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Quest Spotlight vs SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

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

Quest Spotlight
Ranking in Database Development and Management
6th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Database Perform...
Ranking in Database Development and Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of Quest Spotlight is 6.9%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is 10.0%, up from 8.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Development and Management
 

Featured Reviews

Seha R - PeerSpot reviewer
Good tool for the design and development of public APIs
The software does not support webhooks. It doesn't support advanced versions of APIs. The tool also doesn't support advanced versions of specifications. The change that we do in one part of the model is not reflected throughout the specification. There are also some mutations in the clones. I am not able to do a local source control with the product as well.
Fausto Espinosa - PeerSpot reviewer
Powerful monitoring solution with good technical support
I don't remember the exact version of the SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer I'm using, but it's the most recent. Four operators and three administrators currently use the solution in my company, but only administrators see everything, while the rest only see the dashboard. The advice I would give to others who want to implement SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is that support is needed to successfully implement the solution. I would rate SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer nine out of ten. My company is a customer of SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Its dashboards are most valuable. The drill-down of the dashboards is useful."
"Spotlight provides valuable features such as the ability to get alerted and drill down to a very granular level to find out where actual problems are coming from."
"I consider the solution very scalable."
"The tool is a SaaS product where I just need to type a URL and start with the design process. I can integrate all elements of source control like GitHub, GitLab, etc. The tool also supports authentication-related provisions like SSH."
"Spotlight provides valuable features such as the ability to get alerted and drill down to a very granular level to find out where actual problems are coming from."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the support for older databases and the ability to manage them in a centralized dashboard."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer's most valuable features include the notification of consuming the SQL queries, collecting data, and notifying about managing space and tables."
"What I like most about SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is that it's a powerful solution that lets me advise customers about performance, and it also gives a lot of supporting information."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer can help us identify issues we cannot see manually."
"In IT, problems often occur in areas such as applications, web interfaces, or databases. The tool allows users to easily determine the root cause of these issues, whether they stem from the network layer, database layer, or elsewhere."
"The platform solves and prevents delays in receiving answers from databases."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer helped us locate the performance issues quickly."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
 

Cons

"One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer."
"There's no reporting with this tool, and there really should be. They should add that into future releases."
"Some customizations of the dashboard, such as having backup reports, would be useful."
"The software does not support webhooks. It doesn't support advanced versions of APIs. The tool also doesn't support advanced versions of specifications. The change that we do in one part of the model is not reflected throughout the specification. There are also some mutations in the clones. I am not able to do a local source control with the product as well."
"One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should provide customization options allowing users to add different columns."
"One area where the tool could improve is by adding support for additional databases. For instance, supporting newer databases like Couchbase or MongoDB would be beneficial."
"It is capable, but I don't believe it has the right value matrix. It also depends on the budget of the company."
"Technical support for this solution needs to be improved."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should include more details on how everything works."
"The solution should add little details on the server so that an independent team could easily do the implementation."
"The areas where it currently lags are in reporting and dashboarding. The reports and dashboards are somewhat static, and we cannot create custom dashboards for specific customer needs."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should be easy to implement and it should have more facilities to make it better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its cost was somewhere in the middle."
"The tool is cloud-based. It is priced well."
"I don't remember the exact licensing cost for SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer, but it's within the range of $2,000 to $3,000 a year."
"The pricing of the solution is average."
"The pricing is fairly reasonable, and it becomes more cost-effective with larger volumes of instances."
"There are no extra costs for maintenance or using the solution's support."
"It could be less expensive."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is a little bit expensive."
"Customers need to pay for the subscription-based license annually."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Healthcare Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Healthcare Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Quest Spotlight?
The tool is a SaaS product where I just need to type a URL and start with the design process. I can integrate all elements of source control like GitHub, GitLab, etc. The tool also supports authent...
What needs improvement with Quest Spotlight?
One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer.
What is your primary use case for Quest Spotlight?
I primarily use Spotlight for on-the-spot troubleshooting and alerting to see if there are any issues. The drill-down features allow me to pinpoint problems, whether they are indexing, long-running...
What do you like most about SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
In IT, problems often occur in areas such as applications, web interfaces, or databases. The tool allows users to easily determine the root cause of these issues, whether they stem from the network...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
One area where the tool could improve is by adding support for additional databases. For instance, supporting newer databases like Couchbase or MongoDB would be beneficial.
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
We use SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer for performance monitoring, tuning, and troubleshooting performance issues. It's mainly related to performance and the database community. Database a...
 

Also Known As

Dell Spotlight
Confio, SolarWinds DPA, Ignite8
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Jenkon
GSI Commerce, Liquid Digital Media, ProLogis, Indiana University
Find out what your peers are saying about Quest Spotlight vs. SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.