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Alibaba Cloud vs Grafana

Alibaba Cloud logo

Alibaba Cloud

Software

Asia's leading cloud computing provider

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Grafana logo

Grafana

Software

Observability and Data Visualization

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Alibaba Cloud technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included; Grafana the free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only
  • They diverge on capability: Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Grafana covers Dashboard creation.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Alibaba Cloud and Grafana actually diverge.

Attributes where Alibaba Cloud and Grafana differ
AttributeAlibaba CloudGrafana
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Api, CliWeb, Api
Founded20092014

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 Alibaba Cloud

  • Elastic Compute Service
  • Object Storage Service
  • RDS Database
  • MaxCompute
  • Function Compute
  • CDN
  • Load Balancer
  • API Gateway

Only in Grafana

  • Dashboard creation
  • Alerting
  • Data source integration
  • Visualization plugins
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

Both cover

  • Api support

What people use each for

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

Alibaba Cloud

  • Cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in China and Asia Pacificnot Grafana
  • Pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitmentnot Grafana
  • Committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloadsnot Grafana
  • CDN and data transfer packages for content deliverynot Grafana

Grafana

  • Dashboards and visualisation over metrics, logs and tracesnot Alibaba Cloud
  • Running observability across infrastructure and applicationsnot Alibaba Cloud

Where each one falls short

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

Alibaba Cloud

  • Technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included
  • Service prices are not shown as a rate card and route through a calculator or sales
  • Committed discounts require savings plans, reserved instances or capacity packages rather than being automatic

Grafana

  • The free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only
  • Free is capped at 10,000 active metric series and 50 GB each of logs and traces a month
  • The Pro plan carries a $19 a month platform fee before any usage charges
  • Logs and traces are billed on three separate meters, at $0.050 per GB processed, $0.400 per GB written and $0.100 per GB retained
  • Retaining data is an ongoing charge rather than a one off, so historical data costs every month it exists

Pricing, plan by plan

Alibaba Cloud

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • Free tier credits
    • ECS instances
    • Cloud storage
  • Pay-as-You-GoFree
    • Flexible billing
    • No commitments
    • Global reach

Grafana

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Dashboard creation
    • Alerting
    • Data source integration

Which should you pick?

Choose Alibaba Cloud if

  • You need elastic compute service.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
  • You also want object storage service.
Alibaba Cloud review

Choose Grafana if

  • You need dashboard creation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want alerting.
Grafana review

Questions people ask

Is Alibaba Cloud or Grafana better?
Neither clearly leads. Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and Grafana at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Alibaba Cloud or Grafana?
Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and Grafana at Free.
Does Alibaba Cloud or Grafana run on more platforms?
Alibaba Cloud runs on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli. Grafana runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Alibaba Cloud for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Alibaba Cloud best used for?
Alibaba Cloud is most often used for cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific, pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment, committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloads, cdn and data transfer packages for content delivery. Of those, cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific and pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment are not what Grafana is typically brought in for.
What can Alibaba Cloud do that Grafana cannot?
Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Object Storage Service, RDS Database, MaxCompute. Grafana covers Dashboard creation, Alerting, Data source integration, Visualization plugins. Both handle Api support.
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