Google Cloud Monitoring vs SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

Google Cloud Monitoring9.0Visit SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor8.9Visit

Higher score Google Cloud Monitoring #5 in Infrastructure Monitoring 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 3 features Visit Google Cloud

vs

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

• Google Cloud Monitoring fits best

  Google Cloud environments

• SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor fits best

  Enterprise server and application monitoring

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Side by side

Feature	Google Cloud Monitoring 9.0/10 Visit ↗	SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor 8.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.9
Ranking	#5 in Infrastructure Monitoring	#6 in Infrastructure Monitoring
Best for	Google Cloud environments	Enterprise server and application monitoring
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	Free plan	$2,900 one-time
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	30 days
Deployment	Cloud	Self-hosted
Platforms	Web	Web, Windows, Linux
Support	Community	Docs, Community
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Google Cloud 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	Custom	Not checked yet
Deployment model	Cloud	Self-hosted
OS coverage	Linux and windows	Linux and windows
Our review
Pros	Dashboards, alerts, uptime checks, synthetics, and SLO monitoring Native coverage for Google Cloud, Compute Engine, GKE, and Cloud Run Supports Prometheus, custom metrics, multicloud scopes, and logging integration	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	Usage-based pricing is less predictable than fixed-plan billing Its strongest ecosystem fit is centered on Google Cloud services No free plan is available	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	Google Cloud Monitoring is a managed observability service for tracking application and infrastructure performance, availability, and health. It is designed for teams running workloads across Google Cloud, hybrid environments, and selected… 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

• Google Cloud Monitoring — where it wins

  • Dashboards, alerts, uptime checks, synthetics, and SLO monitoring
  • Native coverage for Google Cloud, Compute Engine, GKE, and Cloud Run
  • Supports Prometheus, custom metrics, multicloud scopes, and logging integration

  Where it doesn't

  • Usage-based pricing is less predictable than fixed-plan billing
  • Its strongest ecosystem fit is centered on Google Cloud services
  • No free plan is available

• 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

• Google Cloud Monitoring9.0/10 · Free plan

  A broad monitoring service for teams operating primarily in Google Cloud.

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

  A broad monitoring suite for enterprise teams managing hybrid infrastructure.

  Visit SolarWindsFull verdict →