ManageEngine ADAudit Plus vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

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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

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

Ranking in Active Directory Management

5th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Active Directory Management

8th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (20th), Server Monitoring (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is 7.2%, down from 10.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 3.3%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Active Directory Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
ManageEngine ADAudit Plus	7.2%
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor	3.3%
Other	89.5%

Active Directory Management

Featured Reviews

Md Abdul Hakim

System Engineer at Corporate Projukti Limited

Advanced monitoring enhances user tracking that's cost-effective

I have been involved with this product for the last three years, participating in service and support within our company. We are currently supporting over 30 companies. This month, we deployed the solution for three companies, including two RMGs and one private bank in Bangladesh. The popularity of this product is due to its active directory monitoring abilities. Engineers can receive reports and log details within one to five seconds, which is essential for monitoring user activity swiftly and effectively. This product is very well-liked in Bangladesh due to user tracking, failed logins, and Jar reports for any Barna activity or execution. This solution's popularity extends through comprehensive auditing capabilities.

Read full review

NikhilKalwint

Technical Specialist at ServiceIO

Monitoring over a thousand systems has improved decision making and operational visibility

From an advantage perspective, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is comparatively cheaper from a commercial point of view. It is easy to install and configure, very user-friendly, and quick to get up and running, allowing you to see the early value adds in your organization. It is compatible with most technologies for monitoring with very few chances of incompatibility. Configuration also allows us to monitor all the technical parameters we are looking for, making it a very good experience for us. The alerting feature in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is a main advantage, as it alerts based on threshold breaches and can raise tickets to the ticketing system, send SMS, and email notifications, allowing engineers to work on those tickets to resolve issues and avoid further impact. The visibility into server health is a beneficial feature that I am utilizing. We widely use various application performance metrics in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor such as database monitoring and server monitoring, which are quite good enough for any monitoring solution. We utilize the customizable dashboards in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor.

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

"I rate this ten out of ten."

"The monitoring and reporting are extensive and we get all the information we need while they continue to enhance the capabilities of the product."

"We use the product to track events and monitor logs of servers and workstations. I am impressed with the tool's tracking ability. It is intuitive and easy to use."

"Customers prefer ManageEngine ADAudit Plus to other solutions because they produce good results for comparatively lower prices."

"ManageEngine ADAudit Plus provides real-time tracking capabilities through agent installation, which works in real-time to collect information and immediately alerts if anything matches the defined conditions in the application."

"Real-time monitoring of AD changes and logons is valuable."

"The most valuable feature of ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is its reports."

"ADAudit Plus's best features are that it's very easy to use with a user-friendly interface, and it gives reports on group policy and object changes that we couldn't find in any other product."

More ManageEngine ADAudit Plus pros

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is its powerful monitoring capabilities."

"SolarWinds is one of the best products on the market and if they eventually support the IBM Mainframe then it will be perfect."

"There are many valuable features, including the network configuration manager, and the network performance manager."

"SSL Certificate Monitoring and Expiry Alerting"

"The most valuable feature is application monitoring."

"Hardware health: It allows for proactive monitoring of the hardware health and is a game changer."

"Manage Groups: The capability to group appropriate devices gives better visibility of sites, categories, or critical regions. The same can be used to represent a dashboard for higher management."

"It's good at monitoring system-specific things like ports, services."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

Cons

"There are so many reports that it sometimes makes it difficult to navigate to what you need."

"An area of improvement for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus could be in graphical reporting, as currently, it's limited with old school bar charts, and having more interactive reports with a better graphical user interface would be beneficial."

"The initial setup was quite complex and required some research beforehand."

"The return on investment for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is very hard to measure."

"From the complexity part, I have some challenges with editing the Group Policy."

"I consider the pricing for ADAudit Plus a bit high compared to other software solutions, so I would rate it around two or three on the pricing scale."

"There is room for improvement, especially in the standard professional edition. Some features require more external integration."

"The initial setup was difficult."

More ManageEngine ADAudit Plus cons

"As per my view, Solarwinds should come up the same monitoring system for other certificate expiration alert apart from SSL."

"One area that could benefit from improvement is its performance"

"PerfStack can be made more effective."

"The product does not explain why a problem occurred."

"This product has no real downside unless they fail to continue development of its capabilities."

"There is one feature that is a report writer. And they are currently trying to take it out from being a stand-alone application and integrating to the web. This doesn't give us the flexibility and it doesn't expand what we can get when it comes to reporting. So, putting it on the web is going to make it difficult to get some information. Leaving it where it is now will help us a lot."

"I believe that SolarWinds should spend more effort in reporting."

"The major concern in the product revolves around application performance monitoring since end-to-end application monitoring is not possible with the tool."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Adding features and other functionality it costs you more. Also, the first installation costs an additional amount."

"ADAudit Plus's pricing is affordable and flexible, with very low prices in the market."

"The tool is affordable, and our company is very happy with it. If ten is the most expensive and one is the least expensive, I rate the tool a three or four."

"My guess is that it was around $4,000 or $5,000 a year, and we bought a license, and then we have maintenance fees. I'm not 100% sure how that worked out."

"The solution's pricing is acceptable."

"It's a medium-priced solution."

"Nagios XI, WhatsUpGold, Uptime Software, PRTG, Manage Engine, and SpiceWorks are the other tools that have lower pricing and licensing costs. However, they can't compete with SolarWinds when it comes to the features and functionality that SolarWinds can provide."

"I like the pricing for this SolarWinds product."

"The licenses start from USD 3000.00 and go up to USD 20,000.00 for the year. It's a perpetual license. Nothing is free in SolarWinds, anything that you need is an additional cost."

"When planning for the number of licenses to purchase, make sure you understand all of the elements within an application required to really understand performance well. In our case, we quickly came to the conclusion that an unlimited license for SAM was the way to go."

"I have always said SolarWinds is very “proud” of their products, meaning they are expensive. I cannot afford to purchase all the licenses I need for all the SolarWinds products."

"We pay around $ 2,000 to $ 5,000 yearly for the solution."

"I think SolarWinds' pricing is very decent compared to other competitors in the market."

"Understanding the counts of objects to monitor will determine the licensing need. In terms of pricing, it’s not cheap but it’s not expensive as larger vendors whose products don’t have all the features or integrations."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Active Directory Management solutions are best for your needs.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

10%

Outsourcing Company

Government

Healthcare Company

Educational Organization

13%

University

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	21

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

The price is normal for this type of solution.

What needs improvement with ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

An area of improvement for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus could be in graphical reporting, as currently, it's limited with old school bar charts, and having more interactive reports with a better graphi...

What is your primary use case for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

The main use case for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is primarily focused on auditing, so any changes related to Active Directory or Azure Intra ID or even file servers, such as file monitoring, are imm...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

The initial cost is quite high, but the renewal cost is reasonable.

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

There is definitely room for improvement besides simplifying its setup. As a non-technical person, I believe the dashboards could be improved. Everything we use appears on video walls, and we need ...

What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

I am doing research as we currently have both solutions, and I am looking to see if we need both or can manage with one. Currently, the outcome indicates that we need both. The focus point is diffe...

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Comparisons

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Compared 7% of the time

Imanami GroupID vs ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

Dynatrace vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 5% of the time

Icinga vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 4% of the time

Nagios XI vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

Download ManageEngine ADAudit Plus product report

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Also Known As

No data available

SolarWinds SAM

Overview

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus provides real-time Active Directory monitoring with features like user behavior analytics and event analysis. It offers an intuitive interface and robust reporting capabilities, alerting users to changes for enhanced security and efficient management.

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is designed for enterprises seeking comprehensive Active Directory auditing. With capabilities like real-time monitoring, file auditing, and activity tracking, it supports security and compliance needs. Efficient user management is achieved through alerts for group additions and changes and features like the Account Lockout Analyzer. Although known for its intuitive interface, there's potential for improved sophistication in its design. Integration with QRadar and Log360, better documentation, and enhancements for non-Microsoft products are areas for growth. The platform is widely used for monitoring login activities, auditing group policy objects, and providing detailed reports that assist IT teams in security and operational efforts.

What are the key features of ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

Real-time Active Directory Monitoring: Delivers instant insights into changes and incidents.
User Behavior Analytics: Leverages machine learning to understand user actions.
In-depth Reporting: Offers detailed reports to track modifications and compliance metrics.
Event Analysis: Provides tools for analyzing security events comprehensively.
File Auditing: Tracks file access and changes for improved security.
Granular Report Details: Offers detailed information to meet auditing requirements.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Enhanced Security: Alerts for critical changes improve overall network protection.
Efficient User Management: Features like Account Lockout Analyzer streamline processes.
Intuitive Interface: Easy report generation without custom setup.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Monitors login and access activities accurately.

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus benefits industries requiring rigorous monitoring like finance and healthcare by ensuring compliance and security. Organizations utilize its detailed reports and alert systems to maintain operational integrity and protect sensitive data effectively.

ManageEngine

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provides comprehensive server, application, and infrastructure monitoring, focusing on integration, application dependency, and network insights through user-friendly interfaces and detailed dashboards.

With AppStack and AppInsight support, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor offers service management, detailed resource dashboards, and integration capabilities. It monitors hardware metrics and performance parameters, facilitating database and network insights for cloud and virtual environments. Robust alerting, predictive analytics, and capacity planning ensure efficient management of server health and application performance.

What are the key features?

Integration: Seamlessly connects with existing tools.
AppStack: Provides a holistic view of applications.
AppInsight: Supports widely-used applications.
SNMP Polling: Efficient network data collection.
Diagnostics: Real-time troubleshooting.
Customizable Dashboards: Tailored monitoring views.

What benefits should users expect?

Comprehensive Monitoring: Extends from servers to databases.
Transparent Control: Enhances visibility into performance metrics.
User-Friendly: Simplifies proactive monitoring with alerts.
Predictive Features: Supports capacity and trend planning.

Industries implement SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor to enhance server utilization reporting, network configuration, and AV equipment performance tracking. They benefit from monitoring critical services across diverse deployment models, improving management efficiency and decision-making.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Warsaw City Hall, Acument Global Technologies, Inc., Cosma International, Bank of South Pacific, Life Management Center, Central Bank, UncleBob's Self Storage, Leeds Building Society, California Transplant Donor Network, First Response, Blessing Hospital, Northern Land Council, RMK Marine

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor