IBM Instana Observability vs OpenTelemetry comparison

IBM and OpenTelemetry are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. IBM is ranked #35 with an average rating of 8.0, while OpenTelemetry is ranked #47. IBM holds a 0.8% mindshare in APM, compared to OpenTelemetry’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution.

IBM Instana Observability

Read 8 IBM Instana Observability reviews

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1,090 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

OpenTelemetry

2,311 Views
2,265 Comparison Views

IBM Instana Observability

OpenTelemetry

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 16, 2025

IBM Instana Observability and OpenTelemetry compete in the monitoring and analytics category. IBM Instana appears to have an edge with deeper insights and automation, while OpenTelemetry is favored for flexibility and robust customization.

Features: IBM Instana provides automated monitoring for real-time insights, uses AI-driven solutions to simplify IT environments, and offers seamless diagnostics. OpenTelemetry supports diverse programming languages, provides a flexible framework for observability, and focuses on open-source integrations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Instana deploys with minimal configuration for quick starts and provides effective customer support. OpenTelemetry requires more setup but is highly customizable with support from extensive documentation and a strong community.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Instana requires substantial upfront investment but promises significant ROI through efficiencies and problem resolution. OpenTelemetry minimizes setup costs as an open-source option, with long-term savings driven by community enhancements.

To learn more, read our detailed Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability Report (Updated: November 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

November 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 Instana Observability

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

35th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

AI Observability (21st)

OpenTelemetry

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

47th

Average Rating

0.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of IBM Instana Observability is 0.8%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenTelemetry is 1.7%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Instana Observability	0.8%
OpenTelemetry	1.7%
Other	97.5%

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Abednego Petrus

Technical Manager, Consulting at PT. Mitra Integrasi Informatika

End-to-end monitoring has improved performance insights and supports faster issue resolution

I think maybe our customers need IBM Instana Observability for monitoring the IBM platform, such as from AS/400 IBM. I think for the error rate on the application side, using IBM Instana Observability helps our customers to know the root cause that triggers a failed request or transaction. For others looking into using IBM Instana Observability, I would recommend that they consider adding a recommendation feature to IBM Instana Observability. My additional thought about IBM Instana Observability is that my concern for the future is only that IBM Instana Observability can add a feature for correlation and recommendations. The interview was very good and there's nothing I would change for the future. I would rate this review an 8.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Large Enterprise	5

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Instana Observability?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IBM Instana Observability was fair. It is not that costly, especially since we only use two instances.

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What needs improvement with IBM Instana Observability?

One main issue I found with IBM Instana Observability was the customer support, which was very poor when we needed some features to be enabled or integrated into IBM Instana Observability sensors. ...

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What is your primary use case for IBM Instana Observability?

My main use case for IBM Instana Observability is to gain more insights about my infrastructure, servers, traffic flow, CPU and memory utilization, and metrics. I use IBM Instana Observability to m...

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Comparisons

Elastic Observability vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 16% of the time

Grafana vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 14% of the time

Dynatrace vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 14% of the time

Splunk Observability Cloud vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 10% of the time

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM Instana Observability Competitors

Sentry vs OpenTelemetry

Compared 35% of the time

Zabbix vs OpenTelemetry

Compared 22% of the time

Splunk AppDynamics vs OpenTelemetry

Compared 9% of the time

Dynatrace vs OpenTelemetry

Compared 7% of the time

Amazon OpenSearch Service vs OpenTelemetry

Compared 3% of the time

More OpenTelemetry Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

November 2025

Download IBM Instana Observability product report

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

November 2025

Download OpenTelemetry product report

Overview

IBM Instana Observability offers real-time application monitoring and management, designed for automation and intelligence on modern cloud-based environments.

IBM Instana Observability provides deep visibility into application performance, empowering businesses with automated root cause analysis and intelligent alerts to optimize cloud-native applications. It captures and visualizes comprehensive health metrics to enhance operational efficiency across distributed systems, making it an invaluable tool for IT and DevOps teams seeking to improve application reliability and performance.

What are the key features of IBM Instana Observability?

Automatic Discovery: Identifies application components and dependencies without manual configuration.
Real-Time Monitoring: Delivers live data for instant visibility across application metrics.
AI-Powered Root Cause Analysis: Quickly pinpoints issues to reduce downtime and enhance user experience.
Intelligent Alerts: Provides actionable insights, minimizing false alarms.
Seamless Integration: Easily integrates with popular DevOps tools.

What benefits should users look for when evaluating IBM Instana Observability?

Increased Productivity: Reduces manual monitoring efforts, enhancing team efficiency.
Enhanced Performance: Improves application responsiveness and user satisfaction.
Cost Efficiency: Optimizes resource allocation, leading to reduced operational costs.
Scalable Solutions: Adapts to growing business needs, ensuring long-term value.
Detailed Insights: Offers granularity in monitoring, aiding in swift decision-making.

IBM Instana Observability is widely adopted across industries like finance, healthcare, and retail, addressing specific challenges in each sector. In finance, it helps manage high-volume transactions with minimal latency. Healthcare benefits from its compliance support and reliable data monitoring. Retail industries utilize it for maintaining seamless customer interactions and operational uptime, ensuring business continuity and customer satisfaction.

IBM

OpenTelemetry is a powerful tool for gathering and analyzing data to monitor, trace, and diagnose performance issues within distributed systems. It offers application observability, resource optimization, and troubleshooting capabilities.

The product stands out for its seamless integration with various frameworks and languages, robust architecture, and reliable monitoring capabilities.

With its flexibility and expandability, OpenTelemetry enables customization and integration with other monitoring tools. It accurately collects and analyzes telemetry data, facilitating effective troubleshooting and performance optimization.

OpenTelemetry

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

1. Atlassian 2. Cisco 3. Datadog 4. DigitalOcean 5. Google 6. IBM 7. Intel 8. Kibana 9. LinkedIn 10. Microsoft 11. MongoDB 12. NetApp 13. Oracle 14. Pinterest 15. Red Hat 16. Salesforce 17. SAP 18. Splunk 19. Square 20. SUSE 21. TMobile 22. Twitter 23. VMware 24. WeWork 25. Xero 26. Zoom 27. Zynga

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

November 2025

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