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Papertrail alternatives: 5 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Oct 25, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

Common reasons people leave Papertrail: limited dashboards and analytics, and no metrics or tracing correlation on its own. We ranked 5 alternatives by how directly each one replaces Papertrail, then by reviews, real visits and how recently each app's facts were checked against its own website. Loggly currently ranks first.

Quick comparison

#AppPricingOpen sourcePlatformsVerified factsScore
1Loggly logoLogglyFree plan + paidNoWeb4 of 477.6
2Datadog logoDatadogFree plan + paidNoWeb, iOS, Android4 of 470.3
3Better Stack logoBetter StackFree plan + paidNoWeb, iOS, Android3 of 366.5
4Axiom logoAxiomFree plan + paidNoWeb3 of 359.6
5Graylog logoGraylogFree plan + paidNoSelf-hosted, Linux, Web3 of 357.2
  1. Loggly logo

    1. LogglyTop pick

    Best for: Teams that want hosted log search with dashboards and automatic parsing

    Free plan + paidWeb

    77.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Papertrail

    Sister SolarWinds product with more dashboards and analytics.

    Pros

    • Automatic parsing of common log formats
    • Dashboards and charts on log fields
    • Unlimited users on every plan

    Cons

    • Daily volume caps need managing
    • Little native metrics or tracing
    • Annual billing for paid plans
    Visit Loggly Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.387
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.15100
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

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

    Is Loggly a good Papertrail alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Standard plan
    From $79/month (billed annually)
    Checked Oct 25, 2026loggly.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    30 days
    Checked Oct 25, 2026loggly.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Lite plan volume
    200 MB/day
    Checked Oct 25, 2026loggly.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Users
    Unlimited
    Checked Oct 25, 2026loggly.com(opens source in a new tab)
  2. Datadog logo

    2. Datadog

    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

    70.3

    score / 100

    Why switch from Papertrail

    Logs connected to metrics and traces for deeper investigations.

    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 ×0.363
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.15100
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

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

    Is Datadog a good Papertrail 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)
  3. Better Stack logo

    3. Better Stack

    Best for: Small and mid-sized teams wanting uptime, on-call, status pages and logs from one vendor

    Free plan + paidWeb, iOS, Android

    66.5

    score / 100

    Why switch from Papertrail

    Modern log search plus uptime checks and on-call in one tool.

    Pros

    • Replaces several separate tools with one bill
    • Polished, fast setup for monitors and status pages
    • Phone-call alerting and on-call included

    Cons

    • Pricing has many add-ons across products
    • Telemetry side is younger than dedicated log vendors
    • Hosted only
    Visit Better Stack 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 Better Stack a good Papertrail alternative?

    Verified facts

    3 of 3 verified
    Free plan
    10 monitors and 1 status page
    Checked Oct 25, 2026betterstack.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free error tracking
    100,000 exceptions/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026betterstack.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Money-back guarantee
    60 days
    Checked Oct 25, 2026betterstack.com(opens source in a new tab)
  4. Axiom logo

    4. Axiom

    Best for: Developers running serverless or edge apps who want to keep all their logs at low cost

    Free plan + paidWeb

    59.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from Papertrail

    Keeps far more log data cheaply with a free plan.

    Pros

    • Generous permanent free plan
    • Low-cost storage encourages keeping all data
    • Good integrations with Vercel, Cloudflare and serverless platforms

    Cons

    • APL is another query language to learn
    • Not a full APM or infrastructure monitoring suite
    • Hosted only
    Visit Axiom 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 Axiom a good Papertrail alternative?

    Verified facts

    3 of 3 verified
    Free plan
    Personal plan, $0/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026axiom.co(opens source in a new tab)
    Free plan retention
    30 days
    Checked Oct 25, 2026axiom.co(opens source in a new tab)
    Axiom Cloud
    $25/month platform fee + usage
    Checked Oct 25, 2026axiom.co(opens source in a new tab)
  5. Graylog logo

    5. Graylog

    Best for: IT and security teams who want central log management on their own servers

    Free plan + paidSelf-hostableSelf-hosted, Linux, Web

    57.2

    score / 100

    Why switch from Papertrail

    Self-hosted log management with a free open edition.

    Pros

    • Free self-managed edition for core logging
    • Flexible processing pipelines and streams
    • Grows into SIEM features if needed

    Cons

    • SSPL licence is not OSI open source
    • Requires running OpenSearch and MongoDB
    • Key enterprise features are paid
    Visit Graylog 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 Graylog a good Papertrail alternative?

    Verified facts

    3 of 3 verified
    License
    SSPL
    Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free edition
    Graylog Open, self-managed
    Checked Oct 25, 2026graylog.org(opens source in a new tab)
    Founded
    2009
    Checked Oct 25, 2026graylog.org(opens source in a new tab)

The best Papertrail alternative for…

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

Loggly logo

Best Papertrail alternative for most people

Loggly

Sister SolarWinds product with more dashboards and analytics.

Datadog logo

Best Papertrail alternative for a free plan you can upgrade

Datadog

Logs connected to metrics and traces for deeper investigations.

Graylog logo

Best Papertrail alternative for self-hosting

Graylog

Self-hosted log management with a free open edition.

Graylog logo

Best Papertrail alternative for Linux

Graylog

Self-hosted log management with a free open edition.

Better Stack logo

Best Papertrail alternative for iPhone and Android

Better Stack

Modern log search plus uptime checks and on-call in one tool.

Axiom logo

Best Papertrail alternative for working in the browser

Axiom

Keeps far more log data cheaply with a free plan.

Papertrail alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to Papertrail?

Loggly ranks first right now. Sister SolarWinds product with more dashboards and analytics. Datadog and Better Stack follow it in our ranking.

Is there a free alternative to Papertrail?

Yes. Loggly (free plan + paid), Datadog (free plan + paid), Better Stack (free plan + paid) and Axiom (free plan + paid) have a free option. Check each app's verified facts for current plan limits.

Is there an open-source alternative to Papertrail?

None of the 5 alternatives in this list is open source.

Which Papertrail alternatives work on Linux?

Graylog runs on Linux.

Why do people switch from Papertrail?

The complaints we hear most: limited dashboards and analytics; no metrics or tracing correlation on its own; short search retention on lower tiers.

How is this list ranked?

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