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IBM Application Performance Management vs SolarWinds Pingdom comparison

IBM and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. IBM is ranked #51 with an average rating of 7.0, while SolarWinds is ranked #53 with an average rating of 6.0. IBM holds a 0.3% mindshare in APM, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 62% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 75% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.
IBM Application Performance...
Read 7 IBM Application Performance Management reviews
  • 852 Views
  • 550 Comparison Views
62% willing to recommend
SolarWinds Pingdom
Read 4 SolarWinds Pingdom reviews
  • 639 Views
  • 371 Comparison Views
75% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

IBM Application Performance Management and SolarWinds Pingdom compete in monitoring and optimizing application performance. Users favor SolarWinds Pingdom for its features and ease of use, while IBM Application Performance Management stands out for its support and deployment flexibility.

Features: IBM Application Performance Management offers comprehensive monitoring, advanced analytics tools, and detailed reporting. SolarWinds Pingdom provides real-time user monitoring, uptime checks, and intuitive dashboards.

Room for Improvement: IBM Application Performance Management could improve user experience, integration options, and interface simplicity. SolarWinds Pingdom users seek advancements in reporting capabilities, customer support response times, and notification customization.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Application Performance Management offers flexible deployment for diverse environments but can be complex. SolarWinds Pingdom is straightforward to deploy, making it accessible to more users. Users report better support experiences with IBM compared to SolarWinds.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Application Performance Management involves higher upfront investment but delivers strong ROI through extensive functionality. SolarWinds Pingdom has a more affordable entry point, providing good value for the cost. IBM’s pricing is justified by its extended capabilities, while SolarWinds balances cost and ease of use.

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To learn more, read our detailed IBM Application Performance Management vs. SolarWinds Pingdom Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
IBM Application Performance Management vs. SolarWinds Pingdom
April 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

IBM Application Performance...
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
51st
Average Rating
6.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Pingdom
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
53rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of IBM Application Performance Management is 0.3%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Pingdom is 0.2%, down from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
 

Featured Reviews

Daniel Tamiru - PeerSpot reviewer
A multi-functional solution but has poor stability and performance-related issues
We are using version 4 of IBM Application Performance Management, and it is deployed on-premises. We use it for internet banking and mainly for application performance on-site. For example, if we face performance-related issues in one of our software or managed services, we use this solution to…
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Jay Vekaria - PeerSpot reviewer
High performance, quick setup, but lacking ease of use
Some of the functions could improve by making them easier. There is room for improvement when it comes to the graphs provided by the software. Additionally, there seems to be an issue with the ping status, as it sometimes indicates that a website is down even when it is functioning properly. It appears that there are certain aspects related to cache management or other backend functionalities that are unclear. The time range graph and overall user interface could be more user-friendly. For example, when selecting a custom graph for a specific time period, clicking on it should open the corresponding website in a new tab, but instead, it displays the current graph. This lack of consistency can be frustrating when trying to navigate the interface. Furthermore, the reports shared on a weekly basis arrive one week late, reducing their usefulness. Overall, some extra efforts are required to make the user experience smoother and more efficient.
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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

"IBM Application Performance Management helped us increased our response time by 80% and cost 60% less."
"It's easy to use."
"I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten."
"The most valuable feature is the breakdown that it provides, such as a description of the fields for a particular transaction."
"Because we have partnerships with other partners, I can share a bit about what I've noticed with IBM APM compared to other vendor solutions. Specifically, with IBM, the visibility into detailed process information is more tangible. On the OS level, APM displays all processes (or the top 10 processes) that are consuming CPU or resident memory. This is the most important thing that is not always available with other vendors."
"The initial setup was straightforward and took minimal effort."
"The transaction tracking feature from IBM is the most important feature for us. It is something that provides a terrific value for us and our clients. It has a lot of data sources and agents that are collectors. It is also stable."
"Once you set the threshold on your environment, it feels very real-time"
"The most valuable features are monitoring and reporting."
"One notable feature of this software is its page speed setup, which is highly commendable. Additionally, the metrics it provides are also impressive."
"There are alerting mechanisms in place to let us know, for example, if a device is not responding to a ping test and is probably not going to work."
 

Cons

"Its web user interface is a little bit old in comparison to other solutions, such as New Relic, and it should be improved. Its scalability and technical support should also be improved. Currently, it is scalable, but only in a vertical way. They provide good technical support, but the initial steps for a new case can be improved to fasten the resolution process."
"They should focus on potentially enhancing the dashboard to make it more contemporary and adding some customization options. Furthermore, there might be room for improvement in the pricing policy."
"Technical support can be slow and needs improvement."
"With APM, we noticed that the agent can cause a lot of issues for the application, making the agent very unreliable. Many issues are happening, and we've had to discuss it with support to try and get a fix. It affects application availability, and sometimes actions fail because of the agent, degrading the performance of the application."
"The stability is not great and should be better."
"It's still missing some platforms. For example, if you look to applications itself, it is missing the interface."
"The demo that was provided to us is not working very well. At times, there are errors."
"I would like to see better integration with other products."
"Some of the functions could improve by making them easier."
"Technical support could use some improvement."
"Pingdom is always improving everything in its product. So, they should work on the GUI."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM APM is one of the cheaper products on the market, while everything necessary to get started is included in the license."
"As I previously indicated, I initiated the IBM and uncovered all its elements. Consequently, I'm not inclined towards a licensing approach."
"The licensing fees can be paid every six months or on a yearly basis."
"This price of this solution is reasonable."
"While I wouldn't describe it as excessively expensive, if you require specific and reliable monitoring, SolarWinds can be a suitable option. The advantage is that SolarWinds offers a free version as well. If you don't heavily rely on its monitoring capabilities and are content with its basic features, the free version could suffice for your needs."
"The license was paid yearly and included technical support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
24%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
52%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Government
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Application Performance Management?
I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten.
See all answers
What needs improvement with IBM Application Performance Management?
They should focus on potentially enhancing the dashboard to make it more contemporary and adding some customization options. Furthermore, there might be room for improvement in the pricing policy. ...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for IBM Application Performance Management?
I monitor business applications for more than four end users.
See all answers
What do you like most about SolarWinds Pingdom?
One notable feature of this software is its page speed setup, which is highly commendable. Additionally, the metrics it provides are also impressive.
See all answers
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Pingdom?
Some of the functions could improve by making them easier. There is room for improvement when it comes to the graphs provided by the software. Additionally, there seems to be an issue with the ping...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Pingdom?
SolarWinds Pingdom and Cloudflare are third-party applications that we utilize through a browser without any additional setup. We simply rely on their services, which is why I lack familiarity with...
See all answers
 

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Compared 23% of the time
More SolarWinds Pingdom Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
April 2025
IBM Application Performance Management reportDownload IBM Application Performance Management product report
Buyer's Guide
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
April 2025
SolarWinds Pingdom reportDownload SolarWinds Pingdom product report
 

Also Known As

IBM APM
No data available
 

Overview

The IBM Application Performance Management portfolio provides visibility, control and automation of your mission-critical applications. It helps pinpoint the root cause of application's issue more quickly and resolve the problem. The integrated capabilities cover the five key areas: discovery, end-use experience, transaction tracking, enterprise diagnostics and analytics. It also easily monitors applications to ensure optimal performance to extend your hybrid management environment capabilities, to measure the customer experience from multiple locations and to further eliminate blind spots in your application environment.
IBM

SolarWinds® Pingdom® is a powerful and affordable SaaS-based web app performance monitoring solution. It’s one product providing comprehensive web app performance and user experience monitoring consisting of four major capabilities:

1. Uptime monitoring for webpages and other critical components like APIs, CDNs, DNS, networks, email, and more.

2. Page speed performance monitoring and page rankings.

3. Synthetic transaction monitoring from the simplest to the most complex transactions. 

4. Real user monitoring (RUM), enabling a deeper and wider understanding of the user’s digital experience, and web application availability and performance. 

SolarWinds
 

Sample Customers

Mibtree, EatDrinkDeals.com, IT Performance Advisor
Spotify, MailChimp, Slack, Twitter
Buyer's Guide
IBM Application Performance Management vs. SolarWinds Pingdom
April 2025
Free Report: IBM Application Performance Management vs. SolarWinds Pingdom
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We monitor all Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability 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.