Amazon CloudWatch vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Instana are both solutions in the Cloud Monitoring Software category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.9, while Instana is ranked #24 with an average rating of 9.5. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 2.3% mindshare in CMS, compared to Instana’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Instana users who would recommend it.

Amazon CloudWatch

Read 48 Amazon CloudWatch reviews

4,127 Views
1,775 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Instana Infrastructure Moni...

Read 2 Instana Infrastructure Monitoring reviews

715 Views
558 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Amazon CloudWatch

Instana Infrastructure Moni...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Amazon CloudWatch and Instana Infrastructure Monitoring are competing products in the infrastructure monitoring domain. Instana seems to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive features and capacity for deep insights, making it attractive for complex environments despite its higher cost.

Features: CloudWatch offers basic monitoring capabilities, seamless integration with AWS services, and competitive pricing. Instana provides automated root cause analysis, broad observability, and application performance monitoring, offering deeper insights.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: CloudWatch offers straightforward deployment within the AWS ecosystem, making it accessible for AWS users. Instana, though requiring more setup, offers detailed guidance and robust customer service, providing a personalized experience, especially for complex infrastructures.

Pricing and ROI: CloudWatch has a competitive pricing structure with pay-as-you-go options, appealing to cost-focused businesses. Instana's higher initial setup cost is justified by its comprehensive features, offering quicker realization of value in complex environments with deeper analysis and faster issue resolution leading to higher ROI over time.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon CloudWatch vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

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 Cloud Monitoring Software

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (13th), Log Management (16th)

Instana Infrastructure Moni...

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

24th

Average Rating

9.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (37th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Amazon CloudWatch is 2.3%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Instana Infrastructure Monitoring is 0.8%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Amazon CloudWatch	2.3%
Instana Infrastructure Monitoring	0.8%
Other	96.9%

Cloud Monitoring Software

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

Hakimuddin Ronaque

Assistant Manager at Lauren Information Technologies Pvt Ltd

Has the capability to automatically integrate with a large number of products

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. I have not worked much on other technologies, like SAP or VMware's virtualization part, on-prem infrastructure, or cloud infrastructure. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring is so fast and easy to adapt that it works fine. I have not explored other operating systems or infrastructure solutions because my company doesn't have that customer scale. Most of our customers are on-prem or on AWS or Azure, but Instana Infrastructure Monitoring adapts to their infrastructure very well. My company came to know how well Instana Infrastructure Monitoring adapts to our customers' infrastructures when we take care of the PoC phase. Around 12 to 15 people in my company use the product.

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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

"What my company likes best about Amazon CloudWatch is that it's on AWS. My team also likes it for its log feature. As the solution is on AWS, it also has good pricing and resource availability, plus it's what clients choose. My company also chose AWS for Forge ECS, and at the time, there was a need for the log features provided by Amazon CloudWatch, so it's the solution my team went with."

"The most valuable feature of Amazon CloudWatch is the monitoring and UI."

"It is a robust analytical tool and it goes beyond mere functionality and extends into the realm of providing comprehensive insights."

"We can set CPU thresholds using the solution."

"The most valuable part is the metrics part, which is really good."

"The tool's UI is good. One can scroll through the logs very easily."

"It is a stable solution...I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."

"It's a very simple logging system."

More Amazon CloudWatch pros

"The product is easy to deploy."

"The product's initial setup is easy."

Cons

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

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

"The solution's auto-scaling could be improved."

"It is hard to configure; it is not a straightforward tool."

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

"The technical support must be improved."

"We'd like the interface to be as easy as Datadog."

"When customers want to see the CPU or memory utilization there is a cost. This should be free to see the utilization."

More Amazon CloudWatch cons

"Instana Infrastructure Monitoring needs to support monitoring of the .NET framework since it is one of the areas where the solution currently has shortcomings."

"The product’s scalability is an area with certain limitations, making it an area where improvements are required."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It’s an open-source solution."

"The product's cost is relatively inexpensive."

"The pricing model is pay-as-you-go so you have to be mindful of usage to manage costs."

"Amazon CloudWatch is a cheap solution."

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

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

"The price is okay for me."

"The tool is not expensive."

More Amazon CloudWatch pricing and cost advice

"The cost of the tool is around 130 USD per month."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

University

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

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 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?

No specific setup costs were mentioned.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon CloudWatch?

See all answers

What do you like most about Instana Infrastructure Monitoring?

The product is easy to deploy.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Instana Infrastructure Monitoring?

The product’s scalability is an area with certain limitations, making it an area where improvements are required.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Instana Infrastructure Monitoring?

I use the solution in my company, especially if an application is down and it is considered to be a P1 issue or a critical issue. The network team will blame the application team, while the applica...

See all answers

Comparisons

Grafana Loki vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 21% of the time

Amazon OpenSearch Service vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 12% 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

More Amazon CloudWatch Competitors

IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

Compared 19% of the time

Splunk Observability Cloud vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

Compared 14% of the time

Zabbix vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

Compared 13% of the time

Elastic Observability vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

Compared 12% of the time

OpsRamp vs Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

Compared 10% of the time

More Instana Infrastructure Monitoring Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch

October 2025

Download Amazon CloudWatch product report

Buyer's Guide

IT Infrastructure Monitoring

October 2025

Instana Infrastructure Monitoring report

Download Instana Infrastructure Monitoring 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)

Instana ensures that your application delivery organization has the data, visibility and information they need to manage the performance of critical business applications across the DevOps lifecycle. Built to handle the dynamic nature of containerized, microservice architectures, Instana automates infrastructure and application monitoring helping you to ensure the performance and quality of custom applications and accelerate your CI/CD cycle.

Instana

Sample Customers

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

booxware, drivenow, scopevisio, enevo, TimoCom, mobitech

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

September 2025

Free Report: Amazon CloudWatch vs. Instana Infrastructure Monitoring

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