Elastic Observability vs IBM Instana Observability comparison

Elastic and IBM are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Elastic is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.1, while IBM is ranked #45 with an average rating of 8.0. Elastic holds a 5.6% mindshare in APM, compared to IBM’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Elastic users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Elastic Observability

Read 26 Elastic Observability reviews

10,280 Views
8,940 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

IBM Instana Observability

Read 3 IBM Instana Observability reviews

457 Views
345 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Elastic Observability

IBM Instana Observability

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Elastic Observability and IBM Instana Observability based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Elastic Observability vs. IBM Instana Observability Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability vs. IBM Instana Observability

March 2025

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Helped 841,004 peers since 2012

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

Elastic Observability

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

7th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (8th), Log Management (15th), Container Monitoring (4th), Cloud Monitoring Software (7th)

IBM Instana Observability

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

45th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Elastic Observability is 5.6%, down from 5.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Instana Observability is 0.4%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Adelina Craciun

Product Owner at Swisscom

Customization enables tailored monitoring and alerting across departments

The possibility to customize it has been quite useful. Whatever the other departments want to dream up, we implement. Whatever they want to monitor, the granularity of it, the changes in the threshold, and the anomalies that they want reported all require some development. So far, every single request has been fulfilled.

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Tomas Kim

Managing Director at BA Solutions

Not expensive and offers good performance

The most valuable feature of the solution is performance. A one-vendor solution serves as a good feature of the tool. In the IT industry, the IT support team has lots of vendors to contact. DB monitoring is done by one company, while WaaS monitoring is done by another and done by another company, which makes it really complicated for the IT team concerned about the security levels. The tool's main feature is that it is a one-vendor solution. The analysis done by the tool is a good feature. The tool is used as an open-source tool. The tool is growing, and new features are being added to the product.

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 architecture and system's stability are simple."

"The price is very less expensive compared to the other solutions."

"Elastic APM has plenty of features, such as the Elastic server for Kibana and many additional plugins. It's a comprehensive tool when used as a logging platform."

"Machine learning is the most valuable feature of this solution."

"The tool's most valuable feature is centralized logging. Elastic Common Search helps us to search for the logs across the organization."

"For full stack observability, Elastic is the best tool compared with any other tool ."

"I found Elk to be excellent for log analytics, security analytics, application code-level analytics, collaboration with DevOps teams, CI/CD, microservices, and Kubernetes, specifically cloud-native or cloud-specific tasks."

"I have built a mini business intelligence system based on Elastic Observability."

More Elastic Observability pros

"The solution has a one-second resolution, giving you the status of your application within one second."

"The most valuable features of IBM Instana are its quick data collection and analytics after installing the agent."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is performance."

Cons

"I am familiar with Azure Monitor, which I find more user-friendly compared to Elastic, which is a very technical tool."

"The cost must be made more transparent."

"If we had some pre-defined templates for observability that we could start using right away after deploying it – instead of having to build or to change some of the dashboards – that would be helpful."

"There is room for improvement regarding its APM capabilities."

"One example is the inability to monitor very old databases with the newest version."

"When opening tickets, we cannot use our team mailbox."

"The solution would be better if it was capable of more automation, especially in a monitoring capacity or for the response to abnormalities."

"Simplifying the parsing of logs and manual efforts would also be beneficial."

More Elastic Observability cons

"The solution should include log management and improve reporting and integration with Cognos."

"The product's initial setup phase is not very easy."

"One area that requires improvement is related to the automation part, specifically automated actions like sending SMS."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Since we are a huge company, Elastic Observability is an affordable solution for us."

"The price of Elastic Observability is expensive."

"We have been using the open-source version."

"One needs to pay for the licenses, and it is an annual subscription model right now."

"Elastic Observability is cheaper than other similar solutions, such as Dynatrace. Its license calculation is based on various factors like data volume and physical infrastructure, particularly related to RAM capacity."

"The product’s pricing needs improvement."

"So far, there are just the standard licensing fees. Several of the components are embedded in the license or are even open source. They're even free depending on what you use, which makes it even more appealing to someone that is discussing pricing of the solution."

"Elastic Observability's pricing could be better for small-scale users."

More Elastic Observability pricing and cost advice

"The tool's cost is normal as per the market. The tool is not expensive."

"The solution's pricing is reasonable compared to that of its competitors like Dynatrace."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

19%

Construction Company

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Elastic Observability?

Elastic Observability significantly improves incident response time by providing quick access to logs and data across various sources. For instance, searching for specific keywords in logs spanning...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Elastic Observability?

Elastic Observability is cost-efficient and provides all features in the enterprise license without asset-based licensing. However, sizing and licensing information could be clearer.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Elastic Observability?

Of course, maintenance is necessary, as with any software, requiring updates with the latest features and security enhancements. It lacked some capabilities when handling on-prem devices, like netw...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Instana Observability?

The tool's cost is normal as per the market. The tool is not expensive.

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What needs improvement with IBM Instana Observability?

The tool should offer more LDR AI models. The monitoring is just a status, but the next level of a monitoring solution is to prevent an accident or stop an accident status. The solution should be t...

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What is your primary use case for IBM Instana Observability?

Before IBM, I ordered our company's engineer to have a look at the tool and test it. I think it was two years ago, the transfer to IBM happened in our company. At the beginning, IBM Instana Observa...

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Comparisons

New Relic vs Elastic Observability

Compared 16% of the time

Sentry vs Elastic Observability

Compared 13% of the time

Dynatrace vs Elastic Observability

Compared 12% of the time

Grafana vs Elastic Observability

Compared 10% of the time

Apache SkyWalking vs Elastic Observability

Compared 2% of the time

More Elastic Observability Competitors

Grafana vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 12% of the time

Azure Monitor vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 11% of the time

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 9% of the time

BMC TrueSight Operations Management vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 9% of the time

Zabbix vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 8% of the time

More IBM Instana Observability Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability

March 2025

Download Elastic Observability product report

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

February 2025

Download IBM Instana Observability product report

Overview

Elastic Observability is primarily used for monitoring login events, application performance, and infrastructure, supporting significant data volumes through features like log aggregation, centralized logging, and system metric analysis.

Elastic Observability employs Elastic APM for performance and latency analysis, significantly aiding business KPIs and technical stability. It is popular among users for system and server monitoring, capacity planning, cyber security, and managing data pipelines. With the integration of Kibana, it offers robust visualization, reporting, and incident response capabilities through rapid log searches while supporting machine learning and hybrid cloud environments.

What are Elastic Observability's key features?

Economic licensing: Offers cost-effective plans.
Extensive metrics tracking: Helps in comprehensive system monitoring.
Comprehensive logging: Centralizes log data efficiently.
Performance Monitoring: Provides robust APM capabilities.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other solutions.
Kibana visualization: Facilitates data visualization and reporting.
Machine learning support: Enables advanced data analysis.
Flexible deployment: Supports various deployment environments.
Rapid log searches: Enhances quick incident response.
Accessibility: Offers extensive online documentation and connector support.

What benefits or ROI should users look for in Elastic Observability reviews?

Stability: Look for consistent performance and reliability.
Compliance: Effective monitoring aids in regulation adherence.
System Security: Enhanced system monitoring and alert management.
Cost-Effectiveness: Evaluate the economic pricing models.
Scalability: Adequate scalability options for growing needs.

Companies in technology, finance, healthcare, and other industries implement Elastic Observability for tailored monitoring solutions. They find its integration with existing systems useful for maintaining operation efficiency and security, particularly valuing the visualization capabilities through Kibana to monitor KPIs and improve incident response times.

Elastic

IBM Instana Observability is a versatile tool tailored for real-time monitoring and management of applications, especially in complex cloud environments. It excels in automated root cause analysis, improving system reliability, and dynamic graphing for visualizing system interconnections. With features like real-time alerting, it enhances operational efficiency and aids in prompt issue resolution, making it invaluable for maintaining robust IT operations.

IBM

Sample Customers

PSCU, Entel, VITAS, Mimecast, Barrett Steel, Butterfield Bank

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability vs. IBM Instana Observability

March 2025

Free Report: Elastic Observability vs. IBM Instana Observability

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