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Elastic Observability vs IBM Application Performance Management comparison

Elastic and IBM are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Elastic is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.1, while IBM is ranked #52 with an average rating of 7.0. Elastic holds a 5.0% mindshare in APM, compared to IBM’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Elastic users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 62% of IBM users who would recommend it.
Elastic Observability
Read 27 Elastic Observability reviews
  • 9,500 Views
  • 6,729 Comparison Views
88% willing to recommend
IBM Application Performance...
Read 7 IBM Application Performance Management reviews
  • 803 Views
  • 460 Comparison Views
62% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

IBM Application Performance Management and Elastic Observability compete in the field of application performance monitoring and observability. IBM stands out for its customer support and ease of setup, while Elastic is notable for its advanced features and scalability.

Features: IBM offers detailed transaction tracking, predictive insights, and robust monitoring tools. Elastic provides unified logging, metrics, and tracing capabilities, along with integrated observability tools for managing diverse applications.

Room for Improvement: IBM could enhance integration capabilities, UI responsiveness, and documentation. Elastic needs better documentation, simpler configuration options, and improved user interface design.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM is praised for straightforward deployment and exceptional customer service. Elastic, although complex to set up, is valued for its efficient troubleshooting tools and technical support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM's competitive pricing offers good ROI, particularly for enterprises needing extensive support. Elastic, while pricier, delivers strong value through its advanced features and scalability.

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To learn more, read our detailed Elastic Observability vs. IBM Application Performance Management Report (Updated: June 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Elastic Observability vs. IBM Application Performance Management
June 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Elastic Observability
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (11th), Log Management (16th), Container Monitoring (4th), Cloud Monitoring Software (7th)
IBM Application Performance...
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
52nd
Average Rating
6.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Elastic Observability is 5.0%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Application Performance Management is 0.3%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
 

Featured Reviews

Adelina Craciun - PeerSpot reviewer
Customization enables tailored monitoring and alerting across departments
The possibility to customize it has been quite useful. Whatever the other departments want to dream up, we implement. Whatever they want to monitor, the granularity of it, the changes in the threshold, and the anomalies that they want reported all require some development. So far, every single request has been fulfilled.
Read full review
Daniel Tamiru - PeerSpot reviewer
A multi-functional solution but has poor stability and performance-related issues
We are using version 4 of IBM Application Performance Management, and it is deployed on-premises. We use it for internet banking and mainly for application performance on-site. For example, if we face performance-related issues in one of our software or managed services, we use this solution to…
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

"For full stack observability, Elastic is the best tool compared with any other tool ."
"The solution allows us to dig deep into data."
"It is a powerful tool that allows users to collect and transform logs as needed, enabling flexible visualization and analysis."
"We can view and connect different sources to the dashboard using it."
"I recommend Elastic Observability for its completeness of vision and wide ecosystem."
"The price is very less expensive compared to the other solutions."
"The solution is open-source and helps with back-end logging. It is also easy to handle."
"The most valuable feature of Elastic Observability is the text search."
More Elastic Observability pros
"IBM Application Performance Management helped us increased our response time by 80% and cost 60% less."
"The initial setup was straightforward and took minimal effort."
"It's easy to use."
"The most valuable feature is the breakdown that it provides, such as a description of the fields for a particular transaction."
"I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten."
"The transaction tracking feature from IBM is the most important feature for us. It is something that provides a terrific value for us and our clients. It has a lot of data sources and agents that are collectors. It is also stable."
"Because we have partnerships with other partners, I can share a bit about what I've noticed with IBM APM compared to other vendor solutions. Specifically, with IBM, the visibility into detailed process information is more tangible. On the OS level, APM displays all processes (or the top 10 processes) that are consuming CPU or resident memory. This is the most important thing that is not always available with other vendors."
 

Cons

"The solution needs to use more AI. Once the product onboards AI, users would more effectively be able to track endpoints for specific messages."
"The auto-discovery isn't nearly as good. That's a big portion of it. When you drop the agent onto the JVM and you're trying to figure things out, having to go through and manually do all that is cumbersome."
"Elastic Observability is reactive rather than proactive. It should act as an ITSM tool and be able to create tickets and alerts on Jira."
"Elastic Observability is difficult to use. There are only three options for customization but this can be difficult for our use case. We do not have other options to choose the metrics shown, such as CPU or memory usage."
"One example is the inability to monitor very old databases with the newest version."
"I am familiar with Azure Monitor, which I find more user-friendly compared to Elastic, which is a very technical tool."
"There's a steep learning curve if you've never used this solution before."
"Elastic Observability needs to have better standardization, logging, and schema."
More Elastic Observability cons
"The stability is not great and should be better."
"Technical support can be slow and needs improvement."
"The demo that was provided to us is not working very well. At times, there are errors."
"It's still missing some platforms. For example, if you look to applications itself, it is missing the interface."
"They should focus on potentially enhancing the dashboard to make it more contemporary and adding some customization options. Furthermore, there might be room for improvement in the pricing policy."
"Its web user interface is a little bit old in comparison to other solutions, such as New Relic, and it should be improved. Its scalability and technical support should also be improved. Currently, it is scalable, but only in a vertical way. They provide good technical support, but the initial steps for a new case can be improved to fasten the resolution process."
"With APM, we noticed that the agent can cause a lot of issues for the application, making the agent very unreliable. Many issues are happening, and we've had to discuss it with support to try and get a fix. It affects application availability, and sometimes actions fail because of the agent, degrading the performance of the application."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Elastic Observability is expensive."
"We will buy a premium license after POC."
"One needs to pay for the licenses, and it is an annual subscription model right now."
"We have been using the open-source version."
"There are two types: cloud and SaaS. They charge based on data ingestion, ingest rate, hard retention, and warm retention. I believe it costs around $25,000 annually to ingest 30GB of data daily. That is the SaaS version. There is also a self-managed license where the customer manages their own infrastructure on-prem. In such cases, there are three license tiers that respectively cost $5,000 annually per node, $7,000 per node, and $12,500 per node."
"Elastic Observability's pricing could be better for small-scale users."
"Users have to pay for some features, like the alerts on different channels, because they are unavailable in different source versions."
"So far, there are just the standard licensing fees. Several of the components are embedded in the license or are even open source. They're even free depending on what you use, which makes it even more appealing to someone that is discussing pricing of the solution."
More Elastic Observability pricing and cost advice
"IBM APM is one of the cheaper products on the market, while everything necessary to get started is included in the license."
"The licensing fees can be paid every six months or on a yearly basis."
"As I previously indicated, I initiated the IBM and uncovered all its elements. Consequently, I'm not inclined towards a licensing approach."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
11%
University
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Elastic Observability?
Elastic Observability significantly improves incident response time by providing quick access to logs and data across various sources. For instance, searching for specific keywords in logs spanning...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Elastic Observability?
The license for Elastic Observability is the same as for other uses; you pay for Elastic, and you can use it for various cases. Observability is actually cheaper compared to logs because you're not...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Elastic Observability?
I think they are working on the AI-based features, which are currently in technical preview. The only challenging aspect for new users is often writing the query language. Basic searching is very e...
See all answers
What do you like most about IBM Application Performance Management?
I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten.
See all answers
What needs improvement with IBM Application Performance Management?
They should focus on potentially enhancing the dashboard to make it more contemporary and adding some customization options. Furthermore, there might be room for improvement in the pricing policy. ...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for IBM Application Performance Management?
I monitor business applications for more than four end users.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Dynatrace vs Elastic Observability Logo
Dynatrace vs Elastic Observability
Compared 12% of the time
Grafana vs Elastic Observability Logo
Grafana vs Elastic Observability
Compared 9% of the time
Zabbix vs Elastic Observability Logo
Zabbix vs Elastic Observability
Compared 8% of the time
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Instana Dynamic APM vs IBM Application Performance Management
Compared 27% of the time
BMC Compuware Strobe vs IBM Application Performance Management Logo
BMC Compuware Strobe vs IBM Application Performance Management
Compared 22% of the time
Splunk AppDynamics vs IBM Application Performance Management Logo
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Compared 15% of the time
Datadog vs IBM Application Performance Management Logo
Datadog vs IBM Application Performance Management
Compared 12% of the time
IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs IBM Application Performance Management Logo
IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs IBM Application Performance Management
Compared 9% of the time
More IBM Application Performance Management Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Elastic Observability
June 2025
Elastic Observability reportDownload Elastic Observability product report
Buyer's Guide
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
June 2025
IBM Application Performance Management reportDownload IBM Application Performance Management product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
IBM APM
 

Overview

Elastic Observability is primarily used for monitoring login events, application performance, and infrastructure, supporting significant data volumes through features like log aggregation, centralized logging, and system metric analysis.

Elastic Observability employs Elastic APM for performance and latency analysis, significantly aiding business KPIs and technical stability. It is popular among users for system and server monitoring, capacity planning, cyber security, and managing data pipelines. With the integration of Kibana, it offers robust visualization, reporting, and incident response capabilities through rapid log searches while supporting machine learning and hybrid cloud environments.

What are Elastic Observability's key features?
  • Economic licensing: Offers cost-effective plans.
  • Extensive metrics tracking: Helps in comprehensive system monitoring.
  • Comprehensive logging: Centralizes log data efficiently.
  • Performance Monitoring: Provides robust APM capabilities.
  • Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other solutions.
  • Kibana visualization: Facilitates data visualization and reporting.
  • Machine learning support: Enables advanced data analysis.
  • Flexible deployment: Supports various deployment environments.
  • Rapid log searches: Enhances quick incident response.
  • Accessibility: Offers extensive online documentation and connector support.
What benefits or ROI should users look for in Elastic Observability reviews?
  • Stability: Look for consistent performance and reliability.
  • Compliance: Effective monitoring aids in regulation adherence.
  • System Security: Enhanced system monitoring and alert management.
  • Cost-Effectiveness: Evaluate the economic pricing models.
  • Scalability: Adequate scalability options for growing needs.

Companies in technology, finance, healthcare, and other industries implement Elastic Observability for tailored monitoring solutions. They find its integration with existing systems useful for maintaining operation efficiency and security, particularly valuing the visualization capabilities through Kibana to monitor KPIs and improve incident response times.

Elastic
The IBM Application Performance Management portfolio provides visibility, control and automation of your mission-critical applications. It helps pinpoint the root cause of application's issue more quickly and resolve the problem. The integrated capabilities cover the five key areas: discovery, end-use experience, transaction tracking, enterprise diagnostics and analytics. It also easily monitors applications to ensure optimal performance to extend your hybrid management environment capabilities, to measure the customer experience from multiple locations and to further eliminate blind spots in your application environment.
IBM
 

Sample Customers

PSCU, Entel, VITAS, Mimecast, Barrett Steel, Butterfield Bank
Mibtree, EatDrinkDeals.com, IT Performance Advisor
Buyer's Guide
Elastic Observability vs. IBM Application Performance Management
June 2025
Free Report: Elastic Observability vs. IBM Application Performance Management
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