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Cloud · head to head

Grafana Cloud vs Orca Security

Grafana Cloud logo

Grafana Cloud

Cloud

Composable observability platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Orca Security logo

Orca Security

Cloud

Agentless cloud-native application protection platform for code-to-runtime security.

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Grafana Cloud has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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; Orca Security no public pricing; requires a demo and custom quote from sales.
  • They diverge on capability: Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Orca Security covers Agentless cloud scanning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Grafana Cloud and Orca Security actually diverge.

Attributes where Grafana Cloud and Orca Security differ
AttributeGrafana CloudOrca Security
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), APIweb, api
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud).

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 Orca Security

  • Agentless cloud scanning
  • Attack path analysis
  • Shadow AI detection
  • Secure code development
  • Alert prioritization
  • Workload protection

What people use each for

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

Grafana Cloud

  • Infrastructure monitoringnot Orca Security
  • Application monitoringnot Orca Security
  • Log aggregationnot Orca Security
  • Distributed tracingnot Orca Security

Orca Security

  • Gaining full cloud asset visibility without deploying agentsnot Grafana Cloud
  • Prioritizing cloud risk with attack path correlationnot Grafana Cloud
  • Detecting shadow AI usage across cloud environmentsnot Grafana Cloud
  • Scanning code, containers, and IaC before deploymentnot Grafana Cloud
  • Reducing alert fatigue through contextual risk scoringnot 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

Orca Security

  • No public pricing; requires a demo and custom quote from sales.
  • Agentless-only scanning may miss some runtime telemetry that agent-based tools capture.
  • Full value depends on integrating many of the platform's modules across code, cloud, and AI.
  • Primarily targeted at mid-to-large organizations with multi-cloud environments.

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

Orca Security

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Orca Security 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 Orca Security if

  • You need agentless cloud scanning.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want attack path analysis.
Orca Security review

Questions people ask

Is Grafana Cloud or Orca Security better?
Neither clearly leads. Grafana Cloud starts at Free and Orca Security at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Grafana Cloud or Orca Security?
Grafana Cloud has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Grafana Cloud and On request for Orca Security.
Does Grafana Cloud or Orca Security run on more platforms?
Grafana Cloud runs on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API. Orca Security runs on web, api.
Can I use Grafana Cloud for free?
Yes. Grafana Cloud has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Orca Security starts at On request.
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 Orca Security is typically brought in for.
What can Grafana Cloud do that Orca Security cannot?
Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Prometheus Metrics, Loki Logs, Tempo Traces. Orca Security covers Agentless cloud scanning, Attack path analysis, Shadow AI detection, Secure code development.

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
Orca Security: How much does Orca Security cost?

Orca Security does not publish pricing tiers or rates on their website. Organizations must contact Orca Security directly or request a demo to receive custom pricing information based on their specific use case and requirements.

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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