We compared Datadog and SolarWinds NPM across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:
Features: Datadog users like its customizable displays, error tracking, and advanced AI/ML capabilities. SolarWinds NPM is commended for its adaptability and extensive network surveillance functionalities.
Room for Improvement: Datadog could enhance its usability and reduce its learning curve. Users said integration was another pain point. SolarWinds NPM needs improvement in edge computing capabilities and data reporting. Users also said the performance could be better and that they would like to see expanded IPAM functionality.
Service and Support: While many users spoke highly of Datadog’s support team, others reported slow support, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. While some customers described SolarWinds support as helpful and responsive, others reported delayed responses.
Ease of Deployment: Datadog’s setup is considered straightforward, and users often receive help from a partner or vendor. Some users said SolarWinds NPM was straightforward to set up, while others perceived it as complex.
Pricing: Opinions about Datadog's price are divided. Some users found it costly, but others thought it was acceptable. Some said the pricing model could be clearer and better explained. The cost of SolarWinds NPM varies depending on the customer’s size and requirements. Some users find it costly.
ROI: Users said Datadog saved them time and improved visibility into security blind spots. Some users reported immediate benefits from using SolarWinds NPM in terms of security and business outcomes, while others have not.
Comparison Results: Datadog is praised for its customizability, easy setup, and robust AI features, but some users say it has room for improvement in areas like usability and integration. Datadog’s pricing and customer service received mixed reviews. SolarWinds NPM is a customizable solution that’s easy to deploy and features comprehensive network monitoring capabilities. However, some users consider it costly and voiced concerns about technical support and user experience.
"We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points."
"The single dashboard is a valuable feature."
"The RUM solution has improved our ability to triage faster and hand more capabilities to our customer support."
"Sometimes it's more user friendly for development teams. There are some parts of Datadog that are more understandable for development teams. For example, the APM in Datadog works more manually and works like the tools in New Relic or Grafana, or Elastic. It is easier to understand for software development teams."
"The tools are powerful and intuitive to set up."
"It has a nice UI."
"The dashboards are great."
"We have been able to set very specific CPU and memory alerts, at the very base level, then we started to pull real business value, like 99th percentile response rates for our API calls."
"Datadog has helped us a ton by allowing us to set up a multitude of easily configurable alarms across our tech stack and infrastructure."
"We've been able to glean from the monitors what servers are down, and can alert the team in Slack."
"It covers everything from end to end, from the standpoint of endpoint machines and the routers and switches. The switch port also comes there."
"The most valuable feature is the way it monitors the environment, and how user-friendly the console is for the end-user. The interface is also very easy and it captures all the information very well."
"The most valuable features in SolarWinds NPM are the network search and diagnostic tools."
"I like the tracking feature to track devices and see where they are connected. This is very practical."
"SolarWinds dashboard is very fast. Also, their interface is very good, it looks very user-friendly. The product allows me to see a summary of the network being monitored at a glance."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the alerts."
"The solution ranks as one of the top five monitoring tools."
"SolarWinds NPM has a colorful UI and many easy-to-use features. It does not need to be configured as much and is also easy to install."
"The technical support needs improvement."
"The Wi-Fi side needs improvement."
"The product could do better with its notifications."
"More granular control over dashboard sharing. Timeboard sharing."
"We want to reduce having to go to different screens to obtain all the information."
"More pre-configured "Monitor Alerts" would be helpful."
"The product needs to have more enterprise approach to configuration."
"It seems that admin cost control granularity is an afterthought."
"I'm still exploring the trial version, and it is fine. One thing that I haven't been able to figure out is how to retrieve a report. This is something that could be improved. I probably need to navigate to a place to access the reports."
"Its pricing model can be improved. Its settings should be improved for a better understanding of billing. They should also provide some alerts when there is an increase in the usage. For example, if there is 20% more increase from one week to another, the customer should get an alert."
"An area for improvement would be the use of modular licenses, which are not practical for big clients."
"We are looking to change away from this solution because of the documentation and the solution doesn't have enough integration in our country. The documentation is too weak."
"Real-time analytics is the major weakness of the SolarWinds NPM platform today. They've done a fantastic job enabling the collection of data. Users are now demanding the ability to generate their own graphs, views, and so on; all of this must be done by an admin today."
"SolarWinds NPM could improve by adding the deepest inspection, performance networking, and IP address discovery."
"The evaluation time for the product is too short especially for large corporations."
"Better offline license management. I’ve had to get in touch with customer support several times simply to remove an expired license from our NPM servers."
"The product is scalable, but at a cost. Extra modules have to be purchased for each extra server. The initial set up isn't complex, but will require someone who is experienced with the network monitoring system"
"The only thing that can be improved is to continually add to the existing capabilities of the product."
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Datadog is ranked 2nd in Network Monitoring Software with 137 reviews while SolarWinds NPM is ranked 4th in Network Monitoring Software with 147 reviews. Datadog is rated 8.6, while SolarWinds NPM is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Datadog writes "Very good RUM, synthetics, and infrastructure host maps". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SolarWinds NPM writes "High-level, comprehensive, and proactive monitoring in a user-friendly interface". Datadog is most compared with Dynatrace, Azure Monitor, New Relic, AWS X-Ray and Elastic Observability, whereas SolarWinds NPM is most compared with Zabbix, PRTG Network Monitor, ManageEngine OpManager, ThousandEyes and Wireshark. See our Datadog vs. SolarWinds NPM report.
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We monitor all Network Monitoring Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.