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Datadog vs SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

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

Datadog
Ranking in Log Management
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
211
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (1st), Network Monitoring Software (3rd), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (2nd), Container Monitoring (3rd), Cloud Monitoring Software (1st), AIOps (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (5th), AI Observability (1st)
SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Ranking in Log Management
27th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Datadog is 3.9%, down from 6.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server is 1.2%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Datadog3.9%
SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server1.2%
Other94.9%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Dhroov Patel - PeerSpot reviewer
Site Reliability Engineer at Grainger
Has improved incident response with better root cause visibility and supports flexible on-call scheduling
Datadog needs to introduce more hard limits to cost. If we see a huge log spike, administrators should have more control over what happens to save costs. If a service starts logging extensively, I want the ability to automatically direct that log into the cheapest log bucket. This should be the case with many offerings. If we're seeing too much APM, we need to be aware of it and able to stop it rather than having administrators reach out to specific teams. Datadog has become significantly slower over the last year. They could improve performance at the risk of slowing down feature work. More resources need to go into Fleet Automation because we face many problems with things such as the Ansible role to install Datadog in non-containerized hosts. We mainly want to see performance improvements, less time spent looking at costs, the ability to trust that costs will stay reasonable, and an easier way to manage our agents. It is such a powerful tool with much potential on the horizon, but cost control, performance, and agent management need improvement. The main issues are with the administrative side rather than the actual application.
SJ
Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Valuable log segregation aids in auditing, but Windows integration needs enhancement
Our primary use case for Kiwi Syslog is for gathering logs necessary for auditing purposes I appreciate that with Kiwi Syslog, we can segregate the logs based on the display, such as using different colors and fonts, which helps greatly in identifying logs by their severity. This feature is…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the solution's greatest aspects is its overall simplicity; it is very easy to use and easier to handle than other brands we have access to."
"Datadog's ability to group and visualize the servers and the data makes it relatively easy for the root cause analysis."
"Even if we don't end up using Datadog, it revealed problems and optimizations to us that weren't obvious before."
"Metric graphing and Dashboards are the most valuable features because they give us good observability into our system and work well to alert us when interesting things happen."
"Datadog has proven to be easy to set up and legible for both development and operational teams."
"The UI, basically, is the most valuable aspect of the solution."
"The most valuable features are the dashboards and the reporting."
"The product has created a paradigm shift in how we deploy monitoring."
"The best thing about Kiwi Syslog is that it filters logs into different levels."
"Simplicity is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server is its performance and management. Additionally, the solution integrates well."
"If anyone needs log management, we recommend SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server."
"I appreciate that with Kiwi Syslog, we can segregate the logs based on the display, such as using different colors and fonts, which helps greatly in identifying logs by their severity."
"The most valuable features of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server include its ability to provide network mapping and deliver information to my customers about their networks through various methods."
"Overall, I rate SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server ten out of ten."
"We are very happy with the stability of the solution."
 

Cons

"More helpful log search keywords/tips would be helpful in improving Datadog's log dashboard."
"The ability to find what you are looking for when starting out could be improved."
"To be very fair, I haven't had enough experience with Datadog to pick out improvements."
"They need to implement template variables into the message response body."
"Lacks some flexibility in the customization."
"I found the documentation can sometimes be confusing."
"The hardest thing we experience is just training people on what to search for when identifying a problem in Datadog, and having some additional training that might be easily accessible would probably be a benefit."
"Datadog is too pricey when compared to its competitors, and this is something that its always on my mind during the decision-making process."
"There is a need for an on-premises solution, which could lead to easier sales in larger markets."
"The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly. This is a significant concern, as it led to losing a deal due to the inability to provide Windows logs effectively."
"SolarWinds pricing is perceived as very high in the market, which can be a barrier for many customers."
"I would like to see a more user-friendly and customizable dashboard."
"I would like to see better search functions and better filters in the next release."
"The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly."
"Technical support could definitely be better."
"SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server could improve by reducing the price."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"At my last company, we did see ROI, specifically around response time. We could get to mission critical things that were down and losing revenue on immediately. So, the product paid itself back."
"It costs the same amount it would if we were hosting it ourselves, so we are incredibly happy with the cost."
"Pricing and licensing are reasonable for what they give you. You get the first five hosts free, which is fun to play around with. Then it's about four dollars a month per host, which is very affordable for what you get out of it. We have a lot of hosts that we put a lot of custom metrics into, and every host gives you an allowance for the number of custom metrics."
"Pricing is somewhat affordable compared to other solutions but in order to really lower the costs of other products you need to plan very carefully your resources usage, otherwise, it can get expensive real quick."
"I am not satisfied with its licensing. Its payment is based on the exported data, and there was an explosion of the data for three or four weeks. My customer was not alerted, and there was no way for them to see that there has been an explosion of data. They got a big invoice for one or two months. The pricing model of Datadog is based on the data. The customer was quite surprised about not being alerted about this explosion of data. They should provide some kind of alert when there is an increase in usage."
"The price is better than some competing products."
"It didn't scale well from the cost perspective. We had a custom package deal."
"Pricing seemed easy until the bill came in and some things were not accounted for."
"We subscribe and pay directly on the website."
"The price of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server could improve."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business82
Midsize Enterprise49
Large Enterprise100
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

Any advice about APM solutions?
There are many factors and we know little about your requirements (size of org, technology stack, management systems, the scope of implementation). Our goal was to consolidate APM and infra monitor...
Datadog vs ELK: which one is good in terms of performance, cost and efficiency?
With Datadog, we have near-live visibility across our entire platform. We have seen APM metrics impacted several times lately using the dashboards we have created with Datadog; they are very good c...
Which would you choose - Datadog or Dynatrace?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Datadog or Dynatrace network monitoring software was the better fit for us. We decided to go with Dynatrace. Dynatrace offers network ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
SolarWinds pricing is perceived as very high in the market, which can be a barrier for many customers.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly. This is a significant concern, as it led to losing a deal due to the inability to provide Windows logs effectively. It should be more user-fri...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
Our primary use case for Kiwi Syslog is for gathering logs necessary for auditing purposes.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Kiwi Syslog Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Adobe, Samsung, facebook, HP Cloud Services, Electronic Arts, salesforce, Stanford University, CiTRIX, Chef, zendesk, Hearst Magazines, Spotify, mercardo libre, Slashdot, Ziff Davis, PBS, MLS, The Motley Fool, Politico, Barneby's
Holy Cross Energy, West Texas A&M University, Medium Enterprise Industrial Manufacturing Company
Find out what your peers are saying about Datadog vs. SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.