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Grafana Cloud vs Keil MDK

Grafana Cloud logo

Grafana Cloud

Cloud

Composable observability platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Keil MDK logo

Keil MDK

Developer Tools

Microcontroller Development Kit for Arm-based devices

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Grafana Cloud active Series (AS) billing model is difficult to predict and control; misconfiguration can cause sudden spikes and unexpected bills; Keil MDK pricing for Essential and Professional subscriptions not disclosed on primary site
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Grafana Cloud and Keil MDK actually diverge.

Attributes where Grafana Cloud and Keil MDK differ
AttributeGrafana CloudKeil MDK
Pricing modelUnknownfreemium
PlatformsWeb (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), APIWeb
CategoryCloudDeveloper Tools
Founded2014Unknown

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 Grafana Cloud

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

Only in Keil MDK

Nothing recorded that Grafana Cloud does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Grafana Cloud

  • Infrastructure monitoringnot Keil MDK
  • Application monitoringnot Keil MDK
  • Log aggregationnot Keil MDK
  • Distributed tracingnot Keil MDK

Keil MDK

  • Embedded software developmentnot Grafana Cloud
  • ARM microcontroller programmingnot Grafana Cloud
  • Professional development environmentsnot Grafana Cloud

Where each one falls short

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

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

Keil MDK

  • Pricing for Essential and Professional subscriptions not disclosed on primary site
  • Customers must contact Arm Developer Tools store for subscription rates

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Keil MDK

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Keil MDK review.

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Keil MDK if

  • You want to start without paying.
Keil MDK review

Questions people ask

Is Grafana Cloud or Keil MDK better?
Neither clearly leads. Grafana Cloud starts at Free and Keil MDK at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Grafana Cloud or Keil MDK?
Grafana Cloud starts at Free and Keil MDK at Free.
Does Grafana Cloud or Keil MDK run on more platforms?
Grafana Cloud runs on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API. Keil MDK runs on Web.
Can I use Grafana Cloud for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Grafana Cloud best used for?
Grafana Cloud is most often used for infrastructure monitoring, application monitoring, log aggregation, distributed tracing. Of those, infrastructure monitoring and application monitoring are not what Keil MDK is typically brought in for.
What can Grafana Cloud do that Keil MDK cannot?
Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Prometheus Metrics, Loki Logs, Tempo Traces.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Keil MDK: Does Keil MDK have a free version?

Yes, Keil MDK Community Edition is free for non-commercial projects. Essential and Professional editions are available as monthly or annual subscriptions.

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
Keil MDK: How much do Keil MDK paid editions cost?

Specific pricing for Essential and Professional editions is not published on the main site. Rates are available from the Arm Developer Tools store or by contacting Arm sales.

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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