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Bugsnag vs Elastic APM

Bugsnag logo

Bugsnag

Logging

Application Stability 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: Bugsnag owned by SmartBear rather than being independent; 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: Bugsnag covers Crash reporting, Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Bugsnag and Elastic APM differ
AttributeBugsnagElastic APM
Pricing modelfreemiumopen-source
Founded20122011

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 Bugsnag

  • Crash reporting
  • Release tracking
  • Trend analysis

Only in Elastic APM

  • Performance monitoring
  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics

Both cover

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

What people use each for

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

Bugsnag

  • Crash and error reporting for mobile and web applicationsnot Elastic APM
  • Stability scores per releasenot Elastic APM
  • Grouping errors by root cause across deploysnot Elastic APM
  • Alerting when a release regressesnot Elastic APM

Elastic APM

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

Where each one falls short

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

Bugsnag

  • Owned by SmartBear rather than being independent
  • The free tier covers 7,500 events a month
  • Paid tiers are usage-priced by event volume rather than by seat, so a noisy release raises the bill
  • Enterprise pricing is quote-only

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

Bugsnag

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 user
    • Error and performance monitoring
    • 7500 events monthly
  • SelectFree
    • 50000-3 million error monitoring events monthly tiered
    • 1-150 million performance monitoring spans
    • Unlimited users
  • PreferredFree
    • 100000-3 million error monitoring events tiered
    • 1-300 million performance monitoring spans
    • Automatic error prioritization
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • Custom pricing
    • All Preferred features plus
    • Automatic error assignment

Elastic APM

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Bugsnag if

  • You need crash reporting.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want release tracking.
Bugsnag review

Choose Elastic APM if

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

Questions people ask

Is Bugsnag or Elastic APM better?
Neither clearly leads. Bugsnag 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, Bugsnag or Elastic APM?
Bugsnag starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free.
Does Bugsnag 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 Bugsnag for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Bugsnag best used for?
Bugsnag is most often used for crash and error reporting for mobile and web applications, stability scores per release, grouping errors by root cause across deploys, alerting when a release regresses. Of those, crash and error reporting for mobile and web applications and stability scores per release are not what Elastic APM is typically brought in for.
What can Bugsnag do that Elastic APM cannot?
Bugsnag covers Crash reporting, Release tracking, Trend analysis. Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Both handle Error tracking, API, Webhooks, REST.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bugsnag: Is BugSnag free?

BugSnag Free plan is free and includes 1 user, error and performance monitoring with 7500 events and 1 million spans monthly, 50+ platforms, 30+ integrations, and 7-day data retention for solo developers and passion projects.

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
Bugsnag: What are the event and span limits by BugSnag plan?

Free plan: 7500 error events and 1 million spans monthly. Select plan: 50000-3 million error events and 1-150 million spans tiered. Preferred plan: 100000-3 million error events and 1-300 million spans tiered. Enterprise plan: custom limits with pricing on request.

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
Bugsnag: How long does BugSnag retain error data?

BugSnag Free plan retains data for 7 days. Select and Preferred paid plans retain error data for 60 days. Enterprise plans offer custom data retention periods negotiated with sales.

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
Bugsnag: What features does BugSnag Preferred plan add?

BugSnag Preferred plan (pricing tiered by volume, not published) adds automatic error prioritization, stability benchmarks, advanced segmentation, custom notifications, SAML SSO, and system metrics monitoring compared to Select plan.

Source
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