The performances of satellite and sondes ozone measuring instruments available in the tropics between 10 and 26 km during the southern hemisphere summer in 2003 and 2004, have been investigated by comparison with series of profiles obtained by solar occultation in the visible Chappuis bands using a SAOZ UV-Vis spectrometer carried by circumnavigating long duration balloons. When compared to SAOZ, systematic positive or negative altitude shifts could be observed in satellite profiles, varying from <50 m for the GOMOS stellar occultation instrument, followed by +100/200 m for solar occultation systems (SAGE II, HALOE above 22 km), but as large as −900 m or +2000 m for limb viewing systems (OSIRIS, SCIAMACHY). The ozone relative biases are generally limited, between −4% and +4%, for measurements in the visible Chappuis bands (SAGE II and III, GOMOS above 22 km and OSIRIS), the near IR (HALOE above 22 km) and the ozonesondes, but increase to −7% in the UV (SCIAMACHY), and +7% in the mid-IR (MIPAS) and the submillimetric range (SMR). Regarding precision, evaluated statistically from the zonal variability of ozone concentration, the best measurements are found to be those of SAGE II (2%), followed by HALOE above 22 km (3–4%), then the ozonesondes, SAGE III moon and OSIRIS (4–5%), GOMOS above 22 km and SCIAMACHY (~6%), MIPAS (8.5%) and finally SMR (16%). Overall, all satellite ozone measurements appear little reliable in the tropical troposphere except those of SAGE II (and eventually SAGE III), though low biased by 50% and of limited (50%) precision.