AppDynamics (now Splunk AppDynamics) is Cisco's application performance monitoring platform. See features, history, pricing, and how it compares in 2026.
AppDynamics is an application performance monitoring and business observability platform, founded in 2008 by Jyoti Bansal, that helps enterprises monitor the performance of complex applications and connect that performance directly to business metrics like revenue and conversion.
The company was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2017 for approximately 3.7 billion dollars, just before it was set to go public, and it operated for years as a major product line within Cisco's software portfolio.
Following Cisco's 2024 acquisition of Splunk, AppDynamics was rebranded as Splunk AppDynamics and folded into the unified Splunk Observability portfolio, where it now serves as the business-observability layer alongside Splunk's broader log analytics and cloud-native monitoring products.
Splunk AppDynamics provides full-stack observability that collects and correlates telemetry from frontend user experience, application services, databases, and infrastructure across both on-premises and cloud environments.
A defining feature is business metrics correlation, which links application and transaction performance data to business outcomes such as revenue impact and conversion rates, allowing technical teams to prioritize incidents by business risk rather than only technical severity.
The platform also includes AI and machine learning-driven anomaly detection and root cause analysis, application security monitoring that detects vulnerabilities and blocks attacks, SAP solutions monitoring for enterprise resource planning systems, digital experience monitoring for end users, and newer generative AI and large language model application monitoring capabilities.
AppDynamics does not publish standard public pricing. Enterprise customers negotiate custom contracts, historically based on the number of monitored application agents or hosts, and increasingly aligned with broader Splunk Observability licensing.
Because it is sold as enterprise infrastructure software, prospective buyers typically need to go through a demo and sales process with Cisco or Splunk to receive a quote based on their specific application landscape and monitoring needs.
The product is now branded Splunk AppDynamics following Cisco's 2024 acquisition of Splunk, but it continues to operate as a distinct product within the Splunk Observability portfolio.
AppDynamics is owned by Cisco Systems, which acquired it for approximately 3.7 billion dollars in 2017 and later integrated it into the Splunk Observability portfolio after acquiring Splunk in 2024.
AppDynamics is used for application performance monitoring and business observability, helping enterprises monitor complex applications and connect performance issues to business impact like revenue or conversion.
AppDynamics differentiates itself through deep business-metrics correlation and strength in monitoring traditional three-tier and hybrid enterprise applications, while Datadog and New Relic are often seen as more cloud-native-first observability platforms.
AppDynamics does not publish public pricing. It is sold through custom enterprise contracts, typically based on the number of monitored agents, hosts, or overall Splunk Observability licensing.
No. Cisco has stated that organizations can continue using AppDynamics as a standalone product or combine it with other Splunk tools without a mandatory migration.
AppDynamics was founded in April 2008 by Jyoti Bansal in San Francisco, California.