SolarWinds AppOptics vs Splunk Observability Cloud comparison

SolarWinds and Splunk are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. SolarWinds is ranked #56, while Splunk is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.7. SolarWinds holds a 0.3% mindshare in APM, compared to Splunk’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of SolarWinds users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Splunk users who would recommend it.

SolarWinds AppOptics

Read 9 SolarWinds AppOptics reviews

971 Views
573 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Splunk Observability Cloud

Read 57 Splunk Observability Cloud reviews

5,348 Views
3,262 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

SolarWinds AppOptics

Splunk Observability Cloud

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 19, 2025

Splunk Observability Cloud and SolarWinds AppOptics compete in the IT monitoring and observability category. Splunk Observability Cloud has the upper hand due to its advanced customization and integration features, though it comes at a higher cost.

Features: Splunk Observability Cloud is strong in custom dashboards, real-time analysis, and log reporting, offering integration with various environments and strong security. SolarWinds AppOptics stands out with network performance analysis, application monitoring, and ease of use with comprehensive data visualization.

Room for Improvement: Splunk Observability Cloud should improve scalability, automation, and third-party tool integration, along with simplifying data handling. SolarWinds AppOptics can enhance its centralized data views and external tool integration while advancing its troubleshooting features and licensing model.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Splunk Observability Cloud offers on-premises, cloud, and hybrid deployment options, with mostly responsive customer support, though complex scenarios may face delays. SolarWinds AppOptics provides reliable support with on-premises and cloud deployment, though Splunk's comprehensive options suit larger environments better.

Pricing and ROI: Splunk Observability Cloud's high cost is offset by its extensive features, catering to organizations requiring detailed monitoring, while SolarWinds AppOptics offers a more budget-friendly model with good ROI, appealing to cost-conscious entities through its straightforward pricing.

To learn more, read our detailed SolarWinds AppOptics vs. Splunk Observability Cloud Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds AppOptics vs. Splunk Observability Cloud

August 2025

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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

SolarWinds AppOptics

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

56th

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

58th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

43rd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Splunk Observability Cloud

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

8th

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

7th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

7th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (6th), Container Management (6th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of SolarWinds AppOptics is 0.3%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk Observability Cloud is 2.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

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

Lakshmi Padaga

Java Developer at U.S. Bank

Collaborates performance metrics with log data to pinpoint the exact cause of issues and offers error detection

Splunk APM is a robust tool with many capabilities. There are always areas for potential improvement to enhance its functionality and user experience. For Splunk APM, there could be simplified navigation, like streamlining the user interface to make navigation more intuitive for our users, especially those new to APM, which can enhance usability. We can provide more customization options for dashboards and visualizations to help users tailor the platform to their specific needs. There could be more integration capabilities with a wider range of third-party tools and platforms would also be beneficial. By focusing on these areas, Splunk APM can enhance its value proposition, improve user satisfaction, and better meet the evolving needs of organizations monitoring their application performance.

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

"Technical support is always live and they're supportive."

"I have found the most valuable feature is application performance management."

"The reporting of the solution is very good."

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

"The sum solution, NTA, and DPA."

"The product has a great dashboard."

"The features I have found most valuable are log searching and log analytics, both of which are quick features."

"The most valuable feature is log reporting."

"It's a very easy-to-use solution."

"Once configured correctly, the analysis reporting the Splunk APM provides is better than that of the other APM tools."

"The solution is stable and reliable."

"Great monitoring of network devices."

"Splunk's GUI and dashboard capacity are the most valuable features of Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring."

"We haven't really experienced any glitches or bugs."

More Splunk Observability Cloud pros

Cons

"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."

"The solution should be more user-friendly."

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

"The integration with Unix services should be a bit more straightforward."

"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."

"This solution is difficult to configure and the instructions are complex."

"Support from Splunk is not very helpful because Splunk doesn't have a dedicated APM; they only have one APM engineer in Korea."

"There is not a lot of support for the tool's on-premises version, especially since everything is on the cloud."

"Splunk would be better if some tools were integrated to be able to take action on security or network concerns."

"It does not have a user-friendly interface and it is difficult to use."

"There are some predefined metrics.......we may want to create customized metrics."

"There is room for improvement in the alerting system, which is complicated and has less documentation available."

"It would be beneficial to have more enhanced features with capabilities to adapt more integrated applications. Improvements in dashboard configuration, customization, and artificial intelligence functionalities are desired."

More Splunk Observability Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"I believe the current licensing cost is reasonable."

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

"Splunk Observability Cloud is expensive."

"This is an expensive solution."

"I am not in that circle, but we are currently licensing based on our queries. That is working out for us. Previously, it was by volume of data, and now, we can store as much data as we want."

"Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring is an expensive solution."

"Splunk APM is a very cost-efficient solution."

"The pricing is based on several factors, including the scale of deployment."

"Licensing cost is the biggest argument I get from those divesting from Splunk. There are those within our organization who say we are going to go to other tools since Splunk is too expensive."

"The pricing is reasonable."

More Splunk Observability Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

15%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about SignalFx?

The most valuable feature is dashboard creation.

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What needs improvement with SignalFx?

Regarding dashboard customization, while Splunk has many dashboard building options, customers sometimes need to create specific dashboards, particularly for applicative metrics such as Java and pr...

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What is your primary use case for SignalFx?

The solution involves observability in general, such as Application Performance Monitoring, and generally addresses digital applications, web applications, sites, and mobile applications. I worked ...

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Compared 23% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

Zenoss Cloud vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 8% of the time

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

Sentry vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 7% of the time

Cribl vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 5% of the time

SigNoz vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 5% of the time

Dynatrace vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

August 2025

Download SolarWinds AppOptics product report

Buyer's Guide

Splunk Observability Cloud

July 2025

Download Splunk Observability Cloud product report

Also Known As

AppOptics, SolarWinds TraceView, Librato

Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring, Splunk Real User Monitoring (RUM), Splunk Synthetic Monitoring

Overview

AppOptics is a SaaS-based simple, powerful and affordable Infrastructure & Application monitoring for custom on-premises, cloud, and hybrid systems.

Your business runs on applications, and when they go down or run slowly, it can impact the business in lost productivity, customers, or revenue. To add to the complexity, your IT environment is changing, and workloads can be spread across data centers, and cloud resources. You need to monitor the availability and performance of applications and infrastructure, regardless of where they are, so you can identify potential issues early and address them before they impact users

SolarWinds

Splunk Observability Cloud offers sophisticated log searching, data integration, and customizable dashboards. With rapid deployment and ease of use, this cloud service enhances monitoring capabilities across IT infrastructures for comprehensive end-to-end visibility.

Focused on enhancing performance management and security, Splunk Observability Cloud supports environments through its data visualization and analysis tools. Users appreciate its robust application performance monitoring and troubleshooting insights. However, improvements in integrations, interface customization, scalability, and automation are needed. Users find value in its capabilities for infrastructure and network monitoring, as well as log analytics, albeit cost considerations and better documentation are desired. Enhancements in real-time monitoring and network protection are also noted as areas for development.

What are the key features?

Log Searching: Efficiently search and analyze logs from various sources.
Data Integration: Seamlessly integrate with multiple environments.
Dashboard Customization: Tailor dashboards to specific monitoring needs.
Monitoring Capabilities: Provides comprehensive insights into application performance.
Security Features: Analyze and address security threats across systems.
Visualization Tools: Enhance data analysis and system performance optimization.

Why consider this for ROI?

Comprehensive Visibility: Gain complete insights into IT infrastructure.
Performance Optimization: Improve overall system performance and efficiency.
Rapid Deployment: Quick setup to meet organization demands swiftly.
Enhanced Security: Strengthen security measures through detailed analytics.

In industries, Splunk Observability Cloud is implemented for security management by analyzing logs from detection systems, offering real-time alerts and troubleshooting for cloud-native applications. It is leveraged for machine data analysis, improving infrastructure visibility and supporting network and application performance management efforts.

Splunk

Sample Customers

TraxoCovea Insurance BTE TechnologyDatarista

Sunrun, Yelp, Onshape, Tapjoy, Symphony Commerce, Chairish, Clever, Grovo, Bazaar Voice, Zenefits, Avalara

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds AppOptics vs. Splunk Observability Cloud

August 2025

Free Report: SolarWinds AppOptics vs. Splunk Observability Cloud

Find out what your peers are saying about SolarWinds AppOptics vs. Splunk Observability Cloud and other solutions. Updated: August 2025.

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