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Grafana Cloud vs Oracle Cloud

Grafana Cloud logo

Grafana Cloud

Software

Composable observability platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Oracle Cloud logo

Oracle Cloud

Software

Enterprise cloud computing services

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; Oracle Cloud the free trial gives US$300 of credit that expires when consumed or after 30 days, whichever comes first
  • They diverge on capability: Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Oracle Cloud covers Autonomous Database.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Grafana Cloud and Oracle Cloud differ
AttributeGrafana CloudOracle Cloud
Pricing modelUnknownusage-based
PlatformsWeb (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), APILinux, Windows, Api, Cli
Founded20142019

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Grafana Cloud

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

Only in Oracle Cloud

  • Autonomous Database
  • Compute Instances
  • MySQL Database Service
  • Object Storage
  • Block Volume
  • Load Balancers
  • Virtual Cloud Network
  • API Gateway

Both cover

  • Kubernetes
  • Docker
  • SOC2
  • HIPAA
  • Cloud deployment

What people use each for

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

Grafana Cloud

  • Infrastructure monitoringnot Oracle Cloud
  • Application monitoringnot Oracle Cloud
  • Log aggregationnot Oracle Cloud
  • Distributed tracingnot Oracle Cloud

Oracle Cloud

  • Running virtual machines, databases and storage on Oracle's cloud infrastructurenot Grafana Cloud
  • Hosting Oracle Database workloads on infrastructure from the same vendornot 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

Oracle Cloud

  • The free trial gives US$300 of credit that expires when consumed or after 30 days, whichever comes first
  • The US$300 cloud credit is available only in select countries
  • Only one Oracle Cloud Free Trial or Always Free account is permitted per person
  • Accounts left idle for 30 days or more are eligible for suspension or termination as abandoned
  • Always Free NoSQL Database is restricted to the Phoenix region
  • Free Tier availability is subject to capacity limits, and the published per-service capacity figures are estimates that assume the entire credit is spent on that one service

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

Oracle Cloud

Free
  • Always FreeFree
    • Oracle Autonomous Database
    • 2 compute instances
    • 100 GB storage
  • Pay-as-You-GoFree
    • Flexible pricing
    • No long-term commitment
    • Enterprise support

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 Oracle Cloud if

  • You need autonomous database.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
  • You also want compute instances.
Oracle Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is Grafana Cloud or Oracle Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. Grafana Cloud starts at Free and Oracle Cloud at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Grafana Cloud or Oracle Cloud?
Grafana Cloud starts at Free and Oracle Cloud at Free.
Does Grafana Cloud or Oracle Cloud run on more platforms?
Grafana Cloud runs on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API. Oracle Cloud runs on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
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 Oracle Cloud is typically brought in for.
What can Grafana Cloud do that Oracle Cloud cannot?
Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Prometheus Metrics, Loki Logs, Tempo Traces. Oracle Cloud covers Autonomous Database, Compute Instances, MySQL Database Service, Object Storage. Both handle Kubernetes, Docker, SOC2, HIPAA.

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
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
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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