Alerty Blog

28 Top Web Applications Monitoring Tools and How To Choose

Written by Jack Dwyer | Jul 20, 2024 10:34:08 AM

hoFrustrated by a sluggish or unresponsive web application? Practical monitoring tools are essential for smooth performance and user satisfaction In this blog, we will dive into web application performance monitoring to help you stay ahead of issues.

Alerty's free APM solution optimizes your web app’s performance. Whether you're a seasoned developer or new to web apps, Alerty’s intuitive real-time monitoring helps you pinpoint and address slowdowns for maximum impact.

Table of Contents



What Is Web Application Monitoring?

Web application monitoring is a vital aspect of IT Operations. Its primary purpose is to detect and diagnose web application performance issues proactively. This helps quickly pinpoint mission-critical web application problems and resolve them before end users notice them.

Direct Monitoring Methods

One method is injecting a Javascript agent directly into the client web browser or using a network monitoring appliance that tracks packets across the wire.

Monitoring Web Application Performance

Both methods are forms of real-user monitoring. Another approach is to monitor web application performance by running synthetic transactions against the website or web app at regular intervals from “robots” stationed worldwide.

APM: An Essential Tool for Software Engineers

Web application or application performance monitoring (APM) tools are essential for software engineers to identify events that deviate from expected performance and behavior. 

Users of Web Application Monitoring Tools

  • Development-Operations (DevOps) engineers
  • Site Reliability engineers
  • Information Technology (IT) operations
  • Cloud operations professionals
  • Application owners
  • Application developers 

Knowing about the various APMs used in the industry can help you choose the right tool to maximize your job efficiency. A fully integrated approach is ideal for web or application performance monitoring.

Related Reading

Why Is Web Application Monitoring Crucial for Businesses

Statistics reveal that even a second’s delay in your webpage or application load time could reduce your page views by approximately 11% and consumer satisfaction by around 16%. From a business perspective, this is lethal. You must ensure your website or web application is up 24/7.

Monitoring your web applications will provide you with several benefits. Not only can you detect issues quickly and fix them before harm can occur, but you can also maximize its performance.

Benefits of Web Application Monitoring

  • Detect issues quickly
  • Enhance security
  • Optimize performance

Role of Web Application Monitoring Tools

  • Identify bugs and errors immediately
  • Ensure prompt rectification to prevent negative impact

Features of Web Application Monitoring Tools

  • Provide downtime alerts
  • Address application downtimes promptly
  • Minimize adverse impacts on user experience, sales, and revenue

Enhanced security is another critical benefit of web application monitoring. With cyber attackers constantly searching for vulnerabilities in web applications, monitoring tools help detect security issues quickly, enabling timely mitigation to prevent potential data breaches or reputation damage. 

Web application monitoring tools help optimize performance by identifying factors that might lead to application slowdowns. This improves loading speed and enhances the overall user experience. 

Focus on What Matters, Alerty Does the Monitoring

Alerty is a cloud monitoring service for developers and early-stage startups, offering:

  • Application performance monitoring
  • Database monitoring
  • Incident management

It supports technologies like NextJS, React, Vue, and Node.js, helping developers identify and fix issues. 

  • Alerty monitors databases such as Supabase, PostgreSQL, and RDS
  • Tracking key metrics like CPU usage and memory consumption
  • It features quick incident management and Real User Monitoring (RUM) to optimize user experience
  • Its universal service monitoring covers dependencies like Stripe API, OpenAI, and Vercel 

Alerty uses AI to simplify setup, providing a cost-effective solution compared to competitors. It is designed for ease of use, allowing quick setup, and integrates with tools like Sentry, making it ideal for developers and small teams needing efficient, affordable monitoring. 

Catch issues before they affect your users with Alerty's free APM solution today!

Types of Web Applications Monitoring Tools

Synthetic Monitoring

Synthetic monitoring plays a crucial role in proactively evaluating web application performance. It involves simulating user interactions and transactions to provide valuable insights into how a website behaves under different conditions. This enables the identification of potential issues before users encounter them, ensuring a seamless user experience.

Performance Testing

Functions of synthetic monitoring tools:

  • Simulate user interactions
  • Measure page load times
  • Track form submissions
  • Analyze API calls
  • Assess the performance of critical website components

Transaction Monitoring

This tool enables the creation and monitoring of multi-step transactions, such as login processes or e-commerce transactions, helping identify bottlenecks or errors users may encounter during website navigation.

Availability Monitoring

Regularly checking a website's availability from multiple global locations ensures accessibility to users across different geographical regions and highlights any downtime or performance issues that demand attention.

Real User Monitoring

Real User Monitoring (RUM) captures and analyzes user data in real-time, providing insights into real users' experiences. Monitoring user interactions and browsing behavior allows website owners to understand user interactions with the website and the performance they experience.

User Experience Analysis

Functions of RUM tools:

  • Capture data on user interactions
  • Measure page load times
  • Track click-through rates
  • Analyze navigation patterns

This data helps analyze the user experience and identify performance bottlenecks or usability issues affecting user satisfaction.

Device and Browser Performance

Insights from RUM tools help understand how users experience the website across various devices and browsers, optimizing the website for compatibility and performance on different platforms for a smooth user experience across all visitors.

Geographic and Demographic Insights

Tracking user data based on geographic location and demographic information enables businesses to understand their user base and customize website performance and content to cater to specific audience segments.

28 Top Web Applications Monitoring Tools

1. Alerty

Alerty is a cloud monitoring service designed for developers and early-stage startups. It focuses on:

  • Application performance monitoring
  • Database monitoring
  • Incident management

The platform supports technologies including: 

  • NextJS
  • React
  • Vue
  • Node.js

Alerty excels in monitoring databases such as Supabase, PostgreSQL, and RDS, tracking key metrics like CPU usage and memory consumption.

Additional Features of Alerty

  • Quick incident management
  • Real User Monitoring (RUM) to optimize user experience
  • Universal Service Monitoring for dependencies

With Universal Service Monitoring, Alerty covers dependencies like:

  • Stripe API
  • OpenAI
  • Vercel

Alerty’s AI-driven approach simplifies setup, offering a cost-effective solution compared to its competitors. It is designed for easy setup and integration with tools like Sentry, making it ideal for developers and small teams requiring efficient and affordable monitoring. 

Try Alerty's free APM solution today to catch issues before they impact user experience.

2. Middleware APM

Middleware APM is a full-stack application performance monitoring platform that caters to developers by facilitating real-time issue identification and root cause analysis. It interfaces with multi-tiered applications and is deployable and scalable within environments such as Kubernetes. 

Developers benefit from Middleware APM's on-premise data storage and single-script installation, enhancing user experience. 

Comprehensive Monitoring Capabilities

  • Synthetic monitoring for expedited troubleshooting
  • Environment monitoring
  • Mean Time to Recovery (MTTR) reduction

Middleware APM offers numerous solutions that enhance developer productivity while ensuring application performance optimization.

3. Dynatrace

Dynatrace is a renowned application performance monitoring and network tool that provides deep insights into the entire application stack. Through code-level monitoring, Dynatrace identifies the source of any issue down to the line of code. 

Native integrations with multiple cloud services:

  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud
  • VMware

Dynatrace incorporates artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to troubleshoot issues proactively through its AI engine called Davis. Although Dynatrace boasts an intuitive interface, it comes at a premium price, starting from $0.08 per hour for full-stack monitoring. Users can explore the features through a free trial before committing to a subscription. 

Dynatrace is a comprehensive tool for developers seeking deep insights into their application performance.

4. LogicMonitor

LogicMonitor is a popular cloud infrastructure monitoring tool that offers an application monitoring solution providing deep insights into applications. The platform covers every part of the application architecture, enabling users to identify potential issues or troubleshoot existing problems.

Proactive Monitoring for Enhanced Efficiency and Collaboration

LogicMonitor's proactive monitoring helps prevent potential outages, saving time and costs. It provides comprehensive insights into user behavior through an easy-to-navigate dashboard that fosters collaboration between ITOps and DevOps staff. LogicMonitor scales efficiently, making it ideal for monitoring large-scale applications. While it has a steep learning curve, users can adapt to leverage its robust monitoring capabilities over time.

5. New Relic

New Relic is a well-known web tracking and analytics platform offering enterprises an application performance monitoring tool. 

The platform integrates with popular cloud services like: 

  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud 

New Relic's constant monitoring detects anomalies and alerts users to potential issues, enabling proactive troubleshooting to improve app performance. With insights into code performance, New Relic helps optimize apps for better results. 

Unlike most APM tools, the platform offers a free version with significant features supporting one user and up to 100GB of monthly data ingestion. Pricing for additional features starts at $0.30 per GB, with monthly user fees ranging from $49 to $99. 

New Relic is a comprehensive APM tool that offers valuable features for enterprise developers.

6.  Raygun APM

Raygun APM is a SaaS server-side performance monitoring platform providing trend and real-time application and user experience data. 

The platform supports software applications in:

  • .NET
  • Ruby
  • Node.js

It proactively identifies and alerts customers to performance issues and includes an automated issue creation engine that lists the most urgent performance concerns.

7. Scout APM

Scout APM is a performance monitoring platform that provides proactive alerting and real-time insights into the application environment. 

Offered as SaaS, Scout APM provides: 

  • Error
  • Database
  • External service
  • Basic applications 

Other features: 

  • Deployment tracking
  • GitHub integration
  • Background job monitoring

8. Site24x7 APM Insight

APM Insight is an AI-powered performance monitoring system that tracks application behavior and its effect on users in real-time. It is a SaaS-based product that can monitor the entire application stack, from the URL down to the database. 

APM Insight supports multiple platforms, such as: 

  • Java
  • .NET
  • PHP
  • Ruby
  • Python
  • Node.js

9. SolarWinds AppOptics

AppOptics is a SaaS-based APM and infrastructure tool for hybrid and cloud-native IT environments. AppOptics enables organizations to visualize and troubleshoot application bottlenecks. 

Over 150 out-of-the-box plugins and integrations for monitoring:

  • Servers
  • Virtual hosts
  • Containers

AppOptics supports advanced features:

  • Distributed tracing
  • Live code profiling
  • Exception tracking

10. Stackify Retrace

Stackify Retrace is an application performance management and observability platform offered as SaaS. The platform aggregates performance, log, error, and metric data to provide consolidated monitoring and insights into production and preproduction environments. 

Retrace includes enhanced search and drill-down capabilities into server and application logs and the ability to create customized log queries.

11. Cisco

Acquired by Cisco in 2017, AppDynamics provides an application and business monitoring platform for today’s enterprises. Their platform includes products for End User Monitoring (Synthetic and RUM monitoring), Infrastructure Visibility, and Business Performance to help manage end-to-end performance.

Deploying agents throughout the environment, AppDynamics gives teams a view into their app topology, regardless of the environment, through customizable dashboards. These dashboards provide metrics and data to make informed business decisions and drive application performance.

12. Datadog

Founded in 2010, the Datadog APM platform analyzes web performance from a comprehensive dashboard.

APM Capabilities

  • Monitors application performance
  • Troubleshoots issues
  • Optimizes performance

Datadog recently announced its integration with Cloudability, serverless monitoring (AWS Lambda) support and the addition of a synthetic monitoring solution called Datadog Synthetics.  A beta version of Datadog Synthetics will be available in December 2018.

13. Smartbear

SmartBear builds tools for development, testing, and operations teams to monitor software applications and websites. 

SmartBear APM Suite

  • API lifecycle products
  • Software testing platforms
  • Application monitoring tools
  • Code collaboration and optimization tools

SmartBear recently acquired the continuous platform HipTest and the Zephyr test management solution.

14. Prometheus

Prometheus enables you to capture time-series data as metrics. These metrics can be aggregated to give insights into the behavior of our systems. It was initially developed at SoundCloud in 2012 before being released as an open-source project. After Kubernetes, it was the second project to graduate from CNCF.

Time-Series Metrics Monitoring with Limitations

Prometheus does not do distributed tracing but can effectively monitor time-series data as metrics. It also has some limitations at scale as it is designed for a single machine. The visualization layer of Prometheus is essential, but it is generally used with Grafana, a visualization tool to create charts and graphs.

15. Javamelody

Javamelody is an open-source APM tool for monitoring Java or Java EE applications in QA and production environments. It is mainly used to track and measure the statistics of requests on an application based on its usage.

16. Stagemonitor

Stagemonitor is an open-source APM tool for Java server applications. It enables you to monitor your Java web app's performance throughout its development, QA, and production lifecycle. It monitors applications using servlet filters and bytecode manipulation.

Stagemonitor integrates well with time-series databases like: 

  • ElasticSearch
  • Graphite
  • InfluxDB 

17. Zipkin

Zipkin is an open-source APM tool used for distributed tracing. It captures timing data needed to troubleshoot latency problems in service architectures. In distributed systems, tracing user requests across different services is challenging. If a request fails or takes too long, distributed tracing helps identify the events that caused it.

Distributed Tracing for Request Tracking

Zipikin was initially developed at Twitter and drew inspiration from Google's Dapper. Unique identifiers called Trace ID are attached to each request which then identifies that request across services.

Visualization and Analysis Capabilities

Zipkin's in-built UI is limited, and for better analytics and visualizations, you can use Grafana or Kibana from the ELK stack. It also includes a dependency diagram that shows how many user requests went through each service. It can help you to identify error paths and calls to deprecated services.

18. Jaeger

Jaeger is an open-source APM tool developed at Uber and later donated to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation(CNCF). Inspired by Google's Dapper, Jaeger is a distributed tracing system for monitoring and troubleshooting microservices-based distributed systems. 

Some of its key features include: 

  • Jaeger integration
  • Supports trace storage backends

It supports:

  • Cassandra
  • Elasticsearch

Jaeger's UI allows users to see individual traces. They can filter the traces based on service, duration, and tags.

19. Apache Skywalking

This open-source APM tool monitors distributed systems, including: 

  • Microservices
  • Cloud-native
  • Container-based architectures

Some of the key features of the APM tool includes:

  • Service
  • Service instance
  • Endpoint metrics analysis
  • Root cause analysis with code profiling
  • Service topology map analysis
  • Slow services and endpoint detection
  • Distributed tracing and context propagation

Skywalking also supports the collection of telemetry data in multiple formats.

20. SigNoz

SigNoz is a full-stack open-source APM solution that provides a unified view of logs, metrics, and traces, eliminating the need for vendor lock-in. It exclusively utilizes ClickHouse, a single database native to OpenTelemetry. 

This versatile tool showcases distinctive charts for application metrics such as: 

  • P90
  • Error rates
  • P99 latency

Its distributed tracing capability empowers users to pinpoint the root cause of any issue.

21. Loupe

Loupe Logging APM is considered suitable for .NET and Java applications. It combines logging with error reporting, which allows you to save time while identifying errors. It offers environment-specific telemetry analysis.

Key Features

  • Tracks error rates
  • Monitors database query performance
  • Measures page hits
  • Identifies potential problems quickly

Due to its design, it is suitable for IT specialists and enterprise customers.

22. Sematext APM

Sematext provides end-to-end application performance monitoring to optimize user experience.

Loupe Monitoring Capabilities

  • Synthetic API monitoring
  • Website monitoring
  • Distributed transaction tracing
  • Logs monitoring

APM Capabilities

  • Combines traces, logs, metrics, and real user data
  • Reduces resolution time
  • Helps troubleshoot faster

23. ManageEngine Applications Manager

With comprehensive app performance management capabilities, ManageEngine Applications Manager monitors every facet of applications to identify issues. It measures the impacts of different components to provide data-driven performance insights. 

The APM tool supports the auto-discovery of application topology to present visualized dependencies. It uses Apdex Scores to measure end-user satisfaction levels. This APM can monitor hybrid, virtual, cloud, and container technologies.

24. Opsview

Opsview Application Monitoring tools provide a single view of the entire infrastructure and the performance of business applications. In the digital technology era, multiple applications are deployed at multiple locations, so obtaining performance data and displaying it in a single context is challenging. Opsview makes its automated and unified approach more straightforward to use.

25. eG Innovations

eG Innovations is another famous application performance and IT infrastructure monitoring, which helps application managers and DevOps to detect the main cause of application performance issues and troubleshoot faster. It also helps in providing unified solutions to address observability and IT performance.

26. Sentry

Sentry is a widely-used APM tool known for its error monitoring and crash reporting capabilities. These capabilities come from collecting and centralizing error data from all your applications to easily see where and what’s causing errors.

Sentry Debugging Tools

  • Stack traces
  • Logs
  • Environment variables

27. Paessler PRTG

Paessler PRTG Network Monitor, developed by Paessler AG, is a comprehensive network monitoring and management solution with APM features. PRTG uses sensors, where a sensor is a single item you monitor, such as:

  • Server
  • Network port
  • Website

These sensors can periodically send requests to application endpoints, measuring response times and other performance metrics. Users can set up threshold values and alerts to be notified of performance degradation or outages.

28. Dotcom-Monitor

Dotcom-Monitor monitors multi-step web transactions for functionality, accessibility, and performance worldwide and inside the network. 

Create scripts easily to monitor transactions like:

  • Shopping carts
  • Signups
  • Portal logins

Web Application Monitoring and Analysis

You can record the user path while navigating web applications and upload it to the portal. Use Dotcom-Monitor's global monitoring network to set up monitoring from multiple locations or use a Private Agent to monitor inside the network. Review the charts, receive alerts instantly on any failures, and understand the problem to reduce your web application's downtime.

It monitors critical paths end-users take, including: 

  • Login forms
  • Website content verification
  • eCommerce applications

With Dotcom-Monitor, you can script end-user interactions easily to ensure Rich Internet Applications' performance and proper functionality, including: 

  • HTML5
  • Flash
  • Flex
  • Silverlight
  • Java
  • AJAX

Boost your web application performance with the Dotcom-Monitor’s critical features like reporting, alerts, APIs, web recorders, private agents, filters, schedules, integrations, and more. You can also view the live status of your web application in an integrated and single interface.

Data Analysis and Reporting

Real-time reports show you the high-level information you need, such as aggregate performance metrics. You can easily share dashboards with clients and users outside your organization. Perform trend analysis, such as load time, response time, and availability, to compare historic web application monitoring data with the present one and predict future results.

6 Emerging Website Monitoring Tools To Try

1. Pingdom: Your First Line of Defense

Want to nip website issues in the bud? Pingdom’s got you covered. This tool lets you monitor your website's uptime, performance, and availability like a pro. With alerts coming your way whenever something's off, you can tackle issues head-on. 

Pingdom blends synthetic and real user monitoring for a crystal-clear view of user interactions. You'll see how your site performs across browsers, devices, and locations, and you can even simulate visitor actions to spot issues with critical pages.

2. Uptrends: Keep Tabs from Every Corner

Do you need to monitor your site from all over the globe? Uptrends does just that with 233 checkpoints worldwide. It tracks uptime and web performance accurately, so you know exactly what's happening. 

Easily monitor user journeys, such as shopping carts and logins, with script recording or support. Spot performance bottlenecks with detailed load time analysis and Core Web Vitals tracking.

3. Uptime Robot: Reliable and Free

Uptime Robot has been around since 2010, offering rock-solid website monitoring without breaking the bank. It’s got global coverage to ensure accurate results and advanced features like:

  • Multi-location checks
  • Recurring notifications

Take a break during maintenance windows without false alerts and investigate incidents with root-cause analysis. Visualize response times to catch performance hiccups and customize HTTP requests for fine-tuned monitoring.

4. ManageEngine: All-in-One Monitoring

ManageEngine packs a punch with comprehensive website and network monitoring. Whether you monitor webpage performance or network health, this tool covers you. Track individual webpages or workflows to ensure smooth operation. 

Test critical pages before launch, and watch out for unauthorized content changes. Integrate seamlessly with other tools and get instant alerts via:

  • Email
  • SMS
  • Push notifications

5. Linko: Keep It Secure and Functional

Linko’s all about ensuring your website is in tip-top shape. It monitors SSL certificate health and broken links while monitoring your domain status. Servers worldwide mean your site gets monitored from various locations for a global performance snapshot. 

Efficient crawlers, email alerts, and integration with NODATA make managing your site a breeze. SSL monitoring, uptime checks, log analysis, and domain expiry notifications are all part of Linko’s daily work.

6. Better Stack: Comprehensive Monitoring Powerhouse

Better Stack offers a monitoring platform that handles:

  • Ping and uptime monitoring
  • Incident management
  • Status pages all in one spot

Verified Checks

Say goodbye to false alerts with verified incident checks from multiple locations. Monitor everything from web pages to:

Catch errors with screenshots and error messages so you know exactly what went wrong and how to fix it.

Related Reading

Web App Monitoring Tools Benefits

Real-time Access To Systems

Always supervise your tech infrastructure, network, and deployed web application. Consistent reviews and analyses happen constantly, ensuring the organization of your tech resources. Optimize system speed, utilize RAM, server accesses, and more in real-time, preventing problems and offering preventive solutions to stop breaches and vulnerabilities.

Easy Detection of Errors

The systems continuously monitor for anomalies and errors, generating reports at the backend. Automation-based web testing tools can detect glitches easily. Retrieve reports anytime, look for patterns, and understand the source of attacks or bugs. Develop action plans for problems and deal with them more efficiently.

Provides Immediate Website Downtime Alerts

Web application downtime can be harmful to your business. Having more than one check to supervise web app performance is always recommended. Web app monitoring tools offer instant alerts when your web app is down or notify probable downtimes.

How To Choose the Best Web Applications Monitoring Tool

URL Monitoring Frequency

One of the most crucial aspects of choosing a web application monitoring tool is the frequency at which it monitors your website. The smaller the monitoring interval, the better, as it ensures that your website is constantly being checked for uptime and resource loading issues. A monitoring frequency of around 5 minutes is generally sufficient unless you have particular third-party services with inconsistent performance that need constant monitoring.

Integrated Server and Log Monitoring

A top-tier web application monitoring tool should ideally have integrated server and log monitoring capabilities.

Impact of Monitoring

  • CPU usage
  • Memory utilization
  • Disk space

Monitoring these factors can directly impact user experience on your website or application.

With these monitoring solutions, you can identify weaknesses and tackle issues before they escalate into major problems.

Synthetic and Real User Monitoring

For the best user experience, it's recommended to have a combination of synthetic and natural user monitoring capabilities. Synthetic monitoring involves simulating user interactions to test website performance, while accurate user monitoring captures users' actual experiences interacting with your site. 

Combining these two methods provides a comprehensive view of your website's performance and user satisfaction, enabling you to react to issues more efficiently.

Testing Locations

To accurately measure website speed and performance, it's essential to have monitoring nodes in various locations worldwide. Monitoring your website's performance locally may yield different results than running tests in distant countries. Having testing locations across the globe allows you to identify slow-loading parts of your website and address any issues affecting different user segments.

Support for Multiple Browsers

Ensuring your web application monitoring tool supports multiple browsers is crucial, as different browsers can render websites and scripts differently. What works seamlessly on Safari might encounter issues on Internet Explorer and vice versa. By testing across multiple browsers, you can effectively understand the variations in user experience and address any compatibility issues.

Solid Alerting Capabilities

Setting up alerts for different sections and functions throughout your website is essential for proactive issue identification and resolution. Opt for a monitoring tool with robust alerting capabilities to provide an early warning system for potential problems. Configuring alerts across multiple communication channels can help you stay informed and respond promptly to critical issues.

Price

Consider the pricing structure of web application monitoring tools, which may vary based on features and functionalities. While higher prices may sometimes offer more features, aligning the tool's capabilities with your website's specific needs is essential. Some tools may require annual contracts with significant costs, so understanding your website's requirements and budget constraints is crucial in selecting the most suitable monitoring tool.

7 Best Practices For Monitoring Web Applications

1. Craft Your Alerts: The Key to Staying Informed Without Losing Your Mind

Calibrating your monitoring alerts is like tuning an old guitar. You want them sharp enough to catch real issues but not so sensitive that they go off in the slightest breeze. 

Focus your alerts on business-critical metrics that genuinely impact user experience and performance. This will ensure that your team responds to what matters most without drowning in a sea of false alarms.

2. Real User Monitoring: Seeing Through Your Users’ Eyes

Real User Monitoring (RUM) is your window into the world of actual users. It captures and analyzes user interactions in real-time, giving you a front-row seat to how your app performs across different devices and networks. 

With RUM, you pinpoint usability issues and optimize content delivery, ensuring your app meets and exceeds user expectations.

3. Metric Madness: What to Watch and Why

With so much data available, it’s easy to get lost. Stick to metrics that align with your goals to cut through the noise. Focus on:

  • CPU usage
  • Error rates
  • Response times
  • Request rates
  • User feedback

These metrics can help you quickly identify performance issues and decide where to focus your efforts.

4. Log Management and Analysis: Your Secret Weapon for Troubleshooting

Effective log management and analysis give you a granular view of your application’s behavior. By collecting, storing, and analyzing log data, you can troubleshoot issues, monitor security, and easily ensure compliance. 

Automated log analysis tools can detect patterns and anomalies indicative of operational or security issues, enabling proactive resolution.

5. Chaos Engineering: Embrace the Chaos for Greater Resilience

Chaos engineering sounds intense, but it’s all about building resilience. You can assess your systems' recovery capabilities by intentionally introducing disruptions to your applications or infrastructure. 

This practice encourages a proactive approach to system design, focusing on building systems that can recover from unexpected failures.

6. Holistic Monitoring: Seeing the Big Picture

Monitoring across multiple dimensions, performance, user experience, security, and infrastructure health, gives you a holistic view of your application. 

Integrating different monitoring tools and approaches ensures coverage across all critical aspects of application functionality and performance, enabling a more effective response to issues and trends.

7. Mapping Dependencies: Know What’s Connected to What

Understanding and mapping application dependencies is crucial for effective monitoring and troubleshooting. 

By identifying how different components interact with each other and external services, you can more quickly pinpoint the root causes of performance issues. This knowledge is also essential for planning system updates or changes, as it highlights potential impacts on interconnected services.

FAQs On Web Applications Monitoring Tools

Web monitoring tools guard your online presence. They track your site's performance and availability. 

With real-time insights into uptime, response times, and user experience, they help spot issues before your users do. They are your early warning system, keeping your brand reputation intact and users happy.

Effective Web App Monitoring: Step-by-Step

  • Choose the Right Tools: Not all tools are created equal. For real user insights, go for Real User Monitoring (RUM). If you want to simulate user actions, Synthetic Monitoring is your friend.
  • Set Performance Metrics: Define success. Is it fast load times? Low error rates? Set clear KPIs to guide your monitoring efforts.
  • Implement Alerts: Don’t wait until something breaks. Set up alerts to be notified of potential issues so you can fix them before users even notice.
  • Regular Testing: Automated scripts are your allies. They constantly check your app’s functionality to ensure smooth operation.
  • Analyze the Data: Numbers don’t lie. Review the data regularly to identify trends and make informed decisions to enhance performance.
  • User Feedback Matters: Listen to your users. Their feedback offers valuable insights into areas you might have overlooked.

Monitoring Web Application Performance

  • Use Performance Monitoring Tools: Tools like Alerty and Google PageSpeed Insights provide critical load times and resource utilization data.
  • Real User Monitoring (RUM): RUM offers real-time insights by tracking user interactions, giving you a clear picture of the user experience.
  • Synthetic Monitoring: This involves simulating user actions to test various scenarios, helping you catch issues before they affect real users.
  • Load Testing: Evaluate how your app performs under different traffic conditions. Load testing helps identify bottlenecks and ensure your app can handle peak loads.
  • Error Tracking: Implement error tracking tools to identify and resolve issues quickly. This keeps your application running smoothly.
  • Security Monitoring: Performance issues often stem from security problems. Monitor for vulnerabilities and breaches to keep your app safe.
  • Regular Reporting: Keep stakeholders informed with regular reports on performance metrics. This helps guide future improvements and ensures everyone’s on the same page.

Related Reading

Catch Issues Before They Affect Your Users with Alerty's Free APM Solution

Alerty is a cloud monitoring service that aims to simplify application performance monitoring for developers and early-stage startups. It offers a comprehensive suite of monitoring tools, including: 

  • Application performance monitoring
  • Database monitoring
  • Incident management 

Supporting a wide range of technologies, such as NextJS, React, Vue, and Node.js, Alerty helps developers identify and fix issues quickly before they impact end users. 

This monitoring service is especially beneficial for small teams and developers seeking an efficient and affordable solution for monitoring their web applications.

Database Monitoring: Keeping an Eye on Vital Metrics

Provides insights into key metrics:

  • CPU usage
  • Memory consumption

Supports databases such as:

  • Supabase
  • PostgreSQL
  • RDS

By offering visibility into these vital metrics, Alerty enables developers to pinpoint potential performance bottlenecks that could affect the overall user experience. With this database monitoring feature, developers can proactively address issues before they escalate into more significant problems that could impact end-users interactions with web applications.

Incident Management: Rapid Response to Issues

Alerty boasts quick incident management capabilities, allowing developers to respond promptly to application issues. With the ability to set up alerts and notifications for critical incidents, developers can stay informed in real time and take swift action to resolve any problems that may impact application performance. This rapid incident management feature is crucial for maintaining a seamless user experience and ensuring that web applications are always up and running without interruptions.

Real User Monitoring (RUM): Improving User Experience

One standout feature of Alerty is its Real User Monitoring (RUM) functionality, which provides developers with insights into how real users interact with their web applications. 

Optimizing User Experience

  • Gather data on load times, interactions, and user behavior 
  • Optimize the user experience
  • Ensure optimal application performance

This user-centric approach to monitoring helps developers prioritize enhancements that directly impact end-users, resulting in a more satisfying and engaging user experience.

Universal Service Monitoring: Covering All Dependencies

  • Stripe API
  • OpenAI
  • Vercel

By monitoring these external services and integrations, developers can ensure that all components of their web applications are functioning correctly and delivering the expected performance. This comprehensive monitoring capability helps developers identify and address issues across the entire application stack, ensuring a smooth and seamless user experience for all users interacting with their web applications.

Ease of Use and Integration: Streamlining Monitoring

Alerty is designed for ease of use, offering a seamless setup process and integration with popular developer tools like Sentry. This streamlined approach to monitoring enables developers to get up and running quickly and start monitoring their applications without unnecessary complexities. By integrating with tools developers are familiar with, Alerty ensures a smooth transition to a new monitoring solution and minimizes any learning curve associated with adopting a new platform.

Cost-Effective Monitoring: Affordable and Efficient

One of Alerty's key advantages is its cost-effective monitoring solution, which provides developers with comprehensive monitoring tools at an affordable price point. 

By leveraging AI to simplify setup and reduce operational overhead, Alerty offers a competitive monitoring solution accessible to developers and small teams looking for an efficient and affordable way to monitor their web applications. This cost-effective approach to monitoring makes Alerty an attractive option for developers seeking a robust monitoring solution without breaking the bank.

Free APM Solution: Streamlined Monitoring and Faster Incident Resolution

Try Alerty's free APM solution today to streamline your application performance monitoring. Experience comprehensive insights and rapid incident management to keep your web applications running smoothly and efficiently.