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Software · head to head

Contabo vs Grafana

Contabo logo

Contabo

Software

Affordable high-performance VPS hosting

From
€4.5/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Grafana logo

Grafana

Software

Observability and Data Visualization

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Grafana has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Contabo fully unmanaged infrastructure requires all setup and maintenance by customer; Grafana the free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only
  • They diverge on capability: Contabo covers VPS Hosting, Grafana covers Dashboard creation.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Contabo and Grafana actually diverge.

Attributes where Contabo and Grafana differ
AttributeContaboGrafana
Starting price€4.5/monthFree
Pricing modelUnknownopen-source
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsLinux, WindowsWeb, Api
Founded20032014

Identical on both: 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 Contabo

  • VPS Hosting
  • Dedicated Servers
  • Object Storage
  • Snapshots
  • DDoS Protection
  • Custom ISO
  • Multiple Locations
  • SSD Storage

Only in Grafana

  • Dashboard creation
  • Alerting
  • Data source integration
  • Visualization plugins
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST

Both cover

  • Web support
  • Api support

What people use each for

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

Contabo

  • Web hostingnot Grafana
  • Game serversnot Grafana
  • Development environmentsnot Grafana
  • VPN serversnot Grafana

Grafana

  • Dashboards and visualisation over metrics, logs and tracesnot Contabo
  • Running observability across infrastructure and applicationsnot Contabo

Where each one falls short

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

Contabo

  • Fully unmanaged infrastructure requires all setup and maintenance by customer
  • No formal SLA with financial compensation for downtime violations

Grafana

  • The free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only
  • Free is capped at 10,000 active metric series and 50 GB each of logs and traces a month
  • The Pro plan carries a $19 a month platform fee before any usage charges
  • Logs and traces are billed on three separate meters, at $0.050 per GB processed, $0.400 per GB written and $0.100 per GB retained
  • Retaining data is an ongoing charge rather than a one off, so historical data costs every month it exists

Pricing, plan by plan

Contabo

€4.5/month
  • Cloud VPS$4.5/month
    • 4 vCPU
    • 8 GB RAM
    • 100 GB SSD
  • Cloud VDS$39/month
    • Dedicated cores
    • 24 GB RAM
    • 180 GB NVMe
  • Dedicated Server$149/month
    • AMD CPU
    • 64 GB RAM
    • 1 TB NVMe

Grafana

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Dashboard creation
    • Alerting
    • Data source integration

Which should you pick?

Choose Contabo if

  • You need vps hosting.
  • You work on Linux, Windows.
  • You also want dedicated servers.
Contabo review

Choose Grafana if

  • You need dashboard creation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want alerting.
Grafana review

Questions people ask

Is Contabo or Grafana better?
Neither clearly leads. Contabo starts at €4.5/month and Grafana at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Contabo or Grafana?
Grafana has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at €4.5/month for Contabo and Free for Grafana.
Does Contabo or Grafana run on more platforms?
Contabo runs on Linux, Windows. Grafana runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Grafana for free?
Yes. Grafana has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Contabo starts at €4.5/month.
What is Contabo best used for?
Contabo is most often used for web hosting, game servers, development environments, vpn servers. Of those, web hosting and game servers are not what Grafana is typically brought in for.
What can Contabo do that Grafana cannot?
Contabo covers VPS Hosting, Dedicated Servers, Object Storage, Snapshots. Grafana covers Dashboard creation, Alerting, Data source integration, Visualization plugins. Both handle Web support, Api support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Contabo: What is the base pricing for Contabo VPS?

Contabo Cloud VPS starts at EUR 4.50 per month (approximately $4.95 USD) with 4 vCPU cores and 8 GB RAM. Prices scale up to EUR 39+ per month for dedicated performance VPS with higher specs.

Source
Contabo: Does Contabo raise prices at renewal?

No. Unlike many hosting providers, Contabo does not increase renewal prices. The promotional price you get at sign-up is locked in for future renewals.

Source
Contabo: What data center locations does Contabo offer?

Contabo operates 9 global data center regions including multiple EU locations, US East/Central/West Coast, United Kingdom, India, Singapore, Japan, and Australia.

Source
Contabo: Does Contabo provide managed services?

No. Contabo VPS is fully unmanaged. You handle all setup, security patching, and system maintenance. Managed hosting adds 2 hours per month of dedicated support for a fee.

Source
Contabo: What is Contabo's uptime guarantee?

Contabo maintains a 99.996% uptime guarantee across all plans. The platform includes unlimited traffic and free DDoS protection.

Source
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