Log Management · head to head
Dynatrace vs Stackdriver
Dynatrace
Log Management
Application Performance Management and Observability
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Stackdriver
Log Management
Google Cloud Operations - Monitoring and Logging
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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; Stackdriver stackdriver is now branded Google Cloud Observability and cloud.google.com/stackdriver redirects to the Observability product page
- They diverge on capability: Dynatrace covers AI-powered analytics, Stackdriver covers Log management.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Dynatrace and Stackdriver actually diverge.
| Attribute | Dynatrace | Stackdriver |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | subscription | usage-based |
| Founded | 2005 | 2006 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Log Management).
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 Stackdriver
- Log management
- Metrics collection
- Real-time monitoring
- Error reporting
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 Stackdriver
- Kubernetes and container platform observability priced per podnot Stackdriver
- Log ingest, processing and query analyticsnot Stackdriver
- Real user monitoring and session replay for web applicationsnot Stackdriver
Stackdriver
- Centralised logging, metrics and traces for workloads running on Google Cloudnot Dynatrace
- Alerting and uptime checks on cloud servicesnot Dynatrace
- Running managed Prometheus-compatible monitoring at scalenot 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
Stackdriver
- Stackdriver is now branded Google Cloud Observability and cloud.google.com/stackdriver redirects to the Observability product page
- Cloud Logging charges $0.50 per GiB ingested, with only the first 50 GiB per project per month free
- Logs kept beyond 30 days cost an extra $0.01 per GiB per month on top of the ingestion charge
- Monitoring metric ingestion starts at $0.2580 per MiB, with only the first 150 MiB per billing account free
- Alerting policies are billed at $0.35 per month for each metric reference in the policy
- Uptime checks cost $0.30 per 1,000 executions and synthetic monitors $1.20 per 1,000 executions, with only 100 synthetic executions per billing account free
- Monitoring read API calls cost $0.50 per million time series returned beyond the first million per billing account
- Log volume is measured before indexing on the actual size of log entries, so verbose logging directly drives cost
Pricing, plan by plan
Dynatrace
Free- FreeFree
- AI-powered analytics
- APM
- Infrastructure monitoring
Stackdriver
Free- FreeFree
- Log management
- Metrics collection
- Real-time monitoring
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.
Choose Stackdriver if
- You need log management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want metrics collection.
Questions people ask
- Is Dynatrace or Stackdriver better?
- Neither clearly leads. Dynatrace starts at Free and Stackdriver at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Dynatrace or Stackdriver?
- Dynatrace starts at Free and Stackdriver at Free.
- Does Dynatrace or Stackdriver 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 Stackdriver is typically brought in for.
- What can Dynatrace do that Stackdriver cannot?
- Dynatrace covers AI-powered analytics, APM, Infrastructure monitoring, Log analysis. Stackdriver covers Log management, Metrics collection, Real-time monitoring, Error reporting. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.