Log Management · head to head
Airbrake vs Stackdriver
Stackdriver
Log Management
Google Cloud Operations - Monitoring and Logging
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Airbrake data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier; Stackdriver stackdriver is now branded Google Cloud Observability and cloud.google.com/stackdriver redirects to the Observability product page
- They diverge on capability: Airbrake covers Error tracking, Stackdriver covers Log management.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Airbrake and Stackdriver actually diverge.
| Attribute | Airbrake | Stackdriver |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 | 2006 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Log Management).
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
Only in Stackdriver
- Log management
- Metrics collection
- Real-time monitoring
- Error reporting
Both cover
- 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 Stackdriver
- Performance monitoring alongside error trackingnot Stackdriver
- Alerting a team when a deploy introduces a spike in errorsnot Stackdriver
- Tracking errors across multiple projects in one accountnot Stackdriver
Stackdriver
- Centralised logging, metrics and traces for workloads running on Google Cloudnot Airbrake
- Alerting and uptime checks on cloud servicesnot Airbrake
- Running managed Prometheus-compatible monitoring at scalenot 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
Stackdriver
- Stackdriver is now branded Google Cloud Observability and cloud.google.com/stackdriver redirects to the Observability product page
- Cloud Logging charges $0.50 per GiB ingested, with only the first 50 GiB per project per month free
- Logs kept beyond 30 days cost an extra $0.01 per GiB per month on top of the ingestion charge
- Monitoring metric ingestion starts at $0.2580 per MiB, with only the first 150 MiB per billing account free
- Alerting policies are billed at $0.35 per month for each metric reference in the policy
- Uptime checks cost $0.30 per 1,000 executions and synthetic monitors $1.20 per 1,000 executions, with only 100 synthetic executions per billing account free
- Monitoring read API calls cost $0.50 per million time series returned beyond the first million per billing account
- Log volume is measured before indexing on the actual size of log entries, so verbose logging directly drives cost
Pricing, plan by plan
Airbrake
Free- FreeFree
- Error tracking
- Performance monitoring
- Deploy tracking
Stackdriver
Free- FreeFree
- Log management
- Metrics collection
- Real-time monitoring
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.
Choose Stackdriver if
- You need log management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want metrics collection.
Questions people ask
- Is Airbrake or Stackdriver better?
- Neither clearly leads. Airbrake starts at Free and Stackdriver at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Airbrake or Stackdriver?
- Airbrake starts at Free and Stackdriver at Free.
- Does Airbrake or Stackdriver 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 Stackdriver is typically brought in for.
- What can Airbrake do that Stackdriver cannot?
- Airbrake covers Error tracking, Performance monitoring, Deploy tracking, Custom notifications. Stackdriver covers Log management, Metrics collection, Real-time monitoring, Error reporting. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.