SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs WhatsUp Gold comparison

SolarWinds and Progress Software are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. SolarWinds is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.3, while Progress Software is ranked #24 with an average rating of 9.5. SolarWinds holds a 1.7% mindshare in APM, compared to Progress Software’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of SolarWinds users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Progress Software users who would recommend it.

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Read 42 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews

3,793 Views
2,566 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

WhatsUp Gold

Read 24 WhatsUp Gold reviews

867 Views
700 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

WhatsUp Gold

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

WhatsUp Gold and SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor are robust network monitoring tools. SolarWinds is superior in feature set, despite WhatsUp Gold having competitive pricing and better support.

Features: WhatsUp Gold is favored for intuitive device discovery, integration capabilities, and straightforward monitoring. SolarWinds has advanced application performance management, deeper network monitoring, and comprehensive analytics, making it the preferred choice for feature richness.

Room for Improvement: WhatsUp Gold could benefit from more advanced reporting, a scalable architecture, and enhanced alerting mechanisms. SolarWinds needs improvement in product stability, better error handling, and optimization of resource usage.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WhatsUp Gold is praised for straightforward and quick deployment with excellent customer service. SolarWinds requires a more complex setup but offers detailed documentation and a knowledgeable support team.

Pricing and ROI: WhatsUp Gold is noted for cost-effectiveness and quicker ROI, making it attractive for budget-conscious buyers. SolarWinds, though more expensive with a slower ROI, is valued for its comprehensive capabilities, justifying the higher cost.

To learn more, read our detailed SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. WhatsUp Gold Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. WhatsUp Gold

April 2025

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Helped 848,396 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

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

16th

Ranking in Server Monitoring

9th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Active Directory Management (12th)

WhatsUp Gold

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

24th

Ranking in Server Monitoring

14th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (26th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (27th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.7%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WhatsUp Gold is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Subhajit Nag

Senior Process Associate at Tata Consultancy Services

The component and cable monitoring features are good, but the interface is slow

SolarWinds' interface is slow, and this is a global concern. Every SolarWinds user complains about the sluggishness. The response is slow. If you browse from one page to another, you have to wait. Our company is a massive user with plenty of licenses, so the performance issues could be due to the load per license. Ten thousand components can be mapped under one license. So SolarWinds needs to take care of the speed problem. It cannot be this slow. That is a huge complaint. Otherwise, the tool is good. 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. The upgrade time matters because you only install the solution once, but you'll need to upgrade the solution repeatedly over the life of the product. A complex installation isn't an issue, but I mind if the upgrade takes too long because it's already in production.

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Tom Condo

Supervisor Information Services Operations at Seminole County Public Schools

If CPU, memory, or disk space is over-utilized, it alerts us immediately via text or email if there is an issue

When it comes to the intuitiveness of the topology mapping feature, our network architect created a vision diagram of our entire network and then created the links tied into the WhatsUp active monitoring to different spots on our topology map. It's one of the more critical functions we do here. We have the map displayed in different places in our room and help desk. We get alerted via emails but we can also see it visually. It does what it says it's going to do. We find this feature very helpful. The interactive mapping interface for scrolling, zooming, and drilling down on an element to learn about a network issue is good. When we see a network there will sometimes be a spot that has one link. You can go into a particular part of the topology map, scroll in, and see exactly which module it is. All the information is provided. This feature really helps. You can see the correlation between that link and what failed. This feature is very helpful. The interface is fairly intuitive. Some of our users used SolarWinds and Nagios, and WhatsUp is easy in comparison. Once you get set up, the look, feel, and configuration are good. Our network architect had never used it before but he was able to create the Visio and map. It was very simple. He has no problems with it.

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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

"It is simple to implement and can provide fairly decent Windows-based monitoring, beyond simple SNMP. It is great for monitoring newbies and smaller shops."

"The features like trends, capacity planning, recommendations, and diagnostics are the main items I focus on for added value."

"There are many valuable features, including the network configuration manager, and the network performance manager."

"The product integrates with Remedy."

"Manage Groups: The capability to group appropriate devices gives better visibility of sites, categories, or critical regions. The same can be used to represent a dashboard for higher management."

"SolarWinds SAM has significantly improved our workflow by allowing us to develop a comprehensive knowledge base of known errors and automate responses to specific alerts."

"I adore the NTA module that provides deep details on ingress/egress traffic for any interface. With a few clicks, you can correlate who is accessing what and when, beside the bandwidth consuming applications/users."

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is its powerful monitoring capabilities."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

"I use it on premises to monitor my network database. We monitor the link up/down and use the SNMP traps as well."

"The product is reasonably priced."

"The documentation is very good."

"The most valuable features are network bandwidth monitoring and monitoring device health."

"NetFlow monitoring, real-time monitoring, and surveys have been the most valuable features for our business."

"The solution effectively monitors network devices and servers."

"The interface in the last few years it has been a lot greater, they are much more user-friendly. I like the interface."

"Our local support team provides excellent service."

More WhatsUp Gold pros

Cons

"An additional feature that would improve this solution is the ability to complete root cause analysis."

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

"SAM AppInsight for SQL: The ability to ignore fragmentation of specific indexes."

"It needs time-based functions for monitoring. Some things need to be polled on a specific schedule or only during a specific window."

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

"One area that could benefit from improvement is its performance"

"Application-based monitoring, such as monitoring within servers like Apache and IIS, has room for improvement."

"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."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

"I think there are a few bugs now. Although they give some resolution for this, we cannot share the network remotely because of our company policy."

"You have to invest a few days to become an expert in this solution."

"The tool should focus on increasing its market share, as it is the only area of concern where improvements are needed."

"Importing the maps and being able to customize them could be easier."

"Adding on services increases the cost and on the version we have there is no option for ATM monitoring."

"The point system is not clear and clarity around this would improve our understanding of the system."

"Users want SMS available via Whatsapp Gold. They don't want to go through third party SMS servers. The solution should work to make this possible."

"The new release cadence needs to be improved. It takes a while for them to add new features and functionality. There should be a quicker turnaround with new versions."

More WhatsUp Gold cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It is just the standard price, but it can vary depending on the current rate of the dollar."

"I would advise potential buyers to wait until the end of the quarter, end of year, or other time to place orders. There are actually great deals to be had at those times if your budget cycle can match up."

"Understanding the counts of objects to monitor will determine the licensing need. In terms of pricing, it’s not cheap but it’s not expensive as larger vendors whose products don’t have all the features or integrations."

"We pay around $ 2,000 to $ 5,000 yearly for the solution."

"I like the pricing for this SolarWinds product."

"The product is expensive."

"The licenses start from USD 3000.00 and go up to USD 20,000.00 for the year. It's a perpetual license. Nothing is free in SolarWinds, anything that you need is an additional cost."

"Nagios XI, WhatsUpGold, Uptime Software, PRTG, Manage Engine, and SpiceWorks are the other tools that have lower pricing and licensing costs. However, they can't compete with SolarWinds when it comes to the features and functionality that SolarWinds can provide."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

"The tool's price is reasonable. WhatsUp Gold is cheaper than SolarWinds."

"There are some subscription charges that are quite heavy. I need to pay for support every year and these charges can be quite expensive. Aside from the initial cost for the tool, you need to pay additionally for support."

"This is a well priced solution."

"The pricing can be on the expensive side when considering competing products."

"There is a license needed to use WhatsUp Gold."

"It is per device, per year. The pricing is very clear. If you have a service agreement, you get all of your major upgrades and minor upgrades. It was under $10,000 to go all-in with all of the different add-ons for it."

"I'm not sure, but it's expensive. We don't pay any additional fees."

"The choice of version depends on the number of points, or devices, that you want to monitor, and this makes the product expensive."

More WhatsUp Gold pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

40%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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 are no specific features or functionality I would like to see improved or enhanced in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor at this time. I have not encountered any missing features or fu...

See all answers

What do you like most about WhatsUp Gold?

The interactive mapping interface for scrolling, zooming, and drilling down on an element to learn about a network issue is good. When we see a network there will sometimes be a spot that has one l...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WhatsUp Gold?

Clients find the licensing calculator confusing, but we simplify this for them by collecting relevant information first. The licensing is based on devices, providing better cost-effectiveness than ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with WhatsUp Gold?

Improvements are needed in integration, especially for WhatsApp call and messages. Our region heavily uses WhatsApp Messenger for communication, and integration with this platform would be benefici...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Splunk AppDynamics vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 12% of the time

Prometheus Group vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 8% of the time

Zabbix vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 5% of the time

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Grafana vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 13% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 9% of the time

Zabbix vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 9% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 8% of the time

Nagios XI vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 6% of the time

More WhatsUp Gold Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

March 2025

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

Buyer's Guide

WhatsUp Gold

March 2025

Download WhatsUp Gold product report

Also Known As

SolarWinds SAM

No data available

Overview

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

Explore and manage your entire network infrastructure effortlessly with WhatsUp Gold's robust layer 2/3 discovery, creating a detailed interactive map from the edge to the cloud. Monitor devices, wireless controllers, servers, virtual machines, applications, and traffic flows across various environments. Real-time alerts ensure optimal performance, allowing you to meet or exceed SLAs. The platform offers customizable maps, dashboards, and alerts for easy network management. Quickly resolve issues with intuitive workflows, reducing Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR). WhatsUp Gold's integrated log management provides easy visibility and control of device log data, allowing monitoring, filtering, searching, and alerting on syslogs or Windows logs. Archive logs to comply with regulatory requirements and preserve historical data, all through a user-friendly interface. Streamline network monitoring and issue resolution with WhatsUp Gold, making network management efficient and hassle-free.

Progress Software

Sample Customers

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

Artoni Trasporti, Austin Independent School District, Banca Marche, Burke County North Carolina, Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine, Clayco, Community Integrated Care, Desca, Deutsche Bergbau, Flexi-Van, Gropper, Hamleys, Hammonds Furniture, Knowledge IT, Idras S.P.A., Sibeg, Swann Engineering, Trivium Lindenhof

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. WhatsUp Gold

April 2025

Free Report: SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. WhatsUp Gold

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