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Elastic Observability vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring comparison

Elastic and Instana are both solutions in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category. Elastic is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.7, while Instana is ranked #32 with an average rating of 10.0. Elastic holds a 2.0% mindshare in IM, compared to Instana’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Elastic users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Instana users who would recommend it.
Elastic Observability
Read 29 Elastic Observability reviews
  • 8,461 Views
  • 3,384 Comparison Views
88% willing to recommend
Instana Infrastructure Moni...
Read 2 Instana Infrastructure Monitoring reviews
  • 812 Views
  • 633 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Instana Infrastructure Monitoring and Elastic Observability compete in IT systems observability and performance management. While Instana shines in pricing and support, Elastic's superior features justify its investment.

Features: Instana Infrastructure Monitoring focuses on real-time data analytics, automated discovery of infrastructure components, and simplified monitoring of complex environments. Elastic Observability offers advanced data visualization tools, seamless integration with various data sources, and an extensive feature set that enhances comprehensive data analysis.

Room for Improvement: Instana Infrastructure Monitoring could enhance its data visualization capabilities, expand integration options beyond infrastructure components, and offer more detailed analysis tools. Elastic Observability could streamline its deployment process, improve initial setup complexity, and offer simpler pricing models to enhance accessibility for smaller enterprises.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Instana provides an easy deployment model with automated agent installation that facilitates rapid setup, supported by responsive customer service. Elastic Observability, although more complex due to its broad integration capabilities, offers deployment flexibility. It also benefits from comprehensive documentation and active community support.

Pricing and ROI: Instana Infrastructure Monitoring features predictable pricing with lower initial costs, appealing to smaller enterprises seeking quick ROI. Elastic Observability, though its setup costs can be higher, offers long-term value through scalability and integration flexibility, making it attractive for larger organizations with intricate IT requirements.

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To learn more, read our detailed Elastic Observability vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring Report (Updated: December 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Elastic Observability vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring
December 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

Elastic Observability
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
9th
Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (6th), Log Management (12th), Container Monitoring (4th)
Instana Infrastructure Moni...
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
32nd
Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software
20th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of Elastic Observability is 2.0%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Instana Infrastructure Monitoring is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Infrastructure Monitoring Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Elastic Observability2.0%
Instana Infrastructure Monitoring0.7%
Other97.3%
IT Infrastructure Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

MA
Mohammed-Abdelalim
Assistant Vice President at QualityKiosk Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Has provided powerful customization for unique monitoring needs but needs more out-of-the-box capabilities
In my opinion, the best features of Elastic Observability are their flexibility to integrate with other existing systems and the ability to build a unified monitoring tool that can integrate with existing ones and end-to-end user journeys which require a lot of customizations. The greatest feature in Elastic is the ability to customize. This is similar to my comments about customizable dashboards in Elastic because it's visible to the analyst. However, it's very great. Customizing these dashboards can meet the customer's specific use cases and specific stories that they have in their environment, their special environment that doesn't look like other environments. The dashboarding in Elastic is highly customizable to the level of logos. If the customer wants his company logo in the dashboard, it can be done.
Read full review
Hakimuddin Ronaque - PeerSpot reviewer
Hakimuddin Ronaque
Assistant Manager at Lauren Information Technologies Pvt Ltd
Has the capability to automatically integrate with a large number of products
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. I have not worked much on other technologies, like SAP or VMware's virtualization part, on-prem infrastructure, or cloud infrastructure. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring is so fast and easy to adapt that it works fine. I have not explored other operating systems or infrastructure solutions because my company doesn't have that customer scale. Most of our customers are on-prem or on AWS or Azure, but Instana Infrastructure Monitoring adapts to their infrastructure very well. My company came to know how well Instana Infrastructure Monitoring adapts to our customers' infrastructures when we take care of the PoC phase. Around 12 to 15 people in my company use 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 product has connectors to many services."
"The tool's most valuable feature is centralized logging. Elastic Common Search helps us to search for the logs across the organization."
"I have built a mini business intelligence system based on Elastic Observability."
"The architecture and system's stability are simple."
"Elastic provides built-in features for queries and report generation. It's a very good tool for monitoring integration capabilities."
"I recommend Elastic Observability for its completeness of vision and wide ecosystem."
"The solution has been stable in our usage."
"It is very stable, and I would rate it ten out of ten based on my interaction with it."
More Elastic Observability pros
"The product's initial setup is easy."
"The product is easy to deploy."
 

Cons

"Elastic Observability needs to have better standardization, logging, and schema."
"The only challenging aspect for new users is often writing the query language."
"I would have preferred built-in tools to manage the indexes on deployment for better visual representation, as the initial feedback regarding system performance and data storage was fairly primitive and lacking."
"There is room for improvement regarding its APM capabilities."
"The interface could be improved."
"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."
"In the future, Elastic APM needs a portfolio iTool. They can provide an easy way to develop the custom UI for Kibana."
More Elastic Observability cons
"Instana Infrastructure Monitoring needs to support monitoring of the .NET framework since it is one of the areas where the solution currently has shortcomings."
"The product’s scalability is an area with certain limitations, making it an area where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Elastic Observability's pricing could be better for small-scale users."
"Since we are a huge company, Elastic Observability is an affordable solution for us."
"One needs to pay for the licenses, and it is an annual subscription model right now."
"Pricing is one of those situations where the more you use it, the more you pay."
"The product is not that cheap."
"The price of Elastic Observability is expensive."
"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."
"We will buy a premium license after POC."
More Elastic Observability pricing and cost advice
"The cost of the tool is around 130 USD per month."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise16
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...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Elastic Observability?
The problem is their licensing model, which is a bit confusing. Many customers struggle to understand their total cost of ownership because Elastic licensing is not dependent on easy, quantifiable ...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Elastic Observability?
After careful consideration about areas for improvement in Elastic Observability, aspects such as pricing, customization, implementation, and scalability could be improved. As a user of the system,...
See all answers
What do you like most about Instana Infrastructure Monitoring?
The product is easy to deploy.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Instana Infrastructure Monitoring?
The product’s scalability is an area with certain limitations, making it an area where improvements are required.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Instana Infrastructure Monitoring?
I use the solution in my company, especially if an application is down and it is considered to be a P1 issue or a critical issue. The network team will blame the application team, while the applica...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Dynatrace vs Elastic Observability
Compared 8% of the time
New Relic vs Elastic Observability Logo
New Relic vs Elastic Observability
Compared 8% of the time
Grafana vs Elastic Observability Logo
Grafana vs Elastic Observability
Compared 8% of the time
Zabbix vs Elastic Observability Logo
Zabbix vs Elastic Observability
Compared 6% of the time
More Elastic Observability Competitors
IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring Logo
IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring
Compared 13% of the time
Amazon CloudWatch vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring Logo
Amazon CloudWatch vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring
Compared 12% of the time
Infraon IMS vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring Logo
Infraon IMS vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring
Compared 12% of the time
NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring Logo
NetApp Data Infrastructure Insights vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring
Compared 11% of the time
Splunk Observability Cloud vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring Logo
Splunk Observability Cloud vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring
Compared 11% of the time
More Instana Infrastructure Monitoring Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Elastic Observability
December 2025
Elastic Observability reportDownload Elastic Observability product report
Buyer's Guide
IT Infrastructure Monitoring
December 2025
Instana Infrastructure Monitoring reportDownload Instana Infrastructure Monitoring product report
 

Overview

Elastic Observability offers a comprehensive suite for log analytics, application performance monitoring, and machine learning. It integrates seamlessly with platforms like Teams and Slack, enhancing data visualization and scalability for real-time insights.

Elastic Observability is designed to support production environments with features like logging, data collection, and infrastructure tracking. Centralized logging and powerful search functionalities make incident response and performance tracking efficient. Elastic APM and Kibana facilitate detailed data visualization, promoting rapid troubleshooting and effective system performance analysis. Integrated services and extensive connectivity options enhance its role in business and technical decision-making by providing actionable data insights.

What are the most important features of Elastic Observability?
  • Centralized Logging: Streamlines the collection, analysis, and storage of log data.
  • Powerful Search: Provides robust search capabilities for quick access to relevant information.
  • Scalability: Supports growing data needs across diverse environments.
  • Real-time Telemetry: Ensures up-to-date insights and monitoring.
  • Platform Integration: Seamlessly connects with services like Teams and Slack.
  • Data Visualization: Enhances visibility with Elastic APM and Kibana.
What benefits and ROI should users explore in reviews?
  • Cost-effectiveness: Offers significant savings through efficient data management.
  • Rapid Incident Response: Minimizes downtime with quick troubleshooting tools.
  • Comprehensive Insights: Supports better business decisions with detailed data analysis.
  • Performance Tracking: Enables assessment of system effectiveness and improvements.

Elastic Observability is employed across industries for critical operations, such as in finance for transaction monitoring, in healthcare for secure data management, and in technology for optimizing application performance. Its data-driven approach aids efficient event tracing, supporting diverse industry requirements.

Elastic

Instana ensures that your application delivery organization has the data, visibility and information they need to manage the performance of critical business applications across the DevOps lifecycle. Built to handle the dynamic nature of containerized, microservice architectures, Instana automates infrastructure and application monitoring helping you to ensure the performance and quality of custom applications and accelerate your CI/CD cycle.

Instana
 

Sample Customers

PSCU, Entel, VITAS, Mimecast, Barrett Steel, Butterfield Bank
booxware, drivenow, scopevisio, enevo, TimoCom, mobitech
Buyer's Guide
Elastic Observability vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring
December 2025
Free Report: Elastic Observability vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring
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We monitor all IT Infrastructure Monitoring reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.