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Head-to-head · Database Monitoring

Percona Monitoring and Management vs dbWatch

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 4 checks side by side
Higher score Percona Monitoring and Management #1 in Database Monitoring 9.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 3 features Visit Percona
dbWatch #35 in Database Monitoring 5.3/10 Pricing on request ✓ 3 of 3 features Visit dbWatch

Percona Monitoring and Management leads on 1 check, dbWatch on 0, and 3 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 4 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scorePercona Monitoring and Management · 9.3/10
  • Free planonly Percona Monitoring and Management

Percona Monitoring and Management scores higher on our rubric for database monitoring: 9.3 against 5.3 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #35.

Percona Monitoring and Management offers free plan; dbWatch doesn't.

Percona Monitoring and Management is the better fit for free, self-hosted multi-database monitoring. dbWatch is the better fit for self-hosted mixed-estate monitoring.

  • Percona Monitoring and Management fits best

    Free, self-hosted multi-database monitoring

  • dbWatch fits best

    Self-hosted mixed-estate monitoring

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Side by side

Feature Percona Monitoring and Management 9.3/10 Visit ↗ dbWatch 5.3/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.3 5.3
Ranking #1 in Database Monitoring #35 in Database Monitoring
Best for Free, self-hosted multi-database monitoring Self-hosted mixed-estate monitoring
Pricing model Free Paid
Starting price Free plan Pricing on request
Free plan ✓ (best) —
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Self-hosted Desktop, Self-hosted
Platforms Web, Linux Windows, Linux
Integrations 12 integrations 3 integrations
Features Percona Monitoring and Management 3/3 · dbWatch 3/3
Query profiling ✓ ✓
Wait and lock analysis ✓ ✓
Execution plans ✓ ✓
Specs
Supported databases MySQL and variants (Percona Server for MySQL, Percona XtraDB Cluster, MariaDB), MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Valkey/Redis; also Amazon RDS/Aurora, Azure Database, Google Cloud SQL Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Sybase ASE, MongoDB
Deployment model Hybrid Hybrid
Data retention Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Free and open-source with hybrid deployment options
  • Deep query profiling, execution plans, and wait/lock analysis
  • Supports databases, cloud services, proxies, and infrastructure monitoring
  • Monitors seven database types from a centralized control center
  • Combines query, execution-plan, blocking-session, and lock analysis
  • Adds alerts, reporting, maintenance jobs, RBAC, and encrypted communications
Cons
  • Self-hosted operation requires PMM Server and distributed PMM Clients
  • Backup and restore are specified for MySQL and MongoDB
  • Some advanced query analysis is specified specifically for MongoDB
  • Contact-sales pricing makes direct budget comparison harder
  • No free plan is available
  • Its scope may exceed the needs of organizations running one database type
Our verdict

Percona Monitoring and Management (PMM) is an open-source observability, monitoring, and management platform for database administrators and DevOps teams. It combines database-specific dashboards, performance metrics, Query Analytics,…

Read the review →

dbWatch Control Center is a database monitoring and management platform for database administrators and organizations operating multiple database instances. It centralizes monitoring for Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL,…

Read the review →
  1. Percona Monitoring and ManagementDatabase Monitoring 9.3Free plan
  2. dbWatchDatabase Monitoring 5.3Pricing on request

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Percona Monitoring and Management — where it wins

    • Free and open-source with hybrid deployment options
    • Deep query profiling, execution plans, and wait/lock analysis
    • Supports databases, cloud services, proxies, and infrastructure monitoring

    Where it doesn't

    • Self-hosted operation requires PMM Server and distributed PMM Clients
    • Backup and restore are specified for MySQL and MongoDB
    • Some advanced query analysis is specified specifically for MongoDB

  • dbWatch — where it wins

    • Monitors seven database types from a centralized control center
    • Combines query, execution-plan, blocking-session, and lock analysis
    • Adds alerts, reporting, maintenance jobs, RBAC, and encrypted communications

    Where it doesn't

    • Contact-sales pricing makes direct budget comparison harder
    • No free plan is available
    • Its scope may exceed the needs of organizations running one database type
  • Percona Monitoring and Management9.3/10 · Free plan

    A free, self-hosted choice for deep monitoring across databases, queries, and infrastructure.

    Visit PerconaFull verdict →
  • dbWatch5.3/10 · Pricing on request

    Centralized monitoring and database management for organizations with mixed estates.

    Visit dbWatchFull verdict →

More comparisons

All database monitoring comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update