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IDERA ER/Studio vs SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

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

IDERA ER/Studio
Ranking in Database Development and Management
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (8th)
SolarWinds Database Perform...
Ranking in Database Development and Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of IDERA ER/Studio is 3.0%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is 9.8%, up from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Development and Management
 

Featured Reviews

Aaron Cutshall - PeerSpot reviewer
Used for data modeling and has a scripting language to write your own scripts
The solution has streamlined our data modeling processes quite a bit. It's a central focus in our data modeling and data cataloging efforts. The tool's reverse engineering capability to bring in existing database structures and create models from them has benefitted our data architecture needs. With the tool's data dictionary capability, we're able to maintain consistency in our models, name use, and actual data domains. The solution's reverse engineering helps with understanding legacy databases. In fact, I've been asked to reverse-engineer several more legacy databases so that we can have them modeled and cataloged. The solution is deployed on the cloud server, but it’s only within our network. The solution has a lot of capabilities. I like the fact that it has a scripting language that allows you to automate and write your own scripts. I think that's been a big bonus for us. I highly recommend the solution because of its capability for logical models, where you can put your business definitions and logic. While less expensive, some other tools can't do that. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Fausto Espinosa - PeerSpot reviewer
Powerful monitoring solution with good technical support
I don't remember the exact version of the SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer I'm using, but it's the most recent. Four operators and three administrators currently use the solution in my company, but only administrators see everything, while the rest only see the dashboard. The advice I would give to others who want to implement SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is that support is needed to successfully implement the solution. I would rate SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer nine out of ten. My company is a customer of SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We found a lot of duplication, a lot of non-conformity in the way our databases were designed. By identifying these situations, we're able to go back in and try to create a more standardized solution."
"Straightforward setup."
"We can track changes to our data models and tie those changes back to specific tasks or efforts that we identify."
"ER/Studio is excellent for large teams; it scales well to teams of over one hundred plus people."
"I set up this tool and found it to be very simple."
"It's much easier to develop the database structure and change it on the fly, rather than doing it manually in SQL Server itself. That saves time."
"The data modeling and reverse engineering features are most important to us."
"Developing new dimensional models; for the data we're hosting, dimensional modeling is more useful."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer's most valuable features include the notification of consuming the SQL queries, collecting data, and notifying about managing space and tables."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is anomaly detection. It alerts you when things outside the norm are happening, and the feature that analyzes your indexes informs you if you have wide or overlapping indexes. It also helps identify SQL query bottlenecks, letting you know if something is taking longer than usual, if a query plan has changed, and if you need to update statistics. In terms of usage, it is straightforward to use, learn and understand. The patching process is smooth and explains each feature, including links to external resources for further reading."
"What I like most about SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is that it's a powerful solution that lets me advise customers about performance, and it also gives a lot of supporting information."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer can help us identify issues we cannot see manually."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"In IT, problems often occur in areas such as applications, web interfaces, or databases. The tool allows users to easily determine the root cause of these issues, whether they stem from the network layer, database layer, or elsewhere."
"The platform solves and prevents delays in receiving answers from databases."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the support for older databases and the ability to manage them in a centralized dashboard."
 

Cons

"It would be helpful if they could create a generic JSON database type, as a target database, rather than a specific one like Mongo."
"ER/Studio lacks a pure cloud option for deployment."
"The only thing I had an issue with was licensing, and the support was very good."
"I'd like the ability to debug the errors ourselves instead of having to call them. There are certain types of errors that, I wouldn't say they come up regularly, but when you have an error it is very often the same type of error. Knowing that it's a Type III or Type I, it would be nice to have some kind of debugging facility for us to use to find out where the problem that threw that error occurs. That would be a really cool feature."
"The solution is not so strong at creating modeling views and database views."
"The number of options can be overwhelming at times. That is not necessarily a bad thing but for a newbie, it can be daunting."
"Whenever there is a new version, there are a lot of release notes on the technical side of it, but I would like to be told why are we doing the upgrade... What I would like to really see is how this benefits us from the business point of view. What are the real benefits that the user gets? I want some kind of way white paper. The release notes describe the technical enhancements but, from the layman's point of view, if someone asks me what are the business benefits of this upgrade, I don't have any documentation to explain it to the business."
"We would always like to see Repository performance improve, checking in and checking out."
"The areas where it currently lags are in reporting and dashboarding. The reports and dashboards are somewhat static, and we cannot create custom dashboards for specific customer needs."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should include more details on how everything works."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should provide customization options allowing users to add different columns."
"The solution should add little details on the server so that an independent team could easily do the implementation."
"One area where the tool could improve is by adding support for additional databases. For instance, supporting newer databases like Couchbase or MongoDB would be beneficial."
"It is capable, but I don't believe it has the right value matrix. It also depends on the budget of the company."
"Technical support for this solution needs to be improved."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should be easy to implement and it should have more facilities to make it better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As an individual user, the renewal is a little costly."
"Pricing is on point, but do your due diligence - not every developer needs the tool."
"I'm a firm believer that all software is overpriced these days but, comparatively speaking, I think ER/Studio is worth the money."
"I am currently using the trial version, but this solution is definitely worth considering for the price point."
"The solution’s pricing is high."
"Pricing is expensive and on the higher-end."
"At my previous company using ER/Studio, a database compare took four hours before using the product and 15 minutes after using the product."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is bad and ten is good, I would rate the licensing cost as a seven or eight. It's not too expensive for us."
"Customers need to pay for the subscription-based license annually."
"The pricing is fairly reasonable, and it becomes more cost-effective with larger volumes of instances."
"I don't remember the exact licensing cost for SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer, but it's within the range of $2,000 to $3,000 a year."
"The pricing of the solution is average."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is a little bit expensive."
"It could be less expensive."
"There are no extra costs for maintenance or using the solution's support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Healthcare Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IDERA ER/Studio?
In terms of pricing, ER/Studio is slightly more expensive compared to Erwin, by about five to ten percent.
What needs improvement with IDERA ER/Studio?
ER/Studio lacks a pure cloud option for deployment. Both Erwin and ER/Studio do not have AI or machine learning features for automation. Offering a comprehensive cloud-based version could enhance i...
What do you like most about SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
In IT, problems often occur in areas such as applications, web interfaces, or databases. The tool allows users to easily determine the root cause of these issues, whether they stem from the network...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
One area where the tool could improve is by adding support for additional databases. For instance, supporting newer databases like Couchbase or MongoDB would be beneficial.
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
We use SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer for performance monitoring, tuning, and troubleshooting performance issues. It's mainly related to performance and the database community. Database a...
 

Also Known As

IDERA ER Studio, ER/Studio, ER/Studio Enterprise Team Edition
Confio, SolarWinds DPA, Ignite8
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Newmont Mining, Entrust, Accolade, TalkTalk, Catalina, Protective Life, NTT Data, dir systèmes, Microsoft; American Express, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Coriant, Fedex, GlaxoSmithKline, PepsiCo, Prudential, Wells Fargo
GSI Commerce, Liquid Digital Media, ProLogis, Indiana University
Find out what your peers are saying about IDERA ER/Studio vs. SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.