AppBreakup

Grafana alternatives: 6 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Oct 25, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

Common reasons people leave Grafana: self-hosting Loki, Tempo and Mimir at scale is real work, and building good dashboards takes time and query knowledge. We ranked 6 alternatives by how directly each one replaces Grafana, 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
2SigNoz logoSigNozOpen sourceYesWeb, Self-hosted4 of 462.6
3Netdata logoNetdataOpen sourceYesWeb, Self-hosted, Linux +24 of 459.6
4OpenObserve logoOpenObserveOpen sourceYesWeb, Self-hosted4 of 455.3
5New Relic logoNew RelicFree plan + paidNoWeb, iOS, Android4 of 453.6
  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 Grafana

    Fully managed and integrated, so there are no stack components to wire together.

    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
    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 Grafana 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. SigNoz logo

    2. SigNoz

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

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    62.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Grafana

    One open-source app for metrics, traces and logs instead of several separate projects.

    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
    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 SigNoz a good Grafana 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)
  3. Netdata logo

    3. Netdata

    Best for: Sysadmins and homelab users who want instant, detailed server metrics with no setup

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted, Linux, macOS, Windows

    59.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Grafana

    Instant per-second dashboards with almost no configuration.

    Pros

    • Works out of the box with automatic service detection
    • Per-second resolution metrics
    • Built-in anomaly detection and alerts

    Cons

    • Less suited to long-term retention and capacity planning
    • Many charts can feel overwhelming
    • Cloud free tier is limited to a few non-commercial nodes
    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 Netdata a good Grafana alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    License
    GPL-3.0
    Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free tier
    Up to 5 nodes
    Checked Oct 25, 2026netdata.cloud(opens source in a new tab)
    Paid price
    From $4.50 per node
    Checked Oct 25, 2026netdata.cloud(opens source in a new tab)
    Homelab plan
    $90/year, unlimited nodes
    Checked Oct 25, 2026netdata.cloud(opens source in a new tab)
  4. OpenObserve logo

    4. OpenObserve

    Best for: Teams replacing an expensive ELK or Datadog log setup with cheap object storage

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    55.3

    score / 100

    Why switch from Grafana

    Single self-hosted binary for logs, metrics and traces with low storage costs.

    Pros

    • Low storage costs using object storage
    • Logs, metrics, traces and RUM in one tool
    • Single binary for small installs

    Cons

    • Younger project with a smaller ecosystem
    • Some features reserved for the enterprise edition
    • AGPL licence may need legal review
    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 OpenObserve a good Grafana alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    License
    AGPL-3.0
    Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Cloud ingest price
    $0.50/GB ingested
    Checked Oct 25, 2026openobserve.ai(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    14 days
    Checked Oct 25, 2026openobserve.ai(opens source in a new tab)
    Storage claim
    140x more efficient than Elastic
    Checked Oct 25, 2026openobserve.ai(opens source in a new tab)
  5. New Relic logo

    5. 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

    53.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Grafana

    Hosted full-stack APM with a large free data allowance and less to maintain.

    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
    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 New Relic a good Grafana 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)

The best Grafana alternative for…

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

Datadog logo

Best Grafana alternative for most people

Datadog

Fully managed and integrated, so there are no stack components to wire together.

SigNoz logo

Best Grafana alternative for a free option

SigNoz

One open-source app for metrics, traces and logs instead of several separate projects.

New Relic logo

Best Grafana alternative for a free plan you can upgrade

New Relic

Hosted full-stack APM with a large free data allowance and less to maintain.

Netdata logo

Best Grafana alternative for open source

Netdata

Instant per-second dashboards with almost no configuration.

VictoriaMetrics logo

Best Grafana alternative for self-hosting

VictoriaMetrics

A cheaper, faster metrics backend that still works with Grafana dashboards.

Netdata logo

Best Grafana alternative for Mac

Netdata

Instant per-second dashboards with almost no configuration.

Netdata logo

Best Grafana alternative for Windows

Netdata

Instant per-second dashboards with almost no configuration.

Netdata logo

Best Grafana alternative for Linux

Netdata

Instant per-second dashboards with almost no configuration.

Datadog logo

Best Grafana alternative for iPhone and Android

Datadog

Fully managed and integrated, so there are no stack components to wire together.

OpenObserve logo

Best Grafana alternative for working in the browser

OpenObserve

Single self-hosted binary for logs, metrics and traces with low storage costs.

Grafana alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to Grafana?

Datadog ranks first right now. Fully managed and integrated, so there are no stack components to wire together. SigNoz and Netdata follow it in our ranking.

Is there a free alternative to Grafana?

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

Is there an open-source alternative to Grafana?

Yes: SigNoz, Netdata, VictoriaMetrics and OpenObserve. SigNoz, Netdata and VictoriaMetrics can also be self-hosted.

Which Grafana alternatives work on Linux?

Netdata and VictoriaMetrics run on Linux.

Why do people switch from Grafana?

The complaints we hear most: 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.

How is this list ranked?

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