Softwr

Logging · head to head

New Relic vs PagerDuty

New Relic logo

New Relic

Logging

Observability made simple

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PagerDuty logo

PagerDuty

Technology

Real-time operations for real-time business

From
$21/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only New Relic has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: New Relic data ingest costs can be high for large-scale deployments with high logging volume, making budgeting difficult; PagerDuty aIOps, status pages, and live call routing are expensive add-ons not included in base plans, significantly increasing total cost
  • They diverge on capability: New Relic covers APM, PagerDuty covers Incident response.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which New Relic and PagerDuty actually diverge.

Attributes where New Relic and PagerDuty differ
AttributeNew RelicPagerDuty
Starting priceFree$21/month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Api, MobileWeb, Ios, Android, Api
CategoryLoggingTechnology
Founded20082009

Identical on both: pricing model (Unknown), 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 New Relic

  • APM
  • Infrastructure Monitoring
  • Log Management
  • Browser Monitoring
  • Synthetic Monitoring
  • Mobile Monitoring
  • Kubernetes Monitoring
  • AI Ops

Only in PagerDuty

  • Incident response
  • On-call management
  • Alert grouping
  • Escalation policies
  • Mobile incident management
  • Postmortems
  • Status pages
  • Event intelligence

Both cover

  • SOC2
  • HIPAA
  • ISO27001

What people use each for

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

New Relic

  • Application monitoringnot PagerDuty
  • Infrastructure monitoringnot PagerDuty
  • Error trackingnot PagerDuty
  • Performance optimizationnot PagerDuty

PagerDuty

  • Incident managementnot New Relic
  • On-call schedulingnot New Relic
  • Real-time alertingnot New Relic
  • Service reliabilitynot New Relic
  • Digital operationsnot New Relic

Where each one falls short

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

New Relic

  • Data ingest costs can be high for large-scale deployments with high logging volume, making budgeting difficult
  • Core user licensing model adds complexity to pricing with distinction between full platform users and basic users
  • Default logs obfuscation may miss some sensitive patterns requiring custom configuration
  • Retention limits even on paid tiers require additional storage for long-term compliance requirements

PagerDuty

  • AIOps, status pages, and live call routing are expensive add-ons not included in base plans, significantly increasing total cost
  • Complex escalation policies require workarounds for scheduling patterns beyond basic weekly rotations
  • 5-user minimum requirement forces costs even for small teams, with forced Business tier upgrades adding $12,000+ annually for larger teams

Pricing, plan by plan

New Relic

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the New Relic review.

PagerDuty

$21/month

No published plan breakdown. See the PagerDuty review.

Which should you pick?

Choose New Relic if

  • You need apm.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Mobile.
  • You also want infrastructure monitoring.
New Relic review

Choose PagerDuty if

  • You need incident response.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want on-call management.
PagerDuty review

Questions people ask

Is New Relic or PagerDuty better?
Neither clearly leads. New Relic starts at Free and PagerDuty at $21/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, New Relic or PagerDuty?
New Relic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for New Relic and $21/month for PagerDuty.
Does New Relic or PagerDuty run on more platforms?
New Relic runs on Web, Api, Mobile. PagerDuty runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
Can I use New Relic for free?
Yes. New Relic has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. PagerDuty starts at $21/month.
What is New Relic best used for?
New Relic is most often used for application monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, error tracking, performance optimization. Of those, application monitoring and infrastructure monitoring are not what PagerDuty is typically brought in for.
What can New Relic do that PagerDuty cannot?
New Relic covers APM, Infrastructure Monitoring, Log Management, Browser Monitoring. PagerDuty covers Incident response, On-call management, Alert grouping, Escalation policies. Both handle SOC2, HIPAA, ISO27001.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

New Relic: Does New Relic offer a free tier?

Yes, New Relic's free tier is perpetual with no credit card required. It includes 100 GB of free data ingest monthly, one Full Platform User with access to all 50+ capabilities, and unlimited Basic Users for querying and dashboard creation.

Source
PagerDuty: What is the minimum cost to use PagerDuty?

PagerDuty requires a minimum of 5 users per account. The Professional plan starts at $21 per user per month ($105/month minimum), with annual billing providing 16% discount.

Source
New Relic: How much does New Relic cost for paid plans?

Paid plans start at $49 per month per core user. New Relic uses consumption-based pricing where you pay only for what you use. Annual commitment options are available with volume discounts for larger teams.

Source
PagerDuty: What integrations does PagerDuty support?

PagerDuty integrates with 750+ monitoring, ticketing, and collaboration tools including Datadog, Slack, Jira, ServiceNow, New Relic, and Nagios.

Source
New Relic: What data retention is included in New Relic's free tier?

The free tier includes a minimum of 8 days data retention for troubleshooting. Paid plans offer extended retention periods and customizable data retention policies.

Source
PagerDuty: How much does AIOps cost in PagerDuty?

AIOps Intelligence is sold separately as an add-on starting at $699 per month, and is not included in any of the base plans.

Source
New Relic: How many integrations does New Relic support?

New Relic provides access to 780+ integrations and unlimited hosts at no additional cost. These include monitoring integrations for various cloud services, databases, and applications.

Source
New Relic: Can I use New Relic to monitor multiple cloud providers?

Yes, New Relic is cloud-agnostic and supports monitoring across AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, and on-premises infrastructure in a single platform.

Source
New Relic: What is New Relic's ownership structure today?

New Relic was acquired by TPG and Francisco Partners on July 31, 2023, for $6.5 billion and transitioned from a publicly traded company to a private company in November 2023.

Source
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