Azure Network Watcher vs Splunk Observability Cloud comparison

Microsoft and Splunk are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Microsoft is ranked #42 with an average rating of 8.5, while Splunk is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.3. Microsoft holds a 0.5% mindshare in NMS, compared to Splunk’s 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Splunk users who would recommend it.

Azure Network Watcher

Read 13 Azure Network Watcher reviews

1,676 Views
1,626 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Splunk Observability Cloud

Read 85 Splunk Observability Cloud reviews

14,270 Views
4,709 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Azure Network Watcher

Splunk Observability Cloud

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

Splunk Observability Cloud and Azure Network Watcher compete in the monitoring and observability space. Splunk Observability Cloud holds an edge for its comprehensive capabilities suitable for complex environments, while Azure Network Watcher specializes in Azure-specific network monitoring.

Features: Splunk Observability Cloud is tailored for complex environments with real-time insights and integration with tools like ServiceNow. It includes custom dashboards and APM monitoring for large data volumes. Azure Network Watcher is efficient for Azure environments, offering connection troubleshooting, network flow logs, and coverage of network use cases.

Room for Improvement: Splunk Observability Cloud could improve with more transparent pricing, enhanced log management, and a smoother learning curve. Users suggest a need for better alerting systems and increased integration capabilities. Azure Network Watcher would benefit from AI-based features, an improved GUI, and more comprehensive network tool integrations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Splunk Observability Cloud supports on-premises, hybrid, and cloud deployments. Customer service feedback is mixed, with noted responsiveness inconsistencies. Azure Network Watcher offers simpler, cloud-native deployment, praised for its affordability and network-specific technical support, though limited feedback is available on overall service.

Pricing and ROI: Splunk Observability Cloud is viewed as expensive, with cost based on data volume, but users report significant ROI from enhanced efficiencies. There’s a call for flexible pricing models. Azure Network Watcher is affordable for enterprise clients with reasonable pricing for large-scale deployments, potentially costly for smaller businesses, yet both solutions yield valuable returns through improved operational insights.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Network Watcher vs. Splunk Observability Cloud Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher vs. Splunk Observability Cloud

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

Azure Network Watcher

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

42nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Splunk Observability Cloud

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

7th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (7th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (7th), Cloud Monitoring Software (6th), Container Management (5th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Azure Network Watcher is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk Observability Cloud is 1.3%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Splunk Observability Cloud	1.3%
Azure Network Watcher	0.5%
Other	98.2%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Bijoyendra Roychowdhury

Program Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

Network monitoring provides comprehensive analytics while the interface requires further development

The quality of Azure Network Watcher is quite good in terms of the in-depth analysis you can create from these matrices. There are other monitoring tools such as New Relic, AppDynamics, and Dynatrace which provide very detailed network tracing. Cloud providers such as Azure or AWS do not have that kind of GUI-based capability at this point, but using PowerShell or Python, you can develop it yourself. From the GUI perspective, it still needs to evolve in terms of quality and standard, though overall, it is quite good for troubleshooting. Regarding areas for improvement, when comparing to other network tools beyond Azure Monitor or Azure Network Watcher, those tools can identify single failed packets. This level of granularity is not currently possible with cloud providers as they only go to a certain level rather than the granular level needed for deep troubleshooting, though they do provide hints with available matrices.

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Taiwo Ige

IT Operations Engineer at ABC Supply Co. Inc.

Alerting improves incident response across teams and enables faster awareness before customer impact

Splunk Observability Cloud could be improved in terms of integrations with more technical add-ons, such as Zoom. Although they have one with Zoom, it's not available in the cloud, so having that feature would be beneficial. Essentially, Splunk should continue expanding to create easier ways to ingest logs from different products. The out-of-the-box customizable dashboards in Splunk Observability Cloud are very effective in showcasing IT performance to business leaders. However, there are aspects that could be improved, such as linking dashboards to one another. While IT leaders may not drill down, it's crucial to create levels of dashboards for technical users to find root causes, making it effective for stakeholders.

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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

"I like the visibility."

"The stability is very good. I rate it a ten out of ten."

"Azure Network Watcher provides valuable features based on your specific requirements and use cases, helping you monitor network bandwidth, throughput, data flow consumption, and control costs by giving insight into egress and ingress traffic, total input and output operations, bandwidth, and threats through IP identification."

"It provides good visibility."

"The solution is good for monitoring device behavior."

"The solution is stable, there are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze, it's reliable."

"The solution is stable."

"We use the solution to monitor network services. It helps to capture any network issues."

More Azure Network Watcher pros

"The features of Splunk Observability Cloud that I prefer the most are its all-encompassing licensing model, which is comparatively better than others in the market."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to customize dashboards based on my queries or any other customization I may need."

"The solution overall is very valuable for me."

"Customer service and technical support respond very quickly."

"Great monitoring of network devices."

"The features I have found most valuable are log searching and log analytics, both of which are quick features."

"This solution is very quick to deploy as it is a SaaS solution and integrates with tools like ServiceNow."

"Splunk Observability Cloud has optimized our solutions and helped us understand the metrics."

More Splunk Observability Cloud pros

Cons

"User experience could be improved."

"Azure is good, however, the Fortinet GUI is more intuitive and I like it more than anything else."

"The solution could use some additional components of the network culture, not only VMs. I'd like to see some additional security features because what they currently have concentrates only on the network."

"It's not the most friendly or straightforward to set up. I don't see the value versus the way you have to set it up at first."

"There are some occasional downtimes, but these were based on Azure-specific issues."

"Azure Network Watcher could improve by having other built-in applications, for example, an application to log activities for inbound and outbound traffic."

"The initial setup and initial learning curve could be improved to be easier."

"Azure Network Watcher needs to have better documentation and it needs to capture information accurately."

More Azure Network Watcher cons

"It does not have a user-friendly interface and it is difficult to use."

"They do not have all the features that I expect right now."

"Primarily, the logs in Splunk APM can be challenging to navigate and comprehend, making it difficult to understand the details within each log. Compared to other tools like LogDNA, which are more intuitive in this aspect, the logs in Splunk APM can require more effort to understand."

"The licensing model is expensive. We need to monitor the amount of data ingested because the cost is based on the data collected."

"The dashboards are used mainly to visualize information about the infrastructure, but it isn't easy to construct or use the dashboards. While we tried to resolve the issue by calling support, it would be easier if they had an AI co-pilot to identify the problem and help you solve it."

"It would be beneficial to have more enhanced features with capabilities to adapt more integrated applications. Improvements in dashboard configuration, customization, and artificial intelligence functionalities are desired."

"The learning curve for understanding all features should be improved, and the cost can increase."

"They need more EDR functionalities."

More Splunk Observability Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Azure Network Watcher is a little bit expensive."

"The pricing is good. It's not too expensive."

"Price-wise, I have no information on how much Azure Network Watcher costs."

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"The solution's pricing is competitive. I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten. The price of the solution could be cheaper."

"This is an expensive solution."

"Splunk has been fairly expensive, but it has been predictable."

"Splunk Observability Cloud is expensive."

"I would rate the price of Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring as an eight out of ten, with ten being the most expensive."

"It appears to be expensive compared to competitors."

"Splunk offers a 14-day free trial and after that, we have to pay but the cost is reasonable."

"Splunk APM is a very cost-efficient solution."

More Splunk Observability Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

22%

Construction Company

10%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	30
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	55

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Network Watcher?

I do not have the exact setup cost information on hand, but it is available in the public Azure portal. You can access the calculator there to get detailed pricing information.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Network Watcher?

The main area for improvement is AI-based features. Currently, many intelligent tools are coming from third parties, and Azure Network Watcher needs to improve in this area. The focus should be on ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Azure Network Watcher?

Azure Network Watcher is used for monitoring network traffic. It provides insight into egress and ingress traffic, which helps determine whether consumption can be controlled. Most Azure services c...

See all answers

What do you like most about SignalFx?

The most valuable feature is dashboard creation.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SignalFx?

Regarding dashboard customization, while Splunk has many dashboard building options, customers sometimes need to create specific dashboards, particularly for applicative metrics such as Java and pr...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SignalFx?

The solution involves observability in general, such as Application Performance Monitoring, and generally addresses digital applications, web applications, sites, and mobile applications. I worked ...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 17% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 2% of the time

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Compared 2% of the time

VMware Aria Operations for Applications vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

Grafana vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher

May 2026

Download Azure Network Watcher product report

Buyer's Guide

Splunk Observability Cloud

April 2026

Download Splunk Observability Cloud product report

Also Known As

No data available

Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring, Splunk Real User Monitoring (RUM), Splunk Synthetic Monitoring

Overview

Azure Network Watcher provides advanced network monitoring capabilities including packet capture, cloud-native firewall, and traffic diagnosis, aiding in VPN troubleshooting and security enforcement with enhanced visibility and alerting features.

Azure Network Watcher is essential for monitoring, diagnosing, and analyzing network traffic. It efficiently handles VPN connection issues and enhances network security by capturing and analyzing traffic to assess performance or latency problems. The tool facilitates traffic flow control, security rule verification, and bandwidth monitoring. Users benefit from its capabilities in diagnosing service connections, offering insights into network activity, and identifying potential threats, crucial for maintaining compliance and efficient network management.

What are the key features of Azure Network Watcher?

Packet Capture: Enables detailed network traffic inspection to troubleshoot issues.
Cloud-Native Application Firewall: Provides enhanced protection for applications running in the cloud.
Traffic Monitoring: Allows for real-time analysis and troubleshooting of network traffic.
NSG Flow Logs & AI-Based Monitoring: Enhances flow control and threat detection.
Alerting & Threshold Configuration: Offers customizable alerts via Azure Monitor for proactive management.

What benefits can users look for in reviews?

Improved Network Security: Helps in identifying and mitigating threats efficiently.
Enhanced Visibility: Provides clear insights into network operations and potential issues.
Compliance Support: Assists in maintaining regulatory compliance with thorough monitoring capabilities.
Effective Bandwidth Management: Facilitates control and optimization of network bandwidth.

In industries like finance and healthcare, Azure Network Watcher is implemented to ensure robust security and compliance, crucial for safeguarding sensitive data. It aids retail and manufacturing sectors in optimizing network performance and maintaining seamless connectivity, supporting their digital infrastructure needs.

Microsoft

Splunk Observability Cloud offers sophisticated log searching, data integration, and customizable dashboards. With rapid deployment and ease of use, this cloud service enhances monitoring capabilities across IT infrastructures for comprehensive end-to-end visibility.

Focused on enhancing performance management and security, Splunk Observability Cloud supports environments through its data visualization and analysis tools. Users appreciate its robust application performance monitoring and troubleshooting insights. However, improvements in integrations, interface customization, scalability, and automation are needed. Users find value in its capabilities for infrastructure and network monitoring, as well as log analytics, albeit cost considerations and better documentation are desired. Enhancements in real-time monitoring and network protection are also noted as areas for development.

What are the key features?

Log Searching: Efficiently search and analyze logs from various sources.
Data Integration: Seamlessly integrate with multiple environments.
Dashboard Customization: Tailor dashboards to specific monitoring needs.
Monitoring Capabilities: Provides comprehensive insights into application performance.
Security Features: Analyze and address security threats across systems.
Visualization Tools: Enhance data analysis and system performance optimization.

Why consider this for ROI?

Comprehensive Visibility: Gain complete insights into IT infrastructure.
Performance Optimization: Improve overall system performance and efficiency.
Rapid Deployment: Quick setup to meet organization demands swiftly.
Enhanced Security: Strengthen security measures through detailed analytics.

In industries, Splunk Observability Cloud is implemented for security management by analyzing logs from detection systems, offering real-time alerts and troubleshooting for cloud-native applications. It is leveraged for machine data analysis, improving infrastructure visibility and supporting network and application performance management efforts.

Splunk

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Sunrun, Yelp, Onshape, Tapjoy, Symphony Commerce, Chairish, Clever, Grovo, Bazaar Voice, Zenefits, Avalara

Buyer's Guide

Azure Network Watcher vs. Splunk Observability Cloud

April 2026

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