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Elastic APM vs Rollbar

Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Software

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Rollbar logo

Rollbar

Software

Real-Time Error Tracking and Debugging

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; Rollbar the free plan allows 5,000 occurrences a month with 30 day retention
  • They diverge on capability: Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Rollbar covers Real-time alerts.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Elastic APM and Rollbar differ
AttributeElastic APMRollbar
Pricing modelopen-sourceusage-based
Founded20112012

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 Elastic APM

  • Performance monitoring
  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics

Only in Rollbar

  • Real-time alerts
  • Error grouping
  • Source maps

Both cover

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

Rollbar

  • Tracking application errors and exceptions across deploymentsnot Elastic APM
  • Grouping and alerting on production error occurrencesnot 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

Rollbar

  • The free plan allows 5,000 occurrences a month with 30 day retention
  • Retention is a paid ladder rather than a setting, at up to 90 days on Essentials and up to 180 on Advanced
  • Advanced alerting, the RQL analytics query language and SCIM provisioning are excluded from the free plan
  • Enterprise requires a $4M annual plan minimum
  • No price is published for Essentials or Advanced, so only the free tier has a visible cost

Pricing, plan by plan

Elastic APM

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

Rollbar

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Error tracking
    • Real-time alerts
    • Error grouping

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 transaction tracing.
Elastic APM review

Choose Rollbar if

  • You need real-time alerts.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want error grouping.
Rollbar review

Questions people ask

Is Elastic APM or Rollbar better?
Neither clearly leads. Elastic APM starts at Free and Rollbar at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Elastic APM or Rollbar?
Elastic APM starts at Free and Rollbar at Free.
Does Elastic APM or Rollbar 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 Rollbar is typically brought in for.
What can Elastic APM do that Rollbar cannot?
Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Rollbar covers Real-time alerts, Error grouping, Source maps. Both handle Error tracking, API, Webhooks, REST.
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