IBM Instana Observability vs Splunk AppDynamics comparison

IBM and Splunk are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. IBM is ranked #35 with an average rating of 8.0, while Splunk is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.2. IBM holds a 0.8% mindshare in APM, compared to Splunk’s 3.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Splunk users who would recommend it.

IBM Instana Observability

Read 8 IBM Instana Observability reviews

1,135 Views
1,090 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Splunk AppDynamics

Read 258 Splunk AppDynamics reviews

12,780 Views
9,841 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

IBM Instana Observability

Splunk AppDynamics

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 16, 2025

Splunk AppDynamics and IBM Instana Observatory are key players in the observability and monitoring sector. Splunk AppDynamics leads in pricing and support, while IBM Instana stands out for its advanced features, justifying its cost.

Features: Splunk AppDynamics is noted for comprehensive monitoring, real-time business performance analytics, and robust diagnostics tools. IBM Instana Observatory provides automatic discovery of applications, continuous monitoring, and AI-driven insights. Instana's real-time graphing and AI capabilities set it apart.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Instana's automated deployment is fast and simplified, with responsive customer service. Splunk AppDynamics has a more complex setup but offers extensive support resources and personalized assistance. Instana shines in deployment speed, while Splunk AppDynamics excels in support services.

Pricing and ROI: Splunk AppDynamics offers lower initial costs and flexible pricing models, providing strong ROI for cost-conscious buyers. IBM Instana, although more expensive, balances this with advanced capabilities that enhance operational efficiencies.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Instana Observability vs. Splunk AppDynamics Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Instana Observability vs. Splunk AppDynamics

December 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

5.1

IBM Instana Observability enhances efficiency and reduces costs by streamlining issue detection and improving application performance monitoring.

Sentiment score

6.5

Investments in Splunk AppDynamics improve productivity, software quality, troubleshooting, and operational efficiency, enhancing customer satisfaction and reducing costs.

It provides a single pane of glass from which I can see what is happening with all the servers in my infrastructure, which saves time.

Anslem Anayo

UNIX/LINUX, ENTERPRISE SERVER AND STORAGE ADMINISTRATOR at Fidelity Bank Plc

It made a notable difference from when we were almost blind to being able to respond to calls immediately.

Marahmed Marahmed

Software engineer at EJADA

If we have a monitoring tool, we can save our transactions and see the performance of the application using MTTR and MTTD.

Abednego Petrus

Technical Manager, Consulting at PT. Mitra Integrasi Informatika

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Instana Observability report

Overall, as a production gatekeeper, we achieve at least 50% efficiency immediately, with potential savings ranging from 60 to 70% as well, reinforcing why it is a popular tool in the banking industry.

DevendraKumar1

Technology lead at Infosys

According to errors, exceptions, and code-level details related to their application performance on a daily basis, the application development team tries to help with Splunk AppDynamics to reduce errors and exceptions, which helps the end users get application availability and feel more confident.

Gyanesh Rahatekar

Back office at Reliance Industries Ltd

To understand the magnitude of it, when the company asked to replace Splunk AppDynamics with another tool, I indicated that for the proposed tool, we would need five people to do the analysis that Splunk AppDynamics enables me to do.

Konstantinos Michailidis

Digital Performance Tester at Amdocs

For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.4

IBM Instana's customer service receives mixed reviews, with varied experiences in responsiveness and support quality, especially in Korea.

Sentiment score

7.2

Splunk AppDynamics is praised for responsive customer service, though some complex issue resolutions need improvement.

They are very slow to respond and integrate new features.

Saisurya P

DevOps engineer at Yara International

IBM support for Instana is responsive and helpful.

Anslem Anayo

UNIX/LINUX, ENTERPRISE SERVER AND STORAGE ADMINISTRATOR at Fidelity Bank Plc

My experience with IBM Instana Observability's customer support has been very helpful and responsive.

Abednego Petrus

Technical Manager, Consulting at PT. Mitra Integrasi Informatika

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Instana Observability report

AppDynamics is much more helpful.

Eduardo Gallardo

Director of Technical Part at NOS SGPS

We got a contact, an account manager, to work directly with for technical support.

NagadevanMuthusamy

Performance Engineer at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

They help us resolve any issues raised by our team relating to operations, application instrumentation, or any other issues.

Gyanesh Rahatekar

Back office at Reliance Industries Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

8.3

IBM Instana is scalable and efficient for large enterprises, aiding performance management in dynamic environments like microservices and Kubernetes.

Sentiment score

7.3

AppDynamics is scalable and adaptable, though costly for small enterprises, with seamless scalability and effective monitoring capabilities.

More innovations are coming in every day, so it is scalable and more applications are becoming container-based.

Anslem Anayo

UNIX/LINUX, ENTERPRISE SERVER AND STORAGE ADMINISTRATOR at Fidelity Bank Plc

IBM Instana Observability demonstrates scalability, especially in dynamic, distributed environments such as microservices and Kubernetes.

Abednego Petrus

Technical Manager, Consulting at PT. Mitra Integrasi Informatika

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Instana Observability report

We have reached maximum capacity in our tier, and extending capacity has not been cost-effective from Splunk's perspective.

reviewer2674446

Senior Principal, Enterprise Architect at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

I would rate the scalability of Splunk AppDynamics as a nine out of ten.

Konstantinos Michailidis

Digital Performance Tester at Amdocs

I assess how Splunk AppDynamics scales with the growing needs of my organization as good, since we are growing and adding more servers.

reviewer2756163

Development Operations Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.6

IBM Instana Observability is rated 8/10 for strong stability and reliability, demonstrating user confidence in its performance.

Sentiment score

7.8

Splunk AppDynamics is praised for reliability and stability, with minimal downtime despite occasional glitches or isolated performance concerns.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Instana Observability report

It is necessary to conduct appropriate testing before deploying them in production to prevent potential outages.

reviewer2674446

Senior Principal, Enterprise Architect at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

There are no issues or bugs with the 20.4 version; it is very stable with no functionality or operational issues.

Gyanesh Rahatekar

Back office at Reliance Industries Ltd

Splunk AppDynamics is superior to any alternative, including Dynatrace.

DevendraKumar1

Technology lead at Infosys

For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report

Room For Improvement

Users seek IBM Instana improvements in log management, AI monitoring, interface speed, support, and installation for better observability.

Users want better integration, modern UI, improved network monitoring, cloud support, and user-friendly navigation in Splunk AppDynamics.

I had many false positives with IBM Instana Observability. Then I fixed the filters and it became more accurate on the errors reported.

Marahmed Marahmed

Software engineer at EJADA

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.

Saisurya P

DevOps engineer at Yara International

It is not open-source, and I have to be a partner to get more access to the products.

Anslem Anayo

UNIX/LINUX, ENTERPRISE SERVER AND STORAGE ADMINISTRATOR at Fidelity Bank Plc

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Instana Observability report

Splunk AppDynamics does not support the complete MELT framework, which includes metrics, events, logging, and tracing for the entire stack.

reviewer2674446

Senior Principal, Enterprise Architect at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

If AppDynamics could develop a means to monitor without an agent, it could significantly improve application performance and reduce potential problems.

Muhammad Zeeshan Siddiqui

Head of Technology and Services at arwentech

A good integration with Splunk would be very interesting, as Splunk is a good product for logs, and that part is currently missing in Splunk AppDynamics.

Eduardo Gallardo

Director of Technical Part at NOS SGPS

For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report

Setup Cost

IBM Instana offers affordable, competitive host-based pricing covering comprehensive functionality compared to Dynatrace and DataDog.

Enterprise buyers should consider AppDynamics' complex pricing and value for monitoring, despite it being more expensive than alternatives.

I find the cost of IBM Instana Observability to be very affordable compared to competitors because the pricing mechanism is based on the host that we monitor, unlike other competitors such as DataDog and Dynatrace, whose pricing is based on other factors.

Abednego Petrus

Technical Manager, Consulting at PT. Mitra Integrasi Informatika

It is not that costly, especially since we only use two instances.

Marahmed Marahmed

Software engineer at EJADA

I think the pricing is good and I do not think it is high.

Mihajlo Borisavljevic

DevOps at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Instana Observability report

We completed a three-year deal for Splunk and for AppDynamics, which costs millions of dollars.

reviewer2756163

Development Operations Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

Customers have to pay a premium price, however, they receive considerable value from the product.

Muhammad Zeeshan Siddiqui

Head of Technology and Services at arwentech

All these solutions at the moment are cheap, but it is like paying for insurance; you pay insurance to avoid major damage.

reviewer2674446

Senior Principal, Enterprise Architect at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report

Valuable Features

IBM Instana Observability offers real-time metrics, seamless integration, and customizable dashboards to enhance performance and streamline operations effectively.

AppDynamics provides comprehensive monitoring and diagnostics tools for optimizing application performance and enhancing infrastructure visibility.

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.

Saisurya P

DevOps engineer at Yara International

IBM Instana Observability has impacted my organization positively in that it has helped me find out what the issue is in real-time because of its one-second granularity and its ability to identify issues as quickly as possible.

Anslem Anayo

UNIX/LINUX, ENTERPRISE SERVER AND STORAGE ADMINISTRATOR at Fidelity Bank Plc

IBM Instana Observability has positively impacted our organization by decreasing our 500 errors.

Marahmed Marahmed

Software engineer at EJADA

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Instana Observability report

We have multiple tools, but end users prefer to use Splunk AppDynamics because their portal navigation is very simple and clear.

Gyanesh Rahatekar

Back office at Reliance Industries Ltd

The real user monitoring and digital experience monitoring effectively track actual user experience with the applications, including page loading, interaction time for both desktop and mobile applications.

Mohammed Hassan

Regional Director at iSecureMind

This is the best feature because, although you can't monitor a whole application at once, Splunk AppDynamics gives you the option that if there is any failure—simple failure regarding anything set up as per our use cases—you will get an alert.

DevendraKumar1

Technology lead at Infosys

For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk AppDynamics report

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)

Splunk AppDynamics

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

258

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (6th), IT Operations Analytics (2nd), Mobile APM (1st), Container Monitoring (3rd)

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 Splunk AppDynamics is 3.7%, down from 5.4% 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 (%)
Splunk AppDynamics	3.7%
IBM Instana Observability	0.8%
Other	95.5%

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.

Read full review

DevendraKumar1

Technology lead at Infosys

Has enabled us to detect issues instantly through alerts and monitor every service from a single dashboard

Splunk requires significantly more improvements compared to Splunk AppDynamics, specifically regarding the licensing aspect. Splunk renews licenses every six months, which is inconvenient. It would be better to have a one-year license to avoid needing to update keys constantly, which can only occur on weekends, making it a burdensome task. Although Splunk is better for certain use cases, Splunk AppDynamics is broader in functionality. Specifically, I want enhancements related to creating dashboards not only for logs or minor services but also for configuration levels, allowing us to check configurations immediately without manually opening the entire code when exceptions arise—a feature I wish to see improved in Splunk, although it may not be necessary for Splunk AppDynamics.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

27%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	55
Midsize Enterprise	36
Large Enterprise	193

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.

See all answers

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. ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Any advice about APM solutions?

There are many factors and we know little about your requirements (size of org, technology stack, management systems, the scope of implementation). Our goal was to consolidate APM and infra monitor...

See all answers

What do you like most about AppDynamics?

The solution saves time and cost.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AppDynamics?

I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten. The solution is highly expensive. Our company pays for the solution on a yearly basis, if we don't add new modules or features to the license, we need ...

See all answers

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

Azure Monitor vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 9% of the time

More IBM Instana Observability Competitors

Dynatrace vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 12% of the time

Datadog vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 8% of the time

New Relic vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 8% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 7% of the time

Grafana vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 3% of the time

More Splunk AppDynamics Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

November 2025

Download IBM Instana Observability product report

Buyer's Guide

Splunk AppDynamics

December 2025

Download Splunk AppDynamics 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

Splunk AppDynamics enhances application performance monitoring with advanced diagnostics and real-time insights, offering seamless end-to-end transaction tracking and infrastructure visibility.

AppDynamics provides critical tools for businesses to analyze application behavior and performance. Through innovative features like transaction snapshot analysis and adaptable dashboards, users can quickly identify and address issues, ensuring high levels of system uptime and efficiency. It is designed to support complex environments including Kubernetes and AWS, enhancing user experience by detecting performance issues early. Despite needing improvements in network monitoring and integration, it remains a robust option for tracking application health.

What are the key features of AppDynamics?

Real-time Performance Monitoring: Offers immediate insights into application behavior.
Business Transaction Tracking: Tracks transactions from start to finish for bottleneck identification.
JVM Memory Monitoring: Provides detailed JVM metrics and memory use information.
Deep-dive Diagnostics: Enables in-depth analysis of code and stack traces.
Adaptable Dashboards: Customizable views for better data interpretation.

How does AppDynamics benefit users?

Improved Incident Resolution: Faster problem detection and solution implementation.
Enhanced Application Performance: Real-time monitoring optimizes system operations.
Comprehensive Visibility: Provides a full view of application infrastructure.
Informed Decision Making: Detailed analytics guide performance improvements.
Customer Satisfaction: Enhances user experience through faster issue resolutions.

In industries like financial services and e-commerce, AppDynamics facilitates performance tracking across distributed systems, optimizing infrastructure to meet consumer demands. It excels in environments needing precise transaction monitoring and is pivotal in delivering high value and satisfaction.

Splunk

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Cisco, Sony, Nasdaq, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Edmunds.com, Puma, Fox News, DirecTV, Pizza Hut, T-Systems, Cornell University, OpenTable, BITMARCK, Green Mountain Power, Care.com, Overstock, Paddy Power, eHarmony, Kraft, The Motley Fool, The Container Store, and more See more customers

Buyer's Guide

IBM Instana Observability vs. Splunk AppDynamics

December 2025

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