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Amplitude vs Elastic APM

Amplitude logo

Amplitude

Software

The digital analytics platform to understand your users

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Software

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Amplitude metered on event volume, so instrumenting more of a product raises the bill even if the audience does not grow; 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: Amplitude covers Event tracking, Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Amplitude and Elastic APM differ
AttributeAmplitudeElastic APM
Pricing modelUnknownopen-source
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiWeb, Api
Founded20122011

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 Amplitude

  • Event tracking
  • User segmentation
  • Funnel analysis
  • Retention analysis
  • Cohort analysis
  • A/B testing
  • Revenue analytics
  • Predictive analytics

Only in Elastic APM

  • Performance monitoring
  • Error tracking
  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Amplitude

  • User behavior analysisnot Elastic APM
  • Feature adoption trackingnot Elastic APM
  • Conversion rate optimizationnot Elastic APM
  • Customer journey mappingnot Elastic APM
  • Retention improvementnot Elastic APM

Elastic APM

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

Where each one falls short

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

Amplitude

  • Metered on event volume, so instrumenting more of a product raises the bill even if the audience does not grow
  • The free plan covers 2M events a month
  • The Plus plan scales to 70M events, above which pricing is custom
  • Growth and Enterprise pricing is not published

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

Amplitude

Free
  • StarterFree
    • 2 million events per month
  • Plus$49/month
    • $0.049 per MTU
    • Up to 300k MTUs
    • Advanced analytics
  • GrowthFree
    • Causal insights
    • Feature experimentation
    • Real-time streaming
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Cross-product analysis
    • Advanced permissions
    • Dedicated account manager

Elastic APM

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Amplitude if

  • You need event tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want user segmentation.
Amplitude review

Choose Elastic APM if

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

Questions people ask

Is Amplitude or Elastic APM better?
Neither clearly leads. Amplitude 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, Amplitude or Elastic APM?
Amplitude starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free.
Does Amplitude or Elastic APM run on more platforms?
Amplitude runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Elastic APM runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Amplitude for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Amplitude best used for?
Amplitude is most often used for user behavior analysis, feature adoption tracking, conversion rate optimization, customer journey mapping. Of those, user behavior analysis and feature adoption tracking are not what Elastic APM is typically brought in for.
What can Amplitude do that Elastic APM cannot?
Amplitude covers Event tracking, User segmentation, Funnel analysis, Retention analysis. Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amplitude: Does Amplitude have a free plan?

Yes, Amplitude offers a free Starter plan with 2 million events per month and access to the entire platform including analytics, session replay, and experimentation features.

Source
Amplitude: What is Amplitude's pricing based on?

Amplitude's pricing is based on the number of monthly tracked users (MTUs), data volume, and advanced features selected. The Plus plan starts at $49 per month with a rate of $0.049 per MTU.

Source
Amplitude: What analytics features does every Amplitude plan include?

Every plan includes access to the full platform: analytics, session replay, feature experimentation, web experimentation, guides and surveys, activation, and AI tools like AI Feedback and AI Assistant.

Source
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