ManageEngine ADAudit Plus vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

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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

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

Ranking in Active Directory Management

4th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Active Directory Management

10th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (19th), Server Monitoring (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is 11.1%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.1%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Active Directory Management

Featured Reviews

Md Abdul Hakim

System Engineer at Corporate Projukti Limited

Advanced monitoring enhances user tracking that's cost-effective

I have been involved with this product for the last three years, participating in service and support within our company. We are currently supporting over 30 companies. This month, we deployed the solution for three companies, including two RMGs and one private bank in Bangladesh. The popularity of this product is due to its active directory monitoring abilities. Engineers can receive reports and log details within one to five seconds, which is essential for monitoring user activity swiftly and effectively. This product is very well-liked in Bangladesh due to user tracking, failed logins, and Jar reports for any Barna activity or execution. This solution's popularity extends through comprehensive auditing capabilities.

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Carlos Camargo

Senior Operations Manager at Sencinet

Provides user-friendly API features and has straightforward deployment process

One product area that could benefit from improvement is the synchronization of licensing periods across different modules. The misalignment of licensing terms can present commercial challenges when adding new modules or additional pollers. Additionally, the granularity of polling times for specific components could be enhanced to better meet individual customers' needs without impacting the entire polling pool.

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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 assists in managing the active directory and modifying the reintegrated GPOs."

"The documentation for this solution is good."

"I rate this ten out of ten."

"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."

"Some of the most valuable features of ADAudit Plus are the granular parts of the reports fetched from Active Directory."

"We use the product to track events and monitor logs of servers and workstations. I am impressed with the tool's tracking ability. It is intuitive and easy to use."

"The Account Lockout Analyzer and the Inactive Users reports are particularly valuable."

"Some of the most valuable features of ADAudit Plus are the granular parts of the reports fetched from Active Directory."

More ManageEngine ADAudit Plus pros

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

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

"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."

"It's good at monitoring system-specific things like ports, services."

"The most beneficial aspect of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is its ability to monitor at the application level."

"One of the most valuable features are the reports. They're pretty good. Also, the ease of installation and customization for the client is another feature that we value. SolarWinds has a lot of features but these are the ones I like the most. We also like that the KPIs have the ability to be preset."

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

"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."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

Cons

"The solution should include more details on file creation and modification. It also needs to have a quick message for troubleshooting problems which needs to be detailed and generic."

"I consider the pricing for ADAudit Plus a bit high compared to other software solutions, so I would rate it around two or three on the pricing scale."

"The interface could be improved, and the log collecting feature should have additional functionalities."

"There are so many reports that it sometimes makes it difficult to navigate to what you need."

"The initial setup was quite complex and required some research beforehand."

"Some features require more external integration."

"The return on investment for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is very hard to measure."

"The solution's managing file server activity could be improved."

More ManageEngine ADAudit Plus cons

"The stability, flexibility, and ease of use could be improved."

"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."

"I would like to see support for non-Windows or non-Microsoft domains, especially Apache and other non-Windows servers."

"This product has no real downside unless they fail to continue development of its capabilities."

"Mapping interactions between systems."

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

"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."

"When you implement SolarWinds on a larger scale my customers complain about the speed."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's a medium-priced solution."

"The solution's pricing is acceptable."

"My guess is that it was around $4,000 or $5,000 a year, and we bought a license, and then we have maintenance fees. I'm not 100% sure how that worked out."

"The tool is affordable, and our company is very happy with it. If ten is the most expensive and one is the least expensive, I rate the tool a three or four."

"Adding features and other functionality it costs you more. Also, the first installation costs an additional amount."

"ADAudit Plus's pricing is affordable and flexible, with very low prices in the market."

"Pricing and licensing is fair for what you get. It does have a great bang-for-the-buck appeal."

"Pricing is inexpensive, starting at 2440 euros. For that, you get the ability to monitor a couple of nodes and one year of maintenance and support."

"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."

"When planning for the number of licenses to purchase, make sure you understand all of the elements within an application required to really understand performance well. In our case, we quickly came to the conclusion that an unlimited license for SAM was the way to go."

"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."

"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 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 think SolarWinds' pricing is very decent compared to other competitors in the market."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Educational Organization

19%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

The most valuable feature of ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is its reports.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

I consider the pricing for ADAudit Plus a bit high compared to other software solutions, so I would rate it around two or three on the pricing scale.

What needs improvement with ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

The interface could be improved, and the log collecting feature should have additional functionalities. For example, I would like to generate reports on users who have not logged into the Active Di...

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 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...

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Product Reports

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

Download ManageEngine ADAudit Plus product report

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Also Known As

No data available

SolarWinds SAM

Overview

In real-time, ensure critical resources in the network like the Domain Controllers are audited, monitored and reported with the entire information on AD objects - Users, Groups, GPO, Computer, OU, DNS, AD Schema and Configuration changes with 200+ detailed event specific GUI reports and email alerts.

ManageEngine

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

Sample Customers

Warsaw City Hall, Acument Global Technologies, Inc., Cosma International, Bank of South Pacific, Life Management Center, Central Bank, UncleBob's Self Storage, Leeds Building Society, California Transplant Donor Network, First Response, Blessing Hospital, Northern Land Council, RMK Marine

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor