SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs VMware vCenter comparison

Why PeerSpot?

SolarWinds and Broadcom are both solutions in the Server Monitoring category. SolarWinds is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.0, while Broadcom is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.5. SolarWinds holds a 2.9% mindshare in SM, compared to Broadcom’s 2.1% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of SolarWinds users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Read 44 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews

9,577 Views
2,969 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

VMware vCenter

Read 38 VMware vCenter reviews

3,289 Views
3,157 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

VMware vCenter

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and VMware vCenter are competing products in the server and application monitoring category. SolarWinds has an upper hand in pricing and support, appealing to cost-conscious buyers, whereas VMware vCenter stands out for its robust features and extensive virtualization management, which justifies its higher cost.

Features: SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor offers real-time monitoring, customizable dashboards, and comprehensive alerting. VMware vCenter excels in advanced resource management, high scalability, and deep integration with VMware environments.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds could benefit from enhanced capabilities in virtualization management and deeper integration with third-party environments. VMware vCenter would improve with more user-friendly deployment processes and reduced complexity in initial setup.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provides straightforward deployment and accessible customer service, simplifying support and deployment for various environments. VMware vCenter offers extensive documentation to aid with its more complex setup, supported by a robust support infrastructure.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor presents competitive pricing, focusing on cost-effective monitoring solutions with strong ROI. VMware vCenter requires a higher initial investment but offers significant value through robust performance and long-term scalability, appealing to businesses needing comprehensive infrastructure control.

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

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. VMware vCenter

November 2026

Download the complete report

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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 Server and Appli...

Ranking in Server Monitoring

7th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (22nd), Active Directory Management (8th)

VMware vCenter

Ranking in Server Monitoring

6th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 2.9%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vCenter is 2.1%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
VMware vCenter	2.1%
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor	2.9%
Other	95.0%

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.

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VinayKumar7

Manager Data Centre at a consultancy with 51-200 employees

Centralized control has improved data center virtualization and streamlined DC DR replication

The pricing of VMware vCenter is high. What was earlier, before it was acquired by Broadcom, was different. Now, Broadcom has acquired it, and the earlier arrangement was that we used to bundle the license and purchase it according to our choice. Now, they bundle it with vSAN, which many organizations may not use. Although we purchase it along with the bundled license, we pay for something which is of no use to us because we have our own storage. If they had separate pricing for each module, organizations could purchase only the modules they need, and the price would lower. For smaller organizations, this can become a huge cost issue. For larger organizations, there is no issue, but for medium-sized organizations, they have to shell out a lot.

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

"It's good at monitoring system-specific things like ports, services."

"One of the most valuable features are the reports. They're pretty good. Also, the ease of installation and customization for the client is another feature that we value. SolarWinds has a lot of features but these are the ones I like the most. We also like that the KPIs have the ability to be preset."

"Monitoring of processes and services is the most valuable feature; it is not necessarily just the server alone in terms of the CPU or the memory, as we can go in-depth into services and processes."

"The solution has good alerts; notifications are sent via email to technicians, and you can filter the kinds of alerts you want to receive as well, which is excellent."

"The most beneficial aspect of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is its ability to monitor at the application level."

"Features like monitoring and infrastructure dependency mapping are valuable to us."

"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."

"We choose the Solarwinds based on the simplication of managing the tool itself."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

"One feature I really like about VMware vCenter is its ability to change hosts easily. It is highly available and very useful for our operations."

"The most valuable aspect for us is the ability to monitor all servers simultaneously and effortlessly move them between hosts."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The user-friendliness and stability are the product’s most valuable features."

"I usually use the DRS, distributed resource scheduling, to balance resources between mini ESXi and CPU."

"The initial setup for VMware vCenter is very simple because we migrated from open-source to VMware long back."

"The initial setup is a very user-friendly process. Installation and configuration are easy."

"The most valuable features of the solution are virtualization and ease of backing up the virtual and on-premises servers."

More VMware vCenter pros

Cons

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

"Mapping interactions between systems."

"A lot of times, we have to do a lot of manual cleanups."

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

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

"The major concern in the product revolves around application performance monitoring since end-to-end application monitoring is not possible with the tool."

"The technical support team's response time could be improved."

"There is one feature that is a report writer. And they are currently trying to take it out from being a stand-alone application and integrating to the web. This doesn't give us the flexibility and it doesn't expand what we can get when it comes to reporting. So, putting it on the web is going to make it difficult to get some information. Leaving it where it is now will help us a lot."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

"The licensing model needs improvement, especially with the transition to Broadcom."

"It is not easy to upgrade VMware vCenter from an old version to a new version."

"The product's technical support services could be better."

"The support for the Linux operating system wasn't great when we used it."

"It could display the status of the storage space in terabytes, the number of VMs, etc."

"One area where VMware vCenter has room for improvement is its transition to Broadcom. The change in licensing structure and pricing, particularly the shift from perpetual licenses to subscription-only models, is a significant drawback."

"The stability could be better."

"There is a feature called Fault Tolerance (FT), which has been part of vCenter servers since the product's inception. However, it has a lot of complexity, and when my team tested it, we found it difficult to manage. It also has some bugs. Consequently, we decided not to offer any fault tolerance features to our customers."

More VMware vCenter cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive."

"I like the pricing for this SolarWinds product."

"Pricing and licensing is fair for what you get. It does have a great bang-for-the-buck appeal."

"When planning for the number of licenses to purchase, make sure you understand all of the elements within an application required to really understand performance well. In our case, we quickly came to the conclusion that an unlimited license for SAM was the way to go."

"I think SolarWinds' pricing is very decent compared to other competitors in the market."

"Pricing is inexpensive, starting at 2440 euros. For that, you get the ability to monitor a couple of nodes and one year of maintenance and support."

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It is just the standard price, but it can vary depending on the current rate of the dollar."

"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."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

"The platform is highly-priced."

"The product is expensive."

"VMware vCenter is not expensive."

"The solution is pretty expensive for small businesses because there are few lower-scale VMware vCenter solutions."

"We have purchased monthly licenses for the platform. There are additional costs involved."

"The product is affordable for now."

"The platform is expensive."

"For the healthcare industry, the price is considerably higher than the education industry."

More VMware vCenter pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

13%

University

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

Outsourcing Company

21%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

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	16
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	18

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.

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware vCenter?

The initial package for VMware vCenter is not less than $10,000, which can be prohibitive for smaller organizations. The licensing model now requires purchasing 96-core solutions, even if fewer cor...

See all answers

What needs improvement with VMware vCenter?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for VMware vCenter?

My main use case for VMware vCenter is mainly for virtualization and what we call DCDR replication. I can say we are not using all the features. Our main aim is only that we are using it for virtua...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 5% of the time

Icinga vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 3% of the time

Nagios XI vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

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Compared 10% of the time

HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO) vs VMware vCenter

Compared 6% of the time

ServiceNow Discovery vs VMware vCenter

Compared 6% of the time

Tanium vs VMware vCenter

Compared 5% of the time

More VMware vCenter Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

October 2026

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware vCenter

October 2026

Download VMware vCenter product report

Also Known As

SolarWinds SAM

No data available

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

VMware vCenter offers centralized management to optimize virtualized environments. It focuses on resource balancing, live migrations, and integration with VMware products, making it an essential tool for experts handling multiple ESXi hosts and clusters.

VMware vCenter is designed for organizations to efficiently manage virtual machine operations, including deployment, monitoring, and administration across ESXi hosts. Its centralized platform supports functions such as high availability, fault tolerance, and resource distribution. Users find that it simplifies tasks like configuration management and system updates within data centers, providing a comprehensive view of the virtual environment. Despite its advanced capabilities, users express concerns over pricing, licensing costs, and upgrade complexities. There is a demand for improvements in scalability, redundancy, and automation features, particularly in light of Broadcom's acquisition.

What are the key features of VMware vCenter?

Centralized Management: Streamlines resources and tasks.
High Availability: Ensures uninterrupted service.
DRS and vMotion: Facilitates live migrations.
Automation: Enhances efficiency in workflows.
Monitoring: Provides insightful analytics.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in VMware vCenter reviews?

Improved Efficiency: Streamlines virtualization management.
Cost Management: Assesses pricing and licensing impacts.
Scalability: Accommodates growing IT needs.
Integration: Seamlessly connects with existing VMware tools.

In data centers, VMware vCenter is pivotal for managing and optimizing infrastructure. By overseeing tasks such as patch management and server migration, it integrates into IT ecosystems, promoting performance oversight. Industries relying on virtual environments extensively implement VMware vCenter to streamline operations and align with IT strategies.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

1. Amazon 2. Apple 3. ATT 4. Bank of America 5. Cisco Systems 6. CocaCola 7. Dell 8. ebay 9. Facebook 10. Google 11. HP 12. IBM 13. Intel 14. JPMorgan Chase 15. LinkedIn 16. Microsoft 17. Netflix 18. Oracle 19. PayPal 20. SAP 21. Siemens 22. Tesla 23. Toyota 24. Twitter 25. Visa 26. Walmart 27. WeWork 28. World Bank

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. VMware vCenter

November 2026

Free Report: SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. VMware vCenter

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