Amazon CloudWatch vs Change Auditor for Windows File Servers comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Quest Software are both solutions in the Log Management category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #18 with an average rating of 7.9, while Quest Software is ranked #37 with an average rating of 9.0. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 1.7% mindshare in Log Management, compared to Quest Software’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Quest Software users who would recommend it.

Amazon CloudWatch

Read 48 Amazon CloudWatch reviews

5,745 Views
3,275 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Change Auditor for Windows ...

Read 2 Change Auditor for Windows File Servers reviews

717 Views
717 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Amazon CloudWatch

Change Auditor for Windows ...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Amazon CloudWatch and Change Auditor for Windows File Servers both serve monitoring and auditing needs. Amazon CloudWatch is preferred for its scalability and affordability, despite Change Auditor's unique audit features.

Features: Amazon CloudWatch is known for its comprehensive monitoring, logging capabilities, and seamless integration with AWS. It supports extensive scalability for growing businesses. Change Auditor offers detailed security and compliance insights, provides comprehensive audit trails, and delivers specialized features for Windows File Servers.

Room for Improvement: Amazon CloudWatch could improve its reporting capabilities and reduce complexity. Change Auditor might enhance alert customization and flexibility in integration. Both could benefit from more intuitive configuration processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Amazon CloudWatch integrates smoothly with AWS, easing deployment, and offers quick customer service responses. Change Auditor provides tailored deployment options, although it can be complex to install. Its customer service is well-regarded but may not be as fast as Amazon.

Pricing and ROI: Amazon CloudWatch is cost-effective with its pay-as-you-go model, though costs can increase with more usage. Change Auditor offers strong ROI for its focused capabilities, though it may involve a higher initial setup cost, deemed worthwhile for specific auditing needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon CloudWatch vs. Change Auditor for Windows File Servers Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. Change Auditor for Windows File Servers

April 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

Amazon CloudWatch

Ranking in Log Management

18th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (21st), Cloud Monitoring Software (15th)

Change Auditor for Windows ...

Ranking in Log Management

37th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Amazon CloudWatch is 1.7%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Change Auditor for Windows File Servers is 0.5%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Log Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Amazon CloudWatch	1.7%
Change Auditor for Windows File Servers	0.5%
Other	97.8%

Log Management

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.

Read full review

Krisarlex Foronda

Senior Operations Manager at Procter & Gamble

Provides granular queries of security logs and real-time alerting helps me mitigate risks

The real-time alerting helps me mitigate risks. For example, someone adds a member to the domain admin group. We have an alert set up, so if someone does this unexpectedly, we get notified. Then, we can check and verify if the action is legitimate or a potential threat to the environment.

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

"It's stable, the performance is good, it's reliable, there are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze."

"The tool enables live monitoring."

"We have found the pricing to be reasonable."

"In Amazon CloudWatch, I found their data analytics services most valuable."

"Every time we get an alarm or have an incident, CloudWatch is always there. We use it not only for resources we've spun up in the cloud, but also for some of our on-premises resources."

"The solution offers very detailed metrics for their services."

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

"The solution is easy to use."

More Amazon CloudWatch pros

"The solution's most valuable aspect is that it can be fully integrated with Microsoft solutions and it doesn't impact the productivity order."

"In terms of features, the querying is great."

"The solution's most valuable aspect is that it can be fully integrated with Microsoft solutions and it doesn't impact the productivity order."

Cons

"The product’s documentation must be improved."

"The product's configuration has some challenges. The solution needs to be more user-friendly."

"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."

"The solution should provide human-readable metrics."

"Maybe Amazon Web Services can improve by providing a library for CloudWatch with some useful features."

"Amazon CloudWatch has all the data, but to see what is happening, you need some third-party tool."

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

"There is some delay in logging that they need to improve on."

More Amazon CloudWatch cons

"The pricing could be improved. It needs to be reduced."

"The customer service and support could improve their approach to questioning issues. They tend to ask questions one at a time, which creates a lot of back-and-forth communication."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Amazon CloudWatch is reasonable. When the rate of data collection is done the price will increase. The price is less than other solutions."

"It’s an open-source solution."

"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."

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

"The product's cost is relatively inexpensive."

"The solution is expensive."

"The pricing can be considered reasonable, especially when already operating on a cloud platform."

"The tool is not expensive."

More Amazon CloudWatch pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is per user. The cost is approximately $15/user on a yearly basis. If you need to, you can always upgrade as well."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

Transportation Company

Computer Software Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

No data available

Questions from the Community

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

No specific setup costs were mentioned.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon CloudWatch?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Amazon CloudWatch?

Amazon CloudWatch is a very small service that AWS provides. It is a monitoring service for applications within the AWS cloud, and we can integrate external applications using the APIs or SDK. The ...

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What do you like most about Change Auditor for Windows File Servers?

In terms of features, the querying is great.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Change Auditor for Windows File Servers?

They've already made improvements! They have a tool called IT Security Search, which lets you perform queries outside of Change Auditor. It's much faster. This is a really good addition and helps u...

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What is your primary use case for Change Auditor for Windows File Servers?

I use Change Auditor for Windows File Servers to log history. It's helpful when we have critical changes in Active Directory, like adding or removing items. I use it extensively for monitoring.

See all answers

Comparisons

Grafana Loki vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 7% of the time

Amazon OpenSearch Service vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 6% of the time

Zabbix vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 4% of the time

Dynatrace vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 4% of the time

Datadog vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 4% of the time

More Amazon CloudWatch Competitors

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Change Auditor for Windows File Servers

Compared 18% of the time

NetCrunch vs Change Auditor for Windows File Servers

Compared 14% of the time

NetWitness Platform vs Change Auditor for Windows File Servers

Compared 13% of the time

Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) vs Change Auditor for Windows File Servers

Compared 13% of the time

FileAudit vs Change Auditor for Windows File Servers

Compared 11% of the time

More Change Auditor for Windows File Servers Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch

April 2026

Download Amazon CloudWatch product report

Buyer's Guide

Log Management

March 2026

Change Auditor for Windows File Servers report

Download Change Auditor for Windows File Servers product report

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)

Change Auditor for Windows File Servers helps you control and audit changes to Microsoft Windows file servers efficiently and cost-effectively. It proactively tracks, audits, reports and alerts on vital changes in real time and without the overhead of native auditing.

You will instantly know the “who, what, when, where and originating workstation” details, and get the original and current values for fast troubleshooting. You can then automatically generate intelligent, in-depth forensics for auditors and management, reducing the risks associated with day-to-day modifications and ensuring confidence at your next audit.

Quest Software

Sample Customers

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

Dragon Capital, Howard County MD

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. Change Auditor for Windows File Servers

April 2026

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