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

4th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Active Directory Management

12th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (16th), Server Monitoring (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is 10.9%, up from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.0%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

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.

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Subhajit Nag

Senior Process Associate at Tata Consultancy Services

The component and cable monitoring features are good, but the interface is slow

SolarWinds' interface is slow, and this is a global concern. Every SolarWinds user complains about the sluggishness. The response is slow. If you browse from one page to another, you have to wait. Our company is a massive user with plenty of licenses, so the performance issues could be due to the load per license. Ten thousand components can be mapped under one license. So SolarWinds needs to take care of the speed problem. It cannot be this slow. That is a huge complaint. Otherwise, the tool is good. It should also be easier to upgrade SolarWinds. AppDynamics is harder to deploy but easier to upgrade. So AppDynamics takes a lot of time and effort to install, but you can upgrade it in minutes. SolarWinds is the opposite. It's easy to deploy, but upgrades take forever. To date, nobody can complete it on time, so the production environment is sitting idle. The upgrade time matters because you only install the solution once, but you'll need to upgrade the solution repeatedly over the life of the product. A complex installation isn't an issue, but I mind if the upgrade takes too long because it's already in production.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

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

"Some of the most valuable features of ADAudit Plus are the granular parts of the reports fetched from Active Directory."

"It assists in managing the active directory and modifying the reintegrated GPOs."

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

"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."

"I like the user behavior analytics (UBA). It's a machine learning feature that creates a standard profile for each user when you install it. It creates a baseline for every user, so it can detect when anyone deviates from that standard baseline profile. For example, if a user typically logs in at 9:30 am and logs out at 6 pm, ADAudit will flag it as an anomaly when that same logs in after normal hours and alert the admins."

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

More ManageEngine ADAudit Plus pros

"Management Console - Managing service to each server enrolled in the Solarwinds is much easier. Using a web base console, you can control your service much convenient way. There is no need to login remotely. It save a lot of time and effort."

"I am impressed with the tool's AppStack feature which mainly helps us in the identification process. This feature can give an overview of the fault and help us identify the issues for performance degradation. Instead of looking at multiple places, we can look at a single place to identify the issues."

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

"The component and cable monitoring are good. SolarWinds is more intuitive and user-friendly than AppDynamics. The AppDynamics console is more complex because it's a more feature-rich solution, so it's not easy for somebody to pick it up."

"The product integrates with Remedy."

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is the network devices' performance monitor is the best."

"The most valuable feature is the Access Rights Manager."

"Extremely user friendly: Any IT professional can learn how to admin NPM in a short time."

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."

"The solution should include more details on file creation and modification. It also needs to have a quick message for troubleshooting problems which needs to be detailed and generic."

"The interface could be improved, and the log collecting feature should have additional functionalities."

"The solution's managing file server activity could be improved."

"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 quite complex and required some research beforehand."

"ADAudit could have a more sophisticated interface design. They are using a plain UI, which is decent. However, customers have said that it looks a little flat compared to other vendors. It's not fancy."

More ManageEngine ADAudit Plus cons

"The technical support team's response time could be improved."

"I think they need to make reporting easier and more simple & dynamic."

"A lot of times, we have to do a lot of manual cleanups."

"An additional feature that would improve this solution is the ability to complete root cause analysis."

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

"SAM's software-defined network monitoring capability is also low and could be improved."

"For each poller, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor can only monitor up to ten thousand components, which restricts scalability."

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

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

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

"The solution's pricing is acceptable."

"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."

"It's a medium-priced solution."

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

"We are on an annual license to use the solution. The price of the solution is expensive. The price is based on a bunch of factors, such as the number of engines and elements."

"I like the pricing for this SolarWinds product."

"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."

"The solution is overpriced in terms of application management."

"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 would advise potential buyers to wait until the end of the quarter, end of year, or other time to place orders. There are actually great deals to be had at those times if your budget cycle can match up."

"Pricing is inexpensive, starting at 2440 euros. For that, you get the ability to monitor a couple of nodes and one year of maintenance and support."

"The product is expensive."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Retailer

Educational Organization

38%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

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

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

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.

What needs improvement with ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

The interface could be improved, and the log collecting feature should have additional functionalities. For example, I would like to generate reports on users who have not logged into the Active Di...

What do you like most about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

Identifying the problem statement is easy.

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 are no specific features or functionality I would like to see improved or enhanced in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor at this time. I have not encountered any missing features or fu...

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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

In real-time, ensure critical resources in the network like the Domain Controllers are audited, monitored and reported with the entire information on AD objects - Users, Groups, GPO, Computer, OU, DNS, AD Schema and Configuration changes with 200+ detailed event specific GUI reports and email alerts.

ManageEngine

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers powerful application and server monitoring capabilities for IT pros, enabling them to diagnose and troubleshoot performance issues faster. Do not let slow applications and downtime impact your end-users and business services. Pinpoint the root cause of application issues across various layers of the IT stack. SolarWinds SAM is affordable and easy to deploy, use, and customize. You can automatically discover your system's environment and start monitoring in about an hour. No professional services or consultation needed.

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