ServiceNow Cloud Observability vs SolarWinds AppOptics comparison

ServiceNow and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. ServiceNow is ranked #41 with an average rating of 8.0, while SolarWinds is ranked #55. ServiceNow holds a 0.7% mindshare in APM, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of ServiceNow users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

ServiceNow Cloud Observability

Read 5 ServiceNow Cloud Observability reviews

1,663 Views
1,580 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SolarWinds AppOptics

Read 9 SolarWinds AppOptics reviews

2,750 Views
1,678 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

ServiceNow Cloud Observability

SolarWinds AppOptics

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

SolarWinds AppOptics and ServiceNow Cloud Observability are competitive solutions in cloud observability. ServiceNow Cloud Observability often stands out for its comprehensive features and perceived value despite higher costs.

Features: SolarWinds AppOptics is praised for its real-time monitoring, application dependency mapping, and quick alerts. ServiceNow Cloud Observability garners positive feedback for its extensive dashboard capabilities, integration options, and predictive analytics.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds AppOptics users highlight the need for better scalability options and enhanced reporting capabilities. ServiceNow Cloud Observability users seek improved configuration simplicity and more flexible alerting mechanisms.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds AppOptics is noted for its straightforward deployment process but has mixed reviews regarding customer support efficiency. ServiceNow Cloud Observability, while more complex to deploy, receives high marks for reliable and consistent customer service.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds AppOptics users appreciate its lower initial setup cost and faster ROI. ServiceNow Cloud Observability's higher pricing is justified by users due to its robust features and long-term benefits, suggesting a more favorable ROI despite the initial investment.

To learn more, read our detailed ServiceNow Cloud Observability vs. SolarWinds AppOptics Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow Cloud Observability vs. SolarWinds AppOptics

April 2026

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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

ServiceNow Cloud Observability

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

41st

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds AppOptics

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

55th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (61st), Cloud Monitoring Software (44th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of ServiceNow Cloud Observability is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds AppOptics is 0.8%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
ServiceNow Cloud Observability	0.7%
SolarWinds AppOptics	0.8%
Other	98.5%

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Uday-Thentu

Project Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Automation has reduced incident impact and is driving proactive self‑healing across hybrid services

ServiceNow Cloud Observability's valuable features include AI agents that can be integrated and triggered with workflows for evaluating and taking the right action in both process and technical aspects. On the process side, it ensures the right approvals are triggered. From the technical aspect, it allows integration for taking relevant action without human intervention, moving towards self-healing. The main benefit of ServiceNow Cloud Observability is real-time data, which helps us move from being reactive to more proactive. By defining and fine-tuning workflows, we were able to implement timely notification and auto-action or auto-remediations. At the same time, if anything involves additional cost or requires intervention, it helps trigger approval notifications, and once approval is received, it timely takes the action. The AI agents help define and fine-tune those workflows further.

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John Yuko

Assistant Manager ICT - Projects at I&M Bank Ltd

Unique features allow consolidating and combing metrics into a single dashboard, but don't monitor mobile solutions

I would like to see more granular information provided on Unix applications. Also, the integration with Unix services should be a bit more straightforward in terms having an agent to retrieve your credentials rather than having to enter or save them for SSH on SolarWinds. From the outset, we had to set some commands to log into the search console, and they are saved on the solution, which presents a challenge in terms of exposure. The solution is unable to monitor APK solutions completely because we'd then be forced to break down the APK and provide the APIs or go through the source code. They don't have a module that can analyze an application that is maybe under-used.

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 solution Lightstep/ServiceNow has a couple of pretty advanced functionalities to help us investigate a deviation and help the development teams have better observability in the environment using distributed and complex services."

"The UI is very intuitive."

"The main benefit of ServiceNow Cloud Observability is real-time data, which helps us move from being reactive to more proactive."

"To a certain extent, it is possible to save on the costs of the product."

"The ability to create a stream based on different parameters, operation name, service name, URL, tags, and URI part, is one valuable feature."

"The reporting of the solution is very good."

"It's a solid application."

"AppNeta provides a range of products, all based around intelligent network testing algorithms."

"Some of the most valuable features of SolarWinds are the topology discovery and network performance analysis."

"The reporting of the solution is very good."

"The product has a great dashboard."

"SolarWinds AppOptics does far more than what an individual may realize; it is not just a SIEM tool."

"Customer service is exceptional, as they are very much in tune with our service needs and are always in contact for both enhancement requests and overall satisfaction."

More SolarWinds AppOptics pros

Cons

"The dashboard and graphics must be improved."

"The design of this solution is not very intuitive and probably could come with more friendly tips for beginners."

"In terms of licensing, users would want the product to offer them the ability to tailor the tasks offered in the solution to suit their needs."

"The cost could be reduced or lightweight agents and lightweight modules could be introduced, which would make it much easier to implement."

"The support team could be better. Because of the different versions of different tactics of integrating reactive code base, the documentation is not very clear if someone has to be onboard. I would rate the documentation of Lightstep a five out of ten. It could need improvement."

"AppOptics would benefit from having a much more centralized view."

"Because of its inability to monitor mobile solutions, I would rate this solution as a seven out of ten."

"We had a stability issue with a portion of the installation (Sequencer) when it was first introduced and have chosen not to install that specific function."

"I'd like to see the ability to use other internal instrumented applications as filters in the overview/aggregation screen."

"The support is not too bad, but also not very good—it's quite standard."

"The implementation needs improvement. It needs to get modernized with the newer cloud scenario in both public and private deployment models."

"I would like to see more integration with other tools that are available on the market."

"In terms of the technology, I think they need to put some more advanced troubleshooting into SolarWinds, in terms of AI capabilities. That's the next generation, especially in the cases of APIs which have already adopted AI capabilities into their products."

More SolarWinds AppOptics cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive. I rate the tool's pricing model an eight out of ten."

"I believe the current licensing cost is reasonable."

"Mostly, it's a perpetual license. We don't have any customers using the subscription right now—it's mostly a perpetual license that the customers purchase. The licensing is based on the number of elements, whereas other solutions are node-based."

"Since it's a negotiable rate, I would rate the pricing as a five out of five."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Construction Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with LightStep?

The cost could be reduced or lightweight agents and lightweight modules could be introduced, which would make it much easier to implement.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for LightStep?

ServiceNow Cloud Observability's main use case is end-to-end automation starting from the trigger in the cloud. Currently, it focuses more on self-healing and understanding the complete uptime of e...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering LightStep?

Regarding security, I unfortunately do not have much hands-on experience. My focus has been majorly on self-healing activities, but given what I have observed, it does provide a good opportunity in...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow Cloud Observability

April 2026

Download ServiceNow Cloud Observability product report

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

April 2026

Download SolarWinds AppOptics product report

Also Known As

LightStep

AppOptics, SolarWinds TraceView, Librato

Overview

ServiceNow Cloud Observability offers advanced monitoring and alerting capabilities, leveraging AI-driven automation and seamless integrations to enhance visibility and performance in hybrid environments.

ServiceNow Cloud Observability empowers teams with real-time metrics and tracing capabilities, essential for managing numerous microservices across hybrid environments. It integrates seamlessly with popular tools like Grafana, offering a single-pane view of application health and performance. This solution supports self-healing and AI automation, reducing manual interventions and enhancing reliability. Although powerful, users see room for improvement in SDK integration, documentation clarity, and dashboard design, while performance issues are noted when handling a large volume of traces.

What are the most important features of ServiceNow Cloud Observability?

Stream Creation: Enables dashboards via Grafana, enhancing data visualization.
Intuitive Notebooks: Facilitates sharing insights and collaboration.
AI Automation: Supports proactive workflows for better efficiency.
Performance Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights for decision-making.
Latency Monitoring: Ensures quick detection and response to issues.
Error Rate Monitoring: Identifies and addresses potential problems.
Correlation Detection: Enhances problem-solving through detailed analysis.
Self-Healing: Reduces manual interventions and improves service reliability.

What benefits or ROI should be considered in reviews?

Real-Time Visibility: Empowers comprehensive monitoring across microservices.
Seamless Integrations: Supports various tools like Grafana for enhanced functionality.
AI-Driven Reliability: Offers automation and self-healing for reduced downtime.
Performance Insights: Enhances strategic decision-making through detailed analytics.

ServiceNow Cloud Observability is crucial for industries relying on extensive microservices and hybrid environments. Its real-time metrics and tracing are vital for sectors like finance, technology, and telecommunications, where seamless operations and immediate responsiveness are critical.

ServiceNow

SolarWinds AppOptics offers powerful network performance monitoring and application insights, aiding enterprises in optimizing operations.

SolarWinds AppOptics provides comprehensive tools for network and application performance management. This platform enhances real-time monitoring capabilities, offering topology discovery and hop-by-hop performance analysis. With a focus on minimal configuration, users gain extraordinary visibility into service-oriented architecture applications and are equipped to identify performance issues efficiently. The dashboard's integration capabilities streamline application performance data, empowering organizations with robust reporting features. The deployment is popularly on-premises, yet improvements are desired in pricing strategy and integrations with existing tools.

What are the important features of SolarWinds AppOptics?

Topology Discovery: Facilitates understanding of network structure and connections.
Real-Time Monitoring: Delivers current data to monitor system performance live.
Heat Maps: Provides visual insights into network traffic patterns and performance metrics.
Pathview Monitoring: Enables tracking and evaluation of network performance per segment.
Integration Capabilities: Supports metrics integration for comprehensive system monitoring.

What benefits and ROI should users expect?

Efficiency in Issue Resolution: Swift identification of network bottlenecks and performance issues.
Enhanced Reporting: In-depth reports facilitating data-driven decisions.
Increased Visibility: Comprehensive insights into application and network activities.
Minimal Configuration: Quick setup enabling immediate utility and productivity.

SolarWinds AppOptics is widely used in network operations within enterprises, also extending to server and application monitoring. Deployed to track servers and network devices, it aids in analyzation of logs and data across environments, and is essential for service management. Specific industries benefit from detailed deployment inventory and management portfolios enabled by AppOptics.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

InVision, Twilio, Lyft, Yext, DigitalOcean,

TraxoCovea Insurance BTE TechnologyDatarista

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow Cloud Observability vs. SolarWinds AppOptics

April 2026

Free Report: ServiceNow Cloud Observability vs. SolarWinds AppOptics

Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow Cloud Observability vs. SolarWinds AppOptics and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

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