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Datadog alternatives: 6 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Oct 25, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

Common reasons people leave Datadog: per-product, per-host pricing makes bills hard to forecast, and custom metrics and log volume get expensive quickly. We ranked 6 alternatives by how directly each one replaces Datadog, then by reviews, real visits and how recently each app's facts were checked against its own website. New Relic currently ranks first.

Quick comparison

#AppPricingOpen sourcePlatformsVerified factsScore
1New Relic logoNew RelicFree plan + paidNoWeb, iOS, Android4 of 466.5
2Grafana logoGrafanaOpen sourceYesWeb, Self-hosted4 of 462.6
3Dynatrace logoDynatracePaidNoWeb, iOS, Android4 of 459.6
4SigNoz logoSigNozOpen sourceYesWeb, Self-hosted4 of 457.2
5Honeycomb logoHoneycombFree plan + paidNoWeb4 of 455.3
6Elastic Observability logoElastic ObservabilityPaidNoWeb, Self-hosted4 of 453.6
  1. New Relic logo

    1. New RelicTop pick

    Best for: Teams that want full-stack APM with predictable data-based pricing and a usable free tier

    Free plan + paidWeb, iOS, Android

    66.5

    score / 100

    Why switch from Datadog

    Usage-based pricing with a generous free data allowance instead of per-host fees.

    Pros

    • Perpetual free tier with a meaningful monthly data allowance
    • One query language across all telemetry types
    • Wide language agent support plus OpenTelemetry ingest

    Cons

    • Full-platform user seats are expensive on paid tiers
    • Interface has many overlapping views to learn
    • Hosted only
    Visit New Relic Compare with DatadogDetails and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.3100
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is New Relic a good Datadog alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free tier
    100 GB data ingest/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026newrelic.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Data price
    $0.40/GB beyond free allowance
    Checked Oct 25, 2026newrelic.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free full user
    1
    Checked Oct 25, 2026newrelic.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Basic users
    Unlimited, free
    Checked Oct 25, 2026newrelic.com(opens source in a new tab)
  2. Grafana logo

    2. Grafana

    Best for: Teams that want flexible dashboards over many data sources, self-hosted or as a managed cloud

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    62.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Datadog

    Open-source dashboards plus a hosted cloud, so you can avoid lock-in and control costs.

    Pros

    • Connects to almost any metrics, logs or SQL data source
    • Fully open-source stack you can self-host
    • Hosted cloud has a usable free tier

    Cons

    • Self-hosting Loki, Tempo and Mimir at scale is real work
    • Building good dashboards takes time and query knowledge
    • Cloud usage pricing has many meters to track
    Visit Grafana Compare with DatadogDetails and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.387
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Grafana a good Datadog alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    License
    AGPL-3.0
    Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free tier
    10k metric series, 50 GB logs, 14-day retention
    Checked Oct 25, 2026grafana.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Pro plan
    From $19/month + usage
    Checked Oct 25, 2026grafana.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Logs on free tier
    50 GB/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026grafana.com(opens source in a new tab)
  3. Dynatrace logo

    3. Dynatrace

    Best for: Large enterprises with sprawling hybrid infrastructure that want automated problem detection

    PaidWeb, iOS, Android

    59.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Datadog

    Similar all-in-one enterprise scope with stronger automatic discovery and root-cause analysis.

    Pros

    • Automatic discovery and dependency mapping with little manual setup
    • Groups related alerts into single problems with a suggested root cause
    • No per-user fees

    Cons

    • Expensive for small teams
    • Large platform with a steep learning curve
    • No meaningful free tier, only a trial
    Visit Dynatrace Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.377
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Dynatrace a good Datadog alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Full-Stack Monitoring
    $58/month per 8 GiB host
    Checked Oct 25, 2026dynatrace.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    15 days
    Checked Oct 25, 2026dynatrace.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Seat fees
    None
    Checked Oct 25, 2026dynatrace.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Code Monitoring
    $3.60/month per container
    Checked Oct 25, 2026dynatrace.com(opens source in a new tab)
  4. SigNoz logo

    4. SigNoz

    Best for: Teams that want Datadog-style APM on OpenTelemetry without per-host pricing

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    57.2

    score / 100

    Why switch from Datadog

    OpenTelemetry-native and self-hostable, covering APM, logs and metrics for far less money.

    Pros

    • Traces, metrics and logs in one open-source app
    • Built on OpenTelemetry, avoiding vendor lock-in
    • Usage-based cloud pricing with no host or seat fees

    Cons

    • Fewer integrations than the incumbents
    • Self-hosting ClickHouse at scale needs care
    • Some enterprise features are not in the open edition
    Visit SigNoz Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.369
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is SigNoz a good Datadog alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Cloud starting price
    $49/month including $49 of usage
    Checked Oct 25, 2026signoz.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Logs price
    $0.3/GB ingested
    Checked Oct 25, 2026signoz.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Host-based pricing
    None
    Checked Oct 25, 2026signoz.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Self-hosting
    Yes
    Checked Oct 25, 2026signoz.io(opens source in a new tab)
  5. Honeycomb logo

    5. Honeycomb

    Best for: Teams debugging microservices who want fast, exploratory queries over traces

    Free plan + paidWeb

    55.3

    score / 100

    Why switch from Datadog

    Better for digging into high-cardinality trace data when debugging distributed systems.

    Pros

    • Fast queries across high-cardinality fields at no extra cost
    • BubbleUp makes outliers easy to explain
    • Event-based pricing with no per-seat or per-host fees

    Cons

    • Weaker for classic host metrics and log search
    • Needs good instrumentation to get value
    • Hosted only
    Visit Honeycomb Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.363
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Honeycomb a good Datadog alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free plan
    Up to 20M events/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026honeycomb.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Free forever
    Yes
    Checked Oct 25, 2026honeycomb.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Pro plan
    From $150/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026honeycomb.io(opens source in a new tab)
    OpenTelemetry
    Supported
    Checked Oct 25, 2026honeycomb.io(opens source in a new tab)
  6. Elastic Observability logo

    6. Elastic Observability

    Best for: Teams whose monitoring centres on searching large volumes of logs

    PaidSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    53.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Datadog

    Strong log search and a self-managed option for teams that want to run it themselves.

    Pros

    • Very strong log search and analytics
    • Can be self-managed or fully hosted
    • Machine-learning anomaly detection built in

    Cons

    • Running Elasticsearch yourself needs specialist knowledge
    • Hosted pricing has many usage meters
    • Advanced features require paid subscriptions
    Visit Elastic Observability Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.357
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Elastic Observability a good Datadog alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Serverless ingest
    From $0.07/GB
    Checked Oct 25, 2026elastic.co(opens source in a new tab)
    Serverless retention
    From $0.017/GB per month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026elastic.co(opens source in a new tab)
    Self-managed
    Yes
    Checked Oct 25, 2026elastic.co(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    Yes
    Checked Oct 25, 2026elastic.co(opens source in a new tab)

The best Datadog alternative for…

The highest-ranked app in this list for each need.

New Relic logo

Best Datadog alternative for most people

New Relic

Usage-based pricing with a generous free data allowance instead of per-host fees.

Grafana logo

Best Datadog alternative for a free option

Grafana

Open-source dashboards plus a hosted cloud, so you can avoid lock-in and control costs.

Honeycomb logo

Best Datadog alternative for a free plan you can upgrade

Honeycomb

Better for digging into high-cardinality trace data when debugging distributed systems.

SigNoz logo

Best Datadog alternative for open source

SigNoz

OpenTelemetry-native and self-hostable, covering APM, logs and metrics for far less money.

Elastic Observability logo

Best Datadog alternative for self-hosting

Elastic Observability

Strong log search and a self-managed option for teams that want to run it themselves.

Dynatrace logo

Best Datadog alternative for iPhone and Android

Dynatrace

Similar all-in-one enterprise scope with stronger automatic discovery and root-cause analysis.

New Relic logo

Best Datadog alternative for working in the browser

New Relic

Usage-based pricing with a generous free data allowance instead of per-host fees.

Datadog alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to Datadog?

New Relic ranks first right now. Usage-based pricing with a generous free data allowance instead of per-host fees. Grafana and Dynatrace follow it in our ranking.

Is there a free alternative to Datadog?

Yes. New Relic (free plan + paid), Grafana (open source), SigNoz (open source) and Honeycomb (free plan + paid) have a free option. Check each app's verified facts for current plan limits.

Is there an open-source alternative to Datadog?

Yes: Grafana and SigNoz. Grafana and SigNoz can also be self-hosted.

Why do people switch from Datadog?

The complaints we hear most: per-product, per-host pricing makes bills hard to forecast; custom metrics and log volume get expensive quickly; no self-hosted option.

How is this list ranked?

Every app is scored with the same published formula: how directly it replaces Datadog, reviews (weighted by verification), visits from AppBreakup, how recently its facts were checked against its own website, and reader votes.