Software applications are required and needed in every paradigm. From managing everyday tasks at a firm to scheduling meetings, every organization and individual requires a software solution that can help streamline various processes. The software solution providers are meant to answer such requirements and demands of every organization that can help better manage tasks, e.g., ERP, CRM software solutions are almost required in every firm or business. These firms and the software solution providers, both cannot risk the requested software solution failure or frequent crashes for which they require a platform that can safely monitor the application and foresee its upcoming failures or risks. Such platforms are known as the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) software solutions. An APM solution is adapted in every software solution provider company and these solutions embed with the software code to provide better visibility and ensure the quality of service (QoS). In this article, we discuss the best performing open-source APM software that provides and ensures visibility, security and enhances customer experience.
Apache Skywalking
One of the most popular APM software solutions, the Skywalking APM tool by Apache – the software solutions development giants, is an open-source tool that is best for cloud-based solutions, microservices, container-based architectures, and API systems. The tool is also recommended for the distributed teams. Skywalking enables the developers with a list of enhanced and advanced features such as the ability to detect slow services and endpoints, support for numerous programming languages, analysis capabilities capturing service, service instance, and endpoint metrics, performance optimization capabilities, distributed tracing, minimal resource consumption, topology analysis, and mapping, custom dashboard and the list goes on.
Get it now from https://skywalking.apache.org/downloads/
Signoz
Signoz is an APM software that is renowned for promptly understanding and detecting the key issues and faults in software. Signoz along with providing efficient means of fault detection also ensures abiding by the GDPR laws for data protection and security. This is because Signoz makes sure that the data stays within the user’s boundary and provides visibility at the same time. The enhanced visibility measures provided in the Signoz also enable the users to get an insight into the pricing and billing which enhances the user’s experience and satisfaction. Signoz provides a list of enhanced APM services and capabilities such as the ability to view all the metrics in one window which improves and simplifies issue tracing facility, data filtering capabilities makes it easy to view data of user’s choice, advanced integration with OpenTelemetry, for seamless instrumentation process, etc.
Get the installation via docker details now from https://signoz.io/docs/deployment/docker
Pinpoint
Pinpoint is an APM software solution most acquired and renowned for adapting for large-scale distributed systems. Pinpoint is written in Java and PHP. Pinpoint efficiently analyses and monitors the overall structure of the software deeply understanding the components layout and different linkages, therefore, is highly inspired by Dapper. The efficient APM tool traces transactions across distributed applications. Pinpoint is highly appreciated for its features such as understanding the application’s topology, providing a real-time application monitoring facility, providing code-level visibility to each transaction, assuring minimal impact on the performance, etc.
Access the GitHub repository now from https://github.com/pinpoint-apm/pinpoint
Stagemonitor
Stagemonitor is an advanced and feature-packed open-source APM tool most preferred for Java server applications. Stagemonitor APM tool is quite popular among GitHub users. It provides a list of efficient tools for simplifying and streamlining production, testing, and performance monitoring related tasks of Java-based software applications. Its list of enhanced features and services includes Stagemonitor’s in-browser widget, capability to analyze requests with Kibana dashboard, gathering and monitoring cluster metrics, availability and wide support for new plugins, etc.
Access the GitHub repository now from https://github.com/stagemonitor/stagemonitor/wiki/Installation
Metrics
Metrics is one of the most powerful APM tools for seamlessly monitoring software applications. The tool measures critical components and their performances in the live production environment. With Metrics, users are provided a detailed full-stack modules visibility and for libraries such as Apache HttpClient, Log4j, Logback, Jetty, Jersey, JDBI, and for backends like Graphite. Different integrated and enabled instruments ensure seamless monitoring and measuring of every dataset and component. Metrics provides a list of capabilities to its users such as the capability to measures the events rate on requests per second basis etc., the ability to present data in form of histograms, timer capability, application health-check monitoring tools, etc.
Get started now from https://metrics.dropwizard.io/4.2.0/
Scouter
Scouter is the state-of-the-art APM monitoring tool that adapts appdynamics to understand the context of the software application. This means that to monitor and manage a software application most effectively, Scouter adapts the “users utilize the application services, and in return services utilize the resources” rule. With Scouter, different user insights features are provided for analysis, such as active user, recent user, a most recent visitor, etc. Similarly, for services, the tool provides insights like services response time, active service, application profiles, etc. Other insights related to CPU, memory consumption, network usage, Heap, connection pools, are also provided. Java Agent, Host Agent, and MariaDB Agent help identify and acquire data and insights about the JVM profiles and performance.
Access the GitHub repository now from https://github.com/scouter-project/scouter
Hypetrace
Hypertrace, as the name suggests is an efficient and speedy APM platform. With hypertrace, users get fast and better means for observability and distributed tracing giving a detailed insight into software application which helps the DevOps teams and SREs. Hypertrace allows users to seamlessly perform distributed transactions tracing, microservices and native applications monitoring, critical dependencies identification, swift and efficient root cause analysis, and insights, ability to significantly optimize software application and services performance, application architecture visualization abilities, distinct and customizable dashboards for backend, service, and other global dashboards, reports, advanced community support and the list goes on.
Get started with it now from https://docs.hypertrace.org/getting-started/
AppPerf
AppPerf helps users most easily and efficiently monitor the software application performance. AppPerf supports various languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Dockerfile, PLpgSQL, and Ruby. AppPerf offers the easiest mechanism for installation and setting up, however, before setting up AppPerf, users must have Yarn, Node, PostgreSQL, Mailcatcher, etc., installed and properly functioning. AppPerf has a sample account that will allow you to check the application effectively. It will automatically detect the latest applications that are showing data and display them on the Applications page.
Access the GitHub repository now from https://github.com/randy-girard/app_perf
Closing Remarks
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) tools are the most highly demanded software tools that help monitor and keep a check on a software application’s performance. These APM tools help trace and identify potential software application’s faults and errors thereby helping in ensuring a crash-free software application. The article discusses the top 8 best open-source APM tools which are Apache Skywalking, Signoz, Pinpoint, Stagemonitor, Metrics, Scouter, Hypertrace, and AppPerf. All the discussed APM tools have helped ensure and sustain crash-free software applications for many around the globe.
Karim Buzdar holds a degree in telecommunication engineering and holds several sysadmin certifications including CCNA RS, SCP, and ACE. As an IT engineer and technical author, he writes for various websites.
