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Logging · head to head

Airbrake vs Elastic APM

Airbrake logo

Airbrake

Logging

Error Tracking and Performance Monitoring

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Logging

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Airbrake data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier; Elastic APM pricing is not published on the product page; cost follows the underlying Elastic deployment rather than being quoted per host or per service
  • They diverge on capability: Airbrake covers Deploy tracking, Elastic APM covers Transaction tracing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbrake and Elastic APM actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbrake and Elastic APM differ
AttributeAirbrakeElastic APM
Pricing modelsubscriptionopen-source
Founded20082011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Logging).

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 Airbrake

  • Deploy tracking
  • Custom notifications

Only in Elastic APM

  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics

Both cover

  • Error tracking
  • Performance monitoring
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support
  • Api support

What people use each for

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

Airbrake

  • Error and exception monitoring for web applicationsnot Elastic APM
  • Performance monitoring alongside error trackingnot Elastic APM
  • Alerting a team when a deploy introduces a spike in errorsnot Elastic APM
  • Tracking errors across multiple projects in one accountnot Elastic APM

Elastic APM

  • Distributed tracing across microservicesnot Airbrake
  • Auto-instrumenting Java, .NET, Python, Go, Node.js, Ruby, PHP and C++ servicesnot Airbrake
  • OpenTelemetry-native collection through the Elastic distributionsnot Airbrake
  • Correlating latency and errors with machine learningnot Airbrake
  • Monitoring LLM calls alongside application tracesnot Airbrake

Where each one falls short

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

Airbrake

  • Data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier
  • The entry plan at $19 a month covers 25,000 errors and 7,500 events
  • Errors beyond the plan quota are billed on demand
  • Audit logs and spike forgiveness require the Pro tier
  • The lowest tier is limited to 1 user and 1 team

Elastic APM

  • Pricing is not published on the product page; cost follows the underlying Elastic deployment rather than being quoted per host or per service
  • Self-managed deployment means running and scaling Elasticsearch yourself
  • Serverless does not carry every capability the hosted option does

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbrake

Free
  • Tier 1 (Dev + errors)$19/month
    • 25,000 errors per month
    • 1 user
    • 1 team
  • Tier 2 (Basic + errors)$38/month
    • 100,000 errors per month
    • Unlimited users
    • 3 teams
  • Pro$76/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited teams
    • Unlimited projects
  • Tier 5 (Growth)$299/month
    • 1 million errors per month

Elastic APM

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Performance monitoring
    • Error tracking
    • Transaction tracing

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbrake if

  • You need deploy tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want custom notifications.
Airbrake review

Choose Elastic APM if

  • You need transaction tracing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want custom metrics.
Elastic APM review

Questions people ask

Is Airbrake or Elastic APM better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbrake starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbrake or Elastic APM?
Airbrake starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free.
Does Airbrake or Elastic APM run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Airbrake for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Airbrake best used for?
Airbrake is most often used for error and exception monitoring for web applications, performance monitoring alongside error tracking, alerting a team when a deploy introduces a spike in errors, tracking errors across multiple projects in one account. Of those, error and exception monitoring for web applications and performance monitoring alongside error tracking are not what Elastic APM is typically brought in for.
What can Airbrake do that Elastic APM cannot?
Airbrake covers Deploy tracking, Custom notifications. Elastic APM covers Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Both handle Error tracking, Performance monitoring, API, Webhooks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Airbrake: What is the lowest-cost Airbrake plan and what does it include?

Tier 1 costs $19 per month and includes 25,000 errors per month, 1 user seat, 1 team, and unlimited projects. This plan targets individual developers. A 10% discount applies when paying annually ($17.10 per month).

Source
Elastic APM: Is Elastic APM pricing published?

Elastic APM pricing is not published on the product page. Pricing is available through the main Elastic pricing page or by contacting Elastic sales directly.

Source
Airbrake: Which Airbrake plan is marked as the best value?

The Pro plan at $76 per month is marked as Best Value. It includes unlimited users, unlimited teams, unlimited projects, audit logs, and spike forgiveness. Annual billing provides a 10% discount ($68 per month).

Source
Elastic APM: Does Elastic APM offer a free trial?

Yes. Elastic APM offers a free trial through Elastic Cloud Serverless registration. A guided demo is also available in the Elastic demo gallery.

Source
Airbrake: How many errors per month does each Airbrake tier allow?

Tier 1 allows 25,000 errors per month at $19/month. Tier 2 allows 100,000 errors at $38/month. Tier 4 allows 300,000 errors at $129/month. Tier 5 allows 1 million errors at $299/month. Tier 6 allows 5 million errors at $799/month.

Source
Elastic APM: What deployment options are available for Elastic APM?

Elastic APM can be deployed on Elastic Cloud Serverless (zero operational overhead), Elastic Cloud Hosted (deploy on any cloud), or self-managed Elasticsearch.

Source
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