We compared Zabbix and Amazon CloudWatch across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:
Comparison Results: Zabbix's setup can vary in ease and complexity, requiring technical expertise and knowledge of Linux and programming. However, it offers extensive features, customization options, and a free open-source version. On the other hand, Amazon CloudWatch has an easy and straightforward setup process, user-friendly interface, and good technical support. It is highly valued for its simplicity, stability, scalability, and integration with other AWS services. However, it has limitations in monitoring application performance and generating reports. Pricing-wise, Zabbix is free and open-source, while CloudWatch's pricing is considered reasonable.
"The detection is the most valuable feature."
"Monitoring time and ensuring ease in it is the most valuable feature."
"We can create events and alerts. We use the information to dive down into the infrastructure performance."
"We have found the pricing to be reasonable."
"The product can be integrated with AWS very easily."
"Scheduling is a valuable feature."
"What I found most valuable in Amazon CloudWatch is that it gives you detailed information, which I found helpful because it can even provide you with data for the past one minute, which is quite granular. That was what helped me most in terms of finding the root causes. Task automation is another valuable feature of Amazon CloudWatch."
"The most valuable feature of Amazon CloudWatch is reliability."
"There is a problems page that shows us every warning or problem that occurs on our VMs globally. The map screen is also really useful because this is something that was missing. I don't know every other tool in the market. So, I don't know if this is a good point of only Zabbix, or other tools are also doing it, but from my point of view, this is the most useful page that I use, along with the problems page that efficiently lists the problem, recovery time, ending hours, starting hours, and so on."
"Zabbix is both stable and scalable."
"The performance and bandwidth are valuable features."
"Zabbix has a roadmap and they are continuously and frequently adding new features."
"There are lots of great features and functionality within the solution."
"We are able to do problem determination on runaway processes."
"Our customers also like that they don't have to use multiple modules. Micro Focus and major vendors typically require you to buy several modules and plugins. Our customers do not like that. We offer them a single product for all their monitoring needs."
"I like being able to use proxy servers for different locations. The agents are pretty cool. They're easy to roll out. The standard out-of-the-box templates are also pretty easy to use. The integration with other learning products is also good. I have, in the past, used Slack, but we've integrated it with Microsoft Teams. We also use it for SMS with a service called Redcoat. It is very flexible. It does what I need it to do, and my manager is very happy because it doesn't cost anything. We are nearing 4,000 hosts inside Zabbix, and we've got another 6,000 access points to add to it. We've thrown everything at it, and it has managed to keep going. I am very impressed with the tool, and I'd shake their hand very hard if I got to say the compliments to the Zabbix team. They keep improving it and doing refreshes, which is one good thing about it. There is also online information as well as books that you can purchase if you're willing to read enough. There is a lot to pick up, but it is a pretty complete solution."
"The monitoring part and GUI are areas in Amazon CloudWatch that have shortcomings currently and can be considered for improvements in the future."
"It's not an advanced way of monitoring."
"The technical support must be improved."
"The solution could benefit from a price decrease."
"I think something that can be improved are the alerts and alerting mechanism based on no rejects. We want to have it more flexible and that is one of the key things that is required."
"CloudWatch doesn’t monitor disk throughput by default."
"The product's configuration has some challenges. The solution needs to be more user-friendly."
"I would like to monitor inbound and outbound transfer. I would also like to control the traffic for load balancing."
"I would like to see a more flexible mobile client, and better HA out of the box."
"My company wanted to do an exercise command to access IT from Cameroon. They wanted to access an FSS to a second host with second equipment that was on another coast but it is not possible on Zabbix to do it. They want to directly access from the front-end of Zabbix to access a prompt in Zabbix to an access terminal. In the front-end, there is no way to do that. That would be an important improvement."
"There are not too much documentation or manuals. We found the tutorials very easy to understand but do not go deep enough in the use of Zabbix. We need more manuals, proper use, documentation, etc."
"Zabbix is not easy to configure, and upgrading is also an issue."
"There are areas of improvement. The database grows really fast. So, when you install Zabbix, you have to deal with some issues, like the database. We become pretty big very fast."
"Zabbix technical support is sold separately."
"There's a small module of APM, however, it is not an enhanced version. People usually ask for a full-fledged APM solution."
"Implementation is always tailored to the customer and the kind of information we need from the client to carry it out can make them very uncomfortable. Sometimes the clients are not ready to share it."
Amazon CloudWatch is ranked 9th in Cloud Monitoring Software with 40 reviews while Zabbix is ranked 2nd in Cloud Monitoring Software with 101 reviews. Amazon CloudWatch is rated 8.0, while Zabbix is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Amazon CloudWatch writes "Instantaneous response when monitoring logs and KPIs". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Zabbix writes "Allows any number of customizations but lacks functionality for finding root causes". Amazon CloudWatch is most compared with Datadog, Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver), Dynatrace, SolarWinds NPM and Instana Infrastructure Monitoring, whereas Zabbix is most compared with Centreon, Checkmk, Nagios Core, SolarWinds NPM and Nagios XI. See our Amazon CloudWatch vs. Zabbix report.
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We monitor all Cloud 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.
