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SQL Sentry vs SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer 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

SolarWinds Database Perform...
Ranking in Database Development and Management
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SQL Sentry
Ranking in Database Development and Management
11th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
2
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 SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is 10.0%, up from 8.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Sentry is 5.8%, up from 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Development and Management
 

Featured Reviews

Ravi Khanchandani - PeerSpot reviewer
Excels in identifying various database performance issues, including long-running queries, wait times, deadlocks, and other performance-related issues.
There's room for improvement on the dashboarding side. Specifically, the health dashboard of the database instances. Some of my customers deal with a large number of monitored database instances. It would be beneficial if they could have a single dashboard for instances, for example, from number one to thirty. This way, I could monitor all these 30 instances and quickly identify any performance issues on any of them. The dashboarding capability definitely needs improvement. In future releases, there should be custom reports and dashboards are crucial. Not everyone needs to see the same page every time. For example, if I'm interested in MYSQL databases, I should have a view that focuses only on MYSQL databases. Customization like this, where users can tailor their dashboards to specific needs, is essential for improving the product.
SM
Lets you know when your jobs are taking longer than average and allows you to go back in history and find out what was happening at certain times
To be able to go back in history and find out what was happening at certain times is the most valuable feature of the product. Another thing that's good about the product is that it will let you know when your jobs are taking longer than average so that you can foretell that there's going to be an issue coming up. Your SQL agent job is taking longer.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is anomaly detection. It alerts you when things outside the norm are happening, and the feature that analyzes your indexes informs you if you have wide or overlapping indexes. It also helps identify SQL query bottlenecks, letting you know if something is taking longer than usual, if a query plan has changed, and if you need to update statistics. In terms of usage, it is straightforward to use, learn and understand. The patching process is smooth and explains each feature, including links to external resources for further reading."
"The platform solves and prevents delays in receiving answers from databases."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer helped us locate the performance issues quickly."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer can help us identify issues we cannot see manually."
"In IT, problems often occur in areas such as applications, web interfaces, or databases. The tool allows users to easily determine the root cause of these issues, whether they stem from the network layer, database layer, or elsewhere."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer's most valuable features include the notification of consuming the SQL queries, collecting data, and notifying about managing space and tables."
"What I like most about SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is that it's a powerful solution that lets me advise customers about performance, and it also gives a lot of supporting information."
"This solution has identified blocking, deadlock, memory pressure, and high CPU consumption issues."
"To be able to go back in history and find out what was happening at certain times is the most valuable feature of the product."
 

Cons

"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should be easy to implement and it should have more facilities to make it better."
"There is room for improvement with the pricing of the platform."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should provide customization options allowing users to add different columns."
"One area where the tool could improve is by adding support for additional databases. For instance, supporting newer databases like Couchbase or MongoDB would be beneficial."
"It is capable, but I don't believe it has the right value matrix. It also depends on the budget of the company."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should include more details on how everything works."
"Technical support for this solution needs to be improved."
"The areas where it currently lags are in reporting and dashboarding. The reports and dashboards are somewhat static, and we cannot create custom dashboards for specific customer needs."
"There could be some more metrics on the high availability to let us know when there are issues synchronizing between the hosts."
"If we can get details on wait types from system views, it will help identify a more detailed root cause."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is a little bit expensive."
"The pricing of the solution is average."
"The pricing is fairly reasonable, and it becomes more cost-effective with larger volumes of instances."
"There are no extra costs for maintenance or using the solution's support."
"It could be less expensive."
"I don't remember the exact licensing cost for SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer, but it's within the range of $2,000 to $3,000 a year."
"Customers need to pay for the subscription-based license annually."
"It's fairly expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Healthcare Company
12%
Insurance Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Healthcare Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
In IT, problems often occur in areas such as applications, web interfaces, or databases. The tool allows users to easily determine the root cause of these issues, whether they stem from the network...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
One area where the tool could improve is by adding support for additional databases. For instance, supporting newer databases like Couchbase or MongoDB would be beneficial.
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
We use SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer for performance monitoring, tuning, and troubleshooting performance issues. It's mainly related to performance and the database community. Database a...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Confio, SolarWinds DPA, Ignite8
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GSI Commerce, Liquid Digital Media, ProLogis, Indiana University
Coeo, Stack Overflow, GreatAmerica Financial Services Corporation, Hawaiian Airlines, Hennepin County Medical Center, Racing Victoria, Citrix, Insight, Shi, Woodforest National Bank, Telular
Find out what your peers are saying about SQL Sentry vs. SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,874 professionals have used our research since 2012.