Amazon CloudWatch vs SolarWinds AppOptics comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.1, while SolarWinds is ranked #55. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 1.3% mindshare in APM, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Amazon CloudWatch

Read 48 Amazon CloudWatch reviews

4,548 Views
2,410 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

SolarWinds AppOptics

Read 9 SolarWinds AppOptics reviews

1,452 Views
886 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Amazon CloudWatch

SolarWinds AppOptics

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Amazon CloudWatch and SolarWinds AppOptics compete as key cloud monitoring tools. Users favor SolarWinds AppOptics for its efficiency and detailed performance insights, making it a preferred choice despite CloudWatch's strong AWS integration.

Features: Amazon CloudWatch provides detailed metrics, real-time data management, and real-time alerts within the AWS ecosystem, which aids scalability, simplicity, and security. SolarWinds AppOptics offers advanced network performance monitoring, application performance management, and robust reporting capabilities, suitable for users demanding detailed visibility.

Room for Improvement: Amazon CloudWatch could improve its monitoring for non-AWS services and refine its pricing model. Users also seek better report generation capabilities. SolarWinds AppOptics may benefit from integrating solutions, simplifying Unix application monitoring, and providing a unified console for multiple applications.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Amazon CloudWatch supports broad public cloud and hybrid deployments with multiple technical support tiers. SolarWinds AppOptics, despite offering simpler support systems, centralizes troubleshooting queries. Amazon's customer service stands out for specialization and accessible support tiers.

Pricing and ROI: Amazon CloudWatch is seen as reasonably priced, especially when included with AWS services, using a pay-as-you-go model which suits predictable cost management through AWS integration. SolarWinds AppOptics uses a traditional license-based structure, which sometimes lacks flexibility compared to competitors. Both tools provide substantial ROI through effective monitoring and management.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon CloudWatch vs. SolarWinds AppOptics Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. SolarWinds AppOptics

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

Amazon CloudWatch

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

13th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Log Management (15th)

SolarWinds AppOptics

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

55th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

47th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (58th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Amazon CloudWatch is 1.3%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds AppOptics is 0.7%, up from 0.3% 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	1.3%
SolarWinds AppOptics	0.7%
Other	98.0%

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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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

"The initial setup is easy."

"The product helps us collect and store various metrics to set test alarms."

"CloudWatch immediately hooks up and connects to the KPIs and all the metrics."

"We can create events and alerts. We use the information to dive down into the infrastructure performance."

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

"Amazon CloudWatch is a cheap and easy-to-use solution."

"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 most valuable feature of Amazon CloudWatch is its ease of use and logs. You do not have to go to each separate system to see the logs, such as Syslog and they are located in one dashboard GUI."

More Amazon CloudWatch pros

"Some of the most valuable features of SolarWinds are the topology discovery and network performance analysis."

"Technical support is always live and they're supportive."

"The sum solution, NTA, and DPA."

"I have found the most valuable feature is application performance management."

"The reporting of the solution is very good."

"The product has a great dashboard."

Cons

"Adding conditional expressions would enhance its functionality."

"Right now, in relation to monitoring services, there are too many services and too many metrics per service."

"The integration with third-party tools must be made easier."

"There's a learning curve with Amazon CloudWatch since we have to learn to write the queries to extract the keys and logs."

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

"Some of our customers want to use Kubernetes to monitor their CICD flow but Amazon CloudWatch does not support it. We need to use another solution, such as Datadog or Dynatrace has the needed capability."

"The graphical interface has room for improvement. CloudWatch only gives you a breakdown of what's wrong. However, it would be nice if it could automatically remedy the problems it identifies. You should be able to configure it so that when a specific condition arises, it will take a predefined action."

More Amazon CloudWatch cons

"The integration with Unix services should be a bit more straightforward."

"The solution should be more user-friendly."

"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."

"I would like to see more integration with other tools that are available on the market."

"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

"The pricing is average."

"It’s an open-source solution."

"The tool is not expensive."

"It is a free-of-charge service."

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

"The price is okay for me."

"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."

More Amazon CloudWatch pricing and cost advice

"I believe the current licensing cost is reasonable."

"Since it's a negotiable rate, I would rate the pricing as a five out of five."

"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."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Transportation Company

Financial Services Firm

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

University

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	2
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	7

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.

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What needs improvement with Amazon CloudWatch?

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Comparisons

Grafana Loki vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 16% of the time

Amazon OpenSearch Service vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 8% of the time

Zabbix vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 6% of the time

Dynatrace vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 5% of the time

Datadog vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 4% of the time

More Amazon CloudWatch Competitors

New Relic vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 15% of the time

Dynatrace vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 14% of the time

Splunk AppDynamics vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 8% of the time

Zabbix vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 8% of the time

IBM Instana Observability vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 5% of the time

More SolarWinds AppOptics Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch

January 2026

Download Amazon CloudWatch product report

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

January 2026

Download SolarWinds AppOptics product report

Also Known As

No data available

AppOptics, SolarWinds TraceView, Librato

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)

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

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

TraxoCovea Insurance BTE TechnologyDatarista

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. SolarWinds AppOptics

January 2026

Free Report: Amazon CloudWatch vs. SolarWinds AppOptics

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