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Log Management · head to head

Bugsnag vs Honeybadger

Bugsnag logo

Bugsnag

Log Management

Application Stability Monitoring

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Honeybadger logo

Honeybadger

Log Management

Error and Uptime Monitoring for Developers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bugsnag owned by SmartBear rather than being independent; Honeybadger the free Developer plan is limited to one user, 5,000 errors per month, 50 MB per day of logging and one uptime monitor
  • They diverge on capability: Bugsnag covers Crash reporting, Honeybadger covers Uptime monitoring.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bugsnag and Honeybadger actually diverge.

Attributes where Bugsnag and Honeybadger differ
AttributeBugsnagHoneybadger
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Log Management), founded (2012).

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 Honeybadger

  • Uptime monitoring
  • Status pages
  • Incident management

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 Honeybadger
  • Stability scores per releasenot Honeybadger
  • Grouping errors by root cause across deploysnot Honeybadger
  • Alerting when a release regressesnot Honeybadger

Honeybadger

  • Exception and error tracking for Ruby, Elixir, PHP, Python and JavaScript applicationsnot Bugsnag
  • Uptime and cron heartbeat monitoring alongside error datanot Bugsnag
  • Publishing a public status page for a small SaaS productnot 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

Honeybadger

  • The free Developer plan is limited to one user, 5,000 errors per month, 50 MB per day of logging and one uptime monitor
  • SSO, unlimited teams and priority support require the Business plan at $80 per month
  • Error data retention is 15 days on Developer, 90 days on Team and 180 days on Business
  • Log and event retention is 7 days on the free plan and up to 30 days on Team
  • Premium integrations including Jira, PagerDuty, SMS and webhooks are excluded from the free Developer plan
  • S3 archiving of Insights events is not available on the Developer plan
  • Uptime check frequency is capped at 5 minutes on Developer and 2 minutes on Team; 1 minute checks require Business

Pricing, plan by plan

Bugsnag

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Error tracking
    • Crash reporting
    • Release tracking

Honeybadger

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Error tracking
    • Uptime monitoring
    • Status pages

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 Honeybadger if

  • You need uptime monitoring.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want status pages.
Honeybadger review

Questions people ask

Is Bugsnag or Honeybadger better?
Neither clearly leads. Bugsnag starts at Free and Honeybadger at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bugsnag or Honeybadger?
Bugsnag starts at Free and Honeybadger at Free.
Does Bugsnag or Honeybadger 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 Honeybadger is typically brought in for.
What can Bugsnag do that Honeybadger cannot?
Bugsnag covers Crash reporting, Release tracking, Trend analysis. Honeybadger covers Uptime monitoring, Status pages, Incident management. Both handle Error tracking, API, Webhooks, REST.
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