Is Loki or Rootly better?

Neither clearly leads. Loki starts at Free and Rootly at $20/user-month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Loki or Rootly?

Loki has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Loki and $20/user-month for Rootly.

Does Loki or Rootly run on more platforms?

Loki runs on Web, Api. Rootly runs on Web, Mobile, Slack, Microsoft Teams.

Can I use Loki for free?

Yes. Loki has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Rootly starts at $20/user-month.

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 Rootly is typically brought in for.

What can Loki do that Rootly cannot?

Loki covers Log aggregation, Label-based indexing, Real-time log streaming, LogQL query language. Rootly covers AI SRE automation, Alert routing, On-call management, Incident response.

Logging · head to head

Loki vs Rootly

Loki

Logging

Like Prometheus but for Logs

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Rootly

Logging

AI-native incident management with automation, on-call, and root cause analysis

From: $20/user-month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Loki has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Loki the Grafana Cloud free tier caps log ingestion at 50 GB a month with 14 day retention; Rootly pricing higher than some competitors for basic features
They diverge on capability: Loki covers Log aggregation, Rootly covers AI SRE automation.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Loki and Rootly actually diverge.

Attributes where Loki and Rootly differ
Attribute	Loki	Rootly
Starting price	Free	$20/user-month
Pricing model	open-source	subscription
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web, Api	Web, Mobile, Slack, Microsoft Teams
Founded	2014	2020

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

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
API
Webhooks
REST
Web support

Only in Rootly

AI SRE automation
Alert routing
On-call management
Incident response
Call routing
AI meeting bot
Status pages

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 Rootly
Querying logs alongside metrics in Grafananot Rootly

Rootly

Automate on-call and incident response workflowsnot Loki
Run root cause analysis with AI assistancenot Loki
Track and improve Mean Time to Mitigation (MTTR)not Loki
Coordinate response across distributed teamsnot Loki
Learn from post-incident retrospectivesnot 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

Rootly

Pricing higher than some competitors for basic features
AI SRE features require separate contact-sales engagement
Learning curve for advanced automation features
Per-user pricing increases costs as team grows

Pricing, plan by plan

Loki

Free

FreeFree
- Log aggregation
- Label-based indexing
- Real-time log streaming

Rootly

$20/user-month

Incident Response Essentials$20/user-month
- Response with Slack integration
- @Rootly AI Chat
- AI Similar Incidents detection
Incident Response Enterprise$undefined/custom
- All Essentials features
- Custom forms and incident types
- Private incidents
On-Call Essentials$20/user-month
- Alert grouping and routing
- Live call routing (1 phone number)
- Schedules and escalation policies
On-Call Enterprise$undefined/custom
- All Essentials features
- 5 phone numbers for call routing
- Unlimited schedules

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.

Loki review

Choose Rootly if

You need ai sre automation.
You work on Web, Mobile, Slack, Microsoft Teams.
You also want alert routing.

Rootly review

Questions people ask

Is Loki or Rootly better?: Neither clearly leads. Loki starts at Free and Rootly at $20/user-month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Loki or Rootly?: Loki has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Loki and $20/user-month for Rootly.
Does Loki or Rootly run on more platforms?: Loki runs on Web, Api. Rootly runs on Web, Mobile, Slack, Microsoft Teams.
Can I use Loki for free?: Yes. Loki has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Rootly starts at $20/user-month.
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 Rootly is typically brought in for.
What can Loki do that Rootly cannot?: Loki covers Log aggregation, Label-based indexing, Real-time log streaming, LogQL query language. Rootly covers AI SRE automation, Alert routing, On-call management, Incident response.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Loki: What does it cost to use Grafana Loki?

Loki is open source and free under the AGPLv3 license for self-hosted deployments. Grafana's managed Cloud Logs service includes a free tier up to 50GB of logs at no cost.

Source

Rootly: How much does Rootly cost?

Rootly charges $20/user/month for both Incident Response and On-Call Essentials plans. Enterprise plans require contacting sales. Startups under 100 employees with less than $50M raised get up to 50% discount.

Source

Loki: Are there paid options for Loki beyond the free tier?

Yes. Grafana Cloud Logs offers paid tiers for teams and enterprises, and Enterprise Logs provides self-managed options with expert support for organizations with data localization or privacy requirements.

Source

Rootly: What is Rootly AI SRE?

AI SRE is an advanced feature that provides automated root cause analysis, alert correlation with system changes, impact analysis, and remediation suggestions. Pricing requires contact with sales.

Source

Loki: What license does open source Loki use?

Loki is released under the AGPLv3 license, which requires you to share modifications and publish your source code if you deploy modifications publicly.

Source

Rootly: Does Rootly integrate with Slack?

Yes, Rootly natively integrates with Slack for incident response workflows, allowing teams to manage incidents directly in Slack.

Source

Rootly: Are there discounts for small companies?

Yes, startups under 100 employees or less than 25 employees can get special pricing up to 50% discount. Contact Rootly sales for details.

Source

Loki vs Rootly

Loki

Rootly

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Loki

Only in Rootly

What people use each for

Loki

Rootly

Where each one falls short

Loki

Rootly

Pricing, plan by plan

Loki

Rootly

Which should you pick?

Choose Loki if

Choose Rootly if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Loki

More on Rootly

Keep looking

Other head to heads