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CloudWatch vs Elastic APM

CloudWatch logo

CloudWatch

Software

AWS Monitoring and Observability

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: CloudWatch the free tier covers 5 GB of log ingestion and 10 custom metrics a month, after which log ingestion is $0.50 per GB from 5 to 30 GB; 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: CloudWatch covers Metrics collection, Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where CloudWatch and Elastic APM differ
AttributeCloudWatchElastic APM
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
Founded20062011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), 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 CloudWatch

  • Metrics collection
  • Log aggregation
  • Dashboards
  • Alarms and notifications

Only in Elastic APM

  • Performance monitoring
  • Error tracking
  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics

Both cover

  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support
  • Api support

What people use each for

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

CloudWatch

  • Metrics and log collection for AWS workloadsnot Elastic APM
  • Alarming on thresholds across AWS servicesnot Elastic APM
  • Querying logs with Logs Insightsnot Elastic APM
  • Live tailing logs during an incidentnot Elastic APM
  • Distributed tracing alongside X-Raynot Elastic APM

Elastic APM

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

Where each one falls short

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

CloudWatch

  • The free tier covers 5 GB of log ingestion and 10 custom metrics a month, after which log ingestion is $0.50 per GB from 5 to 30 GB
  • Custom metrics are $0.30 each for the first 10,000, so instrumenting broadly gets expensive before volume discounts apply
  • Each custom dashboard beyond the free three is $3 a month
  • Alarms are billed at $0.10 per alarm metric a month, with high-resolution alarms costing more
  • Log storage beyond the free 5 GB is $0.03 per GB per month on top of the ingestion charge

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

CloudWatch

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Metrics collection
    • Log aggregation
    • Dashboards

Elastic APM

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

Which should you pick?

Choose CloudWatch if

  • You need metrics collection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want log aggregation.
CloudWatch 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 CloudWatch or Elastic APM better?
Neither clearly leads. CloudWatch 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, CloudWatch or Elastic APM?
CloudWatch starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free.
Does CloudWatch 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 CloudWatch for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is CloudWatch best used for?
CloudWatch is most often used for metrics and log collection for aws workloads, alarming on thresholds across aws services, querying logs with logs insights, live tailing logs during an incident. Of those, metrics and log collection for aws workloads and alarming on thresholds across aws services are not what Elastic APM is typically brought in for.
What can CloudWatch do that Elastic APM cannot?
CloudWatch covers Metrics collection, Log aggregation, Dashboards, Alarms and notifications. Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.
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