Software · head to head
Loki vs Dynatrace
Dynatrace
Software
Application Performance Management and Observability
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Loki the Grafana Cloud free tier caps log ingestion at 50 GB a month with 14 day retention; Dynatrace pricing is commitment based: rates require an annual platform level commitment rather than month to month purchase
- They diverge on capability: Loki covers Log aggregation, Dynatrace covers AI-powered analytics.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Loki and Dynatrace actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), 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 Loki
- Log aggregation
- Label-based indexing
- Real-time log streaming
- LogQL query language
Only in Dynatrace
- AI-powered analytics
- APM
- Infrastructure monitoring
- Log analysis
Both cover
- API
- Webhooks
- REST
- Web support
- Api support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Loki
- Aggregating application and infrastructure logs with label based indexingnot Dynatrace
- Querying logs alongside metrics in Grafananot Dynatrace
Dynatrace
- Full stack application performance monitoring with automatic dependency discoverynot Loki
- Kubernetes and container platform observability priced per podnot Loki
- Log ingest, processing and query analyticsnot Loki
- Real user monitoring and session replay for web applicationsnot Loki
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Loki
- The Grafana Cloud free tier caps log ingestion at 50 GB a month with 14 day retention
- Paid log pricing is split across three separate meters, at $0.050 per GB processed, $0.400 per GB written and $0.100 per GB retained
- Retaining logs is billed separately from ingesting them, so keeping data costs on an ongoing basis rather than once
- The Pro plan carries a $19 a month platform fee before any usage charges
Dynatrace
- Pricing is commitment based: rates require an annual platform level commitment rather than month to month purchase
- Full-Stack Monitoring is priced at $58 per month per 8 GiB of host memory, so a 64 GiB host counts as eight units
- Infrastructure Monitoring at $29 per host per month excludes code level tracing, which requires Full-Stack
- Session Replay doubles Real User Monitoring cost from $2.25 to $4.50 per 1,000 sessions
- Runtime Vulnerability Analytics and Runtime Application Protection are each charged separately at $13 per month per 8 GiB host on top of monitoring
Pricing, plan by plan
Loki
Free- FreeFree
- Log aggregation
- Label-based indexing
- Real-time log streaming
Dynatrace
Free- FreeFree
- AI-powered analytics
- APM
- Infrastructure monitoring
Which should you pick?
Choose Loki if
- You need log aggregation.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want label-based indexing.
Choose Dynatrace if
- You need ai-powered analytics.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want apm.
Questions people ask
- Is Loki or Dynatrace better?
- Neither clearly leads. Loki starts at Free and Dynatrace at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Loki or Dynatrace?
- Loki starts at Free and Dynatrace at Free.
- Does Loki or Dynatrace run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Loki for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Loki best used for?
- Loki is most often used for aggregating application and infrastructure logs with label based indexing, querying logs alongside metrics in grafana. Of those, aggregating application and infrastructure logs with label based indexing and querying logs alongside metrics in grafana are not what Dynatrace is typically brought in for.
- What can Loki do that Dynatrace cannot?
- Loki covers Log aggregation, Label-based indexing, Real-time log streaming, LogQL query language. Dynatrace covers AI-powered analytics, APM, Infrastructure monitoring, Log analysis. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.