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Quest Foglight for APM [EOL] vs SolarWinds AppOptics comparison

Quest Software and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Additionally, 86% of Quest Software users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.
SolarWinds AppOptics
Read 9 SolarWinds AppOptics reviews
  • 1,452 Views
  • 886 Comparison Views
80% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Quest Foglight for APM [EOL] and SolarWinds AppOptics based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Datadog, Dynatrace, Splunk and others in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability.

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To learn more, read our detailed Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability Report (Updated: January 2026).
Buyer's Guide
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
January 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

Quest Foglight for APM [EOL]
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds AppOptics
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (55th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (58th), Cloud Monitoring Software (47th)
 

Featured Reviews

AK
Anton Kasimov
Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Drill-down monitoring shows us the entire transaction chain, from the front end to back end. It needs HTML5 interface.
I want to see a new interface that contains HTML5 features. The current version of Foglight (on-premise edition) is so fusty in comparison with leaders of Gartner APM Quadrant - i.e. Appdynamics, NewRelic, Dynatrace. If you try to compare SaaS and on-premise Foglight versions you can see differences in UI-design. It's my subjective experiences, but SaaS version looks more modern. Hope this helps
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John Yuko - PeerSpot reviewer
John Yuko
Assistant Manager ICT - Projects at I&M Bank Ltd
Unique features allow consolidating and combing metrics into a single dashboard, but don't monitor mobile solutions
I would like to see more granular information provided on Unix applications. Also, the integration with Unix services should be a bit more straightforward in terms having an agent to retrieve your credentials rather than having to enter or save them for SSH on SolarWinds. From the outset, we had to set some commands to log into the search console, and they are saved on the solution, which presents a challenge in terms of exposure. The solution is unable to monitor APK solutions completely because we'd then be forced to break down the APK and provide the APIs or go through the source code. They don't have a module that can analyze an application that is maybe under-used.
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

"With the APM you can replay the end user session and see issues quickly by viewing the session."
"The most valuable feature is drill-down monitoring, which shows us from one interface the transaction chain from the front end to back end."
"The ability to track performance of an application or application suite over time is extremely valuable to our business partners and for our application development team with near real time results."
"Capacity on database and file servers. I found the algorithms to forecast growth and concerns particularly intuitive."
"Dell Foglight does analyze and optimize your virtual infrastructure. It definitely reduces operational cost."
"At a glance I can easily see what is going on with all of my VMware ​environments, including top consumers of resources."
"FxV is valuable as we can playback the session."
"Sometimes we can solve problems before they occur."
More Quest Foglight for APM [EOL] pros
"Technical support is always live and they're supportive."
"Some of the most valuable features of SolarWinds are the topology discovery and network performance analysis."
"The reporting of the solution is very good."
"The sum solution, NTA, and DPA."
"I have found the most valuable feature is application performance management."
"The product has a great dashboard."
 

Cons

"The “cartridge” concept for every little thing is a bit of a bother to implement."
"I would perhaps like to see more SSMS connections."
"I want to see a new interface that contains HTML5 features. The current version of Foglight (on-premise edition) is so fusty in comparison with leaders of Gartner APM Quadrant - i.e. Appdynamics, NewRelic, Dynatrace."
"There are some metrics I'd like to track that are difficult to find or implement into a tracking solution without a lot of manual work."
"Being able to incorporate other bespoke monitoring into Foglight would have made the tool even more useful."
"The version compatibility needs work."
"It needs a more intuitive way to create and implement custom "Cartridges" to be deployed through out a Federated environment."
"I think installation and setup needs little more improvement especially when you are installing with external database."
More Quest Foglight for APM [EOL] cons
"I would like to see more integration with other tools that are available on the market."
"AppOptics would benefit from having a much more centralized view."
"The implementation needs improvement. It needs to get modernized with the newer cloud scenario in both public and private deployment models."
"The solution should be more user-friendly."
"The integration with Unix services should be a bit more straightforward."
"In terms of the technology, I think they need to put some more advanced troubleshooting into SolarWinds, in terms of AI capabilities. That's the next generation, especially in the cases of APIs which have already adopted AI capabilities into their products."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Foglight can be expensive I would go with the pricing at a three year deal."
"Since the product split – the licensing is a bit more complex."
"I recall it being a very expensive solution relative to function and stability."
"The price is expensive for us."
"I believe the current licensing cost is reasonable."
"Mostly, it's a perpetual license. We don't have any customers using the subscription right now—it's mostly a perpetual license that the customers purchase. The licensing is based on the number of elements, whereas other solutions are node-based."
"Since it's a negotiable rate, I would rate the pricing as a five out of five."
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881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise7
 

Comparisons

No data available
New Relic vs SolarWinds AppOptics Logo
New Relic vs SolarWinds AppOptics
Compared 15% of the time
Dynatrace vs SolarWinds AppOptics Logo
Dynatrace vs SolarWinds AppOptics
Compared 14% of the time
Splunk AppDynamics vs SolarWinds AppOptics Logo
Splunk AppDynamics vs SolarWinds AppOptics
Compared 8% of the time
Zabbix vs SolarWinds AppOptics Logo
Zabbix vs SolarWinds AppOptics
Compared 8% of the time
IBM Instana Observability vs SolarWinds AppOptics Logo
IBM Instana Observability vs SolarWinds AppOptics
Compared 5% of the time
More SolarWinds AppOptics Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
January 2026
Quest Foglight for APM [EOL] reportDownload Quest Foglight for APM [EOL] product report
Buyer's Guide
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
January 2026
SolarWinds AppOptics reportDownload SolarWinds AppOptics product report
 

Also Known As

Foglight, Dell Foglight
AppOptics, SolarWinds TraceView, Librato
 

Overview

Manage your application infrastructure by monitoring the IT components that affect application performance.
Quest Software

AppOptics is a SaaS-based simple, powerful and affordable Infrastructure & Application monitoring for custom on-premises, cloud, and hybrid systems. 

Your business runs on applications, and when they go down or run slowly, it can impact the business in lost productivity, customers, or revenue. To add to the complexity, your IT environment is changing, and workloads can be spread across data centers, and cloud resources. You need to monitor the availability and performance of applications and infrastructure, regardless of where they are, so you can identify potential issues early and address them before they impact users

SolarWinds
 

Sample Customers

Anji Automotive Logistics, Unimat, Priceline.com
TraxoCovea Insurance BTE TechnologyDatarista
Buyer's Guide
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
January 2026
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We monitor all Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.