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Software · head to head

Airbrake vs Prometheus

Airbrake logo

Airbrake

Software

Error Tracking and Performance Monitoring

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Prometheus logo

Prometheus

Software

Open source monitoring and alerting toolkit for cloud native environments

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; Prometheus not suitable for per-request billing as collected data lacks 100% accuracy
  • They diverge on capability: Airbrake covers Error tracking, Prometheus covers Multi-dimensional Data Model.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbrake and Prometheus actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbrake and Prometheus differ
AttributeAirbrakePrometheus
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsWeb, ApiLinux, macOS, Windows
Founded20082015

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

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

  • Error tracking
  • Performance monitoring
  • Deploy tracking
  • Custom notifications
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

Only in Prometheus

  • Multi-dimensional Data Model
  • PromQL Query Language
  • Pull-based Collection
  • Service Discovery
  • Alerting Rules
  • Federation
  • Local Storage
  • Grafana

What people use each for

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

Airbrake

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

Prometheus

  • Cloud-native monitoring and alertingnot Airbrake
  • Time-series metrics collectionnot Airbrake
  • Infrastructure monitoringnot 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

Prometheus

  • Not suitable for per-request billing as collected data lacks 100% accuracy
  • Hard limit on scrape body size; large responses cause scrape failure
  • Per-scrape sample limit enforced; exceeding limit marks targets as failed
  • Not designed for long-term durable storage; optimised for metrics collection

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbrake

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Error tracking
    • Performance monitoring
    • Deploy tracking

Prometheus

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Prometheus review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbrake if

  • You need error tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want performance monitoring.
Airbrake review

Choose Prometheus if

  • You need multi-dimensional data model.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want promql query language.
Prometheus review

Questions people ask

Is Airbrake or Prometheus better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbrake starts at Free and Prometheus at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbrake or Prometheus?
Airbrake starts at Free and Prometheus at Free.
Does Airbrake or Prometheus run on more platforms?
Airbrake runs on Web, Api. Prometheus runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
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 Prometheus is typically brought in for.
What can Airbrake do that Prometheus cannot?
Airbrake covers Error tracking, Performance monitoring, Deploy tracking, Custom notifications. Prometheus covers Multi-dimensional Data Model, PromQL Query Language, Pull-based Collection, Service Discovery.
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