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HeadSpin vs Splunk AppDynamics comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 17, 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

HeadSpin
Ranking in Mobile APM
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Functional Testing Tools (33rd), Mobile App Testing Tools (8th)
Splunk AppDynamics
Ranking in Mobile APM
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
253
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (3rd), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (6th), IT Operations Analytics (2nd), Container Monitoring (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Mobile APM category, the mindshare of HeadSpin is 0.8%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk AppDynamics is 27.2%, up from 25.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile APM Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Splunk AppDynamics27.2%
HeadSpin0.8%
Other72.0%
Mobile APM
 

Featured Reviews

Saorabh Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
It fulfills everything from automation to manual performance
The most valuable features of the product are the performance parameters it gives us, as well as the seamless connectivity with our automation suites. I am also pleased with the continuous enhancements made to HeadSpin. There have been many features added since we started using the product, and all of them are useful.
Gyanesh Rahatekar - PeerSpot reviewer
Application performance management and error resolution improved with data-driven insights
Dynatrace has multiple functions compared to Splunk AppDynamics, so Splunk AppDynamics should add those functions, which are not available as of now. Dynatrace has a universal agent that collects all information related to their CI, and if one CI has multiple languages, then there is no need to instrument multiple agents. However, Splunk AppDynamics requires multiple agents; if I have one server with multiple applications in different languages, then I need to instrument different agents for each application. Splunk AppDynamics should work with Dynatrace with one single universal agent that works with all application languages, eliminating the need for multiple implementations.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The technical support is really helpful because we can set up direct calls with them if we want to. We can use Zoom or Google Meet to interact with them directly, and if there is an issue in our system, they will help us by reproducing the issue in their machines and trying to figure out a solution. The support is really smooth, and we like that they're very supportive."
"The most valuable feature of HeadSpin it's the integration with other solutions. It is great. I can search for an element or do a quick debugging on the application right on HeadSpin. It's very useful."
"It has an interesting feature called AV box testing. A lot of companies that are in the OTT segment don't really understand what their streaming is like. They can't test for streaming quality. There are restrictions where you cannot simulate live streaming. For example, on Netflix, you can't simulate how a movie is being streamed on a remote device. That's why HeadSpin has got this AV box testing feature. It is a patented feature. They send an AV box to your location, and you can test live streaming, which is something that no other company does."
"The initial setup of HeadSpin was very easy and user-friendly. It was easy to configure and write a script."
"The most valuable features of the product are the performance parameters it gives us."
"The most valuable feature is that this is the first connected intelligence all-in-one platform."
"The most valuable feature of AppDynamics is its ability to track the transactions between different applications."
"The ability to identify the top running queries has been extremely valuable for us."
"AppDynamics Database Monitoring provides a single view of the problem and helps identify the guilty database query, which is unique compared to other solutions."
"Autodiscovery of application topology, based on real user traffic."
"This solution not only provides answers but also provides sensor data. This allows us to quickly resolve issues that developers may take a long time to solve."
"It's made it easier to collaborate across teams; be able to have the same data immediately in front of you just by sharing a URL."
"I like how the AppDynamics dashboard portrays the information flows. When a task is executed, various flows between different applications and databases happen in the background. The dashboard is intuitive and helps visualize the connections, the directions of the flow, and the information related to these specific sessions."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to take a report, and in particular, a visual, and link it to actual application performance and then the consequences. This means you can show how an incident or action has an effect on the business."
 

Cons

"Sometimes, devices go offline and some features are not functioning on some devices, specifically on iOS."
"Support and pricing could be improved."
"They should automate their onboarding. A lot of things are still manual. They can create a video assistant or something like that to completely automate the entire process."
"HeadSpin needs to improve the hardware. With the mobile, the battery life reduces and must be continuously charged."
"If you want to do some testing or check the devices manually or check the application in a particular device manually, it is really laggy. That's a disappointment because sometimes we would like to do manual testing when our local devices are not available."
"HeadSpin could improve on the user interface because it is very poor. The checks that are done on the iOS devices are very difficult, but for Android, it runs great. For all iOS devices, the user interface and how it interacts with the device are very poor."
"AppDynamics is a solution that requires extra learning and could be more user-friendly. Additionally, automated reports would helpful similar to have they have in Google Analytics."
"There are too many installers available for this solution."
"I would like to be able to monitor both cloud an on-prem infrastructures, displayed in one dashboard."
"Splunk AppDynamics requires multiple agents; if I have one server with multiple applications in different languages, then I need to instrument different agents for each application."
"The solution should add some monitoring similar to Oracle monitoring tools for databases. It has a lot of features to monitor SQL queries, and make some recommendation to resolve it. AppDynamics is just monitoring for delays and doesn't provide any recommendations for that. It's a deficiency."
"In terms of improvements we would like to see, we want to understand what the battery consumption metrics are whenever a user is viewing. It would be really helpful for us if we could get those details levels."
"The integration with cloud services is still pending with AppDynamics. We would like the product to be serverless."
"The synthetic scripting for end-user monitoring could be a little bit broader. Instead of using just Python, they can include a few other languages so that not everyone has to jump on the bandwagon for Python and do Selenium scripting. They can open up that a bit to make it simpler for people to do the scripting."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I believe the licensing cost is cheap because it's a total solution, hardware, license and software."
"It's not cheap, but there are a few different packages and different prices for enterprises with different product versions."
"We have a yearly license for 16 devices."
"It has a yearly license. There is no other option. It is expensive. There are a lot of other cheaper players in the market, but it is like a Mercedes. You pay an extra premium for it, but you get the benefits. I would love to see them come up with project-based costing. Companies that are low on funds or new-age can do with pricing that is easily digestible. They can give them a pricing model for three months. They can provide a startup package."
"AppDynamics is really pricey as it requires licenses for every feature."
"The solution is highly expensive"
"I believe there was probably an extra charge whenever I wanted to contact the support team."
"The pricing for AppDynamics is expensive, but it is possible to negotiate special pricing through bids."
"AppDynamics Database Monitoring requires a license for database monitoring and other features, while Dynatrace provides monitoring and other features out of the box without additional costs. Sometimes this makes it more challenging to pitch AppDynamics Database Monitoring to customers, especially because you need to buy a separate license. As an implementer, I have yet to learn about the pricing for AppDynamics Database Monitoring. Pricing is taken care of by the sales team."
"In terms of pricing, I feel that when you compare the benefits that we get to the price that we paid, it is reasonable."
"Purchasing the product through the AWS Marketplace was good."
"We are looking forward to purchasing the solution on the AWS Marketplace."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Healthcare Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business55
Midsize Enterprise36
Large Enterprise188
 

Questions from the Community

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

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Find out what your peers are saying about HeadSpin vs. Splunk AppDynamics and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
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