IBM Application Performance Management vs Stackify comparison

IBM and Stackify are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. IBM is ranked #50 with an average rating of 7.0, while Stackify is ranked #61. IBM holds a 0.3% mindshare in APM, compared to Stackify’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 62% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 71% of Stackify users who would recommend it.

IBM Application Performance...

Read 7 IBM Application Performance Management reviews

762 Views
739 Comparison Views

62% willing to recommend

Stackify

Read 6 Stackify reviews

822 Views
477 Comparison Views

71% willing to recommend

IBM Application Performance...

Stackify

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

Stackify and IBM Application Performance Management compete closely in application performance monitoring. Users indicate that pricing and support for Stackify are more favorable, but IBM's robust features justify the higher cost, making it the superior choice for many.

Features: Stackify provides users with intuitive dashboards, real-time performance metrics, and ease of use. IBM offers comprehensive analytic capabilities, advanced machine learning integrations, and deeper insights for predictive analytics. Stackify is user-friendly, whereas IBM caters to larger enterprises with its extensive feature set.

Room for Improvement: Stackify needs better documentation, enhanced alert customization, and more flexible reporting options. IBM requires faster response times for support, a simplified setup process, and more user-friendly interfaces for certain tools. Stackify focuses on usability improvements, while IBM aims to enhance support efficiency and ease of use.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Stackify offers a quick and easy deployment process with responsive customer service. IBM has a more complex deployment but provides knowledgeable and helpful customer service. Stackify ensures a smoother initial setup, while IBM offers robust professional support post-deployment.

Pricing and ROI: Stackify is noted for its competitive pricing and good return on investment for small to mid-sized businesses. IBM, while more expensive, provides substantial ROI through its advanced features, appealing to larger organizations. Stackify’s lower cost benefits budget-conscious users while IBM’s higher pricing is offset by its comprehensive capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Application Performance Management vs. Stackify Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Application Performance Management vs. Stackify

July 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

IBM Application Performance...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

50th

Average Rating

6.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Stackify

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

61st

Average Rating

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (59th), Log Management (61st)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of IBM Application Performance Management is 0.3%, down from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Stackify is 0.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Daniel Tamiru

Manager, Database & System Administration at Awash International Bank

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…

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Kalyan Somisetty

Senior Developer at PRESIS KONSULT

Simple, easy to configure, and offers trial versions

In the next version, which I want to try, it'll show the comparison of the old responses of the APS. For example, how much time the old response and the new response with the changes. Right now, I cannot differentiate. The graphical interface should be able to capture nicely how much time it has taken and it should be very clear. Sometimes it confuses us. For example, what is this APA for? What were the average responses and how many requests have happened? It needs to give a clear picture. They should enable request and response capturing in the Stackify user interface to show what the request for the APA is. Then, it'll be very good. It should be able to capture the payload. For example, what is the request and what is the response? If it has a nice way of capturing everything then it would be easy. There is no need of using ELK again for logging. As of now, people will use Stackify or maybe Grafana for seeing the stats of the application or responses, however, it doesn't have the capabilities to show everything. People will go for any exception handling or checking the request and response in the ELK. If Stackify can do this future, then it'll be an easier single tool. It is anyway intercepting the logs, application logs. I don't think it's a big matter to capture extra data with the requested response. That requested response capturing also should be configurable since some people want the question response to be captured and for the people that don't want it, we can use that feature. It can be enabled as desired. Many people are using different monitoring tools like ELK, LogStash, and Splunk - many other tools. However, if you can make this kind of performance tool cover everything, then they will not shift to other solutions. It should be easily scalable and configurable in different instances. For example, if the same application is scaled up to differently, it should be easily integrable into Kubernetes pipelines. They should offer plugins to make it more easily integratable. For development enrollment, it should be free to use.

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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

"The initial setup was straightforward and took minimal effort."

"It's easy to use."

"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."

"I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten."

"IBM Application Performance Management helped us increased our response time by 80% and cost 60% less."

"The most valuable feature is the breakdown that it provides, such as a description of the fields for a particular transaction."

"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."

"The performance dashboard and the accurate level of details are beneficial."

"The solution is stable and reliable."

"The filter feature on Stackify is one of the features I found valuable. It's awesome. When I want to get the application logs, the solution gives me many filters. For example, if I want to get logs from my test environment, the option is there for me to select the environment from Stackify, and you can also select the particular application, and you'll see the information you need there. The filter feature alone and the fact that Stackify offers a lot of different filters is what I like the most about the solution because I've used other tools with the filter feature, but the filtering was very difficult, versus Stackify that has good filtering. On Stackify, you can filter the information by the last one hour, or the last four hours, and you can also select the date range and specify the timestamp, then the solution will give you the information based on the date range you specified. Another feature I found valuable on Stackify is its rating feature because it tells you how your application is faring. For example, a rating of A means excellent, while a rating of F means very bad, or that your application is not doing well at all. The ratings are from A to F. I also like that Stackify helps you in terms of load management because the solution gives you information on overutilized resources. These are the most valuable features of the solution."

"The deployment is very fast."

Cons

"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."

"The stability is not great and should be better."

"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."

"It's still missing some platforms. For example, if you look to applications itself, it is missing the interface."

"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."

"The search feature could be improved."

"I've not used Stackify for a while, and I'm currently using a solution now that's not as good as Stackify. Among the solutions I've been using so far, Stackify has been one of the best for me, but there's always room for improvement. For example, I don't know if it's just me, but when I try to get the log from Stackify, sometimes it doesn't appear in real-time. It takes a few minutes before the logs appear. When I redeploy my solution and the application starts, I don't see the logs immediately, and it would take two to three minutes before I see the logs. I don't know if other customers have a similar experience. It's the wait time for the logs to appear that's a concern for me, could be improved, and is what the Stackify team should be looking into. In terms of any additional feature that I'd like added to the solution, I'm not sure if Stackify has a way to export logs out. I've been trying to do it. On the solution, you can click on a spiral-like icon and it shows you the entire error, and I'd prefer an export button that would let me download the error and save that into a text file, for example, so it'll be available on my local machine for me to reference it, especially because the log keeps going and as you're using the solution, the system keeps pushing messages on to Stackify, so if I'm looking at a particular error at 12:05 PM, for example, by the time I go back to my system and would like to revisit the error at 12:25 PM, on Stackify, the logs would have gone past that level and I won't see it again which makes it difficult. When you now go back to that timestamp, you don't tend to see it immediately, but if the solution had an export feature for me to save that particular error information on my local machine for reference at a later time, I won't have to go back to Stackify. I just go to that log, specifically to that particular export that I've received on my local machine. I can get it and review it, and it would be easier that way versus me going back to Stackify to find that particular error and request that particular information."

"I would like to be able to see metrics about individual running containers on the host machines."

"It should be easily scalable and configurable in different instances."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As I previously indicated, I initiated the IBM and uncovered all its elements. Consequently, I'm not inclined towards a licensing approach."

"The licensing fees can be paid every six months or on a yearly basis."

"IBM APM is one of the cheaper products on the market, while everything necessary to get started is included in the license."

"The price is variable. It depends on how much data we have received in that particular month. Usually, it goes up to $2,000, or, at times, $3,000 USD per month."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

21%

Retailer

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

University

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

Media Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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.

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Comparisons

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Compared 16% of the time

Datadog vs IBM Application Performance Management

Compared 14% of the time

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs IBM Application Performance Management

Compared 10% of the time

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New Relic vs Stackify

Compared 46% of the time

Dynatrace vs Stackify

Compared 32% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Stackify

Compared 22% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

August 2025

IBM Application Performance Management report

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Buyer's Guide

Stackify

July 2025

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Also Known As

IBM APM

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Overview

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

Stackify is an application performance management (APM) solution that combines application performance monitoring with logs, errors, and reporting. It is a SaaS solution that is developer-focused. Users can quickly scan, identify, and repair issues with applications. Stackify APM offers valuable tools, such as Prefix and Retrace, which help to make it a comprehensive and valuable APM solution. Stackify is now part of the Netreo family of IT Infrastructure Management (ITIM), which is considered one of the fastest-growing IT organizations in the marketplace today.

Stackify Prefix

Stackify Prefix helps developers write better code, faster. The tool examines, tests, and approves code as it is being written. Almost every new application is code-perfect, negating the need for exhausting troubleshooting and frustrating time-consuming code review.

Prefix is able to discover poor-performing SQL queries, ORM queries, potential bottlenecks, and concealed exceptions prior to moving the application into production.

Prefix offers Summary Dashboards, intuitive suggestions, integrated logs, and distributed tracing. Distributed tracing expands visibility to cloud-native applications, microservices, and containers and can also provide additional transparency to cache services, web services, third-party services, and more. Users are able to easily move from logs to traces and back.

This valuable tool ensures developers are able to consistently release the best code possible in the least amount of time, while improving performance, productivity, and profitability.

Prefix is a very robust and easy-to-use tool. It can be used seamlessly with Linux, macOS, and Windows. Prefix integrates well with numerous languages, such as Java, Python, Ruby, PHP, Node.js, .Net, and .Net Core.

Stackify Retrace

Stackify Retrace is a user-friendly, trusted APM solution used in more than fifty countries worldwide. Users know that Retrace is able to ensure they can complete quicker, more efficient application development and consistently enhance overall application performance by suggesting important intuitive suggestions users need.

This solution is beneficial to both developers (Dev) and operations (Ops) personnel to learn to improve code and immediately finetune issues by:

Establishing effortless collaboration between Dev and Ops personnel via an easy-to-use GUI dashboard.
Delivering complete transparency of all stages of the application development process, from pre-development to production.
Utilizing performance protocols, such as error tracking, application logs, and code profiling, in real time in order to thoroughly understand how long a code will take to complete various tasks.
Improving overall efficiency and productivity by immediately discovering and repairing application issues.

Retrace Real User Monitoring (RUM) uses both front-end and back-end monitoring to give users a complete picture of what is going on with the applications. This intuitive dashboard displays performance with a complete breakdown of resource usage and integrates the server-side and client traces into one engaging, user-friendly, extensive view.

Retrace is an out-of-the-box solution that works seamlessly with Java stacks, PHP, Node.js, Ruby, Python, .Net, and .Net Core. It is also compatible with many of today’s popular frameworks, such as AWS, Azure, Elasticsearch, MongoDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Redis, and SQL Server. Additionally, Retrace will work effectively with many cloud providers, containers, and languages, and offers excellent and easy integration with today's favorite tools such as Jira, Slack, Jenkins, and more.

Stackify

Sample Customers

Mibtree, EatDrinkDeals.com, IT Performance Advisor

MyRacePass, ClearSale, Newitts, Carbonite, Boston Software, Children's International, Starkwood Media Group, Fewzion

Buyer's Guide

IBM Application Performance Management vs. Stackify

July 2025

Free Report: IBM Application Performance Management vs. Stackify

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