AppDynamics vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

AppDynamics and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. AppDynamics is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.2, while SolarWinds is ranked #22 with an average rating of 7.1. AppDynamics holds a 5.2% mindshare in APM, compared to SolarWinds’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of AppDynamics users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

AppDynamics

Read 156 AppDynamics reviews

14,012 Views
8,865 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Read 40 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews

4,128 Views
2,761 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

AppDynamics

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

AppDynamics and SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor are popular choices in application performance monitoring and server management. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is favored for its rich set of features and high value for the price.

Features: AppDynamics users value its detailed performance metrics, real-time insights, and advanced analytics. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is praised for its comprehensive monitoring capabilities, including network and server performance.

Room for Improvement: AppDynamics users suggest better integration capabilities, reduced complexity in setup, and improved user interface. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could benefit from a more intuitive interface, enhanced scalability options, and reduced alert noise.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: AppDynamics offers varied deployment models but is often complex and time-consuming to set up, with mixed customer service feedback. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is easier to deploy, with straightforward setup and better customer service feedback.

Pricing and ROI: AppDynamics has higher setup costs and questionable ROI due to complexities. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor offers competitive pricing and quicker ROI, making it a preferred choice for budget-conscious organizations.

To learn more, read our detailed AppDynamics vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AppDynamics vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

January 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

AppDynamics

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

156

Ranking in other categories

Mobile APM (2nd), Container Monitoring (3rd)

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

22nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (10th), Active Directory Management (14th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of AppDynamics is 5.2%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.9%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Mahesh Deshpande

Senior Technology Architect at Infosys

The transition tracing and user experience are good, but performance degrades past 3,000 or so agents

The Kubernetes cluster agent has not yet matured. That's one area that requires a lot of improvement. You have two options for implementing the Kubernetes agent. One is deployed in DocCloud, but you can't download those images from DocCloud for security reasons at most organizations, so this option isn't that useful. The installation for the second option isn't that user-friendly. Transition tracing for the Kubernetes application is challenging. You have to navigate to a new set of user interfaces in AppDynamics, so that's the pain point. There is an icon you need to click on to get a newer user interface.

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Subhajit Nag

Senior Process Associate at Tata Consultancy Services

The component and cable monitoring features are good, but the interface is slow

SolarWinds' interface is slow, and this is a global concern. Every SolarWinds user complains about the sluggishness. The response is slow. If you browse from one page to another, you have to wait. Our company is a massive user with plenty of licenses, so the performance issues could be due to the load per license. Ten thousand components can be mapped under one license. So SolarWinds needs to take care of the speed problem. It cannot be this slow. That is a huge complaint. Otherwise, the tool is good. It should also be easier to upgrade SolarWinds. AppDynamics is harder to deploy but easier to upgrade. So AppDynamics takes a lot of time and effort to install, but you can upgrade it in minutes. SolarWinds is the opposite. It's easy to deploy, but upgrades take forever. To date, nobody can complete it on time, so the production environment is sitting idle. The upgrade time matters because you only install the solution once, but you'll need to upgrade the solution repeatedly over the life of the product. A complex installation isn't an issue, but I mind if the upgrade takes too long because it's already in production.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The SAP monitoring element is very helpful."

"I find troubleshooting is quicker because we can drill down into the end points and see which endpoints are getting critical. Visibility-wise, the micro details are easy to find."

"The solution helps us provide a better user experience to our customers."

"That visual representation’s been really good, also the overhead that AppDynamics creates is quite small. We've tried Dynatrace in the past. Some of the applications didn't work as well with Dynatrace."

"I like that AppDynamics allows every organization to have what they want to see, like for my organization, we're able to customize the dashboard to show us details of what we want to see in our transactions."

"The best features of AppDynamics would be the code application monitoring capabilities."

"We are able to correlate performance between tiers."

"AppDynamics is easy to implement if you follow the documentation, and the documentation that they provide is good."

More AppDynamics pros

"The initial setup was relatively easy, and we didn't have to install anything. All we had to do was put on the devices we wanted to monitor."

"The most valuable feature is application monitoring."

"I'd rate technical support at eight out of ten. They are helpful and fast."

"Identifying the problem statement is easy."

"Monitoring of processes and services is the most valuable feature. It is not necessarily just the server alone in terms of the CPU or the memory. We can go in-depth into services and processes."

"Management Console - Managing service to each server enrolled in the Solarwinds is much easier. Using a web base console, you can control your service much convenient way. There is no need to login remotely. It save a lot of time and effort."

"I am impressed with the tool's AppStack feature which mainly helps us in the identification process. This feature can give an overview of the fault and help us identify the issues for performance degradation. Instead of looking at multiple places, we can look at a single place to identify the issues."

"The solution is end-to-end from the network and the application to the processes. Everything about the enterprise infrastructure is being covered by the solution. It's easy to use and easy to navigate and one of the leaders among monitoring solutions."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

Cons

"It needs strengthening in the database tiers."

"AppDynamics' modules and hardware resources are very high."

"They need to improve the consolidation of agents for the agent's installation process."

"The QA and test environment need improvement."

"It would help to maybe have a more graphical interface and more user-friendly graphics."

"The documentation and training material have room for improvement."

"The training on the dashboards that is provided could be a little bit better, as could the use cases. They should have some good examples out there. As it is right now, I had to scour YouTube to find some stuff."

"This solution is expensive."

More AppDynamics cons

"SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could improve the server monitoring and the web application monitoring features are not good. Microsoft SCOM has better server monitoring."

"The stability, flexibility, and ease of use could be improved."

"The tool’s report feature created issues for us. We needed to gain skills to use that feature. The tool’s customization is not easy since you have to reconfigure the whole system."

"It would be helpful if the solution could integrate more with the security compliances, like this IDSS, etc."

"The product does not explain why a problem occurred."

"There is one feature that is a report writer. And they are currently trying to take it out from being a stand-alone application and integrating to the web. This doesn't give us the flexibility and it doesn't expand what we can get when it comes to reporting. So, putting it on the web is going to make it difficult to get some information. Leaving it where it is now will help us a lot."

"A lot of times, we have to do a lot of manual cleanups."

"An additional feature that would improve this solution is the ability to complete root cause analysis."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license to use this solution. However, the clients pay for the licenses we are the service provider."

"It could be cheaper. It's a little cost prohibitive. There are so many features that also show a lot of value, but it’s not always easy to justify the cost."

"I was not involved with the procurement of AppDynamic, but I believe it's expensive."

"Take into consideration what you get for specific pricing models and how much it costs to add on things you may need later."

"We are looking forward to purchasing the solution on the AWS Marketplace."

"Our purchasing experience through the AWS Marketplace has been pretty painless."

"The product is a bit expensive compared to other tools."

"AppDynamics is an expensive solution."

More AppDynamics pricing and cost advice

"I have always said SolarWinds is very “proud” of their products, meaning they are expensive. I cannot afford to purchase all the licenses I need for all the SolarWinds products."

"SAM is not per server so the pricing model can be deceiving. If you have an enterprise environment, you will quickly exceed your licensing quickly. You should know this before going in."

"We are on an annual license to use the solution. The price of the solution is expensive. The price is based on a bunch of factors, such as the number of engines and elements."

"When planning for the number of licenses to purchase, make sure you understand all of the elements within an application required to really understand performance well. In our case, we quickly came to the conclusion that an unlimited license for SAM was the way to go."

"I would rate the pricing for this solution a three out of five."

"Understanding the counts of objects to monitor will determine the licensing need. In terms of pricing, it’s not cheap but it’s not expensive as larger vendors whose products don’t have all the features or integrations."

"Pricing and licensing is fair for what you get. It does have a great bang-for-the-buck appeal."

"We pay around $ 2,000 to $ 5,000 yearly for the solution."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

50%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

46%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Any advice about APM solutions?

There are many factors and we know little about your requirements (size of org, technology stack, management systems, the scope of implementation). Our goal was to consolidate APM and infra monitor...

See all answers

APM tools for a Managed Service Provider - Dynatrace vs. AppDynamics vs. Aternity vs. Ruxit

Hi Avi! It's great to see your thorough approach to selecting an APM package for your MSP company. Considering your focus on SMBs and enterprises in Israel, Dynatrace seems like a solid choice with...

See all answers

What do you like most about AppDynamics?

The solution saves time and cost.

See all answers

What do you like most about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

Identifying the problem statement is easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

The product is expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

One product area that could benefit from improvement is the synchronization of licensing periods across different modules. The misalignment of licensing terms can present commercial challenges when...

See all answers

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Compared 19% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

Azure Monitor vs AppDynamics

Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 19% of the time

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Compared 19% of the time

Prometheus vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 7% of the time

Nagios XI vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 5% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 4% of the time

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AppDynamics

January 2025

Download AppDynamics product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

December 2024

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

Also Known As

AppD, AppDynamics APM

SolarWinds SAM

Learn More

AppDynamics

SolarWinds

Overview

AppDynamics is a comprehensive tool used for monitoring application performance, identifying user issues, analyzing traffic, managing infrastructure, and performance testing. It supports environments like Kubernetes, WebLogic, and Azure, and is crucial for industries such as banking, telecommunications, and financial services.

AppDynamics offers a robust solution for application performance monitoring, enabling deep diagnostics, transaction tracing, and root cause analysis. Users benefit from its real-time monitoring and comprehensive analytics capabilities. It's designed for ease of implementation and scalability, featuring intuitive dashboards that streamline infrastructure optimization and enhance user experience. AppDynamics supports extensive third-party extensions and provides proactive monitoring and alerting to ensure optimal system health. It assists in troubleshooting, database monitoring, and setting custom alerts to address Java applications and performance challenges efficiently.

What are the most important features of AppDynamics?

Application Performance Monitoring: Real-time insights into application health and performance
Business Transaction Capturing: Detailed tracking of business transactions across the application
Memory Monitoring: Monitoring memory usage to optimize application performance
Analytics: Advanced analytics to understand application and user behavior
Customizable Dashboards: Intuitive dashboards for better visualization and decision-making
Proactive Monitoring and Alerting: Immediate alerts and monitoring to prevent issues before they affect users
Integration Capabilities: Integration with third-party tools to extend functionality
Root Cause Analysis: Deep diagnostics to pinpoint and fix issues promptly
Transaction Mapping: Mapping transactions to understand and improve user journeys
Error Detection: Identifying and diagnosing errors to maintain application stability

What benefits or ROI should users look for in reviews?

Ease of Implementation: Simple deployment process
Scalability: Ability to grow with the organization's needs
Time Savings: Reducing time spent on troubleshooting and issue resolution
Enhanced User Experience: Improving application performance for better user satisfaction
Cost Efficiency: Balancing functionality with cost to deliver value

AppDynamics is widely adopted in banking, telecommunications, and financial services to ensure optimal user experience and system health. Its capabilities support these industries in maintaining robust, efficient, and reliable applications. The tool is instrumental in troubleshooting, performance optimization, and providing a seamless user experience.

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers powerful application and server monitoring capabilities for IT pros, enabling them to diagnose and troubleshoot performance issues faster. Do not let slow applications and downtime impact your end-users and business services. Pinpoint the root cause of application issues across various layers of the IT stack. SolarWinds SAM is affordable and easy to deploy, use, and customize. You can automatically discover your system's environment and start monitoring in about an hour. No professional services or consultation needed.

Sample Customers

Cisco, Sony, Nasdaq, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Edmunds.com, Puma, Fox News, DirecTV, Pizza Hut, T-Systems, Cornell University, OpenTable, BITMARCK, Green Mountain Power, Care.com, Overstock, Paddy Power, eHarmony, Kraft, The Motley Fool, The Container Store, and more See more customers

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

Buyer's Guide

AppDynamics vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

January 2025

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