SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs Zabbix comparison

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

Zabbix and SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor are robust monitoring tools used by businesses to oversee their IT infrastructure. SolarWinds often garners higher marks for feature-richness and ease of deployment, though Zabbix still has strong user support for its pricing and customization options.

Features: Zabbix is known for its deep customizations, scalability, and the ability to monitor a diverse range of devices. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor stands out for its comprehensive out-of-the-box capabilities, detailed insights, and advanced alerting options.

Room for Improvement: Zabbix users often mention that the initial setup can be challenging, and the learning curve is steep. Enhancements in documentation and more intuitive initial configurations are frequently suggested. SolarWinds users commonly point out the need for better licensing models, more cost-effective pricing tiers, and optimized system resource utilization.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is frequently highlighted for its straightforward deployment process, which includes detailed guides and responsive customer support. Zabbix is generally reported to have a more complex setup process. Customer service experiences vary, with SolarWinds receiving more positive feedback for support responsiveness.

Pricing and ROI: Zabbix, being open-source, offers substantial cost savings, which is a significant advantage for budget-conscious users. Despite this, the return on investment is perceived to be slower due to the time needed for configuration and optimization. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor users often view the higher price point as justified by the robust features and efficient performance, leading to quicker ROI for enterprises willing to invest in its comprehensive capabilities.

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

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. Zabbix

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

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

22nd

Ranking in Server Monitoring

8th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Active Directory Management (9th)

Zabbix

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

9th

Ranking in Server Monitoring

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

108

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (1st), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (1st), Cloud Monitoring Software (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.3%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zabbix is 2.3%, down from 3.0% 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 (%)
Zabbix	2.3%
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor	1.3%
Other	96.4%

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

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.

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KamranBhatti

Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

Helps reduce response time but has room to improve customization complexity

We are not working on simple standalone solutions like Kaspersky DDoS Protection or Hybrid Cloud Security. Once you understand Zabbix, then it is easy to customize those web pages and graphs for our customer use. It is fully automated to your requirements. Zabbix is working fine with no issues, and I am satisfied with it. We have combined Zabbix and SolarWinds. The integration works fine, and it is easy to integrate Zabbix with the IT environment. We were trying to purchase MDR (Managed Detection and Response), but we are not working on that. I don't have real experience with MDR. We are using Falcon software for that. We are working with Falcon Complete, not with Sandbox. We are not using Kaspersky for business or cloud protection. For that, we are using Zabbix CrowdStrike Falcon Complete solution. I have given this review an overall rating of 8.

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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

"I am impressed with the tool's AppStack feature which mainly helps us in the identification process. This feature can give an overview of the fault and help us identify the issues for performance degradation. Instead of looking at multiple places, we can look at a single place to identify the issues."

"The initial setup was relatively easy, and we didn't have to install anything. All we had to do was put on the devices we wanted to monitor."

"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."

"SolarWinds SAM has provided us with dynamic thresholds based on historical trends and requirements. The threshold gets configured automatically, so it's no longer necessary to configure it manually every time."

"Hardware health: It allows for proactive monitoring of the hardware health and is a game changer."

"I'd rate technical support at eight out of ten. They are helpful and fast."

"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 is a very stable platform compared to others on the market."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

"The flexible licensing model is one of the solution's most valuable aspects. It really allows for great flexibility for companies."

"Dashboard and the customization of the items and triggers are the most valuable features."

"The template system in Zabbix is very beneficial as it saves time in configuration."

"Templates are good. We download them from the official Zabbix site or the community. If the information we need isn't available, we create custom templates based on client requirements."

"Zabbix is quite stable once it is set up. We haven't had any post-setup issues."

"The solution allows you to configure and customize how you want to collect information from servers or other systems."

"The integration with third-party tools and the alerts are most valuable."

"I'm supervising all the IT departments, and Zabbix seems quite good for them. It provides graphics and information in real time. We get alerts about crashes on the system, enabling us to quickly repair issues. We can easily find devices with problems."

More Zabbix pros

Cons

"The technical support team's response time could be improved."

"SAM's software-defined network monitoring capability is also low and could be improved."

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

"Solarwinds should come up the same monitoring system for other certificate expiration alert apart from SSL."

"SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could improve by having a cloud version. They have an observability platform but it still needs to be maintained by us."

"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."

"Nodes in Azure are able to be monitored with the use of agents, but this does not apply to cloud service offerings that are not node based."

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

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

"Documentation terminology could be improved."

"There are some features of Zabbix that are not good for reporting. The DX Spectrum solution has better reporting."

"Zabbix isn't a great tool for cloud-specific monitoring - its connection to public clouds needs to be improved. Other areas for improvement would be the lack of dashboards and integrations."

"The product delivers false positives during reporting because of flapping. Other reasonably priced alternatives may have better performance."

"I would like to remotely connect to the computer, and Zabbix doesn't have this capability."

"The product could be more secure and more stable."

"The solution needs to add remote features."

"If you want to use all of the features then you have to pay a licensing fee."

More Zabbix cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive."

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

"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."

"We are on an annual license to use the solution. The price of the solution is expensive. The price is based on a bunch of factors, such as the number of engines and elements."

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

"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 like the pricing for this SolarWinds product."

"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

"My manager is very happy because it doesn't cost anything."

"I use the tool's free version."

"It is worth every cent to pay or even study to do your own installation."

"Zabbix is a free solution but the support contact costs money."

"There is no license but we need to pay for support."

"We’re using the free version, which covers all our current needs."

"It is reasonable."

"Zabbix and Grafana are both open source products, we only needed to go to their website and download the application and we began to use them. The solutions are free."

More Zabbix pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability solutions are best for your needs.

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881,565 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user174738

IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

May 31, 2015

Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor

I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

11%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	56
Midsize Enterprise	23
Large Enterprise	34

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

Identifying the problem statement is easy.

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.

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 ...

What do you like most about Zabbix?

The template system in Zabbix is very beneficial as it saves time in configuration.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zabbix?

I think Zabbix is economical, whereas SolarWinds is expensive. SolarWinds has a lot of secure features, but Zabbix is providing everything free of cost. Zabbix is economical, and you can install it...

What needs improvement with Zabbix?

The potential and customization is a little difficult because you have to learn scripts. I think Zabbix needs to improve the customization better. At present, I am satisfied with the functionality ...

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Product Reports

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

January 2026

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

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January 2026

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

Zabbix is an open-source monitoring software that provides real-time monitoring and alerting for servers, networks, applications, and services.

It offers a wide range of features including data collection, visualization, and reporting.

With its user-friendly interface and customizable dashboards, Zabbix helps organizations ensure the availability and performance of their IT infrastructure.

Sample Customers

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

1. IBM 2. Dell 3. Cisco 4. HP 5. Oracle 6. Microsoft 7. Amazon 8. Google 9. Facebook 10. Twitter 11. LinkedIn 12. Netflix 13. Adobe 14. VMware 15. Salesforce 16. SAP 17. Intel 18. AT&T 19. Verizon 20. T-Mobile 21. Vodafone 22. Ericsson 23. Nokia 24. Siemens 25. General Electric 26. Honeywell 27. Philips 28. Sony 29. Samsung 30. LG 31. Panasonic 32. Toshiba