Category · 54 tools · 63 comparisons
Monitoring and observability tools
Track system health, investigate issues, and coordinate responses across software operations.
Our ranked shortlist: the best monitoring and observability tools →
At a glance
- Tools tracked
- 54
- Entry plans
- $0.04–$2,000/mo
- Typical entry plan
- $19/mo
- Free plan
- 27 of 54
- Cheapest paid
- Instana, $0.04/mo
- Best value score
- Prometheus, 10/10
Every tool we cover
API pricing →| Tool | Score | From | Top listed plan | Free plan | Trial | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 PrometheusPrometheus | 7.8 | Free* | — | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 ZabbixZabbix | 7.8 | Free* | — | Yes | — | ReviewAlternatives |
 Dash0Dash0 | 7.8 | Custom | — | No | 14 days | ReviewPricing |
 VictoriaMetricsVictoriaMetrics | 7.8 | $200/mo* | $200/mo | Yes | 2 months | ReviewAlternatives |
 HoneycombHoneycomb | 7.7 | $150/mo | $150/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 GrafanaGrafana | 7.6 | $19/mo | $19/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 SigNozSigNoz | 7.6 | $49/mo | $4,000/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 NetdataNetdata | 7.6 | $7.50/mo* | $7.50/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
| ChecklyCheckly | 7.6 | $24/mo* | $64/mo | Yes | 14 days | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 GraylogGraylog | 7.4 | $1,250/mo | $1,500/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 OpenObserveOpenObserve | 7.4 | $0.50/mo | $0.50/mo | Yes | 14 days | Review |
 New RelicNew Relic | 7.2 | $10/mo | $349/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 CheckmkCheckmk | 7.2 | Free* | — | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 Logit.ioLogit.io | 7.2 | $25/mo | $160/mo | No | 14 days | Review |
 Better StackBetter Stack | 7.2 | $25/mo* | $1,470/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 DynatraceDynatrace | 7.1 | $7/mo | $58/mo | No | 15 days | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 ObserviumObservium | 7.1 | £20.83/mo* | £125/mo | Yes | — | ReviewAlternatives |
 Scout APMScout APM | 7.0 | $19/mo* | $299/mo | Yes | 14 days | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 incident.ioincident.io | 7.0 | $15/mo | $25/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 CoralogixCoralogix | 7.0 | Custom | — | No | 14 days | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 InstanaInstana | 7.0 | $0.04/mo | $32.10/mo | No | 14 days | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 UptimeRobotUptimeRobot | 6.9 | €9/mo | €65/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 PagerDutyPagerDuty | 6.8 | $21/mo | $4,000/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 FireHydrantFireHydrant | 6.8 | $25/mo | $25/mo | Yes | 14 days | ReviewPricing |
 KentikKentik | 6.8 | $2,000/mo | $2,000/mo | Yes | 30 days | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 Status.ioStatus.io | 6.8 | $75.05/mo | $999/mo | No | — | ReviewAlternatives |
 StatuspageStatuspage | 6.8 | $29/mo | $1,499/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 CriblCribl | 6.8 | Free* | — | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 SysdigSysdig | 6.8 | Custom* | — | No | — | ReviewAlternatives |
 UptrendsUptrends | 6.8 | $42/mo | $60/mo | No | 30 days | ReviewPricing |
 PapertrailPapertrail | 6.7 | $5/mo* | $5/mo | No | 30 days | ReviewAlternatives |
 Uptime.comUptime.com | 6.7 | $9/mo* | $9/mo | No | — | ReviewAlternatives |
 Site24x7Site24x7 | 6.7 | $9/mo* | $899/mo | No | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 SplunkSplunk | 6.5 | $6/mo* | $100/mo | Yes | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 LightrunLightrun | 6.5 | Free* | — | Yes | — | ReviewAlternatives |
 InstatusInstatus | 6.5 | $15/mo* | $225/mo | Yes | 7 days | ReviewAlternatives |
 ScienceLogic PlatformScienceLogic Platform | 6.5 | $5/mo | $20/mo | No | 14 days | Review |
 ThousandEyesThousandEyes | 6.4 | Custom* | — | No | 15 days | ReviewAlternatives |
 LogicMonitorLogicMonitor | 6.4 | $19/mo | $50/mo | No | 14 days | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 Nagios XINagios XI | 6.4 | Free* | — | Yes | 30 days | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 SolarWinds ObservabilitySolarWinds Observability | 6.3 | $8/mo | $8/mo | No | 30 days | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 PingdomPingdom | 6.3 | €14.33/mo* | €14.33/mo | No | 30 days | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 DatadogDatadog | 6.2 | $500/mo* | $500/mo | No | — | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 PingPlotterPingPlotter | 6.2 | $6.99/mo | $90/mo | Yes | 14 days | ReviewAlternatives |
 AppDynamicsAppDynamics | 6.2 | $0.06/mo* | $95/mo | No | Yes | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 Sumo LogicSumo Logic | 6.1 | Custom* | — | No | 30 days | ReviewPricingAlternatives |
 PepperdataPepperdata | 5.8 | Custom* | — | No | 5 days | ReviewAlternatives |
 SQL SentrySQL Sentry | 5.8 | Custom* | — | No | 14 days | ReviewPricing |
 KomodorKomodor | 5.8 | Custom* | — | No | — | Review |
 ChronosphereChronosphere | 5.7 | Custom* | — | No | — | Review |
| Flip AIFlip AI | 5.6 | Custom* | — | No | — | ReviewAlternatives |
 SolarWinds Database Performance AnalyzerSolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer | 5.5 | $142/mo* | $142/mo | No | 14 days | Review |
 BigPandaBigPanda | 5.2 | Custom* | — | No | — | ReviewAlternatives |
 CatchpointCatchpoint | 5.2 | $19/mo* | $50/mo | No | 14 days | ReviewAlternatives |
* Lower confidence: the vendor's pricing page couldn't be read directly or didn't list every price, so the figure was compiled from other public sources and may be incomplete. Check the vendor's page before you buy.
Head-to-head
GrafanavsPrometheusGrafana vs Prometheus
DynatracevsSplunkDynatrace vs Splunk
DatadogvsDynatraceDatadog vs Dynatrace
GrafanavsDatadogGrafana vs Datadog
SplunkvsDatadogSplunk vs Datadog
SplunkvsGrafanaSplunk vs Grafana
DatadogvsNew RelicDatadog vs New Relic
Nagios XIvsZabbixNagios XI vs Zabbix
VictoriaMetricsvsPrometheusVictoriaMetrics vs Prometheus
PrometheusvsZabbixPrometheus vs Zabbix
CriblvsSplunkCribl vs Splunk
DatadogvsLogicMonitorDatadog vs LogicMonitor
SplunkvsNew RelicSplunk vs New Relic
Sumo LogicvsDatadogSumo Logic vs Datadog
GrafanavsDynatraceGrafana vs Dynatrace
incident.iovsPagerDutyincident.io vs PagerDuty
CheckmkvsZabbixCheckmk vs Zabbix
DatadogvsHoneycombDatadog vs Honeycomb
PrometheusvsSplunkPrometheus vs Splunk
SolarWinds ObservabilityvsZabbixSolarWinds Observability vs Zabbix
GrafanavsNew RelicGrafana vs New Relic
DatadogvsAppDynamicsDatadog vs AppDynamics
DynatracevsAppDynamicsDynatrace vs AppDynamics
DynatracevsNew RelicDynatrace vs New Relic
ZabbixvsDatadogZabbix vs Datadog
LogicMonitorvsNew RelicLogicMonitor vs New Relic
PrometheusvsNagios XIPrometheus vs Nagios XI
DatadogvsSolarWinds ObservabilityDatadog vs SolarWinds Observability
ChronospherevsDatadogChronosphere vs Datadog
LogicMonitorvsDynatraceLogicMonitor vs Dynatrace
SolarWinds ObservabilityvsSplunkSolarWinds Observability vs Splunk
SplunkvsGraylogSplunk vs Graylog
New RelicvsHoneycombNew Relic vs Honeycomb
CoralogixvsDatadogCoralogix vs Datadog
NetdatavsGrafanaNetdata vs Grafana
AppDynamicsvsSplunkAppDynamics vs Splunk
GrafanavsZabbixGrafana vs Zabbix
LogicMonitorvsSplunkLogicMonitor vs Splunk
SigNozvsDatadogSigNoz vs Datadog
New RelicvsPrometheusNew Relic vs Prometheus
ZabbixvsSplunkZabbix vs Splunk
Nagios XIvsSolarWinds ObservabilityNagios XI vs SolarWinds Observability
SolarWinds Database Performance AnalyzervsSQL SentrySolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer vs SQL Sentry
PagerDutyvsStatuspagePagerDuty vs Statuspage
Status.iovsStatuspageStatus.io vs Statuspage
incident.iovsStatuspageincident.io vs Statuspage
Scout APMvsSite24x7Scout APM vs Site24x7
DatadogvsPagerDutyDatadog vs PagerDuty
FireHydrantvsincident.ioFireHydrant vs incident.io
New RelicvsStatuspageNew Relic vs Statuspage
CatchpointvsLogicMonitorCatchpoint vs LogicMonitor
Datadogvsincident.ioDatadog vs incident.io
Dash0vsDatadogDash0 vs Datadog
BigPandavsGrafanaBigPanda vs Grafana
NetdatavsPrometheusNetdata vs Prometheus
Nagios XIvsNew RelicNagios XI vs New Relic
Nagios XIvsNetdataNagios XI vs Netdata
Better StackvsDatadogBetter Stack vs Datadog
AppDynamicsvsLogicMonitorAppDynamics vs LogicMonitor
LogicMonitorvsPagerDutyLogicMonitor vs PagerDuty
Grafanavsincident.ioGrafana vs incident.io
GrafanavsPagerDutyGrafana vs PagerDuty
DatadogvsNagios XIDatadog vs Nagios XI
Highest scored
PrometheusPrometheus
Prometheus gives you open-source metrics and PromQL without usage fees, but you run the servers.
ZabbixZabbix
Free, broad infrastructure monitoring, with a meaningful setup and tuning burden.
Dash0Dash0
Dash0 pairs OpenTelemetry-native observability with portable data, but budget for stored telemetry.
Monitoring and observability tools: quick answers
How much do monitoring and observability tools cost?
Paid plans for the 54 monitoring and observability tools we track start between $0.04 and $2,000 a month, and the typical entry plan is about $19 a month. 27 of them have a free plan. Dash0, Coralogix, Sysdig, ThousandEyes, Sumo Logic, Pepperdata, SQL Sentry, Komodor, Chronosphere, Flip AI and BigPanda don't publish a starting price. Prices are the vendors' own, checked Nov 10, 2026; most quote the per-month price when billed annually.
Which monitoring and observability tool is the cheapest?
Instana has the lowest paid entry plan at $0.04 a month, followed by AppDynamics at $0.06. If you can live with limits, Prometheus, Zabbix, VictoriaMetrics and Honeycomb have a free plan.
Which monitoring and observability tools have a free plan?
Prometheus, Zabbix, VictoriaMetrics, Honeycomb, Grafana, SigNoz, Netdata, Checkly, Graylog, OpenObserve, New Relic, Checkmk, Better Stack, Observium, Scout APM, incident.io, UptimeRobot, PagerDuty, FireHydrant, Kentik, Statuspage, Cribl, Splunk, Lightrun, Instatus, Nagios XI and PingPlotter have a free plan. Dash0, Logit.io, Dynatrace, Coralogix and Instana offer a free trial instead. Free plans are usually capped on usage, seats or features; each review lists the limits.
Which monitoring and observability tool scores highest in our reviews?
Prometheus scores highest at 7.8/10. Prometheus gives you open-source metrics and PromQL without usage fees, but you run the servers.