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Logging · head to head

Bugsnag vs Honeybadger

Bugsnag logo

Bugsnag

Logging

Application Stability Monitoring

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Honeybadger logo

Honeybadger

Logging

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.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bugsnag and Honeybadger actually diverge.

Attributes where Bugsnag and Honeybadger differ
AttributeBugsnagHoneybadger

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Logging), 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
    • 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

Honeybadger

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • 5,000 errors per month
    • 50 MB per day logging
    • 1 monitor
  • Team$26/month
    • 50,000 errors per month
    • 100 MB per day logging
    • 5 monitors
  • Business$80/month
    • 50,000 errors per month
    • 100 MB per day logging
    • 5 monitors

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.

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
Honeybadger: Is Honeybadger free?

Honeybadger offers a free Developer plan permanently with 5,000 errors per month, 50 MB per day logging, and 1 monitor, supporting unlimited projects for a single user.

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
Honeybadger: How much does the Honeybadger Team plan cost annually?

The Team plan costs $26 per month billed annually at $286 per year, providing 50,000 errors per month with unlimited users and 90-day error retention.

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
Honeybadger: What's the difference between Honeybadger Business and Team plans?

Both Team and Business plans include 50,000 errors per month, but Business adds 180-day error retention (vs 90-day), includes enterprise security and compliance features, and supports unlimited teams.

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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