Software · head to head
Proxmox VE vs Grafana Cloud
Proxmox VE
Software
Open-source hypervisor combining KVM and LXC virtualisation
- From
- €120/year
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Grafana Cloud has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Proxmox VE per-socket licensing model: cost scales with CPU socket count, not vCore count, resulting in high costs for multi-socket servers; Grafana Cloud active Series (AS) billing model is difficult to predict and control; misconfiguration can cause sudden spikes and unexpected bills
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Proxmox VE and Grafana Cloud actually diverge.
| Attribute | Proxmox VE | Grafana Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | €120/year | Free |
| Pricing model | subscription | Unknown |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Linux, Web, API, Self-hosted | Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API |
| Founded | Unknown | 2014 |
Identical on both: 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 Proxmox VE
Nothing recorded that Grafana Cloud does not also cover.
Only in Grafana Cloud
- Grafana Dashboards
- Prometheus Metrics
- Loki Logs
- Tempo Traces
- Alerting
- OnCall
- Synthetic Monitoring
- Incident Management
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Proxmox VE
- Open-source datacenter virtualisation for hosting providers and cloud platformsnot Grafana Cloud
- Cost-sensitive enterprise virtualisation replacing commercial hypervisorsnot Grafana Cloud
- High-availability clustering for disaster recovery and business continuitynot Grafana Cloud
- Container deployments using LXC as lighter-weight alternative to Dockernot Grafana Cloud
- Hybrid VM and container workloads in a single management interfacenot Grafana Cloud
- Backup and archival infrastructure alongside primary virtualisationnot Grafana Cloud
Grafana Cloud
- Infrastructure monitoringnot Proxmox VE
- Application monitoringnot Proxmox VE
- Log aggregationnot Proxmox VE
- Distributed tracingnot Proxmox VE
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Proxmox VE
- Per-socket licensing model: cost scales with CPU socket count, not vCore count, resulting in high costs for multi-socket servers
- Linux-based host only; Windows hypervisors not supported, limiting adoption in Windows-focused organisations
- Clustering and high-availability setup requires operational expertise and careful network configuration
- Commercial support tiers limit advanced features (just-in-time access, network flow logs) to paid subscriptions
- Smaller ecosystem of third-party plugins and integrations compared to VMware vSphere
Grafana Cloud
- Active Series (AS) billing model is difficult to predict and control; misconfiguration can cause sudden spikes and unexpected bills
- Reduced control and customization compared to self-hosted Grafana instances
- Data sovereignty concerns for organizations requiring on-premises data retention
- Limited reporting types compared to traditional BI tools for compliance and audit requirements
Pricing, plan by plan
Proxmox VE
€120/year- Community$120/year
- Enterprise Repository access
- Community forum support only
- Per-socket subscription model
- Basic$370/year
- 3 support tickets per year
- 1 business day response time
- Stable updates and Enterprise Repository
- Standard$550/year
- 10 support tickets per year
- 4-hour response time for critical issues
- Remote SSH support and offline updates
- Premium$1100/year
- Unlimited support tickets
- 2-hour response time for critical issues
- Remote SSH support and offline updates
Grafana Cloud
Free- FreeFree
- 10k active series (metrics)
- 50GB logs/traces per month
- 3 active users
- Pro$19/month
- Usage-based pricing beyond free tier
- 8 USD per active visualization user
- Included Grafana Alerting
- Enterprise$25000/year
- Minimum annual commitment
- Full-service deployment options
- Premium support
Which should you pick?
Choose Grafana Cloud if
- You need grafana dashboards.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API.
- You also want prometheus metrics.
Questions people ask
- Is Proxmox VE or Grafana Cloud better?
- Neither clearly leads. Proxmox VE starts at €120/year and Grafana Cloud at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Proxmox VE or Grafana Cloud?
- Grafana Cloud has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at €120/year for Proxmox VE and Free for Grafana Cloud.
- Does Proxmox VE or Grafana Cloud run on more platforms?
- Proxmox VE runs on Linux, Web, API, Self-hosted. Grafana Cloud runs on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API.
- Can I use Grafana Cloud for free?
- Yes. Grafana Cloud has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Proxmox VE starts at €120/year.
- What is Proxmox VE best used for?
- Proxmox VE is most often used for open-source datacenter virtualisation for hosting providers and cloud platforms, cost-sensitive enterprise virtualisation replacing commercial hypervisors, high-availability clustering for disaster recovery and business continuity, container deployments using lxc as lighter-weight alternative to docker. Of those, open-source datacenter virtualisation for hosting providers and cloud platforms and cost-sensitive enterprise virtualisation replacing commercial hypervisors are not what Grafana Cloud is typically brought in for.
- What can Proxmox VE do that Grafana Cloud cannot?
- Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Prometheus Metrics, Loki Logs, Tempo Traces.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Proxmox VE: What is the licensing model for Proxmox VE?
Proxmox VE is open-source and free to deploy. Optional subscription tiers provide technical support, priority response times, and access to the Enterprise Repository for stable update channels. All tiers include identical virtualisation features.
SourceGrafana Cloud: What are the exact limits of Grafana Cloud's free tier?
Grafana Cloud free tier includes 10,000 active series for metrics, 50GB logs and traces per month, 3 active visualization users, and 14-day retention with community support. No credit card required.
SourceProxmox VE: Can I run Proxmox VE without a support subscription?
Yes. Community Edition (€120/year per socket) provides Enterprise Repository access with community-based support through forums. The core Proxmox VE platform is fully functional without any subscription.
SourceGrafana Cloud: How is Grafana Cloud billed, and what are the per-unit costs?
Grafana Cloud Pro tier starts at $19/month platform fee plus usage-based charges. Metrics cost $6.50 per 1,000 active series above free limits, logs and traces are charged per GB ingested, and visualization users are $8 per active user.
SourceProxmox VE: What hypervisors does Proxmox VE support?
Proxmox VE includes both KVM for full virtualisation and LXC for Linux containers. It does not support Xen or Hyper-V. Workloads on those platforms must be migrated or reimplemented.
SourceGrafana Cloud: Can I use Grafana Cloud for open-source Grafana deployments?
Grafana Cloud is the managed cloud service version. Open-source Grafana is free and can be self-hosted indefinitely on your own infrastructure.
SourceGrafana Cloud: What observability signals does Grafana Cloud include?
Grafana Cloud includes metrics (via Mimir), logs (via Loki), traces (via Tempo), profiles, and synthetics, with unified querying and visualization across all signals.
SourceGrafana Cloud: Does Grafana Cloud include alerting and how is it priced?
Yes, Grafana Alerting is included at no additional charge across all tiers. Rule storage, evaluation, and notification delivery are covered by the platform fee with no per-alert or per-notification fees.
Source