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Dynatrace alternatives: 5 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Oct 25, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

Common reasons people leave Dynatrace: expensive for small teams, and large platform with a steep learning curve. We ranked 5 alternatives by how directly each one replaces Dynatrace, then by reviews, real visits and how recently each app's facts were checked against its own website. Datadog currently ranks first.

Quick comparison

#AppPricingOpen sourcePlatformsVerified factsScore
1Datadog logoDatadogFree plan + paidNoWeb, iOS, Android4 of 466.5
2New Relic logoNew RelicFree plan + paidNoWeb, iOS, Android4 of 462.6
3Splunk Observability Cloud logoSplunk Observability CloudPaidNoWeb3 of 359.6
4IBM Instana logoIBM InstanaPaidNoWeb, Self-hosted4 of 457.2
5Grafana logoGrafanaOpen sourceYesWeb, Self-hosted4 of 455.3
  1. Datadog logo

    1. DatadogTop pick

    Best for: Cloud-heavy teams that want metrics, traces, logs and alerts in one hosted product and can budget for it

    Free plan + paidWeb, iOS, Android

    66.5

    score / 100

    Why switch from Dynatrace

    Easier to start small and add products one at a time, with a huge integration list.

    Pros

    • Very wide integration catalogue that works with little setup
    • Metrics, traces and logs are linked in one interface
    • Mature dashboards, monitors and on-call features

    Cons

    • Per-product, per-host pricing makes bills hard to forecast
    • Custom metrics and log volume get expensive quickly
    • No self-hosted option
    Visit Datadog Details 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 Datadog a good Dynatrace alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Starting price
    $15 per host/month (Infrastructure Pro, annual)
    Checked Oct 25, 2026datadoghq.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free tier
    Up to 5 hosts, 1-day metric retention
    Checked Oct 25, 2026datadoghq.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    14 days
    Checked Oct 25, 2026datadoghq.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Integrations
    1,000+
    Checked Oct 25, 2026datadoghq.com(opens source in a new tab)
  2. New Relic logo

    2. New Relic

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

    Free plan + paidWeb, iOS, Android

    62.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Dynatrace

    Usage-based pricing with a free tier, friendlier for smaller teams.

    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 Details 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 New Relic a good Dynatrace 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)
  3. Splunk Observability Cloud logo

    3. Splunk Observability Cloud

    Best for: Enterprises already using Splunk for logs or security that want APM from the same vendor

    PaidWeb

    59.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Dynatrace

    Another enterprise suite, attractive if you already run Splunk for logs.

    Pros

    • Streaming analytics with near real-time alerts
    • OpenTelemetry-based instrumentation
    • Ties into Splunk log and security products

    Cons

    • Enterprise-oriented sales and pricing
    • Product line overlaps with AppDynamics and can be confusing
    • No free tier
    Visit Splunk Observability Cloud 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 Splunk Observability Cloud a good Dynatrace alternative?

    Verified facts

    3 of 3 verified
    Infrastructure price
    From $15 per host/month (annual)
    Checked Oct 25, 2026splunk.com(opens source in a new tab)
    App & Infra price
    From $60 per host/month (annual)
    Checked Oct 25, 2026splunk.com(opens source in a new tab)
    End-to-End price
    From $75 per host/month (annual)
    Checked Oct 25, 2026splunk.com(opens source in a new tab)
  4. IBM Instana logo

    4. IBM Instana

    Best for: Enterprises with large microservice estates that want automated discovery, including on-premises

    PaidSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    57.2

    score / 100

    Why switch from Dynatrace

    Also focuses on automatic discovery for microservices, with a self-hosted edition.

    Pros

    • Automatic discovery and instrumentation
    • Unsampled traces and one-second metrics
    • Self-hosted edition available

    Cons

    • Enterprise pricing and sales process
    • Smaller community than leading APM vendors
    • Ties into IBM ecosystem terminology
    Visit IBM Instana 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 IBM Instana a good Dynatrace alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free trial
    14 days, full access
    Checked Oct 25, 2026ibm.com(opens source in a new tab)
    SaaS price
    From $21.20 per MVS/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026ibm.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Self-hosted price
    From $385.20 per MVS/year
    Checked Oct 25, 2026ibm.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Pay per use
    From $0.03 per MVS hour
    Checked Oct 25, 2026ibm.com(opens source in a new tab)
  5. Grafana logo

    5. Grafana

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

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    55.3

    score / 100

    Why switch from Dynatrace

    Open-source building blocks for teams that prefer to own their monitoring stack.

    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 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 Grafana a good Dynatrace 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)

The best Dynatrace alternative for…

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

Datadog logo

Best Dynatrace alternative for most people

Datadog

Easier to start small and add products one at a time, with a huge integration list.

Grafana logo

Best Dynatrace alternative for a free option

Grafana

Open-source building blocks for teams that prefer to own their monitoring stack.

New Relic logo

Best Dynatrace alternative for a free plan you can upgrade

New Relic

Usage-based pricing with a free tier, friendlier for smaller teams.

Grafana logo

Best Dynatrace alternative for open source

Grafana

Open-source building blocks for teams that prefer to own their monitoring stack.

IBM Instana logo

Best Dynatrace alternative for self-hosting

IBM Instana

Also focuses on automatic discovery for microservices, with a self-hosted edition.

Datadog logo

Best Dynatrace alternative for iPhone and Android

Datadog

Easier to start small and add products one at a time, with a huge integration list.

Splunk Observability Cloud logo

Best Dynatrace alternative for working in the browser

Splunk Observability Cloud

Another enterprise suite, attractive if you already run Splunk for logs.

Dynatrace alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to Dynatrace?

Datadog ranks first right now. Easier to start small and add products one at a time, with a huge integration list. New Relic and Splunk Observability Cloud follow it in our ranking.

Is there a free alternative to Dynatrace?

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

Is there an open-source alternative to Dynatrace?

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

Why do people switch from Dynatrace?

The complaints we hear most: expensive for small teams; large platform with a steep learning curve; no meaningful free tier, only a trial.

How is this list ranked?

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