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Elastic APM vs FireHydrant

Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Logging

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
FireHydrant logo

FireHydrant

Logging

All-in-one incident management for alerting, on-call, and response

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; FireHydrant free tier has limited functionality with only 2 runbooks
  • They diverge on capability: Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, FireHydrant covers Automated runbooks.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Elastic APM and FireHydrant differ
AttributeElastic APMFireHydrant
Pricing modelopen-sourcesubscription
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Mobile
Founded20112018

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

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

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

Only in FireHydrant

  • Automated runbooks
  • On-call management
  • Service catalog
  • Incident response collaboration
  • AI incident insights
  • Status pages
  • AI retrospectives

What people use each for

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

Elastic APM

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

FireHydrant

  • Manage incidents directly from Slack or Teamsnot Elastic APM
  • Automate incident response with runbooksnot Elastic APM
  • Triage incidents and track ownershipnot Elastic APM
  • Run post-incident retrospectivesnot Elastic APM
  • Communicate incidents to customers automaticallynot 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

FireHydrant

  • Free tier has limited functionality with only 2 runbooks
  • Pro plan billing is annual-only (no monthly option)
  • AI features concentrated in Enterprise tier
  • Pricing per responder can increase with team size

Pricing, plan by plan

Elastic APM

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

FireHydrant

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 10 responders
    • 2 runbooks
    • Slack and Teams chatbot
  • Pro$25/responder-month
    • 5 runbooks
    • Slack and Teams chatbot
    • 1 retrospective template
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Everything in Pro plus
    • Viewer licenses
    • Unlimited runbooks

Which should you pick?

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

Choose FireHydrant if

  • You need automated runbooks.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Mobile.
  • You also want on-call management.
FireHydrant review

Questions people ask

Is Elastic APM or FireHydrant better?
Neither clearly leads. Elastic APM starts at Free and FireHydrant at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Elastic APM or FireHydrant?
Elastic APM starts at Free and FireHydrant at Free.
Does Elastic APM or FireHydrant run on more platforms?
Elastic APM runs on Web, Api. FireHydrant runs on Web, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Mobile.
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 FireHydrant is typically brought in for.
What can Elastic APM do that FireHydrant cannot?
Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. FireHydrant covers Automated runbooks, On-call management, Service catalog, Incident response collaboration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Elastic APM: Is Elastic APM pricing published?

Elastic APM pricing is not published on the product page. Pricing is available through the main Elastic pricing page or by contacting Elastic sales directly.

Source
FireHydrant: What is included in the free FireHydrant plan?

The free plan supports up to 10 responders, includes 2 runbooks, Slack and Teams chatbot, 1 public status page, and basic integrations (3).

Source
Elastic APM: Does Elastic APM offer a free trial?

Yes. Elastic APM offers a free trial through Elastic Cloud Serverless registration. A guided demo is also available in the Elastic demo gallery.

Source
FireHydrant: How much does FireHydrant Pro cost?

FireHydrant Pro costs $25 per responder per month, billed annually. This includes 5 runbooks, unlimited status pages, and all core incident management features.

Source
Elastic APM: What deployment options are available for Elastic APM?

Elastic APM can be deployed on Elastic Cloud Serverless (zero operational overhead), Elastic Cloud Hosted (deploy on any cloud), or self-managed Elasticsearch.

Source
FireHydrant: Can I pay monthly for FireHydrant Pro?

No, the Pro plan requires annual billing to get the $25/responder/month rate. Contact sales for enterprise monthly billing options.

Source
FireHydrant: What AI features does FireHydrant offer?

FireHydrant AI is available in Enterprise plan and includes automated incident summaries, status page updates, live video transcription from Zoom and Google Meet, and triage assistance.

Source
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