Splunk AppDynamics vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications comparison

Splunk and VMware are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Splunk is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3, while VMware is ranked #28 with an average rating of 9.0. Splunk holds a 4.6% mindshare in APM, compared to VMware’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Splunk users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of VMware users who would recommend it.

Splunk AppDynamics

Read 249 Splunk AppDynamics reviews

11,994 Views
6,410 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

VMware Aria Operations for ...

Read 12 VMware Aria Operations for Applications reviews

1,509 Views
968 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Splunk AppDynamics

VMware Aria Operations for ...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 11, 2025

AppDynamics and VMware Aria Operations for Applications are both prominent players in the application performance management category. Based on the comparison, AppDynamics seems to have the upper hand with its broad perspective through integrated dashboards and comprehensive monitoring, while VMware focuses on real-time statistics and performance enhancements.

Features: AppDynamics offers comprehensive server and usability monitoring, allowing visualization of website functions and real-time user experience tracking. Its support for a wide range of technologies and ease of use makes it suitable for large organizations. VMware Aria Operations for Applications provides capacity planning, real-time statistics, and problem identification to enhance application performance.

Room for Improvement: AppDynamics needs to improve its cloud capabilities, dashboard customization, and synthetic scripting to align with modern trends. Its pricing and licensing models are complex. VMware can improve by reducing high licensing costs and enhancing integration capabilities, especially within Kubernetes clusters and APIs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: AppDynamics supports flexible deployment in on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, with praised but costly support. VMware is favored for seamless on-premises deployment and efficient service, encouraging integration within existing infrastructures.

Pricing and ROI: AppDynamics is considered expensive due to its complex licensing, yet provides strong ROI through problem resolution in large environments. VMware's pricing is also high but offers a potentially more cost-effective solution over time for environments needing integrated performance monitoring and optimization.

To learn more, read our detailed Splunk AppDynamics vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications Report (Updated: May 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Splunk AppDynamics vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications

May 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 859,579 peers since 2012

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

Splunk AppDynamics

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

3rd

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

5th

Ranking in Container Monitoring

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

249

Ranking in other categories

IT Operations Analytics (2nd), Mobile APM (1st)

VMware Aria Operations for ...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

28th

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

30th

Ranking in Container Monitoring

6th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Monitoring Software (23rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Splunk AppDynamics is 4.6%, down from 6.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Operations for Applications is 0.9%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Gyanesh Rahatekar

Back office at Reliance Industries Ltd

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

ToniLindberg

senior consultant at Virtual Consultants Sverige AB

Troubleshooting capabilities have improved application monitoring and support engagement

I can see what happens end to end, which is pretty beneficial. The solution has troubleshooting capabilities, providing a direct connection to knowledge base articles from VMware Broadcom. When I encounter an error, I can search directly within the system to see what solutions have been employed by others. It has a familiar interface, which makes it easy to get started.

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 is a wonderful monitoring tool that manages various aspects such as system resources (CPU, RAM), mobile performance, and infrastructure monitoring."

"AppDynamics is easy to implement if you follow the documentation, and the documentation that they provide is good."

"I have found the main feature of the solution to be its ability to analyze an application's code to see where there are issues. Additionally, it is easy to use and configure."

"The product's initial setup phase is easy since a separate machine is required, and it is not directly installed on a database as it is a type of proxy."

"AppDynamics' most valuable features are the response time of the business transaction modules, the ability to monitor multiple services, and testing and developing environments."

"The SAP monitoring element is very helpful."

"The best feature of AppDynamics Browser Real-User Monitoring is that it lets you find errors in synthetic jobs ahead of the users. The solution shows you all front-end metrics. You can also see JavaScript errors and jQuery errors through AppDynamics Browser Real-User Monitoring. You can also do a correlation between the front end and the backend, or from the user to the navigator, to the backend through the solution."

"Visibility to the end-users is a valuable feature."

More Splunk AppDynamics pros

"I gladly recommend VMware Aria Operations for Applications because it is cost effective and has commendable AI response capabilities."

"I find VMware Aria Operations for Applications to be very stable, and I would rate it a ten out of ten."

"VMware Aria Operations for Applications offers significant features such as real-time statistics, the ability to identify possible issues within the VM environment, and helpful heat maps."

"People are very pleased with the implementation."

"VMware comes with a support team, and if you have trouble, you can easily create a ticket, and VMware will help you. Therefore, the best aspect is the support."

"The features I find most valuable is the querying and alerting capabilities."

"This solution allows me to have true visibility for any metrics when it comes to my cloud, and private."

"Tanzu itself, integrated with multiple solutions, bestows support and security upon a container platform, especially when it comes to managing open-source container platforms such as Kubernetes."

More VMware Aria Operations for Applications pros

Cons

"If AppDynamics could do a one-agent function with their actual monitoring effectiveness, it will be the greatest tool."

"Splunk AppDynamics provides an end-to-end view of the application but misses the infrastructure part, which is crucial."

"One aspect that requires improvement is the agent. Without an agent, gathering sufficient information on applications is challenging."

"One area for improvement is the MST model. It would be more helpful if it could be offered as a managed service provider model with more multi-tenancy and features."

"Things are being done differently in the industry now, and many of these problems are being solved with cloud databases."

"The integration ability of AppDynamics with other performance testing tools is an area with shortcomings where improvements are required."

"The solution's pricing could be improved and made more competitive."

"AppDynamics Server Monitoring has room for improvement in terms of pricing. If the price could be cheaper, it would be great for both the customer and the integrator. What I'd like to see in the next release of AppDynamics Server Monitoring is a better dashboard for the customer. The dashboard should be more interactive."

More Splunk AppDynamics cons

"I find that there could be improvements in the support service response time, as the urgency varies unless specified as Priority 2 or 1 cases."

"Its billing model is consumption-based. I understand the consumption-based model, but it is not necessarily easy to estimate and guess how many points or how much we are going to consume on a specific application up until we get to that point. So, for us, it would be helpful to have more insights or predictability into what we can expect from a cost perspective if we are starting to use specific features. This can potentially also drive our consumption a bit more."

"I would like to see integration with Kubernetes cluster and APIs so that you can manage the entire stack."

"The initial setup should be easier and more seamless."

"It could use a URL document server. Everything in the market is moving towards automation and everybody's looking for the single click operations as well relational data locality."

"In the new version, I would love to see more prediction capabilities. It would be great if one could see the alerts get a little more enriched with information and become more human-friendly instead of the technical stuff that they put in there. I think those would be really awesome outcomes to get."

"An area for improvement would be more in-depth reporting, such as analyzing disk IO during business hours compared to after hours."

"The return on investment is best suited for organizations that do not have the resources for a dedicated VM environment team. However, the cost of the product doesn't show significant benefits."

More VMware Aria Operations for Applications cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As compared to other applications, its price is moderate. Its price is neither very high nor very low."

"I rate AppDynamics Mobile Real-User Monitoring's pricing as seven out of ten. Mobile monitoring is paid based on the number of instances utilizing the mobile monitoring service, which increases as the scale grows. Consequently, your mobile user count can proportionally surpass all other applications."

"For those who appreciate the value and had issues with the visibility of the performance of their applications, then the pricing is good. For somebody who does not need it, it can be pricey, but overall, it is worth the money which it costs."

"The way it is structured in terms of price could be better. You pay for individual modules and that adds on to the cost, which detracts you from implementing those modules and slows you down."

"AppDynamics Database Monitoring requires a license for database monitoring and other features, while Dynatrace provides monitoring and other features out of the box without additional costs. Sometimes this makes it more challenging to pitch AppDynamics Database Monitoring to customers, especially because you need to buy a separate license. As an implementer, I have yet to learn about the pricing for AppDynamics Database Monitoring. Pricing is taken care of by the sales team."

"There is a license needed to use the solution and it is expensive. The licensing model needs to improve."

"Purchasing the product through the AWS Marketplace was good."

"We have two different licensing models for this solution. One of them is the agent based model, which requires payment per agent. The other is an infrastructure based model, where the price is based on the CPU core. For the infrastructure model wholesale level pricing applies. All of the up to date licensing prices for this product are available on the manufacturers website."

More Splunk AppDynamics pricing and cost advice

"I don't have the details. In our case, there is a mixture in place. We have production usage, and we are also doing training for VMware. So, we also have a training instance. It is worth the money you would spend on it. That's because if you were to build all of this yourself by using some of the open source tools, then you would need a lot of time."

"The licensing costs are very high, particularly when you consider that we have to purchase a level 1 license for every integration, such as the load balancer, HAProxy, and the MSSP. And if you want to use vSAN, that's another license. Then, of course, Tanzu Observability has its own separate license."

"Different locations require different setups. In your terms, around 300 to around 400K USD."

"I would rate the pricing as three out of five."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

859,579 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

24%

Educational Organization

20%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

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

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 VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?

The cost of VMware Aria Operations for Applications is fair and reasonable compared to what we receive in support and packages from VMware.

See all answers

What needs improvement with VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?

I find that there could be improvements in the support service response time, as the urgency varies unless specified as Priority 2 or 1 cases.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront?

Our primary use case for VMware Aria Operations for Applications is to enhance application monitoring tasks, allowing us to set up alerts for different components and send them via SMTP to a team d...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dynatrace vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 15% of the time

Datadog vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 9% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 8% of the time

New Relic vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 8% of the time

Grafana vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 5% of the time

More Splunk AppDynamics Competitors

Grafana vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 12% of the time

Dynatrace vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 10% of the time

Zabbix vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 7% of the time

Prometheus Group vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 6% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Compared 5% of the time

More VMware Aria Operations for Applications Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Splunk AppDynamics

June 2025

Download Splunk AppDynamics product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Aria Operations for Applications

June 2025

VMware Aria Operations for Applications report

Download VMware Aria Operations for Applications product report

Also Known As

No data available

Tanzu Observability, Wavefront, Wavefront by VMware, VMware Tanzu Observability

Overview

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

VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront is a powerful tool for monitoring and analyzing the performance and availability of applications and infrastructure in real-time.

With its comprehensive monitoring capabilities, visualizing and analyzing data becomes effortless. The real-time alerting system ensures timely issue resolution, while scalability and a user-friendly interface provide a seamless experience for smooth operations.

VMware

Sample Customers

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

1. Atlassian 2. Cisco 3. Databricks 4. DigitalOcean 5. Equinix 6. Fidelity Investments 7. Google 8. Hewlett Packard Enterprise 9. Honeywell 10. IBM 11. Intel 12. JetBlue Airways 13. LinkedIn 14. Lyft 15. Mastercard 16. Microsoft 17. MongoDB 18. Netflix 19. Nvidia 20. Oracle 21. PayPal 22. Pinterest 23. Qualcomm 24. Red Hat 25. Salesforce 26. SAP 27. Spotify 28. Square 29. TMobile 30. Twitter 31. Uber 32. VMware

Buyer's Guide

Splunk AppDynamics vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications

May 2025

Free Report: Splunk AppDynamics vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Find out what your peers are saying about Splunk AppDynamics vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

859,579 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Splunk AppDynamics vs. VMware Aria Operations for Applications report.

See our list of best Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability vendors, best IT Infrastructure Monitoring vendors, and best Container Monitoring vendors.

We monitor all Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.