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AI · head to head

Galileo vs Grafana Cloud

Galileo logo

Galileo

AI

Evaluation and observability platform for GenAI applications and agents

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Grafana Cloud logo

Grafana Cloud

Cloud

Composable observability platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Galileo the free plan is limited to 5,000 traces per month, which is quickly outgrown by production workloads.; Grafana Cloud active Series (AS) billing model is difficult to predict and control; misconfiguration can cause sudden spikes and unexpected bills
  • They diverge on capability: Galileo covers Pre-built evaluations, Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Galileo and Grafana Cloud actually diverge.

Attributes where Galileo and Grafana Cloud differ
AttributeGalileoGrafana Cloud
Pricing modelfreemiumUnknown
Platformsweb, apiWeb (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API
CategoryAICloud
FoundedUnknown2014

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

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 Galileo

  • Pre-built evaluations
  • Ground truth capture
  • Luna models
  • Agent behavior analysis
  • Production guardrails
  • Flexible deployment

Only in Grafana Cloud

  • Grafana Dashboards
  • Prometheus Metrics
  • Loki Logs
  • Tempo Traces
  • Alerting
  • OnCall
  • Synthetic Monitoring
  • Incident Management

What people use each for

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

Galileo

  • Evaluating RAG and agent applications before production releasenot Grafana Cloud
  • Monitoring live GenAI applications for failures and driftnot Grafana Cloud
  • Applying real-time guardrails without custom integration worknot Grafana Cloud
  • Reducing evaluation costs using distilled Luna judge modelsnot Grafana Cloud

Grafana Cloud

  • Infrastructure monitoringnot Galileo
  • Application monitoringnot Galileo
  • Log aggregationnot Galileo
  • Distributed tracingnot Galileo

Where each one falls short

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

Galileo

  • The free plan is limited to 5,000 traces per month, which is quickly outgrown by production workloads.
  • Real-time guardrails and unlimited trace capacity are reserved for the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
  • Pro plan pricing scales with trace volume, so costs can grow unpredictably as usage increases.
  • On-premises deployment requires an Enterprise contract rather than being available self-serve.

Grafana Cloud

  • Active Series (AS) billing model is difficult to predict and control; misconfiguration can cause sudden spikes and unexpected bills
  • Reduced control and customization compared to self-hosted Grafana instances
  • Data sovereignty concerns for organizations requiring on-premises data retention
  • Limited reporting types compared to traditional BI tools for compliance and audit requirements

Pricing, plan by plan

Galileo

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 5,000 traces/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited custom evaluations
  • Pro$100/month
    • 50,000 traces/month
    • Standard role-based access control
    • Advanced analytics and insights
  • Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Unlimited trace capacity
    • Custom rate limits
    • Hosted, VPC, or on-prem deployment

Grafana Cloud

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 10k active series (metrics)
    • 50GB logs/traces per month
    • 3 active users
  • Pro$19/month
    • Usage-based pricing beyond free tier
    • 8 USD per active visualization user
    • Included Grafana Alerting
  • Enterprise$25000/year
    • Minimum annual commitment
    • Full-service deployment options
    • Premium support

Which should you pick?

Choose Galileo if

  • You need pre-built evaluations.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want ground truth capture.
Galileo review

Choose Grafana Cloud if

  • You need grafana dashboards.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API.
  • You also want prometheus metrics.
Grafana Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is Galileo or Grafana Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. Galileo starts at Free and Grafana Cloud at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Galileo or Grafana Cloud?
Galileo starts at Free and Grafana Cloud at Free.
Does Galileo or Grafana Cloud run on more platforms?
Galileo runs on web, api. Grafana Cloud runs on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API.
Can I use Galileo for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Galileo best used for?
Galileo is most often used for evaluating rag and agent applications before production release, monitoring live genai applications for failures and drift, applying real-time guardrails without custom integration work, reducing evaluation costs using distilled luna judge models. Of those, evaluating rag and agent applications before production release and monitoring live genai applications for failures and drift are not what Grafana Cloud is typically brought in for.
What can Galileo do that Grafana Cloud cannot?
Galileo covers Pre-built evaluations, Ground truth capture, Luna models, Agent behavior analysis. Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Prometheus Metrics, Loki Logs, Tempo Traces.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Galileo: What does Galileo cost?

Galileo offers a free plan, a Pro plan at $100/month billed yearly (with a 33% annual discount), and a custom-priced Enterprise plan for unlimited trace capacity.

Source
Grafana Cloud: What are the exact limits of Grafana Cloud's free tier?

Grafana Cloud free tier includes 10,000 active series for metrics, 50GB logs and traces per month, 3 active visualization users, and 14-day retention with community support. No credit card required.

Source
Galileo: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

The Free plan includes 5,000 traces per month with unlimited users and unlimited custom evaluations, aimed at developers and small teams experimenting with GenAI.

Source
Grafana Cloud: How is Grafana Cloud billed, and what are the per-unit costs?

Grafana Cloud Pro tier starts at $19/month platform fee plus usage-based charges. Metrics cost $6.50 per 1,000 active series above free limits, logs and traces are charged per GB ingested, and visualization users are $8 per active user.

Source
Galileo: How is usage metered?

Galileo's pricing scales based on the number of traces processed each month, with Free capped at 5,000, Pro at 50,000, and Enterprise offering unlimited trace capacity.

Source
Grafana Cloud: Can I use Grafana Cloud for open-source Grafana deployments?

Grafana Cloud is the managed cloud service version. Open-source Grafana is free and can be self-hosted indefinitely on your own infrastructure.

Source
Grafana Cloud: What observability signals does Grafana Cloud include?

Grafana Cloud includes metrics (via Mimir), logs (via Loki), traces (via Tempo), profiles, and synthetics, with unified querying and visualization across all signals.

Source
Grafana Cloud: Does Grafana Cloud include alerting and how is it priced?

Yes, Grafana Alerting is included at no additional charge across all tiers. Rule storage, evaluation, and notification delivery are covered by the platform fee with no per-alert or per-notification fees.

Source
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