Softwr

Networking · head to head

Grafana vs Vault

Grafana logo

Grafana

Networking

Observability and Data Visualization

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vault logo

Vault

Cloud

Manage Secrets and Protect Sensitive Data

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Grafana the free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only; Vault vault 1.15.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1, not an OSI open source licence, with IBM Corporation as licensor
  • They diverge on capability: Grafana covers Dashboard creation, Vault covers Secrets management.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Grafana and Vault actually diverge.

Attributes where Grafana and Vault differ
AttributeGrafanaVault
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsWeb, ApiLinux, Windows, Mac, Cloud
CategoryNetworkingCloud
Founded20142015

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

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

Only in Vault

  • Secrets management
  • Encryption
  • Authentication
  • Authorization
  • Audit logging
  • API access
  • High availability
  • Replication

What people use each for

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

Grafana

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

Vault

  • Centrally storing and rotating secrets, API keys and database credentialsnot Grafana
  • Issuing short-lived dynamic credentials to applications instead of static passwordsnot Grafana
  • Encryption as a service and PKI certificate issuancenot 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

Vault

  • Vault 1.15.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1, not an OSI open source licence, with IBM Corporation as licensor
  • The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Vault to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Vault
  • Each version only converts to MPL 2.0 four years after that version is published, and the Change Date is tracked per version
  • Replication, HSM support, namespaces, performance standby nodes, FIPS builds, control group authorisation, multi-factor authentication, secrets sync and lease count quotas all require a Vault Enterprise licence
  • A Vault Enterprise licence must be applied to the cluster before any Enterprise feature can be used

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

Vault

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Secrets management
    • Encryption as a service
    • Identity management
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Advanced features
    • Premium support
    • Dedicated updates

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 Vault if

  • You need secrets management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
  • You also want encryption.
Vault review

Questions people ask

Is Grafana or Vault better?
Neither clearly leads. Grafana starts at Free and Vault at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Grafana or Vault?
Grafana starts at Free and Vault at Free.
Does Grafana or Vault run on more platforms?
Grafana runs on Web, Api. Vault runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
Can I use Grafana for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Vault is typically brought in for.
What can Grafana do that Vault cannot?
Grafana covers Dashboard creation, Alerting, Data source integration, Visualization plugins. Vault covers Secrets management, Encryption, Authentication, Authorization.

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
Vault: Is HashiCorp Vault free to use?

Yes, Vault is available as a free, open-source project. The community version includes secrets management, certificate generation and rotation, encryption services, and credential management. Vault Enterprise is a commercial offering with additional features.

Source
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
Vault: What are the differences between open-source Vault and Vault Enterprise?

Open-source Vault is free and self-hosted. Vault Enterprise includes additional features and commercial support. HashiCorp also offers Vault Dedicated on the HashiCorp Cloud Platform as a fully managed cloud option.

Source
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
Vault: Can I try HashiCorp Cloud Platform Vault without payment?

Yes, HashiCorp offers a free trial option for HCP Vault Dedicated. New users also receive a $500 credit to use across HashiCorp Cloud Platform services.

Source
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
Vault: What does Vault manage and protect?

Vault provides identity-based secrets management for users, machines, services, and AI agents. It automates authentication and authorization for access to secrets, passwords, certificates, encryption keys, and other sensitive data across your infrastructure.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Grafana

More on Vault

Keep looking

Other head to heads