Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Nutanix Database Service vs Quest Spotlight 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

Nutanix Database Service
Ranking in Database Development and Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Quest Spotlight
Ranking in Database Development and Management
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of Nutanix Database Service is 3.5%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Quest Spotlight is 6.8%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Development and Management
 

Featured Reviews

Prasad Pimple - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhancing database management with operational efficiency but needs better compatibility
Era should be compatible with various environments, such as VMware and Red Hat, to be hypervisor agnostic. Due to increasing adoption among enterprise clients, integration with Kubernetes platforms is also needed. Furthermore, the product can benefit from improving its understanding of architectural setup and communicating its limitations to users and partners.
Seha R - PeerSpot reviewer
Good tool for the design and development of public APIs
The software does not support webhooks. It doesn't support advanced versions of APIs. The tool also doesn't support advanced versions of specifications. The change that we do in one part of the model is not reflected throughout the specification. There are also some mutations in the clones. I am not able to do a local source control with the product as well.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It saves operation time and day-to-day tasks."
"The efficiency gained by using Nutanix Database Service has led to a positive impact on our business as far as bringing in new applications and workloads."
"What I appreciate the most about Nutanix Database Service is the standardization and ease of deployment. It makes it easier for the database administrators to deploy without either the database administrator or the business needing all their staff and waiting a long period of time to have their request fulfilled."
"What I appreciate the most about Nutanix Database Service is that it's simple; it's all in one bundle, and everything is pre-configured so that you can deploy your database and protect it."
"The solution allows quick setting up of new development environments and ensures the use of the storage more efficiently. It manages to create new clients to be utilized for development or reporting."
"Management and provision are the most important features of Nutanix Database Service."
"Overall, the solution is very good. It's easy to use and simple to handle many actions, such as VM cloning, testing, and prediction."
"The Time Machine is the most valuable feature for us. Using it means that we don't have to take regular snapshots, yet we are still able to restore the database quickly in the event of a problem."
"Its dashboards are most valuable. The drill-down of the dashboards is useful."
"I consider the solution very scalable."
"Spotlight provides valuable features such as the ability to get alerted and drill down to a very granular level to find out where actual problems are coming from."
"The tool is a SaaS product where I just need to type a URL and start with the design process. I can integrate all elements of source control like GitHub, GitLab, etc. The tool also supports authentication-related provisions like SSH."
"Spotlight provides valuable features such as the ability to get alerted and drill down to a very granular level to find out where actual problems are coming from."
 

Cons

"It would be helpful if Nutanix added a billing system for databases. We need to automate this with a separate solution. We are service providers, so it would be easier for our customers if there were a built-in system that we could use for billing."
"The updating of the database engine is something that can be improved. For example, assume that we are using PostgreSQL out of the box, and it is version 10. If we want to migrate to version 11, 12, or 13, then it is not very easy to do that using Nutanix Era."
"The solution could improve by providing more support for more vendors."
"Patch management is an issue as it regularly causes stability problems."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing structure."
"Nutanix Database Service can be improved by enhancing logging; when we're trying to look for errors, one of the hiccups we always run into is that it's very hard to pinpoint and look through the logs."
"The graphical user interfaces could be much more user-friendly. They are already user-friendly, but they could be simpler so that we do not need L3 staff to handle them. If they were simpler, we could also have some command center or L1/L1.5 associates do some housekeeping activities on it."
"There will always be room for improvement, there is nothing perfect from day one. There are some technical challenges that we have with NDS. I believe with time it will be sorted out."
"One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer."
"The software does not support webhooks. It doesn't support advanced versions of APIs. The tool also doesn't support advanced versions of specifications. The change that we do in one part of the model is not reflected throughout the specification. There are also some mutations in the clones. I am not able to do a local source control with the product as well."
"Some customizations of the dashboard, such as having backup reports, would be useful."
"One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer."
"There's no reporting with this tool, and there really should be. They should add that into future releases."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensed-based pricing is confusing and too high."
"Not everyone can afford it. It's a bit expensive, so the price has to be improved."
"The pricing is competitive."
"I wasn't involved much with the pricing and setup costs and licenses. The pricing was as expected."
"It's priced fairly... It's a good value. When you go looking for something from Oracle that automates things and makes your life easier, it's always going to be a minimum of $500,000. Era's nothing like that."
"Pricing wasn't a surprise. It was what we were expecting it to be."
"The price of the solution is expensive."
"There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"The tool is cloud-based. It is priced well."
"Its cost was somewhere in the middle."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database Development and Management solutions are best for your needs.
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
27%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Healthcare Company
10%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Nutanix Database Service?
The most valuable feature is its robust infrastructure management tools.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nutanix Database Service?
It is amazing. The pricing compared to the time saved is nothing. It's worth the cost.
What needs improvement with Nutanix Database Service?
It has already saved me a lot of time, but it can still improve. In the past, there were built-in templates, and now, for some particular databases, I have to create my own templates and push them ...
What needs improvement with Quest Spotlight?
One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer.
What is your primary use case for Quest Spotlight?
I primarily use Spotlight for on-the-spot troubleshooting and alerting to see if there are any issues. The drill-down features allow me to pinpoint problems, whether they are indexing, long-running...
What advice do you have for others considering Quest Spotlight?
I would rate Spotlight probably an nine out of ten. My advice would be to consider its cost-effectiveness and ease of use in smaller environments.
 

Also Known As

Nutanix Era
Dell Spotlight
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, SAIC Volkswagen
Jenkon
Find out what your peers are saying about Nutanix Database Service vs. Quest Spotlight and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.