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HackerOne vs IBM Instana Observability comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

HackerOne
Ranking in AI Observability
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (19th), Vulnerability Management (27th), Bug Bounty Platforms (2nd), Penetration Testing Services (2nd), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (11th)
IBM Instana Observability
Ranking in AI Observability
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (25th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the AI Observability category, the mindshare of HackerOne is 0.7%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Instana Observability is 1.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
AI Observability Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Instana Observability1.3%
HackerOne0.7%
Other98.0%
AI Observability
 

Featured Reviews

Ruphus Muita - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior ICT Security Consultant at Applied Principles Limited
Has improved my motivation to submit bugs consistently through fast response and clear filtering
I think HackerOne can be improved by allowing new users to gain access to certain programs that are only open to known, renowned users. Sometimes new users don't receive invites just because they are new, despite potentially being very skilled hackers, so I feel new users should get more chances and opportunities. I am currently satisfied with the rewards, response time, and other aspects of the platform, so I don't have anything else to add about the necessary improvements. I give HackerOne a nine out of ten because if new hackers are given more opportunities, it could be a perfect 10 for me. However, the reason I gave a nine is that I don't have much to complain about; I specifically love the program and don't have many concerns.
FranciscoGálvez - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Manager at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Observability has improved collaboration and predicts failures across distributed services
From my perspective, IBM Instana Observability is quite technical. Compared to some competitors, it offers an abundance of information about system performance but lacks planning or capacity planning information. You do not receive reports with recommendations; instead, it provides only the technical layer. Other companies, like Compuware, give more functional information about your environment, while IBM Instana Observability provides only limited functional insights. This means you often must interpret the data independently. Unlike other tools that can offer recommendations to save resources or costs, IBM Instana Observability does not provide that functionality. On the bright side, it is much more affordable than some other options, but it isn't complete. If you want full functionality with IBM Instana Observability, you also need to acquire other products for additional insights in monitoring areas, such as networking monitoring tools or similar products. For instance, we often recommend Turbonomic, which provides complementary insights. One potential feature that could improve IBM Instana Observability is the ability to translate KPIs into monetary terms. It would be interesting to have a product that integrates IBM Instana Observability with Turbonomic, as Turbonomic can utilize data from IBM Instana Observability to inform you about unnecessary spending and suggest whether you can consolidate servers or optimize containers for quicker response times. Implementing some level of simulation or capacity planning would greatly enhance the current capabilities of IBM Instana Observability.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature of HackerOne is its variety of programs. These programs provide depth into various areas, such as mobile, API, and websites."
"The fast verification process impacts my motivation significantly because a quick response keeps me motivated, and if I'm going to try and hunt bugs today, I would appreciate a response within the day or at least within a few days."
"HackerOne is larger than WebCloud and has a better reputation than BugCloud, which results in a smoother process."
"HackerOne is larger than WebCloud and has a better reputation than BugCloud, which results in a smoother process."
"Apart from getting all the bug bounty opportunities, we also get the chance to practice in a safe environment, like a demo setup. These features are great for beginners who want to explore bug bounties in the future."
"It helps me to get new sales, profits, and other benefits."
"The most valuable features of IBM Instana are its quick data collection and analytics after installing the agent."
"The solution has a one-second resolution, giving you the status of your application within one second."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is performance."
"IBM Instana Observability has positively impacted my organization by making it easy to observe the entire infrastructure under one platform, which was the biggest advantage of onboarding onto IBM Instana Observability."
"The impact of IBM Instana Observability on collaboration between development and operations teams is essential because it allows operations to identify incidents before they occur."
"IBM Instana Observability has had a very positive impact on my organization because it shortens the time required to find the root cause when we have a problem."
"IBM Instana Observability has positively impacted our organization by decreasing our 500 errors, our errors in general have decreased, our response time has decreased, and so on."
"IBM Instana Observability has positively impacted our organization because it has helped us solve many problems and sell some products."
 

Cons

"One issue I've experienced is traffic. Many people try to participate when an opportunity with a bounty of around 1,000-15,000 dollars comes up. In this case, the first person to report the vulnerability gets the bounty. If a second person reports the same vulnerability, they are marked as duplicated instead of receiving some recognition. The second person also invested time finding the issue, so I think this can be improved."
"Sometimes new users don't receive invites just because they are new, despite potentially being very skilled hackers, so I feel new users should get more chances and opportunities."
"Everything has become slower on HackerOne. I have noticed that older researchers receive all the private invites while newer ones receive fewer."
"The ability to view the conversation between the triagers and the programs will be really good."
"Response time can be improved. The HackerOne Trust team can be slow to respond sometimes. They're not using AI, which could help reduce the number of duplicate reports."
"Everything has become slower on HackerOne."
"IBM Instana Observability can be improved by providing access to the materials."
"The product's initial setup phase is not very easy."
"Customer support is good; sometimes it cannot go as deep as I expected, but overall it is good."
"The pricing for IBM Instana Observability is something I would address in terms of needed improvements because it is expensive."
"IBM Instana Observability can be improved by simplifying the installation process, reducing the number of manual steps and dependencies, especially for hybrid, on-premise environments."
"The interface of IBM Instana Observability is really slow, especially when there is a lot of data and when there are a lot of traces."
"One area that requires improvement is related to the automation part, specifically automated actions like sending SMS."
"The solution should include log management and improve reporting and integration with Cognos."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is free."
"The tool is open-source and free for bug bounty hunters."
"The solution's pricing is reasonable compared to that of its competitors like Dynatrace."
"The tool's cost is normal as per the market. The tool is not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HackerOne?
I have not experienced any costs since I use HackerOne independently, just logging into the site, hunting bugs, and submitting them without any expenses.
What needs improvement with HackerOne?
I think HackerOne can be improved by allowing new users to gain access to certain programs that are only open to known, renowned users. Sometimes new users don't receive invites just because they a...
What is your primary use case for HackerOne?
My main use case for HackerOne is mostly for submitting bugs. I get into the programs listed there, find one that is suitable for me, do my penetration testing on the systems, try to bypass some co...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Instana Observability?
I would evaluate the implementation process of IBM Instana Observability as not complex at all because you pay the license, and IBM takes care of everything. The only problem we occasionally face, ...
What needs improvement with IBM Instana Observability?
From my perspective, IBM Instana Observability is quite technical. Compared to some competitors, it offers an abundance of information about system performance but lacks planning or capacity planni...
What is your primary use case for IBM Instana Observability?
I usually recommend IBM Instana Observability for companies in the academic environment, as I have been working in a consultancy company for the last three years, where one of our customers built t...
 

Also Known As

HackerOne Assets, HackerOne Pentesting Services, HackerOne Security Assessments, HackerOne Vulnerability Management
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Anthropic, Crypto.com, General Motors, GitHub, Goldman Sachs, Uber, and the U.S. Department of Defense
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about HackerOne vs. IBM Instana Observability and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.