Elastic Observability vs WhatsUp Gold comparison

Elastic and Progress Software are both solutions in the Cloud Monitoring Software category. Elastic is ranked #11 with an average rating of 9.0, while Progress Software is ranked #24 with an average rating of 8.0. Elastic holds a 2.0% mindshare in CMS, compared to Progress Software’s 3.3% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Elastic users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Progress Software users who would recommend it.

Elastic Observability

Read 29 Elastic Observability reviews

10,959 Views
3,945 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

WhatsUp Gold

Read 25 WhatsUp Gold reviews

12,182 Views
4,020 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Elastic Observability

WhatsUp Gold

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

WhatsUp Gold and Elastic Observability compete in the observability and monitoring category. Elastic Observability is often recognized for its robust features and higher perceived value, while WhatsUp Gold is favored for its ease of deployment and customer service.

Features: WhatsUp Gold offers straightforward monitoring capabilities, user-friendly dashboards, and reliable customer support. Elastic Observability provides comprehensive data analytics, strong integrations, and advanced monitoring features.

Room for Improvement: WhatsUp Gold could improve its scalability, reporting functionalities, and integration options. Elastic Observability needs a more intuitive initial setup, enhanced support resources, and simpler user interfaces.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WhatsUp Gold is easy to deploy and has excellent customer service with responsive support. Elastic Observability, although more complex to implement, is supported by extensive documentation and reliable service.

Pricing and ROI: WhatsUp Gold has lower setup costs with quicker ROI. Elastic Observability is more expensive but considered worth the investment due to its extensive capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Elastic Observability vs. WhatsUp Gold Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability vs. WhatsUp Gold

June 2026

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Helped 902,988 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

Elastic Observability

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

11th

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

15th

Ranking in Log Management

16th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Container Monitoring (5th)

WhatsUp Gold

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

31st

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

17th

Ranking in Log Management

39th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

24th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (23rd), Server Monitoring (14th), Configuration Management (20th), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Elastic Observability is 2.0%, down from 5.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WhatsUp Gold is 3.3%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Elastic Observability	2.0%
WhatsUp Gold	3.3%
Other	94.7%

Cloud Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Mohammed-Abdelalim

Assistant Vice President at QualityKiosk Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Has provided powerful customization for unique monitoring needs but needs more out-of-the-box capabilities

In my opinion, the best features of Elastic Observability are their flexibility to integrate with other existing systems and the ability to build a unified monitoring tool that can integrate with existing ones and end-to-end user journeys which require a lot of customizations. The greatest feature in Elastic is the ability to customize. This is similar to my comments about customizable dashboards in Elastic because it's visible to the analyst. However, it's very great. Customizing these dashboards can meet the customer's specific use cases and specific stories that they have in their environment, their special environment that doesn't look like other environments. The dashboarding in Elastic is highly customizable to the level of logos. If the customer wants his company logo in the dashboard, it can be done.

Read full review

Erik Cheng

Technical Manager at Quan Hung Gourmet

Efficient monitoring with detailed customization, yet complexity remains

The best feature of WhatsUp Gold is the automatic generation of topology and its integration with virtualization and wireless. I have used the automated device discovery with this topology feature. The interactive map feature helps me manage the topology because sometimes we cannot draw the topology correctly, so we need to manually edit the connections. The alerting system is very tunable and customizable, but it's a little complicated to use. Many customers cannot manage it by themselves and need support from us, the provider. We always use the dashboards in the SOC, where we constantly display a dashboard or multiple dashboards. This allows us to know immediately if the connection or bandwidth is full or if the connection is broken.

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

"We use AppDynamics and Elastic. The reason why we're using Elastic APM is because of the license count. It's very favorable compared to AppDynamics. It's inexpensive; it's economical."

"The most valuable feature of Elastic Observability is the text search."

"The solution has been stable in our usage."

"The ability to ensure that the data is searchable and maintainable is highly valuable for our purposes."

"Its diverse set of features available on the cloud is of significant importance."

"It's easy to deploy, and it's very flexible."

"Elastic APM has plenty of features, such as the Elastic server for Kibana and many additional plugins. It's a comprehensive tool when used as a logging platform."

"The product has connectors to many services."

More Elastic Observability pros

"I use it on premises to monitor my network database. We monitor the link up/down and use the SNMP traps as well."

"The tool's most valuable feature is the visibility it offers of everything in the network and infrastructure."

"The most valuable feature of WhatsUp Gold is NetFlow and the virtualized maps."

"The most important features of WhatsUp Gold are the server health and uptime it provides. Additionally, WhatsUp Gold is a Windows-based solution which is a benefit."

"NetFlow monitoring, real-time monitoring, and surveys have been the most valuable features for our business."

"Their tech support is very good."

"Overall, we have been satisfied with the functionality of the product."

"The solution effectively monitors network devices and servers."

More WhatsUp Gold pros

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."

"Elastic APM's visualization is not that great compared to other tools. It's number of metrics is very low."

"I would have preferred built-in tools to manage the indexes on deployment for better visual representation, as the initial feedback regarding system performance and data storage was fairly primitive and lacking."

"One example is the inability to monitor very old databases with the newest version."

"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."

"There is room for improvement regarding its APM capabilities."

"The tool's scalability involves a more complex implementation process. It requires careful calculations to determine the number of nodes needed, the specifications of each node, and the configuration of hot, warm, and cold zones for data storage. Additionally, managing log retention policies adds further complexity. The solution's pricing also needs to be cheaper."

"Simplifying the parsing of logs and manual efforts would also be beneficial."

More Elastic Observability cons

"The price could be improved. When we first started using this product, the company was new. The prices were very low then, in comparison with HP OpenView or IBM, but now the policy is too high, relative to the number of devices we have."

"The point system is not clear and clarity around this would improve our understanding of the system."

"I haven't had any issue with stability, except during the upgrade to 2017 when we encountered slow responses."

"There is a very big gap in the support."

"Sometimes it's a little bit slow."

"This product should add other options for monitoring. It does not currently meet the broader needs of the banking industry in the version we have deployed."

"Honestly, I do not particularly like WhatsUp Gold. I think we should get rid of it."

"There are some subscription charges that are quite heavy. I need to pay for support every year and these charges can be quite expensive."

More WhatsUp Gold cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing is one of those situations where the more you use it, the more you pay."

"The product is not that cheap."

"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 is cheaper than other similar solutions, such as Dynatrace. Its license calculation is based on various factors like data volume and physical infrastructure, particularly related to RAM capacity."

"Users have to pay for some features, like the alerts on different channels, because they are unavailable in different source versions."

"The product’s pricing needs improvement."

"One needs to pay for the licenses, and it is an annual subscription model right now."

"Since we are a huge company, Elastic Observability is an affordable solution for us."

More Elastic Observability pricing and cost advice

"The price of WhatsUp Gold is good."

"This is a well priced solution."

"It is per device, per year. The pricing is very clear. If you have a service agreement, you get all of your major upgrades and minor upgrades. It was under $10,000 to go all-in with all of the different add-ons for it."

"Pricing is reasonable compared to other products."

"The choice of version depends on the number of points, or devices, that you want to monitor, and this makes the product expensive."

"There is a license needed to use WhatsUp Gold."

"There are some subscription charges that are quite heavy. I need to pay for support every year and these charges can be quite expensive. Aside from the initial cost for the tool, you need to pay additionally for support."

"I'm not sure, but it's expensive. We don't pay any additional fees."

More WhatsUp Gold pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	14

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Elastic Observability?

The problem is their licensing model, which is a bit confusing. Many customers struggle to understand their total cost of ownership because Elastic licensing is not dependent on easy, quantifiable ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Elastic Observability?

After careful consideration about areas for improvement in Elastic Observability, aspects such as pricing, customization, implementation, and scalability could be improved. As a user of the system,...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Elastic Observability?

My use case for Elastic Observability is observability, as we upload our customers' data, including logs, and when there is an issue, we can analyze what went wrong.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WhatsUp Gold?

Clients find the licensing calculator confusing, but we simplify this for them by collecting relevant information first. The licensing is based on devices, providing better cost-effectiveness than ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with WhatsUp Gold?

It would be great if WhatsUp Gold could add features that simplify management with AI, as it is currently too complicated to manage.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for WhatsUp Gold?

My use case for WhatsUp Gold includes all device availability checks, bandwidth usage, CPU, and memory usage, as well as alarm notifications.

See all answers

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Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 3% of the time

NinjaOne vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 3% of the time

ScienceLogic vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability

June 2026

Download Elastic Observability product report

Buyer's Guide

WhatsUp Gold

June 2026

Download WhatsUp Gold product report

Overview

Elastic Observability offers a comprehensive suite for log analytics, application performance monitoring, and machine learning. It integrates seamlessly with platforms like Teams and Slack, enhancing data visualization and scalability for real-time insights.

Elastic Observability is designed to support production environments with features like logging, data collection, and infrastructure tracking. Centralized logging and powerful search functionalities make incident response and performance tracking efficient. Elastic APM and Kibana facilitate detailed data visualization, promoting rapid troubleshooting and effective system performance analysis. Integrated services and extensive connectivity options enhance its role in business and technical decision-making by providing actionable data insights.

What are the most important features of Elastic Observability?

Centralized Logging: Streamlines the collection, analysis, and storage of log data.
Powerful Search: Provides robust search capabilities for quick access to relevant information.
Scalability: Supports growing data needs across diverse environments.
Real-time Telemetry: Ensures up-to-date insights and monitoring.
Platform Integration: Seamlessly connects with services like Teams and Slack.
Data Visualization: Enhances visibility with Elastic APM and Kibana.

What benefits and ROI should users explore in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Offers significant savings through efficient data management.
Rapid Incident Response: Minimizes downtime with quick troubleshooting tools.
Comprehensive Insights: Supports better business decisions with detailed data analysis.
Performance Tracking: Enables assessment of system effectiveness and improvements.

Elastic Observability is employed across industries for critical operations, such as in finance for transaction monitoring, in healthcare for secure data management, and in technology for optimizing application performance. Its data-driven approach aids efficient event tracing, supporting diverse industry requirements.

Elastic

WhatsUp Gold stands out with its comprehensive network monitoring, dynamic mapping, and real-time alerts, offering essential tools for managing extensive IT infrastructures.

WhatsUp Gold provides robust capabilities in network visibility through dynamic mapping and NetFlow analysis. The platform's interactive topology aids in pinpointing issues effectively. Auto-discovery ensures complete network device tracking. While offering an intuitive interface and integration with Cisco ServiceNow, users find server performance monitoring useful for incident handling. However, improvements are anticipated in application monitoring and Active Directory integration. The pricing model and customization options leave room for enhancement. Despite these, users benefit from its integrated dashboards for immediate device health checks and network updates, making it beneficial for large-scale infrastructure management.

What features does WhatsUp Gold offer?

Network Monitoring: Provides continuous oversight of network components
Dynamic Mapping: Offers visual representation of network topology
NetFlow Analysis: Delivers insights into bandwidth utilization
Threshold Alerts: Notifies users upon reaching set performance thresholds
Auto-Discovery: Detects devices automatically for complete network coverage

What benefits should users expect from reviews?

Comprehensive Visibility: Enhanced understanding of network elements
Real-Time Monitoring: Immediate insights into network and device status
Cost-Effectiveness: Competitive solution suitable for expansive networks
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies the management of complex networks

Organizations in sectors like telecommunications, education, and healthcare utilize WhatsUp Gold for their network monitoring needs. Telecom companies track switches and routers, educational institutions manage bandwidth usage, and healthcare facilities monitor device availability to ensure seamless operations.

Progress Software

Sample Customers

PSCU, Entel, VITAS, Mimecast, Barrett Steel, Butterfield Bank

Artoni Trasporti, Austin Independent School District, Banca Marche, Burke County North Carolina, Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine, Clayco, Community Integrated Care, Desca, Deutsche Bergbau, Flexi-Van, Gropper, Hamleys, Hammonds Furniture, Knowledge IT, Idras S.P.A., Sibeg, Swann Engineering, Trivium Lindenhof

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability vs. WhatsUp Gold

June 2026

Free Report: Elastic Observability vs. WhatsUp Gold

Find out what your peers are saying about Elastic Observability vs. WhatsUp Gold and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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