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Dynatrace vs Fluentd

Dynatrace logo

Dynatrace

Software

Application Performance Management and Observability

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fluentd logo

Fluentd

Software

Open Source Data Collector for Unified Logging

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Dynatrace pricing is commitment based: rates require an annual platform level commitment rather than month to month purchase; Fluentd fluentd needs more than 60 MB of memory at runtime, against roughly 450 KB for Fluent Bit
  • They diverge on capability: Dynatrace covers AI-powered analytics, Fluentd covers Log collection.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dynatrace and Fluentd actually diverge.

Attributes where Dynatrace and Fluentd differ
AttributeDynatraceFluentd
Pricing modelsubscriptionopen-source
Founded20052011

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 Dynatrace

  • AI-powered analytics
  • APM
  • Infrastructure monitoring
  • Log analysis

Only in Fluentd

  • Log collection
  • Data parsing
  • Filtering and buffering
  • Event routing

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.

Dynatrace

  • Full stack application performance monitoring with automatic dependency discoverynot Fluentd
  • Kubernetes and container platform observability priced per podnot Fluentd
  • Log ingest, processing and query analyticsnot Fluentd
  • Real user monitoring and session replay for web applicationsnot Fluentd

Fluentd

  • Unified log collection and routing from many sources to many destinationsnot Dynatrace
  • Parsing and transforming log records before forwardingnot Dynatrace
  • Aggregating logs from containers into Elasticsearch, S3 or a SIEMnot Dynatrace

Where each one falls short

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

Dynatrace

  • Pricing is commitment based: rates require an annual platform level commitment rather than month to month purchase
  • Full-Stack Monitoring is priced at $58 per month per 8 GiB of host memory, so a 64 GiB host counts as eight units
  • Infrastructure Monitoring at $29 per host per month excludes code level tracing, which requires Full-Stack
  • Session Replay doubles Real User Monitoring cost from $2.25 to $4.50 per 1,000 sessions
  • Runtime Vulnerability Analytics and Runtime Application Protection are each charged separately at $13 per month per 8 GiB host on top of monitoring

Fluentd

  • Fluentd needs more than 60 MB of memory at runtime, against roughly 450 KB for Fluent Bit
  • Fluentd is built as a Ruby gem and depends on other gems, so a Ruby runtime is required
  • Its capability comes from over 1,000 external plugins rather than built in functionality, so each added input or output is a separate dependency
  • The Fluent Bit documentation states that cloud providers have switched from Fluentd to Fluent Bit for performance and compatibility and calls Fluent Bit the next generation solution

Pricing, plan by plan

Dynatrace

Free
  • FreeFree
    • AI-powered analytics
    • APM
    • Infrastructure monitoring

Fluentd

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Log collection
    • Data parsing
    • Filtering and buffering

Which should you pick?

Choose Dynatrace if

  • You need ai-powered analytics.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want apm.
Dynatrace review

Choose Fluentd if

  • You need log collection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want data parsing.
Fluentd review

Questions people ask

Is Dynatrace or Fluentd better?
Neither clearly leads. Dynatrace starts at Free and Fluentd at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dynatrace or Fluentd?
Dynatrace starts at Free and Fluentd at Free.
Does Dynatrace or Fluentd run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Dynatrace for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Dynatrace best used for?
Dynatrace is most often used for full stack application performance monitoring with automatic dependency discovery, kubernetes and container platform observability priced per pod, log ingest, processing and query analytics, real user monitoring and session replay for web applications. Of those, full stack application performance monitoring with automatic dependency discovery and kubernetes and container platform observability priced per pod are not what Fluentd is typically brought in for.
What can Dynatrace do that Fluentd cannot?
Dynatrace covers AI-powered analytics, APM, Infrastructure monitoring, Log analysis. Fluentd covers Log collection, Data parsing, Filtering and buffering, Event routing. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.
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