Which SQL monitoring tools should I use?

Choosing the right SQL monitoring tool depends on your database engine (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, etc.), your budget, and whether you need deep DBA-level tuning or full-stack application observability.

The top SQL monitoring tools are categorized below by their strengths:

• Redgate Monitor : Exceptional for SQL Server-centric environments while also supporting PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, and MongoDB. It provides estate-wide visibility, highly customizable alerting, long-term trend analysis, and intelligent diagnostics to isolate deadlocks and slow queries.[netdata.cloud](https://www.netdata.cloud/resources/best-database-monitoring-tools/)

• SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer (DPA) : Great for response-time analysis. It uses multi-dimensional performance analysis (waiting-resource analytics) to pinpoint exactly why a query is slow, rather than just tracking CPU or memory spikes.[netdata.cloud](https://www.motadata.com/blog/sql-server-monitoring-tools)

• Datadog Database Monitoring (DBM) : Best if you are already using Datadog for infrastructure or application monitoring. It correlates database query metrics, wait events, and explain plans directly with your broader application traces.[netdata.cloud](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools/)[[2](https://www.motadata.com/blog/sql-server-monitoring-tools)](https://www.netdata.cloud/resources/best-sql-server-monitoring-tools/)

• DBA Dash : A fantastic, open-source monitoring tool built specifically for SQL Server. It focuses on configuration tracking, health checks, and performance metrics without a heavy licensing cost.[netdata.cloud](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools/)

• SQLWATCH : An open-source solution that collects performance metrics from SQL Server and integrates smoothly with visualization layers like Grafana or Power BI.[netdata.cloud](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools/)

• Opserver : Stack Exchange’s open-source dashboard system. It is lightweight, fast, and gives a solid multi-system overview of SQL Server, Redis, and Elasticsearch.[netdata.cloud](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools/)

• Query Store : Built directly into modern SQL Server engines. It automatically captures a history of query plans, runtimes, and performance regressions, letting you force good execution plans with a single click.

• Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) : Native queries you can run directly inside your database client (like SSMS or Azure Data Studio) for real-time diagnostics on index usage, active connections, and waits.[netdata.cloud](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools/)[[2](https://www.motadata.com/blog/sql-server-monitoring-tools)](https://www.motadata.com/blog/sql-server-monitoring-tools)

To help narrow down the best fit, tell me:

• Which database engine are you using (e.g., Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL)?
• Are you looking for a free/open-source tool or an enterprise commercial solution?
• Do you need to monitor a single server or a large multi-server estate?

The best SQL monitoring tool depends on which database you run, whether you need to diagnose slow queries or monitor overall database health, and whether you prefer a managed cloud service or self-hosted monitoring.

My recommendation is to start with database-native monitoring, then add a dedicated observability tool if you need deeper query analysis, alerting, or cross-database visibility.

Best SQL monitoring tools to consider

• 

1. Datadog Database Monitoring

(Best overall for mixed stacks)

Best if you need SQL performance plus application monitoring, infrastructure metrics, and tracing in one platform. Supports several major database engines, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, and Oracle.

Trade-off: paid platform with usage-based costs.

Official website

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2. Redgate Monitor

(Best for SQL Server DBAs)

Strong choice for monitoring SQL Server instances, spotting performance regressions, tracking alerts, and managing a database estate. Particularly worth evaluating in Microsoft-heavy environments.

Trade-off: commercial licensing; verify support for your specific database engines.

Official website

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3. Percona Monitoring and Management (PMM)

(Best open-source option)

A good starting point for MySQL and PostgreSQL teams that want database metrics, query analytics, dashboards, and alerting without a conventional commercial license for the core software.

Trade-off: you need to operate and maintain the monitoring platform.

Official website

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4. pganalyze

(Best for PostgreSQL tuning)

Useful for identifying expensive queries, investigating execution plans, and finding opportunities to improve indexes and query performance.

Trade-off: PostgreSQL-focused rather than a universal SQL monitoring solution.

Official website

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5. SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer

Best for DBAs who need to understand why queries are slow, including database wait times, contention, and workload bottlenecks across supported engines.

Trade-off: commercial product; check platform compatibility and licensing.

Official website

These recommendations reflect the tools' documented capabilities and their intended use cases, rather than a controlled performance benchmark.stackbriefly.com+2

What should your SQL monitoring setup track?

Regardless of the tool, prioritize these capabilities:

Let’s narrow it down

The most important question is: Which SQL database are you monitoring?

1. Database engine

Microsoft SQL Server / Azure SQL

PostgreSQL

MySQL / MariaDB

Oracle

Multiple database engines

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2. Where does it run?

On-premises / self-managed servers

Cloud-managed database

Both cloud and on-premises

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3. Your main monitoring goal

Slow queries and query tuning

Production health, uptime, and alerts

Blocking, deadlocks, and concurrency

Security, auditing, and compliance

All-around database observability

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4. Budget preference

Free / open-source only

Paid enterprise tools are fine

Compare free and paid options

[Find my best-fit tools]

If by “SQL monitoring” you mean database performance monitoring—slow queries, locks, waits, CPU/I/O, execution plans, alerts, and capacity—I’d narrow the field to these:

My recommendations

1. If you have multiple database technologies → Datadog

Datadog gives you query-level performance data, execution plans, historical query metrics, and host-level metrics in the same interface. It supports both self-hosted and managed versions of several major databases.docs.datadoghq.com

Datadog Database Monitoring

I'd choose this if your goal is one observability platform for databases + applications + infrastructure.

2. If you're primarily MySQL/PostgreSQL and want open source → Percona PMM

Percona's PMM is particularly attractive because it's open source and provides database-specific dashboards, Query Analytics, alerts, and query/execution-plan analysis. It can run on-prem, in the cloud, or hybrid.docs.datadoghq.com+1

Percona PMM

This would be my first choice for a cost-conscious MySQL/PostgreSQL team.

3. If you're a SQL Server shop → SolarWinds SQL Sentry

SQL Sentry is specifically optimized around Microsoft SQL Server and Azure SQL. It has deep wait/query analysis, deadlock analysis, blocking analysis, health monitoring, and historical performance views.www.solarwinds.com

SolarWinds SQL Sentry

For a DBA managing a large SQL Server estate, I'd put this ahead of a generic observability platform.

4. If you're already using New Relic → New Relic Database Monitoring

New Relic's newer database monitoring provides query-level details including slow queries, wait types, and execution plans for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server. It also has broader database/infrastructure/APM correlation.docs.newrelic.com

New Relic Database Monitoring

5. If everything is AWS RDS/Aurora → start with AWS Database Insights

AWS's native Database Insights lets you break database load down by SQL statements, waits, hosts, and users, and integrates directly with CloudWatch.docs.aws.amazon.com

AWS Database Insights

What I'd pick

• SQL Server: SQL Sentry
• PostgreSQL/MySQL: Percona PMM if self-hosted; Datadog if you want SaaS
• AWS-only: AWS Database Insights first
• Many different databases: Datadog
• Existing New Relic stack: New Relic
• Lowest licensing cost: Percona PMM

One important distinction: database monitoring ≠ application APM. If you're trying to answer “Why is this endpoint slow?”, you want something that correlates application traces → SQL query → database waits/resources. If you're trying to answer “Why is SQL Server/Postgres itself slow?”, a DBA-oriented tool such as SQL Sentry or PMM can provide substantially deeper database-specific diagnostics.

If you mean SQL database performance/health monitoring, the right tool depends heavily on your database engine and whether you need DBA-level diagnostics or broader infrastructure monitoring.

My shortlist

Microsoft itself recommends Query Store for retaining query, plan, and runtime history, and Extended Events for lightweight detailed troubleshooting. learn.microsoft.com Microsoft also explicitly identifies Redgate, SolarWinds/SentryOne, IDERA, and others as SQL Server monitoring partners.learn.microsoft.com

What I'd choose

If you're primarily SQL Server:
Redgate Monitor + Query Store + Extended Events. Redgate gives you the operational dashboard, alerting, estate-wide visibility, and historical monitoring; Query Store and Extended Events give you the deep native diagnostics.learn.microsoft.com+1

If you have SQL Server + PostgreSQL + MySQL/Oracle/etc.:
I'd lean toward SolarWinds DPA or Datadog, because you don't want a separate monitoring stack for every database engine.

If you're an expert SQL Server DBA:
Look closely at SQL Sentry. It's geared toward deep SQL Server/Microsoft data-platform diagnostics rather than simply "is the database up?" monitoring.www.dbmarlin.com

If budget matters:
Start with Query Store, Extended Events, DMVs, SSMS Activity Monitor, and OS-level monitoring before buying anything. SQL Server already provides substantial monitoring capability.learn.microsoft.com

One thing I wouldn't start a new deployment with is SQL Server Profiler. Microsoft now considers it deprecated and recommends Extended Events instead.learn.microsoft.com

If you tell me which database(s) you're running (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, Azure SQL, etc.), number of servers, and whether you want free/open-source or commercial, I can narrow this to the 2–3 tools I'd actually buy/use for your environment.

If by SQL monitoring you mean monitoring database health, slow queries, locks/waits, resource usage, and performance regressions, these are the tools I’d shortlist in 2026:

My recommendations

1. If you're primarily SQL Server → Redgate Monitor

Redgate has particularly strong SQL Server monitoring, including query performance, waits, intelligent alerting, deployment monitoring, and hybrid/cloud visibility. It now also covers PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, and MongoDB from the same dashboard.www.red-gate.com

Redgate Monitor

2. If you're primarily PostgreSQL → pganalyze

This would be my first choice for a PostgreSQL-heavy environment. It goes beyond basic CPU/connections dashboards into query history, EXPLAIN plans, wait/lock analysis, index recommendations, vacuum/autovacuum analysis, and workload-specific tuning.pganalyze.com

pganalyze

3. If you're running MySQL/PostgreSQL and want open source → Percona PMM

PMM is particularly attractive when you want to keep monitoring infrastructure under your control. It provides dashboards, query analytics, alerting, configuration insights, and database-specific metrics across MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB.www.red-gate.com+2

Percona Monitoring and Management

4. If your organization already uses Datadog → use Datadog Database Monitoring

The advantage isn't necessarily that it's the deepest database-specific tool; it's that database metrics, application traces, infrastructure, logs, and alerts can live in one observability platform. That's often more valuable for an application/SRE team than having a separate DBA console.

What I'd choose

• SQL Server shop: Redgate Monitor
• PostgreSQL shop: pganalyze
• MySQL shop: Percona PMM or a commercial APM/observability platform
• Mixed SQL estate: Redgate Monitor
• Kubernetes/cloud-native + existing observability: Datadog
• Budget-conscious/self-hosted: Percona PMM
• Serious PostgreSQL performance tuning: pganalyze

One important distinction: monitoring ≠ query-performance analysis. If your real problem is “Which queries are making production slow, and why?”, I'd prioritize a tool with historical query plans, wait/lock analysis, and query-level resource attribution rather than simply picking the tool with the prettiest CPU dashboard.

If you tell me which database(s) you run (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, etc.), where they run (AWS/Azure/on-prem), and roughly how many instances, I can narrow this to the best 2–3 choices and compare pricing/architecture.

If by SQL monitoring you mean monitoring database health, slow queries, locks, waits, replication, resource usage, and alerts, the right tool depends heavily on which database engines you run.

My practical shortlist

If you're primarily on SQL Server:
I'd start with Redgate Monitor. It monitors SQL Server as well as PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL and MongoDB, and provides query-impact analysis, execution-plan information, blocking/deadlock diagnostics, customizable alerts, and historical baselines.www.red-gate.com

Redgate Monitor

If you're on MySQL/PostgreSQL and want open source:
Percona Monitoring and Management (PMM) is particularly compelling. PMM is open source and provides query analytics, database-specific dashboards, alerting, and performance metrics across MySQL, PostgreSQL and MongoDB. Current PMM 3 also supports cloud databases including RDS, Azure and Google Cloud SQL.www.percona.com

Percona Monitoring and Management

If your organization already uses Datadog:
I'd generally investigate Datadog Database Monitoring rather than introducing a separate database-observability stack. The advantage is correlating database behavior with hosts, containers, applications, logs and traces.

If you're PostgreSQL-centric:
I'd put pganalyze on the evaluation list because a PostgreSQL-specific tool can give you considerably more database-engine-specific information than a generic infrastructure-monitoring product.

One important distinction

Don't choose solely based on whether a tool has a pretty CPU/IO dashboard. For SQL performance troubleshooting, I'd prioritize:

1. Query-level history — which queries are actually consuming resources?
2. Wait/lock analysis — why is a query slow?
3. Execution plans
4. Historical baselines — what changed?
5. Blocking/deadlock detection
6. Replication/HA monitoring
7. Actionable alerting rather than thousands of noisy metrics
8. Application/deployment correlation

For example, Redgate Monitor explicitly provides query behavior, execution patterns, wait times, execution plans and query history, while PMM's Query Analytics ranks queries by load and lets you drill into individual problematic queries.www.percona.com+1

If you tell me your database(s) — e.g. SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, RDS/Azure SQL — and whether you're self-hosted or cloud, I can narrow this to 2–3 tools and compare their pricing, architecture, and setup.

Choosing the right SQL monitoring tool depends heavily on your database engine (e.g., Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL ), budget, and whether you need lightweight metrics or deep database observability.[dbmarlin.com](https://www.dbmarlin.com/blog/2026-08-14-best-database-monitoring-tools-2026)

The top SQL monitoring options are categorized below by use case:

• Enterprise & Deep Performance Tuning (Commercial)
  1. Redgate SQL Monitor : Widely considered an industry gold standard for SQL Server. It offers precise alerting, deadlocking analysis, long-term historical data, and intuitive dashboards. Check it out on Redgate SQL Monitor.
  2. SolarWinds SQL Sentry (formerly SentryOne): Exceptional for heavy-duty SQL Server environments. It features high-resolution data collection, blocking and deadlock visualization, and integrated execution plan tuning. Explore options via SolarWinds SQL Sentry.
  3. SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer (DPA) : Great for multi-platform environments (SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, Postgres) focusing on response-time analysis and wait-stat tracking.[dbmarlin.com](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools/)[[2](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools)](https://www.dbmarlin.com/blog/2026-08-14-best-database-monitoring-tools-2026)
• Cloud-Native & Full-Stack Observability

4. Datadog Database Monitoring (DBM) : Ideal if your infrastructure is already centralized in Datadog. It tracks query metrics, execution plans, and wait events across hybrid and multi-cloud database instances without requiring separate standalone agents. Learn more at Datadog Database Monitoring.[dbmarlin.com](https://www.netdata.cloud/resources/best-sql-server-monitoring-tools/)[[2](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools)](https://www.dbmarlin.com/blog/2026-08-14-best-database-monitoring-tools-2026)

• Open-Source & Community-Driven (Free)

5. Percona Monitoring and Management (PMM) : The top pick if you are running open-source relational databases like PostgreSQL or MySQL. It is open-source, highly scalable, and provides rich metrics for query performance. Check it out on Percona PMM.
6. DBA Dash : A brilliant free, open-source tool built specifically for SQL Server estates, handling configuration tracking, performance monitoring, and health checks. Visit DBA Dash on GitHub to review setup details.[dbmarlin.com](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools/)[[2](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools)](https://www.dbmarlin.com/blog/2026-08-14-best-database-monitoring-tools-2026)

• Built-In & Free Native Tools

7. Query Store & DMVs (Dynamic Management Views) : If you are on Microsoft SQL Server, always start with native options. Query Store captures execution plan history automatically, while DMVs give real-time insights into index usage, memory, and waits without adding third-party overhead. Review Microsoft's documentation on Performance Monitoring and Tuning Tools.[dbmarlin.com](https://chat2db.ai/resources/blog/best-sql-server-monitoring-tools-2026)[[2](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/performance/performance-monitoring-and-tuning-tools?view=sql-server-ver17)[[3](https://www.netdata.cloud/resources/best-sql-server-monitoring-tools)](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/top-sql-server-monitoring-tools/)

To help narrow down the best choice, tell me:

• Which database engine are you using (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle)?
• Is your infrastructure on-premises, in the cloud, or hybrid?
• Are you looking for a free/open-source tool or an enterprise paid solution?