Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Airbase vs Datadog

Airbase logo

Airbase

Accounting

The first all-in-one spend management platform

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Datadog logo

Datadog

Technology

Modern monitoring & security

From
$15/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Airbase airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.; Datadog consumption-based pricing model makes costs hard to predict and can scale quickly
  • They diverge on capability: Airbase covers Corporate cards, Datadog covers Infrastructure monitoring.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbase and Datadog actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbase and Datadog differ
AttributeAirbaseDatadog
Starting price$29/month$15/month
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Linux, Windows, macOS
CategoryAccountingTechnology
Founded20172010

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Airbase

  • Corporate cards
  • Bill payments
  • Expense management
  • Procurement
  • Approvals
  • NetSuite
  • Sage Intacct
  • QuickBooks

Only in Datadog

  • Infrastructure monitoring
  • Application performance monitoring
  • Log management
  • Real user monitoring
  • Synthetic monitoring
  • Security monitoring
  • Network monitoring
  • Serverless monitoring

Both cover

  • Slack

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Airbase

  • Spend managementnot Datadog
  • Expense reportingnot Datadog
  • Vendor paymentsnot Datadog

Datadog

  • Infrastructure monitoringnot Airbase
  • Application performancenot Airbase
  • Security monitoringnot Airbase
  • Log analysisnot Airbase
  • Cloud monitoringnot Airbase

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Airbase

  • Airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.

Datadog

  • Consumption-based pricing model makes costs hard to predict and can scale quickly
  • Add-on modules significantly increase costs: custom metrics, indexed spans, extended retention
  • No free tier for production monitoring
  • High costs for organizations with large amounts of log data or high-cardinality metrics

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbase

$29/month
  • StandardFree
    • Corporate cards
    • Expense reports
    • Bill pay
  • Premium$10/month
    • Advanced approvals
    • NetSuite sync
    • Procurement
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom workflows
    • API access
    • Dedicated support

Datadog

$15/month
  • Infrastructure Monitoring$15/month
    • Host monitoring
    • Basic dashboards
  • APM$31/month
    • Application performance monitoring
    • Trace collection
  • Log Management$0.1/gb
    • Log indexing
    • Search and filter

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbase if

  • You need corporate cards.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want bill payments.
Airbase review

Choose Datadog if

  • You need infrastructure monitoring.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want application performance monitoring.
Datadog review

Questions people ask

Is Airbase or Datadog better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and Datadog at $15/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbase or Datadog?
Airbase starts at $29/month and Datadog at $15/month.
Does Airbase or Datadog run on more platforms?
Airbase runs on Web, Ios, Android. Datadog runs on Web, Linux, Windows, macOS.
What is Airbase best used for?
Airbase is most often used for spend management, expense reporting, vendor payments. Of those, spend management and expense reporting are not what Datadog is typically brought in for.
What can Airbase do that Datadog cannot?
Airbase covers Corporate cards, Bill payments, Expense management, Procurement. Datadog covers Infrastructure monitoring, Application performance monitoring, Log management, Real user monitoring. Both handle Slack.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Airbase: What is Airbase and why is no pricing published on its website?

Airbase is a Paylocity Company offering unified expense management across finance, HR, and IT functions. Pricing is not published on the Airbase website and customers must contact Paylocity directly for a quote.

Source
Datadog: How is Datadog pricing structured?

Datadog uses consumption-based pricing tied to data volume ingested, hosts monitored, and products enabled. Infrastructure Monitoring starts at $15/host/month, APM at $31/host/month, and Log Management at $0.10/GB for indexed logs.

Source
Airbase: Does Airbase integrate with Paylocity?

Yes, Airbase is owned by Paylocity and integrates with Paylocity's human resources and payroll systems for unified financial management.

Source
Datadog: Does Datadog offer a free tier?

Datadog offers a free trial but not a permanent free tier for production monitoring. Pricing begins with paid plans only.

Source
Airbase: How do I get pricing information and schedule a demo for Airbase?

Airbase directs customers to contact Paylocity or explore interactive product tours, but specific pricing rates must be obtained directly from the sales team. The company does not publish rate information publicly.

Source
Datadog: What integrations does Datadog support?

Datadog offers 1000+ built-in integrations including AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, Azure, GCP, and most major cloud platforms and services.

Source
Datadog: Can Datadog monitor Kubernetes clusters?

Yes. The Datadog Agent runs as a DaemonSet to provide real-time visibility into pods, nodes, deployments, and control-plane health across major Kubernetes distributions including EKS, AKS, GKE, OpenShift, and others.

Source
Datadog: How can I reduce Datadog costs?

Datadog bills based on indexed logs, custom metrics, and high-cardinality tags. Costs can be unpredictable and may run 2-3x estimates. Prepaying annually can secure 5-15% discounts.

Source
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