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 #45 with an average rating of 8.0, while Splunk is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3. IBM holds a 0.5% mindshare in APM, compared to Splunk’s 4.6% 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 3 IBM Instana Observability reviews

636 Views
398 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Splunk AppDynamics

Read 249 Splunk AppDynamics reviews

11,994 Views
6,408 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

IBM Instana Observability

Splunk AppDynamics

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on May 11, 2025

Splunk AppDynamics and IBM Instana Observability are products competing within the APM space. Data comparisons reveal that IBM Instana Observability holds the upper hand in features with advanced automation, while Splunk AppDynamics leads in customer support.

Features: Splunk AppDynamics offers comprehensive analytics, monitoring tools, and enhanced application performance visibility across complex environments. IBM Instana Observability sets itself apart with automated discovery, real-time insights, and AI-enhanced predictive capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Splunk AppDynamics ensures a seamless deployment with a robust service infrastructure, quickly resolving issues. IBM Instana Observability focuses on agile deployment with minimal configuration and proactive service, highlighting its ease of deployment and proactive service benefits.

Pricing and ROI: Splunk AppDynamics is known for competitive setup costs and solid ROI, appealing to budget-conscious users. IBM Instana Observability, at a higher price, promises significant ROI through features that enhance operational efficiency, justifying its cost for greater long-term value.

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM Instana Observability vs. Splunk AppDynamics

June 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

45th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Splunk AppDynamics

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

249

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (5th), IT Operations Analytics (2nd), Mobile APM (1st), Container Monitoring (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of IBM Instana Observability is 0.5%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk AppDynamics is 4.6%, down from 6.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Tomas Kim

Managing Director at BA Solutions

Not expensive and offers good performance

The most valuable feature of the solution is performance. A one-vendor solution serves as a good feature of the tool. In the IT industry, the IT support team has lots of vendors to contact. DB monitoring is done by one company, while WaaS monitoring is done by another and done by another company, which makes it really complicated for the IT team concerned about the security levels. The tool's main feature is that it is a one-vendor solution. The analysis done by the tool is a good feature. The tool is used as an open-source tool. The tool is growing, and new features are being added to the product.

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Gyanesh Rahatekar

Back office at Reliance Industries Ltd

Application performance management and error resolution improved with data-driven insights

Dynatrace has multiple functions compared to Splunk AppDynamics, so Splunk AppDynamics should add those functions, which are not available as of now. Dynatrace has a universal agent that collects all information related to their CI, and if one CI has multiple languages, then there is no need to instrument multiple agents. However, Splunk AppDynamics requires multiple agents; if I have one server with multiple applications in different languages, then I need to instrument different agents for each application. Splunk AppDynamics should work with Dynatrace with one single universal agent that works with all application languages, eliminating the need for multiple implementations.

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

"The most valuable feature of the solution is performance."

"The solution has a one-second resolution, giving you the status of your application within one second."

"The most valuable features of IBM Instana are its quick data collection and analytics after installing the agent."

"The best feature of AppDynamics is the analytics, which gives us the business insights of the application."

"To be honest, it's a fantastic product."

"The solution saves time and cost."

"This solution is easy to use and very powerful, it is a complete tool for us."

"The solution offers great visibility that allows you to track where errors originated."

"The dashboards are very well-defined."

"This solution gives us quite good insights that we might otherwise overlook, or it might take a really long time to debug those issues."

"The most valuable feature of AppDynamics is that we can see all query times. If a particular query is taking too much time, we can alert it."

More Splunk AppDynamics pros

Cons

"The product's initial setup phase is not very easy."

"The solution should include log management and improve reporting and integration with Cognos."

"One area that requires improvement is related to the automation part, specifically automated actions like sending SMS."

"AppDynamics Database Monitoring would be improved with more support for microservices architecture."

"It would help to maybe have a more graphical interface and more user-friendly graphics."

"The cost element is an issue. I can't expect the company to change its way of work. However, given the fact that we earn and do all our business in South African Rand, I would prefer to buy in Rand as opposed to the American dollar or British pound."

"I would like them to change their business model for scalability to accommodate growing companies. The business model should be more flexible."

"The user access management could be a bit better."

"They could align the product strategy to evolve as a complete solution."

"The tool is expensive."

"The integration part in AppDynamics with other systems is an area with a little difficulty, especially when it comes to the configuration area. The integration of AppDynamics with other products takes a lot of time."

More Splunk AppDynamics cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"We have purchased a few licenses for AppDynamics Database Monitoring and the price is high."

"AppDynamics Server Monitoring is an expensive solution."

"AppDynamics Database Monitoring is expensive. I rate it a seven to eight out of ten."

"Yearly payments have to be made toward the licensing costs of the solution. The solution has no additional costs apart from the licensing costs."

"The licensing scheme is very complex. They need to make it easier."

"It is expensive. However, our time to recover has been reduced, and this product has helped recuperate costs and provided us with ROI."

"There is an annual cost to use this solution. The licensing model could be improved by making it more cost-effective."

"The pricing of the solution is reasonable for what features you receive."

More Splunk AppDynamics pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Hospitality Company

Educational Organization

34%

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

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

The tool's cost is normal as per the market. The tool is not expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Instana Observability?

The tool should offer more LDR AI models. The monitoring is just a status, but the next level of a monitoring solution is to prevent an accident or stop an accident status. The solution should be t...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Instana Observability?

Before IBM, I ordered our company's engineer to have a look at the tool and test it. I think it was two years ago, the transfer to IBM happened in our company. At the beginning, IBM Instana Observa...

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

APM tools for a Managed Service Provider - Dynatrace vs. AppDynamics vs. Aternity vs. Ruxit

Hi Avi! It's great to see your thorough approach to selecting an APM package for your MSP company. Considering your focus on SMBs and enterprises in Israel, Dynatrace seems like a solid choice with...

See all answers

What do you like most about AppDynamics?

The solution saves time and cost.

See all answers

Comparisons

Elastic Observability vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 36% of the time

Grafana vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 17% of the time

Splunk Observability Cloud vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 9% of the time

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 8% of the time

Dynatrace vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM Instana Observability Competitors

Dynatrace vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 15% of the time

Datadog vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 9% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 8% of the time

New Relic vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 7% of the time

Grafana vs Splunk AppDynamics

Compared 5% of the time

More Splunk AppDynamics Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

June 2025

Download IBM Instana Observability product report

Buyer's Guide

Splunk AppDynamics

May 2025

Download Splunk AppDynamics product report

Overview

IBM Instana Observability is a versatile tool tailored for real-time monitoring and management of applications, especially in complex cloud environments. It excels in automated root cause analysis, improving system reliability, and dynamic graphing for visualizing system interconnections. With features like real-time alerting, it enhances operational efficiency and aids in prompt issue resolution, making it invaluable for maintaining robust IT operations.

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

June 2025

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