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Datadog vs Elastic APM

Datadog logo

Datadog

Software

Modern monitoring & security

From
$15/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Software

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Elastic APM has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Datadog consumption-based pricing model makes costs hard to predict and can scale quickly; 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: Datadog covers Infrastructure monitoring, Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Datadog and Elastic APM differ
AttributeDatadogElastic APM
Starting price$15/monthFree
Pricing modelUnknownopen-source
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Windows, macOSWeb, Api
Founded20102011

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 Datadog

  • Infrastructure monitoring
  • Application performance monitoring
  • Log management
  • Real user monitoring
  • Synthetic monitoring
  • Security monitoring
  • Network monitoring
  • Serverless monitoring

Only in Elastic APM

  • Performance monitoring
  • Error tracking
  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Datadog

  • Infrastructure monitoringnot Elastic APM
  • Application performancenot Elastic APM
  • Security monitoringnot Elastic APM
  • Log analysisnot Elastic APM
  • Cloud monitoringnot Elastic APM

Elastic APM

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

Where each one falls short

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

Datadog

  • Consumption-based pricing model makes costs hard to predict and can scale quickly
  • Add-on modules significantly increase costs: custom metrics, indexed spans, extended retention
  • No free tier for production monitoring
  • High costs for organizations with large amounts of log data or high-cardinality metrics

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

Datadog

$15/month
  • Infrastructure Monitoring$15/month
    • Host monitoring
    • Basic dashboards
  • APM$31/month
    • Application performance monitoring
    • Trace collection
  • Log Management$0.1/gb
    • Log indexing
    • Search and filter

Elastic APM

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Datadog if

  • You need infrastructure monitoring.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want application performance monitoring.
Datadog 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 Datadog or Elastic APM better?
Neither clearly leads. Datadog starts at $15/month and Elastic APM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Datadog or Elastic APM?
Elastic APM has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $15/month for Datadog and Free for Elastic APM.
Does Datadog or Elastic APM run on more platforms?
Datadog runs on Web, Linux, Windows, macOS. Elastic APM runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Elastic APM for free?
Yes. Elastic APM has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Datadog starts at $15/month.
What is Datadog best used for?
Datadog is most often used for infrastructure monitoring, application performance, security monitoring, log analysis. Of those, infrastructure monitoring and application performance are not what Elastic APM is typically brought in for.
What can Datadog do that Elastic APM cannot?
Datadog covers Infrastructure monitoring, Application performance monitoring, Log management, Real user monitoring. Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Datadog: How is Datadog pricing structured?

Datadog uses consumption-based pricing tied to data volume ingested, hosts monitored, and products enabled. Infrastructure Monitoring starts at $15/host/month, APM at $31/host/month, and Log Management at $0.10/GB for indexed logs.

Source
Datadog: Does Datadog offer a free tier?

Datadog offers a free trial but not a permanent free tier for production monitoring. Pricing begins with paid plans only.

Source
Datadog: What integrations does Datadog support?

Datadog offers 1000+ built-in integrations including AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, Azure, GCP, and most major cloud platforms and services.

Source
Datadog: Can Datadog monitor Kubernetes clusters?

Yes. The Datadog Agent runs as a DaemonSet to provide real-time visibility into pods, nodes, deployments, and control-plane health across major Kubernetes distributions including EKS, AKS, GKE, OpenShift, and others.

Source
Datadog: How can I reduce Datadog costs?

Datadog bills based on indexed logs, custom metrics, and high-cardinality tags. Costs can be unpredictable and may run 2-3x estimates. Prepaying annually can secure 5-15% discounts.

Source
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