Elastic Observability vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

Elastic and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Elastic is ranked #11 with an average rating of 9.0, while SolarWinds is ranked #17 with an average rating of 8.0. Elastic holds a 1.8% mindshare in APM, compared to SolarWinds’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Elastic users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Elastic Observability

Read 29 Elastic Observability reviews

10,718 Views
7,395 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Read 44 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews

6,822 Views
3,957 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Elastic Observability

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and Elastic Observability compete in IT infrastructure monitoring. SolarWinds leads in pricing and support, while Elastic Observability excels in features.

Features: SolarWinds offers comprehensive server monitoring, application performance optimization, and detailed metrics with alerts. Elastic Observability provides advanced analytics, real-time data processing, and enhanced event monitoring. Elastic focuses more on real-time data insights, advantageous in dynamic environments.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds could enhance its analytics and real-time capabilities. Elastic Observability might improve its installation simplicity and reduce the technical expertise required for setup. SolarWinds could benefit from strengthening its deep data processing. Elastic may enhance support responsiveness and user interface clarity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds is recognized for a straightforward installation process and responsive customer service. Elastic Observability, while requiring more complex initial setup, benefits from a robust support network. SolarWinds gains from quick deployment, whereas Elastic’s complexity affords more advanced configurations.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds provides competitive pricing and quick ROI in environments prioritizing immediate comprehensive monitoring. Elastic Observability comes with higher setup costs, justified by extensive features, offering long-term value through scalability and analytics. There's a trade-off between cost efficiency in SolarWinds and enhanced functionality in Elastic.

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

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

June 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

Elastic Observability

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (15th), Log Management (16th), Container Monitoring (6th), Cloud Monitoring Software (11th)

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

17th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (7th), Active Directory Management (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Elastic Observability is 1.8%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.1%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Elastic Observability	1.8%
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor	1.1%
Other	97.1%

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Mohammed-Abdelalim

Assistant Vice President at QualityKiosk Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Has provided powerful customization for unique monitoring needs but needs more out-of-the-box capabilities

In my opinion, the best features of Elastic Observability are their flexibility to integrate with other existing systems and the ability to build a unified monitoring tool that can integrate with existing ones and end-to-end user journeys which require a lot of customizations. The greatest feature in Elastic is the ability to customize. This is similar to my comments about customizable dashboards in Elastic because it's visible to the analyst. However, it's very great. Customizing these dashboards can meet the customer's specific use cases and specific stories that they have in their environment, their special environment that doesn't look like other environments. The dashboarding in Elastic is highly customizable to the level of logos. If the customer wants his company logo in the dashboard, it can be done.

Read full review

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

"Its diverse set of features available on the cloud is of significant importance."

"We can view and connect different sources to the dashboard using it."

"Elastic APM has plenty of features, such as the Elastic server for Kibana and many additional plugins. It's a comprehensive tool when used as a logging platform."

"The solution is open-source and helps with back-end logging. It is also easy to handle."

"I found Elk to be excellent for log analytics, security analytics, application code-level analytics, collaboration with DevOps teams, CI/CD, microservices, and Kubernetes, specifically cloud-native or cloud-specific tasks."

"I have built a mini business intelligence system based on Elastic Observability."

"The most valuable feature of Elastic Observability is the text search."

"For full stack observability, Elastic is the best tool compared with any other tool like New Relic or AppDynamics or Dynatrace."

More Elastic Observability pros

"The most valuable feature is application monitoring."

"SolarWinds fit the bill because it gave many possibilities in monitoring with a good amount of out of the box capabilities."

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

"As I mentioned in one of the other points: "Simplicity at its best"."

"SolarWinds is one of the best products on the market and if they eventually support the IBM Mainframe then it will be perfect."

"Monitoring the components on your devices with out of the box monitors or the ability to create new ones (SAM)"

"AppInsight for SQL: Enables us to see the relevant error log entries on the same page as performance parameters."

"This product can monitor application environments no matter where they reside and provides capabilities for deep insight into infrastructure."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

Cons

"Elastic APM's visualization is not that great compared to other tools. It's number of metrics is very low."

"Improving code insight related to infrastructure and network, particularly focusing on aspects such as firewalls, switches, routers, and testing would be beneficial."

"Elastic Observability needs to have better standardization, logging, and schema."

"Elastic Observability’s price could be improved."

"When opening tickets, we cannot use our team mailbox."

"One example is the inability to monitor very old databases with the newest version."

"The price is the only issue in the solution. It can be made better and cheaper."

"Elastic Observability is difficult to use. There are only three options for customization but this can be difficult for our use case. We do not have other options to choose the metrics shown, such as CPU or memory usage."

More Elastic Observability cons

"A lot of times, we have to do a lot of manual cleanups."

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

"As per my view, Solarwinds should come up the same monitoring system for other certificate expiration alert apart from SSL."

"One product area that could benefit from improvement is the synchronization of licensing periods across different modules"

"The product needs to reduce its price."

"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."

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

"There is one feature that is a report writer. And they are currently trying to take it out from being a stand-alone application and integrating to the web. This doesn't give us the flexibility and it doesn't expand what we can get when it comes to reporting. So, putting it on the web is going to make it difficult to get some information. Leaving it where it is now will help us a lot."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Since we are a huge company, Elastic Observability is an affordable solution for us."

"The product is not that cheap."

"We will buy a premium license after POC."

"The price of Elastic Observability is expensive."

"The product’s pricing needs improvement."

"Users have to pay for some features, like the alerts on different channels, because they are unavailable in different source versions."

"One needs to pay for the licenses, and it is an annual subscription model right now."

"We have been using the open-source version."

More Elastic Observability pricing and cost advice

"The price is too high."

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

"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."

"The product is expensive."

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

13%

University

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	16

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

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Elastic Observability?

The problem is their licensing model, which is a bit confusing. Many customers struggle to understand their total cost of ownership because Elastic licensing is not dependent on easy, quantifiable ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Elastic Observability?

After careful consideration about areas for improvement in Elastic Observability, aspects such as pricing, customization, implementation, and scalability could be improved. As a user of the system,...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Elastic Observability?

My use case for Elastic Observability is observability, as we upload our customers' data, including logs, and when there is an issue, we can analyze what went wrong.

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

What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

I am doing research as we currently have both solutions, and I am looking to see if we need both or can manage with one. Currently, the outcome indicates that we need both. The focus point is diffe...

See all answers

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Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability

June 2026

Download Elastic Observability product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

May 2026

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

Also Known As

No data available

SolarWinds SAM

Overview

Elastic Observability offers a comprehensive suite for log analytics, application performance monitoring, and machine learning. It integrates seamlessly with platforms like Teams and Slack, enhancing data visualization and scalability for real-time insights.

Elastic Observability is designed to support production environments with features like logging, data collection, and infrastructure tracking. Centralized logging and powerful search functionalities make incident response and performance tracking efficient. Elastic APM and Kibana facilitate detailed data visualization, promoting rapid troubleshooting and effective system performance analysis. Integrated services and extensive connectivity options enhance its role in business and technical decision-making by providing actionable data insights.

What are the most important features of Elastic Observability?

Centralized Logging: Streamlines the collection, analysis, and storage of log data.
Powerful Search: Provides robust search capabilities for quick access to relevant information.
Scalability: Supports growing data needs across diverse environments.
Real-time Telemetry: Ensures up-to-date insights and monitoring.
Platform Integration: Seamlessly connects with services like Teams and Slack.
Data Visualization: Enhances visibility with Elastic APM and Kibana.

What benefits and ROI should users explore in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Offers significant savings through efficient data management.
Rapid Incident Response: Minimizes downtime with quick troubleshooting tools.
Comprehensive Insights: Supports better business decisions with detailed data analysis.
Performance Tracking: Enables assessment of system effectiveness and improvements.

Elastic Observability is employed across industries for critical operations, such as in finance for transaction monitoring, in healthcare for secure data management, and in technology for optimizing application performance. Its data-driven approach aids efficient event tracing, supporting diverse industry requirements.

Elastic

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provides comprehensive server, application, and infrastructure monitoring, focusing on integration, application dependency, and network insights through user-friendly interfaces and detailed dashboards.

With AppStack and AppInsight support, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor offers service management, detailed resource dashboards, and integration capabilities. It monitors hardware metrics and performance parameters, facilitating database and network insights for cloud and virtual environments. Robust alerting, predictive analytics, and capacity planning ensure efficient management of server health and application performance.

What are the key features?

Integration: Seamlessly connects with existing tools.
AppStack: Provides a holistic view of applications.
AppInsight: Supports widely-used applications.
SNMP Polling: Efficient network data collection.
Diagnostics: Real-time troubleshooting.
Customizable Dashboards: Tailored monitoring views.

What benefits should users expect?

Comprehensive Monitoring: Extends from servers to databases.
Transparent Control: Enhances visibility into performance metrics.
User-Friendly: Simplifies proactive monitoring with alerts.
Predictive Features: Supports capacity and trend planning.

Industries implement SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor to enhance server utilization reporting, network configuration, and AV equipment performance tracking. They benefit from monitoring critical services across diverse deployment models, improving management efficiency and decision-making.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

PSCU, Entel, VITAS, Mimecast, Barrett Steel, Butterfield Bank

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

June 2026

Free Report: Elastic Observability vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

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