SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs Tanium comparison

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Read 22 Tanium reviews

13,860 Views
2,633 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 18, 2026

Tanium and SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor compete in the network management and monitoring space. Tanium has an advantage in customer service, while SolarWinds stands out with extensive features, providing a strong option for comprehensive monitoring solutions.

Features: Tanium provides strong security features including endpoint management, data protection, and instant discovery for threat-hunting and vulnerability management. SolarWinds offers detailed server monitoring with AppInsight for SQL and Exchange, advanced alerting mechanisms, and virtual infrastructure monitoring through VMAN.

Room for Improvement: Tanium could enhance its feature integration for broader IT environments and provide more intuitive user interfaces. Improved scalability customization and extending their non-security components would also be beneficial. SolarWinds might work on simplifying setup procedures, reducing the complexity of advanced configurations, and enhancing user experience in handling diverse monitoring tasks.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Tanium is recognized for its straightforward deployment and effective customer support, which aids in quick implementation. SolarWinds, in contrast, may require more complex configurations but offers robust customer service support to ensure successful setups.

Pricing and ROI: Tanium typically involves a higher initial cost but offers strong ROI through security and management efficiency. SolarWinds provides flexible pricing that presents good value when its comprehensive capabilities are fully utilized, balancing cost and functionality effectively.

To learn more, read our detailed SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. Tanium Report (Updated: April 2026).

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. Tanium

Download the complete report

Helped 893,438 peers since 2012

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 Server and Appli...

Ranking in Server Monitoring

8th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (17th), Active Directory Management (8th)

Tanium

Ranking in Server Monitoring

4th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Vulnerability Management (25th), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (16th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (22nd), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 3.0%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tanium is 3.9%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Tanium	3.9%
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor	3.0%
Other	93.1%

Server Monitoring

Featured Reviews

NikhilKalwint

Technical Specialist at ServiceIO

Monitoring over a thousand systems has improved decision making and operational visibility

From an advantage perspective, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is comparatively cheaper from a commercial point of view. It is easy to install and configure, very user-friendly, and quick to get up and running, allowing you to see the early value adds in your organization. It is compatible with most technologies for monitoring with very few chances of incompatibility. Configuration also allows us to monitor all the technical parameters we are looking for, making it a very good experience for us. The alerting feature in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is a main advantage, as it alerts based on threshold breaches and can raise tickets to the ticketing system, send SMS, and email notifications, allowing engineers to work on those tickets to resolve issues and avoid further impact. The visibility into server health is a beneficial feature that I am utilizing. We widely use various application performance metrics in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor such as database monitoring and server monitoring, which are quite good enough for any monitoring solution. We utilize the customizable dashboards in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor.

Read full review

Mairajuddin Ahmed

Division Manager, Information Technology at a legal firm with 51-200 employees

Centralized policies have improved remote endpoint control and have simplified data visibility

The integration is not simple and easy. It requires experienced users or people who have done the implementation. When certain policies are applied, they do not immediately push the policies. For example, we manage endpoint device USB access. We set a policy to block it, but it does not come into effect immediately. Sometimes it takes three or four days for it to reflect. That is a pain point. I have raised this issue with support as well, but they said that I need to limit the number of devices in the policy. In terms of application deployment, for us, it was seamless.

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 most valuable feature is application monitoring."

"The component and cable monitoring are good, and SolarWinds is more intuitive and user-friendly than AppDynamics."

"Hardware health: It allows for proactive monitoring of the hardware health and is a game changer."

"The OOTB (Out of the Box) implementation does have very good node specific pages and can provide a wealth of information."

"AppInsight. Provides a simple way to get very in-depth monitoring configured for our most popular applications. Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint."

"The ROI for SolarWinds products is unmatched in the industry."

"Having used various other vendors for monitoring over my career, the SolarWinds products give outstanding value for the price."

"Manage Groups: The capability to group appropriate devices gives better visibility of sites, categories, or critical regions. The same can be used to represent a dashboard for higher management."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

"I find the inventory and compliance features of Tanium to be the most impressive."

"For inventory purposes, it's from one of the best things on the scene, as you can get live inventory."

"Tanium's most valuable feature is its instant discovery aspect."

"The interrogation piece was the most valuable feature because it was very detailed."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the consolidation of all historical data on device endpoints, security drivers, firmware, and Software version gaps."

"I like the fact that you can create patching campaigns depending on the area of your network that you want to address first. I like the ability it has to make several campaigns that work in parallel."

"Tanium is a very good product and I would rate it eight or nine out of ten."

"It's definitely not complex, it is pretty user-friendly and it's a solid tool enterprise to use."

More Tanium pros

Cons

"Some custom applications cannot be monitored, and a lot more applications need to be included."

"Mapping interactions between systems."

"I would like to see support for non-Windows or non-Microsoft domains, especially Apache and other non-Windows servers."

"SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could improve the server monitoring and the web application monitoring features are not good."

"Having two places to build and manage alerts is not efficient and not all alerting tools are available in the trap manager."

"The product does not explain why a problem occurred."

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

"SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could improve the server monitoring and the web application monitoring features are not good. Microsoft SCOM has better server monitoring."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

"The main issues are the network connection because different customers have issues with their networks. It's difficult implementing this type of solution because the network is the main feature in the architecture for these types of solutions. Tanium could improve by creating some network optimization."

"The main issues are the network connection because different customers have issues with their networks."

"The solution lacks mobility."

"The solution needs to improve the reporting and tracking capabilities."

"There are downsides and drawbacks in Tanium, and there is room for improvement from my perspective."

"The solution can give a lot of false positives."

"We set a policy to block USB access. The moment a device is being set up on the network, I apply the policy, but it does not come into effect immediately."

"Our biggest issue with the solution is its lack of mobility."

More Tanium cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the pricing for this solution a three out of five."

"The tool is available for my company at a good price point."

"The licenses start from USD 3000.00 and go up to USD 20,000.00 for the year. It's a perpetual license. Nothing is free in SolarWinds, anything that you need is an additional cost."

"SAM is not per server so the pricing model can be deceiving. If you have an enterprise environment, you will quickly exceed your licensing quickly. You should know this before going in."

"The product might cost you $30,000 USD to buy, but scaling this solution requires the purchase of additional polling engines at $20,000 USD each."

"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 product is expensive."

"Understanding the counts of objects to monitor will determine the licensing need. In terms of pricing, it’s not cheap but it’s not expensive as larger vendors whose products don’t have all the features or integrations."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

"The solution offers value for money."

"The product's pricing differs from region to region depending on negotiations and the number of endpoints."

"It's an expensive solution. It would be nice if the cost were lower."

"There is an annual license required to use this solution."

"It is higher than some competitors in the market."

"Tanium is a more expensive solution in Latin America than some of the competitors, such as BigFix."

"The solution is expensive but it's a good investment."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Server Monitoring solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

12%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	21

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	12

Questions from the Community

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 is definitely room for improvement besides simplifying its setup. As a non-technical person, I believe the dashboards could be improved. Everything we use appears on video walls, and we need ...

What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

I am doing research as we currently have both solutions, and I am looking to see if we need both or can manage with one. Currently, the outcome indicates that we need both. The focus point is diffe...

What needs improvement with Tanium?

While there is always room for improvement, I am pleased with Tanium.

What is your primary use case for Tanium?

The primary use case for Tanium ( /products/tanium-reviews ) is compliance, patching, and inventory as part of the core functions.

What advice do you have for others considering Tanium?

For smaller companies, Tanium is quite a big investment, and one needs to have a considerable setup to make it economically viable. I would recommend it to others with a similar use case. The solut...

Azure Monitor vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Comparisons

Compared 7% of the time

Splunk AppDynamics vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 6% of the time

Dynatrace vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 6% of the time

Icinga vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 5% of the time

Opsview vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 4% of the time

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Competitors

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Tanium

Compared 6% of the time

BigFix vs Tanium

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Tanium

Compared 4% of the time

NinjaOne vs Tanium

Compared 3% of the time

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Tanium

Compared 3% of the time

More Tanium Competitors

Product Reports

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Download Tanium product report

Also Known As

SolarWinds SAM

Tanium Inc Cloud, Tanium XEM

Overview

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provides comprehensive server, application, and infrastructure monitoring, focusing on integration, application dependency, and network insights through user-friendly interfaces and detailed dashboards.

With AppStack and AppInsight support, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor offers service management, detailed resource dashboards, and integration capabilities. It monitors hardware metrics and performance parameters, facilitating database and network insights for cloud and virtual environments. Robust alerting, predictive analytics, and capacity planning ensure efficient management of server health and application performance.

What are the key features?

Integration: Seamlessly connects with existing tools.
AppStack: Provides a holistic view of applications.
AppInsight: Supports widely-used applications.
SNMP Polling: Efficient network data collection.
Diagnostics: Real-time troubleshooting.
Customizable Dashboards: Tailored monitoring views.

What benefits should users expect?

Comprehensive Monitoring: Extends from servers to databases.
Transparent Control: Enhances visibility into performance metrics.
User-Friendly: Simplifies proactive monitoring with alerts.
Predictive Features: Supports capacity and trend planning.

Industries implement SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor to enhance server utilization reporting, network configuration, and AV equipment performance tracking. They benefit from monitoring critical services across diverse deployment models, improving management efficiency and decision-making.

SolarWinds

Tanium offers robust endpoint protection, patching, and inventory management, consolidating the functions of tools like BigFix with capabilities in incident response, network security, and cloud or on-premise deployments.

Known for real-time capabilities, Tanium provides detailed analytics, security features, and device management. Users benefit from quick implementation, real-time updates, and patching campaigns. Despite its strengths, integration and custom plugin expansion remain areas to improve, along with data visualization and network optimization. Reporting enhancements and user training could advance its usability, and some UI elements may require updates for clarity and security.

What are the essential features of Tanium?

Detailed Analytics: Provides actionable insights for better decision-making.
Security Capabilities: Offers strong defense measures against threats.
Real-Time Queries: Facilitates immediate information access.
Patch Management: Streamlines software updates across devices.
Device Management: Efficiently handles comprehensive inventory and monitoring tasks.

What benefits should users expect?

Ease of Use: Simplifies complex IT tasks.
Scalability: Adapts to growing IT infrastructure needs.
Integration Flexibility: Merges with existing systems effortlessly.
Real-Time Updates: Ensures current data availability for informed actions.

Tanium's deployment spans industries focusing on endpoint protection and compliance, ensuring reliable device and server management in settings where safety and quick adaptation are critical. Organizations use it for application deployment, compliance checks, and integrating it as an EDR solution, enhancing overall security and operational efficiencies.

Sample Customers

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

JPMorgan Chase, eBay, Amazon, US Bank, MetLife, pwc, Cerner, Delphi, MGM Grand, New York Life

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. Tanium