--- title: "SolarWinds SQL Sentry Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about SolarWinds SQL Sentry Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Database Monitoring products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/86868/SQL-Sentry/" page_type: "product" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-11-08" --- # SolarWinds SQL Sentry Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on November 8, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Integrations](#integrations)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) SolarWinds SQL Sentry ## What is SolarWinds SQL Sentry? SQL Sentry helps data professionals optimize SQL Server database performance in physical, virtual, and cloud environments. SQL Sentry delivers actionable, detailed metrics to help you quickly find and fix database performance problems, gives you visibility across the data estate, and provides scalability, boasting demonstrated success monitoring 800+ SQL Server instances with one monitoring database. ## What is SolarWinds SQL Sentry used for? [Database Monitoring](https://www.capterra.com/database-monitoring-software/)[Server Management](https://www.capterra.com/server-management-software/)[Server Monitoring](https://www.capterra.com/server-monitoring-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 16 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive \- Neutral \- Negative \- Starting price $1500 Per User, Per Year Free trial available Free version not included Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for SolarWinds SQL Sentry?[Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/solarwinds-sql-sentry/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### SolarWinds SQL Sentry 4.7 (16) VS. [4.6 (274)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172323/ManageEngine-Applications-Manager/reviews/) Starting Price $1500 Per User, Per Year Starting Price $395 Flat Rate, Per Year Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.1 (16) Ease Of Use 4.6 (274) Value For Money 4.5 (15) Value For Money 4.7 (236) Customer Service 4.8 (15) Customer Service 4.7 (268) ## SolarWinds SQL Sentry alternatives Highest Rated [4.7 (399)](https://www.capterra.com/p/168192/Site24x7/reviews/) Starting price $10.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 97% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.6 (46)](https://www.capterra.com/p/10008506/ManageEngine-OpManager-Plus/reviews/) Starting price $1233.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.5 (203)](https://www.capterra.com/p/118128/New-Relic/reviews/) Starting price $10.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 93% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Datadog](https://www.capterra.com/p/135453/Datadog-Cloud-Monitoring/) [4.6 (372)](https://www.capterra.com/p/135453/Datadog-Cloud-Monitoring/reviews/) Starting price $15.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 97% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/135453/Datadog-Cloud-Monitoring/) [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/86868/SQL-Sentry/alternatives/) ## FAQs about SolarWinds SQL Sentry Overview ### Which roles and teams benefit most from SolarWinds SQL Sentry? SolarWinds SQL Sentry is most used by database administrators, SQL DBAs, database architects, and DBA team leads who monitor SQL Server performance, investigate bottlenecks, and plan capacity. IT directors, infrastructure managers, and coordinators use its alerts and reporting to oversee database health, prioritize incidents, and support service reliability. Answer based on 16 reviews Overview ### What company size and specific industries is SolarWinds SQL Sentry built for? SolarWinds SQL Sentry is designed for organizations of any size that use SQL Server and the Microsoft Data Platform. It fits businesses in sectors that depend on Microsoft database environments, including technology, finance, healthcare, retail, and other data-driven industries that manage SQL Server workloads. Features and Usability ### What are the key features of SolarWinds SQL Sentry? SolarWinds SQL Sentry offers database monitoring, performance monitoring, and server monitoring for SQL environments. It includes ad hoc query and query analysis, real-time monitoring, alerts/notifications with escalation, historical trend analysis, reporting/analytics, dashboards, diagnostic tools, and capacity planning for tracking performance and troubleshooting. Integrations ### Which third-party tools and platforms does SolarWinds SQL Sentry integrate with? SolarWinds SQL Sentry integrates with 7 third-party tools and platforms, including Microsoft Power BI, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Tableau, EmailOpen, SCOMPLY, and SNMP.Net Component. These integrations cover analytics, collaboration, and monitoring use cases. Getting Started and Support ### What training and onboarding options does SolarWinds SQL Sentry offer? SolarWinds SQL Sentry provides in person training, live online sessions, webinars, and documentation. In person and live online formats support guided instruction, webinars cover scheduled learning sessions, and documentation offers written reference materials for teams that need information on features and setup steps. Getting Started and Support ### What customer support options does SolarWinds SQL Sentry offer? SolarWinds SQL Sentry provides Email/Help Desk, FAQ/Forum, Knowledge Base, Phone Support, 24/7 Live Rep, and Chat. No reviewer feedback about support is available here, so user experience details such as response speed or helpfulness cannot be confirmed from the provided data. ## Features AI summary Based on 442 Database Monitoring reviews Capterra data shows that buyers of database monitoring software rank the following features as their top priorities: - **Server Monitoring** (**54%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Monitoring** (**63%**) - **Real-Time Notifications** (**56%**) SolarWinds SQL Sentry supports **Server Monitoring** and **Monitoring**, giving database teams visibility into server health and ongoing system activity. However, it does not include **Real-Time Notifications**. Instead, it offers other highly rated capabilities, including **Data Storage Management** (**65%**), **Real-Time Monitoring** (**57%**), and **Alerts/Notifications** (**54%**). These features help businesses keep track of storage usage, watch performance as issues develop, and notify teams when attention is needed, allowing teams to respond faster and maintain more stable database operations. Data Storage Management 4.0 (1) 0.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Manage and store data in a database Application-Level Analysis 5.0 (1) 100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Track, monitor and analyse information pertaining to specific applications Performance Monitoring 5.0 (1) 100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Monitoring and measurement of relevant metrics to assess the performance of IT resources Troubleshooting 5.0 (1) 100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Take actions to troubleshoot issues for networks, devices, etc. Access Controls/Permissions Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems Activity Dashboard Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities SolarWinds SQL Sentry 36 features Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities System alerts about the need to escalate an issue or request Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges Track, monitor and analyse information pertaining to specific applications Determine and plan production capacity based on changing demands Monitor performance details involving CPU/memory utilization Assembly of graphs and charts for visualizing and tracking statistics/metrics Creation and customization of dashboards Move from one database to another, or upgrade the version of database software being used Manage and store data in a database Graphical representation of data Analyze the performance of Databases Access client's system information, including hardware and software configuration, to perform diagnostics A chronological record of actions or occurrences within a network, software, or process Review data from past periods to reveal recurring tendencies Observe and track the demand, usage, progress or quality of a system, product, or user Operate multiple applications in a shared environment Organize and manage the accomplishments and development of employees or performance of applications or systems A set of indicators that tracks the performance of networks, applications, systems, teams, etc. Monitoring and measurement of relevant metrics to assess the performance of IT resources Predict future data based on historical data sets Arrange tasks based on the level of priority or urgency View and analyze individual requests received by a database Receive data and information in real time Active monitoring of systems, applications, or networks Collection, analysis, and representation of numerical data and generation of reports to understand various patterns View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data Reallocate existing resources to better utilize capacity Plan availability and assign specific time slots for tasks and resources Continuously scan servers on a designated network to monitor health and search for any irregularities or failures Take actions to troubleshoot issues for networks, devices, etc. Manage user accounts, profiles, roles, permissions, and other details across applications, devices or networks Track and manage virtual machines (VMs) running on physical host machines Interact with data visualization elements, such as charts and graphs, to drill down into data Create, design and manage workflows for repetitive tasks Get Advice We can help you find the software with the features you need. Features 4.5 (16) 4.5 Based on 16 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.5 (15) Free Trial Basic $1,500 Per User,Per Year Value for money 4.5 (15) 4.5 Based on 15 reviews ## Integrations [ Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/)[ Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/)[ Tableau](https://www.capterra.com/p/208764/Tableau/)[ Microsoft Power BI](https://www.capterra.com/p/176586/Power-BI/)[ SNMP .Net Component](https://www.capterra.com/p/84359/SNMP-Net-Component/)[ EmailOpen](https://www.capterra.com/p/72589/EmailOpen/) Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs. ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.8 (15) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.8 (15) 4.8 Based on 15 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.7 Based on 16 reviews Filter by rating Counts reflect reviews available in this feed. 5(12) 4(3) 3(1) 2(0) 1(0) Mentioned topic Recent reviews first, then most helpful RE Reviewer Database Administrator Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "SQLSentry is the monitoring tool for SQL Server." 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 March 12, 2019 Whenever we have had any performance problems, SQLSentry has allowed me to get ahead of the problem and assisted in solving it quickly. Pros The dashboard gives a good overall view of each instance. I have been able to identify problems before helpdesk notified us. The Top SQL allows me to quickly identify which query/application is having a problem. The event chain, while rudimentary, still makes maintenance easier. Overall, this is the best monitoring tool I have seen for a DBMS. Cons The advisory conditions are difficult to manage. There is a steep learning curve in how to set them up and manage them. The event chains need some enhancements. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer DBA Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Great tool, limited active funtionality" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 2.0 2.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 6/10 March 12, 2019 I do like the product and have used it to find issues on many occasions. Originally it was my go-to to find all the issues. Now I tend to query the DB directly and turn to SS when I am not finding what I am looking for.... In some cases where I have an idea what the issue is I will confirm first with SS. I do wish it had more "active" functionality. Active doesnt have to run anything, but providing a script to run to dig deeper would be more helpful. Pros It helps find issues on your databases (across all databases you are licenced for). It can be helpful with new code to see how it will impact the database performance. Cons There are errors or warnings that are posted that are transient. The overall score can be impacted negatively by transient states.... not that I know how to get arround that. There are errors reported and when you try to get more information the details are a little cryptic. In some cases the issue being reported is inconsequential. There are some errors that are reported, but the source of the error is not easily found... it requires additional queries in SSMS to find the underlying issue. In some cases, it would be helpfull to have a drop down menu or a debug box to look into some of the more common issues. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Associate Software engineer Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "SQL sentry for Database Server Management and Database Management " 3.0 Overall Rating 3.0 3.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 3.0 3.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 5/10 March 17, 2022 I can recommend this tool as a productive tool and also as a effective investment for a company for server management and database management Pros As a PHP Laravel developer I am using SQL server management tools daily, fortunately I found this interesting software tool SQL sentry. As a tool this provide details of queries and also it would make easy to join tables and other db operations with increasing efficiency. When it comes to querying I highly recommend this tool to software developers, It would helpful for junior developers and also for seniors. For Server management this will provide a feature to monitor the performances with graphs. Cons This tool will spend a much CPU memory, Most of the personal laptops will getting slow when using, some times that may cause to decrease productivity. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. VR Verified Reviewer Database Architect Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "What a change" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 November 12, 2018 3 years aliens involved in an evaluation of SQL Sentry. We found the product to be quite lacking. Fast forward to 12 months ago, I decided to give Sentryone another chance. I was SUPER pleased with the turnaround. Along with the performance of the product, SenteyOne customer service moved us to purchase this product! Pros The customization and ease of mining the data. The senteyone team is willing to share all that they can to make this product your own. The ability to add custom alerts removed the need for my team to start rolling their own solutions for data gathering. I also,like the way that I can give access to my development teams to see history of jobs and queries allowing my team to focus on other pressing matters. Cons The software could seam daunting to get started. The fact that it is so customizable could give some user trepidation in using the software. Maybe different editions of the software could ease smaller shops into using the product. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. VR Verified Reviewer Database/Marketing Analyst Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Rest API alone was worth it" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 November 6, 2018 Overall it has been good working with them. CSR at the company is hands down a great resource and extremely helpful when I had an issue or just needed help getting something to work Pros We decided to go with SentryOne mainly for the RestSource API connector. This allowed us to automate pulling down Google Adwords and Transaction data across our clients for Analytics purposes. In the past we would have a bunch of reports emailed to us where we would need to drop them manually to a folder and then run a package to import and create our final tables. Cons This con is not really about the software itself but more of the documentation on how best to use all of the components. It's hard to find good documentation so that you can go forward and ,work on all the components on your own. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer It coordinator Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "SQL Sentry for when you need it" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 October 9, 2022 Overall we're a satisfied customer of Sentry one. It features a great toolset for troubleshooting issues. Pros The amount of detail it logs in the features it provides to do a deep dive analysis of performance issues in a SQL Database Cons It can be a bit overwhelming. The user interface could benefit from an update so that users can navigate their way more easily around the application. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Database Administrator Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Great tool with great support." 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 October 29, 2018 I am extremely happy with my experience using SentryOne even with some of our holdups. This tool has proven useful time and time again. It has helped us troubleshoot active issues and find resolutions quickly. The value it has provided greatly outweighs its pitfalls. Pros SentryOne provides both useful information about our environment as well as accurate alerting for critical issues. The tool collects a lot of information from the servers that we use daily to troubleshoot issues and correct problem areas. The Conditions and Alerts allows us to respond to critical issues quickly by allowing multiple response options to a number of conditions. Cons Our group has had some issues with implementing SentryOne. The environment we support is very large and spread throughout the globe. Sometimes in very remote regions. This has caused us some issues with having all of our sites being monitored efficiently. However, SentryOne's support team worked with us to get these sites monitored and continue to work with us to improve the tools performance. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer DBA Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "SQL Sentry" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 March 1, 2019 SQL Sentry saves alot of time, and nicely organises pertinant information for SQL Server performance. I can find poor performing queries faster than using my own sql scripts. It helps me with monitoring the general health of the SQL server, trends of performance and finding which procedures need work. Pros A quick way to find performance problems, and the software provides lots of information to solve them too. Cons This is a difficult question, i had to dig deep. The mouse scroll button does not always work within some forms. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. VR Verified Reviewer IT Infrastructure Manager Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "SQL Server monitoring leader" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 March 10, 2019 SQL Sentry is now our go-to platform for monitoring SQL Server and troubleshooting SQL Server performance. Our developers use the SQL Sentry client as well and are able to investigate issues on their own without always having to rely on our Database Administrators. Pros SQL Sentry provides the most comprehensive view of SQL Server performance available. It allows us to very quickly identify performance issues and identify a root cause. Cons SQL Sentry can be challenging to set up for very large enterprises. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Architect Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Specifically, Plan Explorer" 5.0 February 14, 2019 Pros It's free, it provides a ton of extra information (in a much easier to read format), and it integrates super cleanly with SSMS. It doesn't require Management Studio, but it's seamless to open a plan in SSMS and then view the details in Plan Explorer Cons It would be nice if it more closely integrated with the metadata in SQL. If I open a SSMS query plan in Plan Explorer, it won't give me index information unless I create the estimated plan in Explorer also. It makes you copy the query text over. Minor complaint, especially because it's an incredible value for the money. No reason NOT to use it. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/86868/SQL-Sentry/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.