Monitoring is crucial for gaining visibility into the health, performance, usage and costs of AWS environments. With the right monitoring solution, teams can more effectively optimize resources, troubleshoot issues faster and ensure critical workloads meet SLAs.
This comprehensive guide examines the top 12 AWS monitoring tools for 2023 based on capabilities, ease of use and overall value.
Native AWS Monitoring Services
AWS provides several native tools for monitoring:
AWS CloudWatch: Basic monitoring service to collect and track metrics, set alarms, etc. Integrated with most AWS services.
AWS CloudTrail: Records API calls and tracks user activity for audit and change tracking.
AWS Config: Checks if AWS resource configurations comply with rules/policies. Useful for security/governance.
While extremely valuable, native tools have limitations in data analysis, dashboards and breadth of integrations. This is where third-party tools shine…
Top Third-Party AWS Monitoring Tools
1. Datadog
- Cloud-scale monitoring platform used by leading enterprises
- 350+ integrations, infrastructure & logs visibility, anomaly detection
- Intuitive dashboards, great analytics and workflows
- Robust alerting capabilities
- 14-day free trial
2. New Relic
- Real-time AWS performance monitoring
- Customizable dashboards and alerts
- Cost tracking and forecasting
- Ideal for serverless, containers and microservices
- Generous free tier
3. LogicMonitor
- Unified view across hybrid/multi-cloud environments
- Dashboards, reporting and alerting capabilities
- ROI and cost analysis
- 30-day free trial
4. SolarWinds
- Broad AWS service coverage
- Auto-discovery of resources
- Anomaly detection algorithms
- On-premise server monitoring
- 30-day free trial
5. Paessler PRTG
- Custom AWS sensors for metrics collection
- Intuitive dashboards
- Alerting and reporting features
- Free up to 100 sensors
6. ManageEngine OpManager
- Actionable insights from AWS metrics/logs
- Unified view across entire stack
- Custom dashboards and alert profiles
- 30-day free trial
7. Dynatrace
- AI-powered monitoring across cloud environments
- Anomaly detection and smart alerts
- Customizable dashboards
- Generous 15-day trial
8. Runecast
- Specialized for security monitoring
- Analyzes AWS configs for risks
- Prioritizes issues based on severity
- 14-day free trial
9. Netdata
- Open source tool with good AWS coverage
- Easy visualizations and troubleshooting
- Real-time health metrics
- Free with paid cloud hosted option
Key Capabilities to Look For
When evaluating monitoring tools, look for these core features:
- Breadth of AWS service coverage
- Dashboards and visualization
- Log analysis capabilities
- Anomaly and issue detection
- Alerting and workflow integration
- Cost visibility and rightsizing
Also consider licensing models, support options, ease of deployment and overall usability.
Get Started with a Free Trial
I recommend starting with a free trial to hands-on test drive platforms that seem to best fit your needs. Many leading vendors offer 14-30 day trials.
Measure value delivered and get stakeholder feedback before purchasing licenses. Monitoring tools require instrumentation and tuning over time to maximize value.
Conclusion
Effective monitoring and observability are crucial for unlocking the full potential of AWS while minimizing risk. The tools profiled above represent leading solutions for every type of organization.
Evaluate key capabilities, licensing models and ease of use when selecting a monitoring platform. And leverage free trials to validate fit before making a substantial investment.
