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Logging · head to head

Cronitor vs Loki

Cronitor logo

Cronitor

Logging

Monitoring for cron jobs, websites, and background tasks

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Loki logo

Loki

Logging

Like Prometheus but for Logs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cronitor free tier limited to 5 monitors, limiting viability for small teams; Loki the Grafana Cloud free tier caps log ingestion at 50 GB a month with 14 day retention
  • They diverge on capability: Cronitor covers Cron job monitoring, Loki covers Log aggregation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cronitor and Loki actually diverge.

Attributes where Cronitor and Loki differ
AttributeCronitorLoki
Pricing modelPay-per-monitor plus user seatsopen-source

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, API), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Logging), founded (2014).

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 Cronitor

  • Cron job monitoring
  • Uptime and performance checks
  • Heartbeat monitoring
  • Status pages
  • Real-user monitoring
  • Alert integrations
  • Email reports

Only in Loki

  • Log aggregation
  • Label-based indexing
  • Real-time log streaming
  • LogQL query language
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Cronitor

  • Monitoring scheduled cron jobs and background tasksnot Loki
  • Tracking website and API uptime with global checksnot Loki
  • Alerting teams when critical jobs fail to executenot Loki
  • Communicating service status to customersnot Loki

Loki

  • Aggregating application and infrastructure logs with label based indexingnot Cronitor
  • Querying logs alongside metrics in Grafananot Cronitor

Where each one falls short

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

Cronitor

  • Free tier limited to 5 monitors, limiting viability for small teams
  • Pay-per-monitor pricing scales quickly with infrastructure size
  • Requires integrating ping calls into existing jobs
  • Limited to monitoring jobs that can send pings
  • No built-in workflow orchestration or task scheduling

Loki

  • The Grafana Cloud free tier caps log ingestion at 50 GB a month with 14 day retention
  • Paid log pricing is split across three separate meters, at $0.050 per GB processed, $0.400 per GB written and $0.100 per GB retained
  • Retaining logs is billed separately from ingesting them, so keeping data costs on an ongoing basis rather than once
  • The Pro plan carries a $19 a month platform fee before any usage charges

Pricing, plan by plan

Cronitor

Free
  • HackerFree
    • 5 monitors
    • Email and Slack alerts
    • Basic status page
  • Business$2/monitor/month
    • Unlimited monitors
    • 30-second check frequency
    • 10 alert integrations
  • Enterprise$6000/year
    • Custom features and integrations
    • 5-second check frequency
    • Dedicated engineer

Loki

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Log aggregation
    • Label-based indexing
    • Real-time log streaming

Which should you pick?

Choose Cronitor if

  • You need cron job monitoring.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want uptime and performance checks.
Cronitor review

Choose Loki if

  • You need log aggregation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want label-based indexing.
Loki review

Questions people ask

Is Cronitor or Loki better?
Neither clearly leads. Cronitor starts at Free and Loki at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cronitor or Loki?
Cronitor starts at Free and Loki at Free.
Does Cronitor or Loki run on more platforms?
Cronitor runs on Web, API. Loki runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Cronitor for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Cronitor best used for?
Cronitor is most often used for monitoring scheduled cron jobs and background tasks, tracking website and api uptime with global checks, alerting teams when critical jobs fail to execute, communicating service status to customers. Of those, monitoring scheduled cron jobs and background tasks and tracking website and api uptime with global checks are not what Loki is typically brought in for.
What can Cronitor do that Loki cannot?
Cronitor covers Cron job monitoring, Uptime and performance checks, Heartbeat monitoring, Status pages. Loki covers Log aggregation, Label-based indexing, Real-time log streaming, LogQL query language.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cronitor: How does Cronitor billing work for the Business plan?

Business plan costs $2 per monitor per month plus $5 per user per month, billed monthly based on actual usage.

Source
Loki: What does it cost to use Grafana Loki?

Loki is open source and free under the AGPLv3 license for self-hosted deployments. Grafana's managed Cloud Logs service includes a free tier up to 50GB of logs at no cost.

Source
Cronitor: What is the difference between Hacker and Business plans?

Hacker plan ($0/month) includes 5 monitors and basic Slack/email alerts. Business plan ($2/monitor/month) offers unlimited monitors, 30-second checks, 10 integrations, 12-month retention, and email reports.

Source
Loki: Are there paid options for Loki beyond the free tier?

Yes. Grafana Cloud Logs offers paid tiers for teams and enterprises, and Enterprise Logs provides self-managed options with expert support for organizations with data localization or privacy requirements.

Source
Cronitor: Does Cronitor offer a free trial?

Yes, Cronitor provides a 14-day free trial on the Business plan without requiring a credit card.

Source
Loki: What license does open source Loki use?

Loki is released under the AGPLv3 license, which requires you to share modifications and publish your source code if you deploy modifications publicly.

Source
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