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Cloud · head to head

Grafana Cloud vs Sentry

Grafana Cloud logo

Grafana Cloud

Cloud

Composable observability platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sentry logo

Sentry

Technology

Application monitoring platform built by developers for developers

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; Sentry spending caps stop event ingestion when reached, eliminating visibility during critical moments
  • They diverge on capability: Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Sentry covers Error tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Grafana Cloud and Sentry differ
AttributeGrafana CloudSentry
PlatformsWeb (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), APIWeb, iOS, Android, React Native, Desktop, 30+ frameworks and languages
CategoryCloudTechnology
Founded20142011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Unknown), 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
  • OnCall
  • Synthetic Monitoring
  • Incident Management
  • AWS

Only in Sentry

  • Error tracking
  • Performance monitoring
  • Release tracking
  • Real user monitoring
  • Issue assignment
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Source maps
  • GitHub

Both cover

  • Alerting
  • PagerDuty
  • SOC2
  • HIPAA

What people use each for

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

Grafana Cloud

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

Sentry

  • Error monitoringnot Grafana Cloud
  • Performance trackingnot Grafana Cloud
  • Debug production issuesnot Grafana Cloud
  • Release managementnot Grafana Cloud
  • User monitoringnot 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

Sentry

  • Spending caps stop event ingestion when reached, eliminating visibility during critical moments
  • Complex configuration required for filters, sampling rules, issue grouping, and alert policies
  • Difficult to configure custom alerts and alert content without creating email inbox bloat
  • Error grouping is imperfect with noise and filtering issues causing incorrect error prioritization
  • Weak for distributed tracing across microservices compared to dedicated APM tools
  • UI dashboard is less customizable than alternatives like Datadog APM for complex monitoring needs

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

Sentry

Free
  • Developer (Free)Free
    • 5K errors per month
    • 1 user seat
    • 30-day data retention
  • Team$26/month
    • 50K errors per month
    • 5M transaction spans
    • 90-day data retention
  • Business$80/month
    • Higher quotas
    • Extended retention
    • Advanced filtering
  • Organization$199/month
    • SSO integration
    • Audit logs
    • Advanced security

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 Sentry if

  • You need error tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, React Native, Desktop, 30+ frameworks and languages.
  • You also want performance monitoring.
Sentry review

Questions people ask

Is Grafana Cloud or Sentry better?
Neither clearly leads. Grafana Cloud starts at Free and Sentry at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Grafana Cloud or Sentry?
Grafana Cloud starts at Free and Sentry at Free.
Does Grafana Cloud or Sentry run on more platforms?
Grafana Cloud runs on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API. Sentry runs on Web, iOS, Android, React Native, Desktop, 30+ frameworks and languages.
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 Sentry is typically brought in for.
What can Grafana Cloud do that Sentry cannot?
Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Prometheus Metrics, Loki Logs, Tempo Traces. Sentry covers Error tracking, Performance monitoring, Release tracking, Real user monitoring. Both handle Alerting, PagerDuty, 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
Sentry: Does Sentry have a free tier?

Yes. The free Developer tier includes 5,000 errors per month, one user seat, 30-day retention, and 50 session replays per month.

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
Sentry: How much do Sentry's paid plans cost?

Team plan starts at $26/month (annual) or $29/month (monthly) with 50K errors and 5M spans included. Business plan is $80-89/month. Organization plans start at $199/month with SSO and advanced compliance features.

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
Sentry: What programming languages does Sentry support?

Sentry supports over 30 languages and frameworks including JavaScript, Python, Go, Ruby, Java, .NET, PHP, Node.js, and mobile platforms including iOS, Android, and React Native.

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
Sentry: Does Sentry support self-hosting?

Yes. Sentry can be self-hosted, and the open-source version is available for deployment in on-premises environments.

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
Sentry: How does Sentry billing work if I exceed my quota?

Sentry offers spending caps that stop ingestion when reached, meaning you lose visibility exactly when you need it most. You can pre-purchase reserved capacity at 20% discount or pay per event on-demand when exceeding included allotment.

Source
Sentry: What integrations does Sentry support?

Sentry integrates with GitHub, GitLab, Jira, Slack, PagerDuty, most CI/CD pipelines, and many other developer tools.

Source
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