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Networking · head to head

Grafana vs Juniper Mist

Grafana logo

Grafana

Networking

Observability and Data Visualization

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Juniper Mist logo

Juniper Mist

Networking

AI-driven wireless and wired networking where a Wi-Fi Assurance subscription is a required, not optional, add-on

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Grafana has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Grafana the free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only; Juniper Mist wi-Fi Assurance is a required subscription, not optional support, so the AI-driven monitoring that is the product's core selling point cannot be declined while still running the hardware in a supported way
  • They diverge on capability: Grafana covers Dashboard creation, Juniper Mist covers AI-driven assurance.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Grafana and Juniper Mist actually diverge.

Attributes where Grafana and Juniper Mist differ
AttributeGrafanaJuniper Mist
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelusage-basedquote, hardware plus required Wi-Fi Assurance subscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2014Unknown

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

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

  • Dashboard creation
  • Alerting
  • Data source integration
  • Visualization plugins
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

Only in Juniper Mist

  • AI-driven assurance
  • Marvis virtual network assistant
  • Device-agnostic subscriptions
  • SD-WAN integration
  • Location services

What people use each for

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

Grafana

  • Metrics visualization and monitoringnot Juniper Mist
  • Log aggregation and analysisnot Juniper Mist
  • Distributed traces managementnot Juniper Mist
  • System performance profilingnot Juniper Mist

Juniper Mist

  • A large campus or retail network operations team wanting AI-assisted root-cause analysis rather than manual log correlation for wireless issuesnot Grafana
  • An organisation already standardised on Juniper wired infrastructure wanting a unified wireless and SD-WAN management platformnot Grafana
  • A network team that wants subscriptions decoupled from specific device serial numbers, easing hardware refresh cyclesnot Grafana
  • An enterprise wanting natural-language network troubleshooting through the Marvis virtual assistant rather than raw dashboardsnot Grafana

Where each one falls short

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

Grafana

  • The free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only
  • Free is capped at 10,000 active metric series and 50 GB each of logs and traces a month
  • The Pro plan carries a $19 a month platform fee before any usage charges
  • Logs and traces are billed on three separate meters, at $0.050 per GB processed, $0.400 per GB written and $0.100 per GB retained
  • Retaining data is an ongoing charge rather than a one off, so historical data costs every month it exists

Juniper Mist

  • Wi-Fi Assurance is a required subscription, not optional support, so the AI-driven monitoring that is the product's core selling point cannot be declined while still running the hardware in a supported way
  • Pricing is entirely quote-based with no published list price, and third-party estimates of typical contract size vary widely, making it hard to budget before engaging Juniper sales
  • Premium Analytics is priced as a further add-on beyond the already-required base subscription, so the full-featured cost is higher than the headline Wi-Fi Assurance price alone
  • As with other cloud-managed hardware in this category, ongoing cloud connectivity is required for full functionality, and local resilience during an internet outage should be verified before purchase
  • Deployment-level licence attachment eases hardware swaps but still means the licence, not the hardware, is the thing actually being renewed and paid for indefinitely
  • Juniper's acquisition of Mist folds product direction into Juniper's broader roadmap and pricing strategy, which has already shifted since acquisition and may shift again

Pricing, plan by plan

Grafana

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Limited usage across all services
    • 14-day retention for metrics, logs, traces, profiles
    • Community support only
  • Pro$19/month
    • Pay-as-you-go pricing with volume discounts
    • 13-month retention for metrics
    • 30-day retention for logs/traces/profiles
  • Enterprise$25000/year
    • Custom pricing based on annual volume
    • Premium support included
    • Custom retention options

Juniper Mist

On request
  • Wi-Fi Assurance$undefined/year
    • Required base subscription for AI-driven monitoring and cloud management
  • Premium Analytics$undefined/year
    • Additional add-on subscription on top of Wi-Fi Assurance

Which should you pick?

Choose Grafana if

  • You need dashboard creation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want alerting.
Grafana review

Choose Juniper Mist if

  • You need ai-driven assurance.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want marvis virtual network assistant.
Juniper Mist review

Questions people ask

Is Grafana or Juniper Mist better?
Neither clearly leads. Grafana starts at Free and Juniper Mist at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Grafana or Juniper Mist?
Grafana has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Grafana and On request for Juniper Mist.
Does Grafana or Juniper Mist run on more platforms?
Grafana runs on Web, Api. Juniper Mist runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Grafana for free?
Yes. Grafana has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Juniper Mist starts at On request.
What is Grafana best used for?
Grafana is most often used for metrics visualization and monitoring, log aggregation and analysis, distributed traces management, system performance profiling. Of those, metrics visualization and monitoring and log aggregation and analysis are not what Juniper Mist is typically brought in for.
What can Grafana do that Juniper Mist cannot?
Grafana covers Dashboard creation, Alerting, Data source integration, Visualization plugins. Juniper Mist covers AI-driven assurance, Marvis virtual network assistant, Device-agnostic subscriptions, SD-WAN integration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Grafana: What is Grafana's pricing model?

Grafana offers a freemium model with a free tier, Pro tier starting at 19 USD/month with pay-as-you-go usage charges, and Enterprise plans starting at 25000 USD/year.

Source
Juniper Mist: Is the Wi-Fi Assurance subscription optional?

No, Juniper lists it as a required subscription for Mist wireless deployments; Premium Analytics is a further optional add-on.

Grafana: How long is data retention for each plan?

Free tier provides 14-day retention for metrics, logs, traces, and profiles. Pro tier extends this to 13 months for metrics and 30 days for logs/traces/profiles. Enterprise offers custom retention options.

Source
Juniper Mist: Is pricing published?

No, Juniper does not publish per-device or per-site pricing; it is quoted per deal.

Grafana: What support is included in each tier?

Free tier includes community support only. Pro tier provides 8 times 5 email support. Enterprise includes premium 24/7 support.

Source
Juniper Mist: Are licences tied to specific hardware serial numbers?

No, Mist subscriptions attach to the deployment and are not bound to individual device serial numbers, which eases hardware refresh.

Grafana: Does Grafana offer volume discounts?

Yes, Grafana uses adaptive pricing with automatic volume discounts as usage scales, and provides cost-optimization tools to help eliminate spending on unused data.

Source
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