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Logging · head to head

CloudWatch vs PagerDuty

CloudWatch logo

CloudWatch

Logging

AWS Monitoring and Observability

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PagerDuty logo

PagerDuty

Technology

Real-time operations for real-time business

From
$21/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only CloudWatch has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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; PagerDuty aIOps, status pages, and live call routing are expensive add-ons not included in base plans, significantly increasing total cost
  • They diverge on capability: CloudWatch covers Metrics collection, PagerDuty covers Incident response.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CloudWatch and PagerDuty actually diverge.

Attributes where CloudWatch and PagerDuty differ
AttributeCloudWatchPagerDuty
Starting priceFree$21/month
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Ios, Android, Api
CategoryLoggingTechnology
Founded20062009

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

Only in PagerDuty

  • Incident response
  • On-call management
  • Alert grouping
  • Escalation policies
  • Mobile incident management
  • Postmortems
  • Status pages
  • Event intelligence

What people use each for

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

CloudWatch

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

PagerDuty

  • Incident managementnot CloudWatch
  • On-call schedulingnot CloudWatch
  • Real-time alertingnot CloudWatch
  • Service reliabilitynot CloudWatch
  • Digital operationsnot 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

PagerDuty

  • AIOps, status pages, and live call routing are expensive add-ons not included in base plans, significantly increasing total cost
  • Complex escalation policies require workarounds for scheduling patterns beyond basic weekly rotations
  • 5-user minimum requirement forces costs even for small teams, with forced Business tier upgrades adding $12,000+ annually for larger teams

Pricing, plan by plan

CloudWatch

Free
  • Pay-as-you-goFree
    • Logs ingestion: $0.50/GB (first 5GB free), down to $0.05/GB at scale
    • Logs storage: $0.03/GB/month
    • Live Tail: $0.01/minute after 1,800 free minutes
  • Free tierFree
    • 5GB logs ingestion per month
    • 10 custom metrics
    • 3 custom dashboards

PagerDuty

$21/month

No published plan breakdown. See the PagerDuty review.

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 PagerDuty if

  • You need incident response.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want on-call management.
PagerDuty review

Questions people ask

Is CloudWatch or PagerDuty better?
Neither clearly leads. CloudWatch starts at Free and PagerDuty at $21/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CloudWatch or PagerDuty?
CloudWatch has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for CloudWatch and $21/month for PagerDuty.
Does CloudWatch or PagerDuty run on more platforms?
CloudWatch runs on Web, Api. PagerDuty runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
Can I use CloudWatch for free?
Yes. CloudWatch has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. PagerDuty starts at $21/month.
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 PagerDuty is typically brought in for.
What can CloudWatch do that PagerDuty cannot?
CloudWatch covers Metrics collection, Log aggregation, Dashboards, Alarms and notifications. PagerDuty covers Incident response, On-call management, Alert grouping, Escalation policies.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CloudWatch: How much does Amazon CloudWatch cost?

CloudWatch uses pay-as-you-go pricing with no upfront commitment. Logs ingestion costs $0.50/GB (first 5GB free), logs storage is $0.03/GB/month, custom metrics cost $0.30/metric/month (first 10,000), custom dashboards are $3/month, and standard alarms are $0.10/metric/month.

Source
PagerDuty: What is the minimum cost to use PagerDuty?

PagerDuty requires a minimum of 5 users per account. The Professional plan starts at $21 per user per month ($105/month minimum), with annual billing providing 16% discount.

Source
CloudWatch: Does CloudWatch offer a free tier?

Yes, CloudWatch free tier includes 5GB logs ingestion, 10 custom metrics, 3 custom dashboards, and 10 alarm metrics per month at no charge. Usage beyond these limits incurs pay-as-you-go fees.

Source
PagerDuty: What integrations does PagerDuty support?

PagerDuty integrates with 750+ monitoring, ticketing, and collaboration tools including Datadog, Slack, Jira, ServiceNow, New Relic, and Nagios.

Source
CloudWatch: What are CloudWatch's pricing tiers for high-volume usage?

CloudWatch offers tiered pricing with volume discounts: logs ingestion starts at $0.50/GB and decreases to $0.05/GB at higher volumes; custom metrics start at $0.30/metric/month and decline to $0.05 at higher volumes; Application Signals cost $1.50 per million traces initially, declining to $0.30.

Source
PagerDuty: How much does AIOps cost in PagerDuty?

AIOps Intelligence is sold separately as an add-on starting at $699 per month, and is not included in any of the base plans.

Source
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