Zabbix vs SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

Zabbix9.4Visit SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor8.9Visit

Higher score Zabbix #1 in Infrastructure Monitoring 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 3 features Visit Zabbix

vs

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

• Zabbix fits best

  Broad, flexible infrastructure monitoring

• SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor fits best

  Enterprise server and application monitoring

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Side by side

Feature	Zabbix 9.4/10 Visit ↗	SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor 8.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.9
Ranking	#1 in Infrastructure Monitoring	#6 in Infrastructure Monitoring
Best for	Broad, flexible infrastructure monitoring	Enterprise server and application monitoring
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	€245/mo	$2,900 one-time
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	30 days
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, Linux, Windows, macOS	Web, Windows, Linux
Support	Email, Phone, Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7	Docs, Community
Integrations	12 integrations	4 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Zabbix 3/3 · SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor 3/3
VM monitoring	✓	✓
Service monitoring	✓	✓
Agentless monitoring	✓	✓
Specs
Included hosts	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Metrics retention	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Deployment model	Hybrid	Self-hosted
OS coverage	Multiple	Linux and windows
Our review
Pros	Free open-source self-hosted edition with no license fee Covers infrastructure, VMs, services, logs, discovery, and networks Supports cloud, container, enterprise, and IT service integrations	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	Self-hosted deployment requires organizations to run their own infrastructure Cloud Nano is limited to 50 new values per second 8x5 support and one-day response start with the Silver subscription	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	Zabbix is an open-source infrastructure monitoring and observability platform for IT teams, enterprises, and service providers. It covers servers, networks, applications, databases, virtual machines, containers, cloud services, and system… 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

• Zabbix — where it wins

  • Free open-source self-hosted edition with no license fee
  • Covers infrastructure, VMs, services, logs, discovery, and networks
  • Supports cloud, container, enterprise, and IT service integrations

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires organizations to run their own infrastructure
  • Cloud Nano is limited to 50 new values per second
  • 8x5 support and one-day response start with the Silver subscription

• 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

• Zabbix9.4/10 · Free plan

  A broad monitoring platform with a free self-hosted edition and flexible deployment options.

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

  A broad monitoring suite for enterprise teams managing hybrid infrastructure.

  Visit SolarWindsFull verdict →