Datadog Infrastructure Monitoring vs SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

Datadog Infrastructure Monitoring9.2Visit SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor8.9Visit

Higher score Datadog Infrastructure Monitoring #3 in Infrastructure Monitoring 9.2/10 Free plan · 14-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 2 of 3 features Visit Datadog

vs

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor #6 in Infrastructure Monitoring 8.9/10 30-day trial Free trial✓ 3 of 3 features Visit SolarWinds

• Datadog Infrastructure Monitoring fits best

  Cloud-native teams needing observability breadth

• SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor fits best

  Enterprise server and application monitoring

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Side by side

Feature	Datadog Infrastructure Monitoring 9.2/10 Visit ↗	SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor 8.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.2	8.9
Ranking	#3 in Infrastructure Monitoring	#6 in Infrastructure Monitoring
Best for	Cloud-native teams needing observability breadth	Enterprise server and application monitoring
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	$15/unit/mo	$2,900 one-time
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	14 days	30 days
Free trial length	14 days	30 days
Deployment	Cloud	Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, Windows, Linux, macOS	Web, Windows, Linux
Integrations	1,000+ integrations	4 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Datadog Infrastructure Monitoring 2/3 · SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor 3/3
VM monitoring	✓	✓
Service monitoring	✓	✓
Agentless monitoring	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Specs
Included hosts	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Metrics retention	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Deployment model	Hybrid	Self-hosted
OS coverage	Linux and windows	Linux and windows
Our review
Pros	More than 1,000 integrations across cloud and observability tools Correlates metrics, traces, logs, and security signals Maps hosts and containers with tag-based infrastructure search	Monitors servers, applications, dependencies, capacity, and virtual environments Supports predefined and custom application templates with drill-down dashboards Offers agent-based and agentless collection across hybrid environments
Cons	Paid plans use host-based pricing The Free plan retains metrics for only 1 day Monitoring requires the Datadog Agent rather than agentless collection	No free plan and a listed starting price of $2,900 Node-based subscription licensing uses custom quotes Its breadth may exceed the needs of teams with narrow monitoring scopes
Our verdict	Datadog Infrastructure Monitoring is a cloud-based service for development, IT operations, and security teams monitoring servers, virtual machines, containers, processes, system services, and cloud infrastructure. It collects metrics and… Read the review →	SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) is infrastructure monitoring software for IT operations teams responsible for physical, virtual, cloud, and hybrid environments. It brings server health, application availability, performance,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Datadog Infrastructure Monitoring — where it wins

  • More than 1,000 integrations across cloud and observability tools
  • Correlates metrics, traces, logs, and security signals
  • Maps hosts and containers with tag-based infrastructure search

  Where it doesn't

  • Paid plans use host-based pricing
  • The Free plan retains metrics for only 1 day
  • Monitoring requires the Datadog Agent rather than agentless collection

• SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor — where it wins

  • Monitors servers, applications, dependencies, capacity, and virtual environments
  • Supports predefined and custom application templates with drill-down dashboards
  • Offers agent-based and agentless collection across hybrid environments

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan and a listed starting price of $2,900
  • Node-based subscription licensing uses custom quotes
  • Its breadth may exceed the needs of teams with narrow monitoring scopes

• Datadog Infrastructure Monitoring9.2/10 · Free plan · 14-day trial

  Broad infrastructure observability for cloud-native teams, with host-based pricing.

  Visit DatadogFull verdict →
• SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor8.9/10 · 30-day trial

  A broad monitoring suite for enterprise teams managing hybrid infrastructure.

  Visit SolarWindsFull verdict →