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Datadog vs Splunk AppDynamics comparison

Datadog and Splunk are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Datadog is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7, while Splunk is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.2. Datadog holds a 8.5% mindshare in APM, compared to Splunk’s 4.6% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Datadog users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Splunk users who would recommend it.
Datadog
Read 188 Datadog reviews
  • 26,409 Views
  • 17,166 Comparison Views
97% willing to recommend
Splunk AppDynamics
Read 250 Splunk AppDynamics reviews
  • 11,969 Views
  • 9,575 Comparison Views
91% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 17, 2025

Splunk AppDynamics, Datadog, and Splunk compete in comprehensive monitoring and APM capabilities. Splunk AppDynamics seems to have an advantage in code-level deep dive analysis, while Datadog stands out for its user-friendly dashboarding and integration features.

Features: Splunk AppDynamics offers benefits like code-level deep dive analysis, JVM memory monitoring, and transaction snapshots that provide actionable insights. It also includes a thorough application flow map for visualization. Datadog is praised for strong dashboarding, an integrated tagging system, and slack integration, allowing for seamless monitoring and powerful API integrations, including APM support across multiple environments.

Room for Improvement: Splunk AppDynamics users report issues such as the complexity of licensing, high resource consumption, and difficult integration with older technologies. For Datadog, users emphasize a need for better pricing transparency, improvements in query performance, and the resolution of real-time data display delays and integration issues related to logs and metrics.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Splunk AppDynamics is mostly deployed on-premises, offering strong support across public cloud and hybrid environments, with praised customer service. Datadog primarily serves public cloud environments, noted for easy deployment and prompt customer service. Both solutions offer different user experiences based on technical demands and setup complexities.

Pricing and ROI: Splunk AppDynamics has a premium pricing model, causing concerns over complex licensing and high costs with additional features, though ROI is considered favorable due to performance enhancements. Datadog is seen as reasonably priced but can become expensive with additional features; its usage-based pricing may result in unexpected expenses. However, its detailed monitoring offers value by reducing downtime and optimizing performance, leading to a good ROI.

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Buyer's Guide
Datadog vs. Splunk AppDynamics
August 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Datadog enhances visibility, reduces downtime, saves costs, and optimizes workflows by integrating features and improving operational efficiency.
Sentiment score
7.3
Splunk AppDynamics enhances productivity and efficiency with faster issue resolution, cost reduction, and improved application performance and customer satisfaction.
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the Datadog report
According to errors, exceptions, and code-level details related to their application performance on a daily basis, the application development team tries to help with Splunk AppDynamics to reduce errors and exceptions, which helps the end users get application availability and feel more confident.
To understand the magnitude of it, when the company asked to replace Splunk AppDynamics with another tool, I indicated that for the proposed tool, we would need five people to do the analysis that Splunk AppDynamics enables me to do.
It's very hard to find ROI because we are currently focused only on the on-premises applications.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report
Gyanesh Rahatekar - PeerSpot reviewer
KM
NM
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
Datadog's customer service is responsive and knowledgeable, though some users report delays with complex queries and phone support.
Sentiment score
7.3
Splunk AppDynamics is praised for responsive support, though some users note room for improvement post-acquisition.
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the Datadog report
AppDynamics is much more helpful.
We got a contact, an account manager, to work directly with for technical support.
They help us resolve any issues raised by our team relating to operations, application instrumentation, or any other issues.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report
EG
NM
Gyanesh Rahatekar - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Datadog efficiently scales with cloud services, offering seamless expansion, though users highlight the importance of monitoring pricing.
Sentiment score
7.4
Splunk AppDynamics is adaptable and efficient for scaling, but pricing and microservices monitoring present challenges despite valuable insights.
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the Datadog report
We have reached maximum capacity in our tier, and extending capacity has not been cost-effective from Splunk's perspective.
I would rate the scalability of Splunk AppDynamics as a nine out of ten.
I did not find any Docker solution available with it, and a separate instance has to be installed.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report
reviewer2674446 - PeerSpot reviewer
KM
Muhammad Zeeshan Siddiqui - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Datadog offers reliable and stable performance with minimal downtime, impressive uptime, and efficient monitoring, even during peak periods.
Sentiment score
7.8
Splunk AppDynamics is highly stable with minimal downtime, responsive support, and consistent performance, scoring 7-10 in stability.
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the Datadog report
It is necessary to conduct appropriate testing before deploying them in production to prevent potential outages.
There are no issues or bugs with the 20.4 version; it is very stable with no functionality or operational issues.
I can rate it nine out of ten.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report
reviewer2674446 - PeerSpot reviewerGyanesh Rahatekar - PeerSpot reviewerMuhammad Zeeshan Siddiqui - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Room For Improvement

Datadog needs improved performance, interface simplification, clearer billing, better integration, customization, analytics, documentation, security, and mobile app integration.
Splunk AppDynamics needs improvements in UI, ease of use, integration, and cost-effective scalability to enhance user experience.
The documentation is adequate, but team members coming into a project could benefit from more guided, interactive tutorials, ideally leveraging real-world data.
In future updates, I would like to see AI features included in Datadog for monitoring AI spend and usage to make the product more versatile and appealing for the customer.
There should be a clearer view of the expenses.
For more quotes and insights, download the Datadog report
Splunk AppDynamics does not support the complete MELT framework, which includes metrics, events, logging, and tracing for the entire stack.
If AppDynamics could develop a means to monitor without an agent, it could significantly improve application performance and reduce potential problems.
A good integration with Splunk would be very interesting, as Splunk is a good product for logs, and that part is currently missing in Splunk AppDynamics.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report
Timothy Spangler - PeerSpot reviewer
IS
reviewer1599867 - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2674446 - PeerSpot reviewerMuhammad Zeeshan Siddiqui - PeerSpot reviewer
EG
 

Setup Cost

Datadog offers flexible pricing based on usage and organization size, with potential for high costs if not monitored closely.
Enterprise buyers find Splunk AppDynamics expensive, with complex licensing; comprehensive features may justify costs, but smaller firms struggle.
The setup cost for Datadog is more than $100.
For more quotes and insights, download the Datadog report
Customers have to pay a premium price, however, they receive considerable value from the product.
All these solutions at the moment are cheap, but it is like paying for insurance; you pay insurance to avoid major damage.
We find its pricing reasonable and competitive.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report
reviewer1599867 - PeerSpot reviewerMuhammad Zeeshan Siddiqui - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2674446 - PeerSpot reviewer
NM
 

Valuable Features

Datadog offers intuitive, comprehensive monitoring and integrations, enhancing infrastructure and application management with real-time insights and efficient operations.
Splunk AppDynamics provides comprehensive monitoring, user-friendly interface, and efficient root cause analysis for application environments and business transactions.
Our architecture is written in several languages, and one area where Datadog particularly shines is in providing first-class support for a multitude of programming languages.
The technology itself is generally very useful.
For more quotes and insights, download the Datadog report
We have multiple tools, but end users prefer to use Splunk AppDynamics because their portal navigation is very simple and clear.
The feature that I appreciate in AppDynamics Browser Real-User Monitoring is the intuitive and user-friendly dynamic mapping it creates for workflows.
What I like the most about Splunk AppDynamics is the end-to-end observability for the application, along with traces.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report
Timothy Spangler - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer1599867 - PeerSpot reviewerGyanesh Rahatekar - PeerSpot reviewerMuhammad Zeeshan Siddiqui - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2674446 - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Categories and Ranking

Datadog
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
1st
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
2nd
Ranking in Container Monitoring
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
188
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (4th), Log Management (3rd), Cloud Monitoring Software (2nd), AIOps (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (7th)
Splunk AppDynamics
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
4th
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
5th
Ranking in Container Monitoring
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
250
Ranking in other categories
IT Operations Analytics (2nd), Mobile APM (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Datadog is 8.5%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk AppDynamics is 4.6%, down from 5.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
 

Q&A Highlights

BH
Dec 10, 2020
Any advice about APM solutions?
The key is to have a holistic view over the complete infrastructure, the ones you have listed are great for APM if you need to monitor applications end to end. I have tested them all and have not found one capable to give me solutions they all report you have a problem but you need to figure out what the problems is. So we have decided to develop our own AI and it is not only monitoring OSI layer 1 -3 but layer 1-8 as well it give you a solution what has been wrong based on delays in transactions combined with security. We have deployed this now across healthcare in the USA as well Airports but it is working on every industry and working in a SaaS solution. But if I have a chose between the tools you mentioned, Dynatrace is the best choose it is easy to install and has a great interface. Also it has almost no configuration.
See all answers
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer820579 - PeerSpot reviewer
Single pane of glass, easy to share dashboards, and good for monitoring
We've had some issues where we had Datadog automatically turned on in AWS regions that we weren't using, which incurred a small but steady cost that amounted to tens of thousands of dollars spent over a few weeks. I wish there was a global setting that lets an admin restrict which regions DD is turned on in as a default setup step. Sometimes, the APM service dashboard link isn't sharable. I click something in the service catalog, and on that service's APM default view, I try to share a link to that with a teammate, and they reach a blank or error screen. I wish there was more organization and detail in the suggestions when I use the query editor. I'm never quite sure when the autofill dropdown shows up if I'm seeing some custom tag or some default property, so I have to know exactly what I'm looking for in order to build a chart. It's hard to navigate and explore using the query autofill suggestions without knowing exactly what tag to look for. It's been a bit hard to understand how data gets sampled or how many data points a particular dashboard value is using. We've had questions over the RUM metrics that we see and we had to ask for help with how values are calculated, bin sizes, etc to get confidence in our data.
Read full review
Gyanesh Rahatekar - PeerSpot reviewer
Application performance management and error resolution improved with data-driven insights
Dynatrace has multiple functions compared to Splunk AppDynamics, so Splunk AppDynamics should add those functions, which are not available as of now. Dynatrace has a universal agent that collects all information related to their CI, and if one CI has multiple languages, then there is no need to instrument multiple agents. However, Splunk AppDynamics requires multiple agents; if I have one server with multiple applications in different languages, then I need to instrument different agents for each application. Splunk AppDynamics should work with Dynatrace with one single universal agent that works with all application languages, eliminating the need for multiple implementations.
Read full review
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Answers from the Community

BH
Dec 8, 2020
Dec 8, 2020
Any advice about APM solutions?
There are many factors and we know little about your requirements (size of org, technology stack, management systems, the scope of implementation). Our goal was to consolidate APM and infra monitoring. We maintain critical processing on our mainframe so there was a desire to include this in our transaction trace. Due to a highly mature ELK implementation, we are not trying to incorporate log ...
2 out of 5 answers
reviewer802371 - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 20, 2020
Could you please share your requirements ? There are a lot tools can be added to the list. I spent almost 6 months to test and check many tools then I select eG enterprise.
Read full answer
reviewer1352679 - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 20, 2020
There are many factors and we know little about your requirements (size of org, technology stack, management systems, the scope of implementation). Our goal was to consolidate APM and infra monitoring.  We maintain critical processing on our mainframe so there was a desire to include this in our transaction trace.  Due to a highly mature ELK implementation, we are not trying to incorporate log analytics into solution buy may consider in the future.  We had AppD, Dynatrace, New Relic, and CA Wily all in house at the time of our evaluation.  We eliminated Datadog due to a lack of real user monitoring and AppD based on experience and licensing.  Between Dynatrace and New Relic, Dynatrace won based on the automation, integrated AI, support for "old" techs, and confidence we could eliminate multiple APM and infra monitoring tools.   I would not include products like BigPanda, MoogSoft, in this analysis. They are not monitoring solutions but event correlation solutions.  You will need additional monitoring products to capture data and feed them.  Having said that if you cannot consolidate tools you will likely need to purchase an event solution to make sense of all the alarms. We did evaluate these products but with Dynatrace AI did not feel the business value was there for the investment. Here's a quick pro/con list on Dynatrace & New Relic from our analysis. New Relic Pros: Insights is an awesome product and capability. Lots of capabilities and plugins to extend data collection. The APM dashboard is aesthetically pleasing and intuitive. Good training and documentation are available to support the product. New Relic Cons: Requires lots of manual configurations to implement and support.  Insights product requires an investment of time to achieve value. Licensing is a nightmare as there is virtually no transparency in what you are being charged for. Lack of solution to consolidate alerts across implementation other than significant investment in insights to manually achieve this.   Dynatrace Pros: Very simple to implement and maintain with out of the box automation which supports modern (cloud/Kubernetes) and "old" (mainframe). In-app chat is helpful.  High integration of infra and APM data for full-stack observability and engineering.  Topology and trace discovery is more reliable than other products or our CMDB.  Synthetics are easy to set up for any user. AI-assisted problem analysis on the trace discovery streamlines troubleshooting.  AI includes "events" in an analysis like VMotion, deployment events. Have not done yet but looking to leverage monitoring as code for a fully integrated and automated delivery pipeline. See keptn.sh open source project. Dynatrace Cons: User SQL lacks some functions of NRQL for user analysis.  Host, process, and service data is not available to query within the product.  Alarm processing lacks some granular controls. The Plug-in library is less robust. Good luck with your decision!
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See all 5 answers
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
29%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Any advice about APM solutions?
There are many factors and we know little about your requirements (size of org, technology stack, management systems, the scope of implementation). Our goal was to consolidate APM and infra monitor...
See all answers
Datadog vs ELK: which one is good in terms of performance, cost and efficiency?
With Datadog, we have near-live visibility across our entire platform. We have seen APM metrics impacted several times lately using the dashboards we have created with Datadog; they are very good c...
See all answers
Which would you choose - Datadog or Dynatrace?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Datadog or Dynatrace network monitoring software was the better fit for us. We decided to go with Dynatrace. Dynatrace offers network ...
See all answers
APM tools for a Managed Service Provider - Dynatrace vs. AppDynamics vs. Aternity vs. Ruxit
Hi Avi! It's great to see your thorough approach to selecting an APM package for your MSP company. Considering your focus on SMBs and enterprises in Israel, Dynatrace seems like a solid choice with...
See all answers
What do you like most about AppDynamics?
The solution saves time and cost.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AppDynamics?
I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten. The solution is highly expensive. Our company pays for the solution on a yearly basis, if we don't add new modules or features to the license, we need ...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Dynatrace vs Datadog Logo
Dynatrace vs Datadog
Compared 11% of the time
Azure Monitor vs Datadog Logo
Azure Monitor vs Datadog
Compared 9% of the time
Splunk Enterprise Security vs Datadog Logo
Splunk Enterprise Security vs Datadog
Compared 5% of the time
AWS X-Ray vs Datadog Logo
AWS X-Ray vs Datadog
Compared 4% of the time
Wiz vs Datadog Logo
Wiz vs Datadog
Compared 3% of the time
More Datadog Competitors
Dynatrace vs Splunk AppDynamics Logo
Dynatrace vs Splunk AppDynamics
Compared 14% of the time
Splunk Enterprise Security vs Splunk AppDynamics Logo
Splunk Enterprise Security vs Splunk AppDynamics
Compared 8% of the time
New Relic vs Splunk AppDynamics Logo
New Relic vs Splunk AppDynamics
Compared 8% of the time
Grafana vs Splunk AppDynamics Logo
Grafana vs Splunk AppDynamics
Compared 4% of the time
ITRS Geneos vs Splunk AppDynamics Logo
ITRS Geneos vs Splunk AppDynamics
Compared 4% of the time
More Splunk AppDynamics Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Datadog
August 2025
Datadog reportDownload Datadog product report
Buyer's Guide
Splunk AppDynamics
July 2025
Splunk AppDynamics reportDownload Splunk AppDynamics product report
 

Overview

Datadog is a comprehensive cloud monitoring platform designed to track performance, availability, and log aggregation for cloud resources like AWS, ECS, and Kubernetes. It offers robust tools for creating dashboards, observing user behavior, alerting, telemetry, security monitoring, and synthetic testing.

Datadog supports full observability across cloud providers and environments, enabling troubleshooting, error detection, and performance analysis to maintain system reliability. It offers detailed visualization of servers, integrates seamlessly with cloud providers like AWS, and provides powerful out-of-the-box dashboards and log analytics. Despite its strengths, users often note the need for better integration with other solutions and improved application-level insights. Common challenges include a complex pricing model, setup difficulties, and navigation issues. Users frequently mention the need for clearer documentation, faster loading times, enhanced error traceability, and better log management.

What are the key features of Datadog?

  • Graphs and Dashboards: Visualizes servers and infrastructure with customizable views.
  • Metrics: Offers deep insights into system performance and user behavior.
  • Log Management: Provides powerful analytics for logs and seamless log aggregation.
  • Unified Tagging: Facilitates organization and retrieval of metrics and logs.
  • APM and RUM: Enables application performance monitoring and real user monitoring for comprehensive insights.
  • Synthetic Testing: Allows the simulation of user interactions to test application performance.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

  • System Reliability: Helps ensure uptime and performance across cloud environments.
  • Proactive Issue Resolution: Assists in identifying and resolving issues before they impact users.
  • Operational Efficiency: Streamlines monitoring and log management tasks.
  • Flexible Integrations: Adapts to various cloud services and infrastructure setups.
  • Real-Time Alerts: Provides timely notifications to address problems swiftly.

Datadog is implemented across different industries, from tech companies monitoring cloud applications to finance sectors ensuring transactional systems' performance. E-commerce platforms use Datadog to track and visualize user behavior and system health, while healthcare organizations utilize it for maintaining secure, compliant environments. Every implementation assists teams in customizing monitoring solutions specific to their industry's requirements.

Datadog

Splunk AppDynamics enhances application performance monitoring with advanced diagnostics and real-time insights, offering seamless end-to-end transaction tracking and infrastructure visibility.

AppDynamics provides critical tools for businesses to analyze application behavior and performance. Through innovative features like transaction snapshot analysis and adaptable dashboards, users can quickly identify and address issues, ensuring high levels of system uptime and efficiency. It is designed to support complex environments including Kubernetes and AWS, enhancing user experience by detecting performance issues early. Despite needing improvements in network monitoring and integration, it remains a robust option for tracking application health.

What are the key features of AppDynamics?
  • Real-time Performance Monitoring: Offers immediate insights into application behavior.
  • Business Transaction Tracking: Tracks transactions from start to finish for bottleneck identification.
  • JVM Memory Monitoring: Provides detailed JVM metrics and memory use information.
  • Deep-dive Diagnostics: Enables in-depth analysis of code and stack traces.
  • Adaptable Dashboards: Customizable views for better data interpretation.
How does AppDynamics benefit users?
  • Improved Incident Resolution: Faster problem detection and solution implementation.
  • Enhanced Application Performance: Real-time monitoring optimizes system operations.
  • Comprehensive Visibility: Provides a full view of application infrastructure.
  • Informed Decision Making: Detailed analytics guide performance improvements.
  • Customer Satisfaction: Enhances user experience through faster issue resolutions.

In industries like financial services and e-commerce, AppDynamics facilitates performance tracking across distributed systems, optimizing infrastructure to meet consumer demands. It excels in environments needing precise transaction monitoring and is pivotal in delivering high value and satisfaction.

Splunk
 

Sample Customers

Adobe, Samsung, facebook, HP Cloud Services, Electronic Arts, salesforce, Stanford University, CiTRIX, Chef, zendesk, Hearst Magazines, Spotify, mercardo libre, Slashdot, Ziff Davis, PBS, MLS, The Motley Fool, Politico, Barneby's
Cisco, Sony, Nasdaq, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Edmunds.com, Puma, Fox News, DirecTV, Pizza Hut, T-Systems, Cornell University, OpenTable, BITMARCK, Green Mountain Power, Care.com, Overstock, Paddy Power, eHarmony, Kraft, The Motley Fool, The Container Store, and more See more customers
Buyer's Guide
Datadog vs. Splunk AppDynamics
August 2025
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