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Log Management · head to head

Elastic APM vs Airbrake

Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Log Management

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Airbrake logo

Airbrake

Log Management

Error Tracking and Performance Monitoring

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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; Airbrake data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier
  • They diverge on capability: Elastic APM covers Transaction tracing, Airbrake covers Deploy tracking.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Elastic APM and Airbrake differ
AttributeElastic APMAirbrake
Pricing modelopen-sourceusage-based
Founded20112008

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 Elastic APM

  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics

Only in Airbrake

  • Deploy tracking
  • Custom notifications

Both cover

  • Performance monitoring
  • Error tracking
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support
  • Api support

What people use each for

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

Elastic APM

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

Airbrake

  • Error and exception monitoring for web applicationsnot Elastic APM
  • Performance monitoring alongside error trackingnot Elastic APM
  • Alerting a team when a deploy introduces a spike in errorsnot Elastic APM
  • Tracking errors across multiple projects in one accountnot Elastic APM

Where each one falls short

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

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

Airbrake

  • Data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier
  • The entry plan at $19 a month covers 25,000 errors and 7,500 events
  • Errors beyond the plan quota are billed on demand
  • Audit logs and spike forgiveness require the Pro tier
  • The lowest tier is limited to 1 user and 1 team

Pricing, plan by plan

Elastic APM

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

Airbrake

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Error tracking
    • Performance monitoring
    • Deploy tracking

Which should you pick?

Choose Elastic APM if

  • You need transaction tracing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want custom metrics.
Elastic APM review

Choose Airbrake if

  • You need deploy tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want custom notifications.
Airbrake review

Questions people ask

Is Elastic APM or Airbrake better?
Neither clearly leads. Elastic APM starts at Free and Airbrake at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Elastic APM or Airbrake?
Elastic APM starts at Free and Airbrake at Free.
Does Elastic APM or Airbrake run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Elastic APM for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Elastic APM best used for?
Elastic APM is most often used for distributed tracing across microservices, auto-instrumenting java, .net, python, go, node.js, ruby, php and c++ services, opentelemetry-native collection through the elastic distributions, correlating latency and errors with machine learning. Of those, distributed tracing across microservices and auto-instrumenting java, .net, python, go, node.js, ruby, php and c++ services are not what Airbrake is typically brought in for.
What can Elastic APM do that Airbrake cannot?
Elastic APM covers Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Airbrake covers Deploy tracking, Custom notifications. Both handle Performance monitoring, Error tracking, API, Webhooks.
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