Amazon CloudWatch vs Amazon OpenSearch Service comparison

Amazon CloudWatch and Amazon OpenSearch Service are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Amazon CloudWatch is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.9, while Amazon OpenSearch Service is ranked #25 with an average rating of 7.4. Amazon CloudWatch holds a 1.7% mindshare in APM, compared to Amazon OpenSearch Service’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Amazon CloudWatch users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Amazon OpenSearch Service users who would recommend it.

Amazon CloudWatch

Read 48 Amazon CloudWatch reviews

4,127 Views
2,311 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Amazon OpenSearch Service

Read 12 Amazon OpenSearch Service reviews

4,100 Views
1,968 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Amazon CloudWatch

Amazon OpenSearch Service

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 2025

Amazon CloudWatch and Amazon OpenSearch Service compete in monitoring and analytics for AWS. Amazon CloudWatch is preferred for its real-time data insights and ease of integration with AWS, while Amazon OpenSearch Service is favored for its scalability and search features.

Features: Amazon CloudWatch provides robust infrastructure and workload monitoring, real-time insights, and seamless integration with AWS services. Its alert system and comprehensive data capture allow efficient management of AWS environments. Amazon OpenSearch Service offers powerful search and analytics capabilities, flexible database management, and support for multiple add-ons that enhance application logic execution.

Room for Improvement: CloudWatch could improve by enhancing dashboard drill-downs, supporting non-AWS services, and refining real-time data visualization. It also needs better application performance monitoring and easier third-party integration. OpenSearch Service might benefit from more customization options, improved cost management, and better data visualization tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both CloudWatch and OpenSearch Service are easily deployed in public cloud environments. CloudWatch's support is celebrated for its availability and tiered offerings, while OpenSearch Service offers a similar support structure with positive user feedback.

Pricing and ROI: CloudWatch is cost-effective within the AWS ecosystem, praised for reasonable pricing and clear ROI through automation. OpenSearch Service is viewed as costly compared to self-hosted solutions, but its managed nature provides value, resulting in acknowledged ROI through performance benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon CloudWatch vs. Amazon OpenSearch Service Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. Amazon OpenSearch Service

September 2025

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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

Amazon CloudWatch

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

13th

Ranking in Log Management

16th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Monitoring Software (11th)

Amazon OpenSearch Service

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

25th

Ranking in Log Management

20th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Search as a Service (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Amazon CloudWatch is 1.7%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Amazon OpenSearch Service is 2.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Amazon CloudWatch	1.7%
Amazon OpenSearch Service	2.0%
Other	96.3%

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Azam S M

Infrastructure Lead at Danat Fz LLC

Has provided reliable monitoring and alerting through extensive metric tracking and dashboard configuration

Amazon CloudWatch itself provides a lot of data. However, for visualization, we need to use third-party tools. We are in a process of integrating Grafana, Loki, and Prometheus to have better visualization on Amazon CloudWatch. We are also integrating Grafana with the application itself to get the application data and logs. Alternatively, there is AWS Kinesis and Glue where you can scrape the logs and have visualization, but a more easy option is Grafana. If you want to get a proper visual representation to see what is happening, then you need to integrate a third-party tool. Amazon CloudWatch has all the data, but to see what is happening, you need some third-party tool.

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Johnny Suleiman

MS AWS expert at Bespin Global MEA, an e& enterprise Company

Scalability is a key feature as it allows easy scaling of the platform without downtime

OpenSearch is used as a search engine for specific logs, mainly in e-commerce and monitoring the logs themselves. It is very valuable for e-commerce, enabling data analysis on application logs and customer behavior, and can be integrated with other services, including AI and machine learning…

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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

"Amazon CloudWatch's best feature stems from its ability to monitor app performance."

"Setting up this product was easy. I found data analytics as its most valuable feature."

"Most of it's around optimizing utilization, their cloud utilization. They're making sure that they're getting the most out of their in-cloud environments and their instances. Making sure that there's no strange behavior in the environment."

"The scalability of Amazon CloudWatch rates as high scalability, scoring a perfect ten."

"Monitoring time and ensuring ease in it is the most valuable feature."

"You can automate actions or use AWS functionalities like auto-scaling, where you can configure the metrics to add more nodes if the threshold is exceeded."

"You can enable alarms and metrics, and it has robust integration with AWS services. You can also trigger events. For example, if the CPU utilization is above 80%, it can launch a new instance for you."

"It is very easy to use; as a monitoring tool, whenever your system experiences issues, it will notify you and is directly linked to your service."

More Amazon CloudWatch pros

"Regarding valuable features of the solution, we found with the process, which we have used in both cases where we used the solution that while you're seeing the streaming of data, you can analyze in the initial phase what sort of data you are streaming and whether it is valuable."

"The initial set up is very easy...We really appreciate Amazon!"

"The business analytics capabilities are the most important feature it provides."

"Our customers have seen tangible benefits from Amazon OpenSearch Service, especially in terms of their applications running smoothly, so they do get a return on investment."

"In case there is a failure, Elastic manages everything well, and there no major downtime."

"We retrieve historical data with just a click of a button to move it from cold to hot or warm because it's already stored in the backend storage"

"The most valuable features of Amazon Elasticsearch are ease of use, native JSON, and efficiency. Additionally, handles many use cases and search grammar was useful."

"It enables us to efficiently search and retrieve our event data, offering us a versatile approach to locate specific information within these logs."

More Amazon OpenSearch Service pros

Cons

"I would like to monitor inbound and outbound transfer. I would also like to control the traffic for load balancing."

"When connecting to Google Cloud, there is no visibility or traceability from Google Cloud into CloudWatch."

"It's not an advanced way of monitoring."

"Amazon CloudWatch needs improvement. The main thing is we have noticed missing logs."

"The drill-down aspect on the dashboard of the solution needs improvement. We get a very good high-level overview, but when we drill down, it becomes a little less clear. We have given this feedback to AWS as well and hope they will improve this in the future."

"The configuration capabilities could be better."

"Better reporting is always something needed. That could be an answer to just about anything. But you always want better reporting, better dashboards, things that are just more dynamic and more accessible."

"This product lacks some features: real-time data stream monitoring, application performance monitoring, mobile app monitoring, and live dashboards. Its workflows also need improvement."

More Amazon CloudWatch cons

"It would be beneficial to have some level of customization available in the managed service, tailored to the specific use cases of the end users."

"I want to see a new feature in Amazon Elasticsearch Service that allows users to create default filters for filtered levels."

"In terms of data handling capabilities with Amazon OpenSearch Service, they can be complex and managing data in comparison to other SIM solutions is a major drawback, as it is very hard to handle the data."

"The configuration should be more straightforward because we had to select a lot of things."

"One improvement I would like to see is support for auto-scaling."

"We faced documentation challenges during integration after migrating from Elasticsearch to Amazon OpenSearch Service. Better documentation on integration, query handling, and a more user-friendly UI could enhance the product."

"The price is fair yet leans towards the expensive side. I'd rate it five out of ten with respect to capabilities vs. cost."

"Amazon Elasticsearch can improve the bullion in the near search and the ease of integration with Kibana. Additionally, there could be more flexibility in the configuration and documentation."

More Amazon OpenSearch Service cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."

"I consider it as a medium-priced solution."

"The product's cost is relatively inexpensive."

"We have monthly licensing costs. The licenses are probably in the vicinity of about $300 - $350/month."

"The pricing is average."

"What's were using is the free service of Amazon CloudWatch, so they're not charging us. As for hidden fees, we're not aware of them because we're using what our clients provided us."

"The price of Amazon CloudWatch is reasonable for detailed basic monitoring."

"Amazon CloudWatch has very cheap pricing, and it hardly costs my company $25-$30 a month for fifty systems, so it's pretty affordable."

More Amazon CloudWatch pricing and cost advice

"There is a community edition available and the price of the commercial offering is reasonable."

"You only pay for what you use."

"Compared to other cloud platforms, it is manageable and not very expensive."

"The solution is not expensive, but priced averagely, I will say."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

University

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	24

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon CloudWatch?

The monitoring features are valuable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon CloudWatch?

Overall, the pricing of Amazon CloudWatch is very expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon CloudWatch?

Apart from traceability of network resources, Amazon CloudWatch needs to be more interoperable with other tools because many companies are starting to use AI-based dashboards. When using third-part...

See all answers

What do you like most about Amazon OpenSearch Service?

We retrieve historical data with just a click of a button to move it from cold to hot or warm because it's already stored in the backend storage

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon OpenSearch Service?

I would consider the pricing as a six based on how much data we are handling; if we handle minimal data, it's cheap, but for large data, it becomes costly. Our clients usually pay between $1,000 to...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon OpenSearch Service?

In terms of data handling capabilities with Amazon OpenSearch Service, they can be complex and managing data in comparison to other SIM solutions is a major drawback, as it is very hard to handle t...

See all answers

Comparisons

Grafana Loki vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 22% of the time

Zabbix vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 9% of the time

Dynatrace vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 6% of the time

Datadog vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 5% of the time

New Relic vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 4% of the time

More Amazon CloudWatch Competitors

Grafana Loki vs Amazon OpenSearch Service

Compared 27% of the time

Datadog vs Amazon OpenSearch Service

Compared 10% of the time

Dynatrace vs Amazon OpenSearch Service

Compared 4% of the time

Amazon Athena vs Amazon OpenSearch Service

Compared 4% of the time

Prometheus-AI Platform vs Amazon OpenSearch Service

Compared 4% of the time

More Amazon OpenSearch Service Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch

October 2025

Download Amazon CloudWatch product report

Buyer's Guide

Amazon OpenSearch Service

October 2025

Download Amazon OpenSearch Service product report

Also Known As

No data available

Amazon Elasticsearch Service

Overview

Amazon CloudWatch integrates seamlessly with AWS, providing real-time monitoring and alerting features. Its interface supports task automation, enhancing troubleshooting and analytics capabilities, while offering strong security and scalability at a cost-effective rate.

Amazon CloudWatch is an impactful platform for monitoring AWS resources and managing application performance. It simplifies infrastructure performance monitoring by providing comprehensive analytics capabilities, including application insights and event scheduling. Users appreciate CloudWatch for its detailed metrics, dashboards, and support in issuing alerts to detect anomalies. It efficiently tracks performance, optimizes resource utilization, and ensures service availability. CloudWatch is recognized for its robust alerting features and integration with other AWS services, further supporting its resource monitoring capabilities. However, there is room for improvement in dashboard customization, log streaming speed, and integration with non-AWS services. Enhancements in API integration, machine learning features, and support for third-party tools are also desired.

What features does Amazon CloudWatch offer?

Seamless Integration: Works effortlessly with AWS for cohesive service management.
Advanced Metrics: Provides detailed monitoring of CPU, memory, and more.
Real-time Monitoring: Offers up-to-the-minute alerts on infrastructure status.
Dashboards: User-friendly and informative for quick insights.
Automation: Supports task automation for efficient troubleshooting.

What benefits does Amazon CloudWatch provide?

Cost-effectiveness: Efficient resource monitoring without high costs.
Scalability: Easily adapts to growing infrastructure needs.
Security: Strong protocols for safe monitoring activities.
Improved Performance: Enhances application insights and operational efficiency.
Operational Insights: Provides comprehensive logging and performance analysis.

Industries implementing Amazon CloudWatch often focus on optimizing IT infrastructure. Companies in sectors like finance and e-commerce rely on its monitoring and alerting capabilities to ensure service uptime and performance. The platform's automation and analytics features empower teams to proactively manage performance and detect potential issues promptly.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Amazon OpenSearch Service provides scalable and reliable search capabilities with efficient data processing, supporting easy domain configuration and integration with numerous systems for enhanced performance.

Amazon OpenSearch Service offers advanced features for handling JSON, diverse search grammars, quick historical data retrieval, and ultra-warm storage. It also includes customizable dashboards and seamless tool integration for large enterprises. With its managed infrastructure, OpenSearch Service supports efficient system analysis and business analytics, improving overall performance and flexibility. Despite these features, areas like configuration complexity, lack of auto-scaling, and integration with Kibana require attention. Users seek enhanced documentation, better pricing options, and more flexible data handling. Desired improvements include default filters, mapping configuration, and alerting capabilities. Enhanced data visualization and Compute Optimizer Service integration are also recommended for future updates.

What features define Amazon OpenSearch Service?

Scalable Search: Offers reliable search capabilities across vast datasets.
JSON Handling: Supports efficient management of JSON data.
Ultra-warm Storage: Enables cost-effective historical data retrieval.
Dashboard Customization: Supports tool integration and tailored visuals.
System Upgrades: Allows for seamless infrastructure upgrades.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Performance Enhancement: Significant improvement in search and data retrieval.
Cost-Effectiveness: Provides a cloud-native solution optimized for AWS environments.
Comprehensive Analytics: Delivers detailed insights for business applications.

Amazon OpenSearch Service is utilized in various industries for log management, data storage, and search capabilities. It supports infrastructure and embedded management, analyzing logs from AWS Lambda, Kubernetes, and other services. Companies use it for application debugging, monitoring security and performance, and customer behavior analysis, integrating it with tools like DynamoDB and Snowflake for a cost-effective solution.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Sample Customers

AirAsia, Airbnb, Aircel, APUS, Avazu, Casa & Video, Futbol Club Barcelona (FCBarcelona), National Taiwan University, redBus

VIDCOIN, Wyng, Yellow New Zealand, zipMoney, Cimri, Siemens, Unbabel

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. Amazon OpenSearch Service

September 2025

Free Report: Amazon CloudWatch vs. Amazon OpenSearch Service

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