CA App Synthetic Monitor vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Broadcom and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Broadcom is ranked #74, while SolarWinds is ranked #22 with an average rating of 8.0. Broadcom holds a 0.6% mindshare in APM, compared to SolarWinds’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 66% of Broadcom users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

CA App Synthetic Monitor

Read 3 CA App Synthetic Monitor reviews

1,884 Views
1,865 Comparison Views

66% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Read 44 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews

8,842 Views
4,952 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

CA App Synthetic Monitor

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and CA App Synthetic Monitor compete in IT infrastructure monitoring and application performance. SolarWinds has an advantage in support and pricing, while CA App Synthetic Monitor is superior in features, offering better value for its cost.

Features: SolarWinds provides comprehensive server monitoring, application performance tracking, and an intuitive interface for diagnostics. CA App Synthetic Monitor features advanced synthetic transaction monitoring and robust analytics tools that cater to complex monitoring requirements. SolarWinds is strong in server and hardware monitoring, whereas CA App is recognized for its cloud-based synthetic monitoring capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds offers flexible on-premises deployment with comprehensive support, making it responsive to customer needs. CA App Synthetic Monitor, with its straightforward cloud-based setup, allows for easier scaling and management. SolarWinds is known for its support responsiveness, while CA App offers simpler deployment options appealing to businesses looking for ease of setup.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds presents a competitive pricing model with strong ROI, focusing on server and network performance for cost-effectiveness in comprehensive monitoring. CA App Synthetic Monitor comes with higher setup costs due to its advanced capabilities but provides valuable insights into user experience that justify the investment for businesses. SolarWinds is more budget-friendly, whereas CA App delivers deep analytics for those willing to invest more.

To learn more, read our detailed CA App Synthetic Monitor vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

CA App Synthetic Monitor vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

September 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

CA App Synthetic Monitor

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

74th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

22nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (5th), Active Directory Management (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of CA App Synthetic Monitor is 0.6%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.0%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor	1.0%
CA App Synthetic Monitor	0.6%
Other	98.4%

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

reviewer2286675

System Administrator at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

A reliable solution for SSL offloading and to encrypt outside traffic

If you are responsible for monitoring the logs in F5, it isn't very easy. The format is complicated compared to different vendors. For example, Fortinet and Cisco have feasible formats for sending and fetching logs. Suppose I'm monitoring the logs and everything, and when I am retrieving logs from F5, I want to know whether it is regular traffic or any abnormality is happening. The logs itself is not user-friendly. It may not give you a clear way of what's happening. You have to go through different websites and work on it. You have to waste so much time on it.

Read full review

NikhilKalwint

Technical Specialist at ServiceIO

Monitoring over a thousand systems has improved decision making and operational visibility

From an advantage perspective, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is comparatively cheaper from a commercial point of view. It is easy to install and configure, very user-friendly, and quick to get up and running, allowing you to see the early value adds in your organization. It is compatible with most technologies for monitoring with very few chances of incompatibility. Configuration also allows us to monitor all the technical parameters we are looking for, making it a very good experience for us. The alerting feature in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is a main advantage, as it alerts based on threshold breaches and can raise tickets to the ticketing system, send SMS, and email notifications, allowing engineers to work on those tickets to resolve issues and avoid further impact. The visibility into server health is a beneficial feature that I am utilizing. We widely use various application performance metrics in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor such as database monitoring and server monitoring, which are quite good enough for any monitoring solution. We utilize the customizable dashboards in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor.

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

"Each had strengths in one area or another, but CA covered the majority of our needs end-to-end."

"From our experience, it really helps managers in measuring application SLAs and viewing historical performance data."

"As I mentioned in one of the other points: "Simplicity at its best"."

"The recommendations are a life saver."

"There are many valuable features, including the network configuration manager, and the network performance manager."

"Monitoring of processes and services is the most valuable feature; it is not necessarily just the server alone in terms of the CPU or the memory, as we can go in-depth into services and processes."

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is the network devices' performance monitor is the best."

"Manage Groups: The capability to group appropriate devices gives better visibility of sites, categories, or critical regions. The same can be used to represent a dashboard for higher management."

"I find it to be a strong product suite, particularly when you need a comprehensive monitoring tool."

"The solution is end-to-end from the network and the application to the processes. Everything about the enterprise infrastructure is being covered by the solution. It's easy to use and easy to navigate and one of the leaders among monitoring solutions."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

Cons

"The RBMS component is limited as you can only record using Internet Explorer."

"Pricing makes little sense. We had examples where it would be cheaper to have two basic accounts than one intermediate."

"The technical support is nothing special."

"Support for the IBM Mainframe is needed."

"The tool's AppStack needs to improve in the storage monitoring part. It should also include an analytics and recommendation approach. If I have found a fault in a server or application, I would like to know what caused it and how do I recover from it."

"The current script monitoring feature has limitations, especially when dealing with custom scripts."

"Mapping interactions between systems."

"I believe that some of the trends, environmental maps, and items like those found in Orion would be very beneficial."

"It lacks a user experience for measuring things like the end-to-end time for which a user waits for a specific response in the system. In the application layer, it has some very basic stuff. You have to build your own with manuscripts and things like that."

"The technical support team's response time could be improved."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Understanding the counts of objects to monitor will determine the licensing need. In terms of pricing, it’s not cheap but it’s not expensive as larger vendors whose products don’t have all the features or integrations."

"The tool is available for my company at a good price point."

"The product is expensive."

"SAM is not per server so the pricing model can be deceiving. If you have an enterprise environment, you will quickly exceed your licensing quickly. You should know this before going in."

"Nagios XI, WhatsUpGold, Uptime Software, PRTG, Manage Engine, and SpiceWorks are the other tools that have lower pricing and licensing costs. However, they can't compete with SolarWinds when it comes to the features and functionality that SolarWinds can provide."

"The product might cost you $30,000 USD to buy, but scaling this solution requires the purchase of additional polling engines at $20,000 USD each."

"Pricing is inexpensive, starting at 2440 euros. For that, you get the ability to monitor a couple of nodes and one year of maintenance and support."

"When compared to other licensed models in the market, it stands out as one of the more cost-effective options."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

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.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Educational Organization

13%

University

Financial Services Firm

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	21

Questions from the Community

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Earn 20 points

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

The initial cost is quite high, but the renewal cost is reasonable.

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What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

There is definitely room for improvement besides simplifying its setup. As a non-technical person, I believe the dashboards could be improved. Everything we use appears on video walls, and we need ...

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What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

I am doing research as we currently have both solutions, and I am looking to see if we need both or can manage with one. Currently, the outcome indicates that we need both. The focus point is diffe...

See all answers

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Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

September 2026

Download CA App Synthetic Monitor product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

September 2026

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

Also Known As

CA ASM

SolarWinds SAM

Overview

CA App Synthetic Monitor provides proactive monitoring of web applications and services to ensure performance and availability. It allows businesses to identify and resolve problems before they impact users.

By simulating user interactions and analyzing application performance, CA App Synthetic Monitor enables businesses to maintain optimal service levels. This cloud-based solution offers a comprehensive view of application health through real-time monitoring and alerts, facilitating quick identification of performance bottlenecks and outages. It helps IT teams enhance user experience by predicting potential issues and optimizing resource allocation. Its flexibility and scalability cater to a range of business needs.

What are key features of CA App Synthetic Monitor?

Real-Time Monitoring: Continuous monitoring of web applications to detect issues quickly.
Global Reach: Simulate user transactions from multiple locations worldwide.
Custom Alerts: Set up customized alerts for specific performance thresholds.
Detailed Reporting: Access in-depth analysis of application performance metrics.
Scalability: Easily scalable to match growing business demands.

What benefits or ROI should users expect?

Improved User Experience: By identifying issues early, end-users encounter fewer disruptions.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces downtime-related costs through early detection and resolution.
Enhanced Reliability: Ensures application reliability and reduces service outages.
Time Saving: Automates performance checks to save time for IT teams.

Industries such as e-commerce, finance, and IT services implement CA App Synthetic Monitor to ensure their software systems remain performant under various conditions. For e-commerce, it assures checkout processes run smoothly. Financial sectors use it to guarantee secure and reliable transaction handling. IT services leverage its capabilities to maintain service level agreements, ensuring customer satisfaction in digital interactions.

Broadcom

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provides comprehensive server, application, and infrastructure monitoring, focusing on integration, application dependency, and network insights through user-friendly interfaces and detailed dashboards.

With AppStack and AppInsight support, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor offers service management, detailed resource dashboards, and integration capabilities. It monitors hardware metrics and performance parameters, facilitating database and network insights for cloud and virtual environments. Robust alerting, predictive analytics, and capacity planning ensure efficient management of server health and application performance.

What are the key features?

Integration: Seamlessly connects with existing tools.
AppStack: Provides a holistic view of applications.
AppInsight: Supports widely-used applications.
SNMP Polling: Efficient network data collection.
Diagnostics: Real-time troubleshooting.
Customizable Dashboards: Tailored monitoring views.

What benefits should users expect?

Comprehensive Monitoring: Extends from servers to databases.
Transparent Control: Enhances visibility into performance metrics.
User-Friendly: Simplifies proactive monitoring with alerts.
Predictive Features: Supports capacity and trend planning.

Industries implement SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor to enhance server utilization reporting, network configuration, and AV equipment performance tracking. They benefit from monitoring critical services across diverse deployment models, improving management efficiency and decision-making.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Lexmark

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

Buyer's Guide

CA App Synthetic Monitor vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

September 2026

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