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Grafana Cloud vs OpenSearch

Grafana Cloud logo

Grafana Cloud

Cloud

Composable observability platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OpenSearch logo

OpenSearch

Databases

Open-source search and analytics suite forked from Elasticsearch

From
Free
Rated
-
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; OpenSearch diverged from Elasticsearch since 7.10, so clients, plugins and features no longer map one to one
  • They diverge on capability: Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, OpenSearch covers Full-text search.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Grafana Cloud and OpenSearch differ
AttributeGrafana CloudOpenSearch
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee; managed services billed separately
PlatformsWeb (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), APILinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted
CategoryCloudDatabases
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 OpenSearch

  • Full-text search
  • OpenSearch Dashboards
  • Log analytics
  • Vector search

What people use each for

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

Grafana Cloud

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

OpenSearch

  • Log and observability storage where an Apache-2.0 licence is a requirementnot Grafana Cloud
  • Replacing Elasticsearch after the licence change without changing architecturenot Grafana Cloud
  • Search plus analytics on one cluster rather than two systemsnot 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

OpenSearch

  • Diverged from Elasticsearch since 7.10, so clients, plugins and features no longer map one to one
  • Operationally heavy in the way Elasticsearch is: cluster sizing, shard strategy and JVM tuning are ongoing work
  • Smaller ecosystem of third-party tooling than Elasticsearch, which most integrations still target first
  • Overkill for plain application search, where a dedicated search engine is far simpler

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

OpenSearch

Free
  • OpenSearchFree
    • Full functionality
    • Self-hosted
    • No usage limits

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 OpenSearch if

  • You need full-text search.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
  • You also want opensearch dashboards.
OpenSearch review

Questions people ask

Is Grafana Cloud or OpenSearch better?
Neither clearly leads. Grafana Cloud starts at Free and OpenSearch at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Grafana Cloud or OpenSearch?
Grafana Cloud starts at Free and OpenSearch at Free.
Does Grafana Cloud or OpenSearch run on more platforms?
Grafana Cloud runs on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API. OpenSearch runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
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 OpenSearch is typically brought in for.
What can Grafana Cloud do that OpenSearch cannot?
Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Prometheus Metrics, Loki Logs, Tempo Traces. OpenSearch covers Full-text search, OpenSearch Dashboards, Log analytics, Vector search.

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
OpenSearch: Is OpenSearch free?

Yes, Apache 2.0 licensed under the Linux Foundation. Amazon OpenSearch Service is a paid managed option.

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
OpenSearch: Why does OpenSearch exist?

Elastic moved Elasticsearch off the Apache 2.0 licence in 2021. AWS forked the last Apache-licensed version, and the project now sits under the Linux Foundation.

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
OpenSearch: Is OpenSearch compatible with Elasticsearch?

It was at the 7.10 fork point. Both have developed independently since, so compatibility weakens with every release and should be verified for the features you use.

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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