't show significant benefits."

"VMware technical support has declined since the Broadcom acquisition. Previously, they were more focused on issue resolution, but now they prioritize licensing verification before providing support."

"Its billing model is consumption-based. I understand the consumption-based model, but it is not necessarily easy to estimate and guess how many points or how much we are going to consume on a specific application up until we get to that point. So, for us, it would be helpful to have more insights or predictability into what we can expect from a cost perspective if we are starting to use specific features. This can potentially also drive our consumption a bit more."

"The initial setup should be easier and more seamless."

More VMware Aria Operations for Applications cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product's cost is relatively inexpensive."

"It is a free-of-charge service."

"The price is okay for me."

"The pricing is average."

"Its pricing is reasonable. It is sometimes tricky, but it is reasonable as compared to others."

"What's were using is the free service of Amazon CloudWatch, so they're not charging us. As for hidden fees, we're not aware of them because we're using what our clients provided us."

"It’s an open-source solution."

"Amazon CloudWatch has very cheap pricing, and it hardly costs my company $25-$30 a month for fifty systems, so it's pretty affordable."

More Amazon CloudWatch pricing and cost advice

"I don't have the details. In our case, there is a mixture in place. We have production usage, and we are also doing training for VMware. So, we also have a training instance. It is worth the money you would spend on it. That's because if you were to build all of this yourself by using some of the open source tools, then you would need a lot of time."

"I would rate the pricing as three out of five."

"Different locations require different setups. In your terms, around 300 to around 400K USD."

"The licensing costs are very high, particularly when you consider that we have to purchase a level 1 license for every integration, such as the load balancer, HAProxy, and the MSSP. And if you want to use vSAN, that's another license. Then, of course, Tanzu Observability has its own separate license."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	24

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon CloudWatch?

The monitoring features are valuable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon CloudWatch?

No specific setup costs were mentioned.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon CloudWatch?

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?

The solution includes cost drivers that can be configured according to your environment. You can input server-wise, CPU-wise, storage, and memory costs per hour or day. Once cost drivers are provid...

See all answers

What needs improvement with VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?

The new version 8.18 has brought significant improvements. The main purpose of using this tool is having a single console to manage all entities. The cloud integration capabilities, including priva...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?

I have been involved in several projects where I had to implement automation and monitoring alerting. I performed automation using VMware Aria Operations for Applications. There is an automation ta...

See all answers

Comparisons

Grafana Loki vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 22% of the time

Amazon OpenSearch Service vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 11% of the time

Zabbix vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 8% of the time

Dynatrace vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 6% of the time

Datadog vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 5% of the time

More Amazon CloudWatch Competitors

Grafana vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 10% of the time

Zabbix vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 8% of the time

Dynatrace vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 8% of the time

Datadog vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 5% of the time

OpsRamp vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 4% of the time

More VMware Aria Operations for Applications Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch

November 2025

Download Amazon CloudWatch product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Aria Operations for Applications

October 2025

VMware Aria Operations for Applications report

Download VMware Aria Operations for Applications product report

Also Known As

No data available

Tanzu Observability, Wavefront, Wavefront by VMware, VMware Tanzu Observability

Overview

Amazon CloudWatch integrates seamlessly with AWS, providing real-time monitoring and alerting features. Its interface supports task automation, enhancing troubleshooting and analytics capabilities, while offering strong security and scalability at a cost-effective rate.

Amazon CloudWatch is an impactful platform for monitoring AWS resources and managing application performance. It simplifies infrastructure performance monitoring by providing comprehensive analytics capabilities, including application insights and event scheduling. Users appreciate CloudWatch for its detailed metrics, dashboards, and support in issuing alerts to detect anomalies. It efficiently tracks performance, optimizes resource utilization, and ensures service availability. CloudWatch is recognized for its robust alerting features and integration with other AWS services, further supporting its resource monitoring capabilities. However, there is room for improvement in dashboard customization, log streaming speed, and integration with non-AWS services. Enhancements in API integration, machine learning features, and support for third-party tools are also desired.

What features does Amazon CloudWatch offer?

Seamless Integration: Works effortlessly with AWS for cohesive service management.
Advanced Metrics: Provides detailed monitoring of CPU, memory, and more.
Real-time Monitoring: Offers up-to-the-minute alerts on infrastructure status.
Dashboards: User-friendly and informative for quick insights.
Automation: Supports task automation for efficient troubleshooting.

What benefits does Amazon CloudWatch provide?

Cost-effectiveness: Efficient resource monitoring without high costs.
Scalability: Easily adapts to growing infrastructure needs.
Security: Strong protocols for safe monitoring activities.
Improved Performance: Enhances application insights and operational efficiency.
Operational Insights: Provides comprehensive logging and performance analysis.

Industries implementing Amazon CloudWatch often focus on optimizing IT infrastructure. Companies in sectors like finance and e-commerce rely on its monitoring and alerting capabilities to ensure service uptime and performance. The platform's automation and analytics features empower teams to proactively manage performance and detect potential issues promptly.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront is a powerful tool for monitoring and analyzing the performance and availability of applications and infrastructure in real-time.

With its comprehensive monitoring capabilities, visualizing and analyzing data becomes effortless. The real-time alerting system ensures timely issue resolution, while scalability and a user-friendly interface provide a seamless experience for smooth operations.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

AirAsia, Airbnb, Aircel, APUS, Avazu, Casa & Video, Futbol Club Barcelona (FCBarcelona), National Taiwan University, redBus

1. Atlassian 2. Cisco 3. Databricks 4. DigitalOcean 5. Equinix 6. Fidelity Investments 7. Google 8. Hewlett Packard Enterprise 9. Honeywell 10. IBM 11. Intel 12. JetBlue Airways 13. LinkedIn 14. Lyft 15. Mastercard 16. Microsoft 17. MongoDB 18. Netflix 19. Nvidia 20. Oracle 21. PayPal 22. Pinterest 23. Qualcomm 24. Red Hat 25. Salesforce 26. SAP 27. Spotify 28. Square 29. TMobile 30. Twitter 31. Uber 32. VMware

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications

November 2025

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