Instana Dynamic APM vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

Instana and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Instana is ranked #31 with an average rating of 8.0, while SolarWinds is ranked #22 with an average rating of 7.6. Instana holds a 1.1% mindshare in APM, compared to SolarWinds’s 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 84% of Instana users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Instana Dynamic APM

Read 14 Instana Dynamic APM reviews

2,067 Views
2,005 Comparison Views

84% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Read 44 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews

4,410 Views
2,778 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Instana Dynamic APM

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and Instana Dynamic APM are leading application performance monitoring tools. Instana Dynamic APM generally has the upper hand due to its advanced features and ease of use, despite its higher cost, compared to SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor's attractive pricing and robust customer support.

Features: SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is valued for comprehensive monitoring capabilities, hardware health monitoring, and application availability. Instana Dynamic APM is praised for advanced AI-driven alerts, real-time data collection, and dynamic tracking of microservices.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could improve in reporting capabilities, dashboard visualization, and enhanced analytics. Instana Dynamic APM users see room for improvement in documentation, cost of ownership, and user interface complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is known for straightforward deployment and strong customer support. Instana Dynamic APM, while easy to deploy, has more complex initial configurations but offers excellent ongoing customer service.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is noted for its cost-effectiveness and solid ROI. Instana Dynamic APM is perceived as expensive but delivers significant returns due to its advanced features.

To learn more, read our detailed Instana Dynamic APM vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Instana Dynamic APM vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

February 2026

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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

Instana Dynamic APM

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

31st

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

22nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (8th), Active Directory Management (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Instana Dynamic APM is 1.1%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.3%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor	1.3%
Instana Dynamic APM	1.1%
Other	97.6%

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Jawwad Hassan

IT Consultant at Arcana Info

A really good GUI that is easy for non-technical users to understand

Our company uses the solution for one of our bank clients. We use App Connect middleware to monitor services and applications such as Docker, Kubernetes, MongoDB, and MS SQL Server. We also monitor the bottleneck for all servers. We currently have 20 users at one of our branches. We plan to expand…

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NikhilKalwint

Technical Specialist at ServiceIO

Monitoring over a thousand systems has improved decision making and operational visibility

From an advantage perspective, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is comparatively cheaper from a commercial point of view. It is easy to install and configure, very user-friendly, and quick to get up and running, allowing you to see the early value adds in your organization. It is compatible with most technologies for monitoring with very few chances of incompatibility. Configuration also allows us to monitor all the technical parameters we are looking for, making it a very good experience for us. The alerting feature in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is a main advantage, as it alerts based on threshold breaches and can raise tickets to the ticketing system, send SMS, and email notifications, allowing engineers to work on those tickets to resolve issues and avoid further impact. The visibility into server health is a beneficial feature that I am utilizing. We widely use various application performance metrics in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor such as database monitoring and server monitoring, which are quite good enough for any monitoring solution. We utilize the customizable dashboards in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor.

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

"It is a stable solution."

"The most valuable feature of Instana Dynamic APM is auto-instrumentation."

"We can easily perform root cause analysis using the tool."

"With Instana, the interface and the UI are very simple to use."

"The platform’s most valuable feature is the ability to monitor the performance of containers for request and response analysis."

"Visually, it's very good. It provides everything needed for dynamic detection, which is very useful."

"With auto-discovery, we didn't need to consider much. We just installed the agent on the host and it was able to detect everything from the host level up to the service level, for whatever stack was installed, and that includes containers and dockers."

"The detailing of our application behavior and user experience is most valuable. In case there is an issue, we typically use Instana to figure it out. We can drill down to the application and figure out what's going on and where the issue is."

More Instana Dynamic APM pros

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is the network devices' performance monitor is the best."

"We use the solution as a central monitoring tool. We use it to monitor every transaction that has a relation to the organization’s infrastructure."

"The product integrates with Remedy."

"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."

"SSL Certificate Monitoring and Expiry Alerting"

"The graphical interfaces, GUI customizations, and alert configurations are impressive."

"Solarwinds has an open database that allows you to do serious integrations. It doesn't matter which service desk you have, you can implement and integrate it with SolarWinds."

"The solution has good alerts. Notifications are sent via email to technicians. You can filter the kinds of alerts you want to receive as well. It's excellent."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

Cons

"The solution's monitoring is pretty weak and should be improved."

"The App Connect middleware does not integrate with or show corresponding sub nodes."

"New Relic has a better UI in terms of how it presents the data."

"The integration could be improved with more plugins or open API."

"They could improve the product’s dashboards and provide more dashboard options."

"Many managers, as well as our customers, used to ask for reports, such as "top X number of queries that are slow," or "top pages that have the highest number of issues." This is something that can be improved by Instana. Currently, they don't have that kind of reporting available out-of-the-box."

"Sometimes, the issue arises from user changes, such as adjusting firewall settings without proper consideration, leading to compatibility issues within the network monitoring."

"We should be able to go back to scenarios during or before the issue. There should be something like a history playback. Such a feature or functionality would be good."

More Instana Dynamic APM cons

"I would like to see support for non-Windows or non-Microsoft domains, especially Apache and other non-Windows servers."

"The templates could use improvement. Currently, they are quite complex. They should have drag-and-drop functionality instead. It would make it easier to use."

"Currently SolarWinds SAM offers AppInsight for modern versions of: IIS, Exchange, SQL Server. They have shown to be powerful and insightful tools. However, AppInsight needs to be offered for more applications: Citrix, SharePoint, AX, etc."

"Some custom applications cannot be monitored, and a lot more applications need to be included."

"The setup was complex. We had local support to assist us."

"Mapping interactions between systems."

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

"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."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Instana Dynamic APM is more affordable for small and medium-sized companies compared to other vendors."

"The solution's pricing is comparable to other products."

"The solution is less expensive than one of its competitors."

"Pricing is quite competitive. Dynatrace, AppDynamics, and New Relic were all several times more expensive than Instana, both the on-prem and the SaaS versions. Price-wise they are a lot more competitive than anyone else out there."

"Its pricing isn't a big pain point. Its pricing seems to be better than some of the other competing products in the market, but they also have some of the features and functionalities that are better than Instana."

"The pricing is $1,200 per year which is a bit high compared to other vendors."

"It's reasonably priced and manageable, especially for individuals who grasp the significance of application monitoring."

"Price can always be lower. It is neither on the expensive side nor on the cheap side. We have worked with them for a lot of years, so we get a discount due to the size of the installation."

"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."

"Pricing is inexpensive, starting at 2440 euros. For that, you get the ability to monitor a couple of nodes and one year of maintenance and support."

"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."

"The solution is overpriced in terms of application management."

"When compared to other licensed models in the market, it stands out as one of the more cost-effective options."

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

"The solution's price is reasonable. Though it's on the higher side, the tool is worth the money."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

25%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

Retailer

Educational Organization

11%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	21

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Instana Dynamic APM?

The platform’s most valuable feature is the ability to monitor the performance of containers for request and response analysis.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Instana Dynamic APM?

I rate the pricing a seven out of ten. There are no additional costs associated with the product.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Instana Dynamic APM?

Sometimes, the issue arises from user changes, such as adjusting firewall settings without proper consideration, leading to compatibility issues within the network monitoring.

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 initial cost is quite high, but the renewal cost is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

There is definitely room for improvement besides simplifying its setup. As a non-technical person, I believe the dashboards could be improved. Everything we use appears on video walls, and we need ...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 26% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

New Relic vs Instana Dynamic APM

Compared 7% of the time

Broadcom DX Application Performance Management vs Instana Dynamic APM

Compared 5% of the time

Datadog vs Instana Dynamic APM

Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

Dynatrace vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 9% of the time

Splunk AppDynamics vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 6% of the time

Icinga vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 5% of the time

Prometheus-AI Platform vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Instana Dynamic APM

January 2026

Download Instana Dynamic APM product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

January 2026

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

Also Known As

No data available

SolarWinds SAM

Overview

Instana’s Enterprise Observability Platform, powered by automated Application Performance Monitoring, discovers and maps all services, infrastructure, and their inter-dependencies automatically. Instana ingests all observability metrics, traces each request, profiles every process, and updates application dependency maps in real-time to deliver the context and actionable feedback needed by Dev+Ops to optimize application performance, enable innovation, and mitigate risk to help them add value and efficiency to the pipeline. Learn more at https://instana.com.

Instana

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.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Daxko Lifts Fitness Studios Through COVID Regulations with Quick Engineering PivotsAltissia Meets SLAs to Support Student DeadlinesImmocloud Unlocks Observability to Modernize Real EstateEnento Group Boosts Service Reliability with Real-Time Visibility into Application Performance Instana’s Observability for Amazon EKS Helps Yara Deliver Digital Farming Solutions

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

Buyer's Guide

Instana Dynamic APM vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

February 2026

Free Report: Instana Dynamic APM vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Find out what your peers are saying about Instana Dynamic APM vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.

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