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Elastic APM vs Grafana

Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Software

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Grafana logo

Grafana

Software

Observability and Data Visualization

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; Grafana the free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only
  • They diverge on capability: Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Grafana covers Dashboard creation.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Elastic APM and Grafana differ
AttributeElastic APMGrafana
Founded20112014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (open-source), 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 Elastic APM

  • Performance monitoring
  • Error tracking
  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics

Only in Grafana

  • Dashboard creation
  • Alerting
  • Data source integration
  • Visualization plugins

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.

Elastic APM

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

Grafana

  • Dashboards and visualisation over metrics, logs and tracesnot Elastic APM
  • Running observability across infrastructure and applicationsnot 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

Grafana

  • The free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only
  • Free is capped at 10,000 active metric series and 50 GB each of logs and traces a month
  • The Pro plan carries a $19 a month platform fee before any usage charges
  • Logs and traces are billed on three separate meters, at $0.050 per GB processed, $0.400 per GB written and $0.100 per GB retained
  • Retaining data is an ongoing charge rather than a one off, so historical data costs every month it exists

Pricing, plan by plan

Elastic APM

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

Grafana

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Dashboard creation
    • Alerting
    • Data source integration

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 Grafana if

  • You need dashboard creation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want alerting.
Grafana review

Questions people ask

Is Elastic APM or Grafana better?
Neither clearly leads. Elastic APM starts at Free and Grafana at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Elastic APM or Grafana?
Elastic APM starts at Free and Grafana at Free.
Does Elastic APM or Grafana 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 Grafana is typically brought in for.
What can Elastic APM do that Grafana cannot?
Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Grafana covers Dashboard creation, Alerting, Data source integration, Visualization plugins. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.
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