Software · head to head
Retrace vs Airbrake
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Retrace end of Life scheduled for March 31, 2027; the product is being discontinued; Airbrake data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier
- They diverge on capability: Retrace covers Log management, Airbrake covers Error tracking.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Retrace and Airbrake actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Retrace
- Log management
- Application performance tracking
- Error detection
- Code profiling
- Performance baselines
Only in Airbrake
- Error tracking
- Performance monitoring
- Deploy tracking
- Custom notifications
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.
Retrace
- Log monitoringnot Airbrake
- Application performancenot Airbrake
- Security analyticsnot Airbrake
- Troubleshootingnot Airbrake
Airbrake
- Error and exception monitoring for web applicationsnot Retrace
- Performance monitoring alongside error trackingnot Retrace
- Alerting a team when a deploy introduces a spike in errorsnot Retrace
- Tracking errors across multiple projects in one accountnot Retrace
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Retrace
- End of Life scheduled for March 31, 2027; the product is being discontinued
- Costs escalate quickly with per-server billing model, expensive at scale
- User interface and dashboard criticisms; UI is outdated and difficult to use
- Logging latency; logs can take time to appear and are not instant
- Less mature support for Node.js, Python, and newer ecosystems
- Reporting issues where process restarts provide only timeline without root cause data
- Reliability concerns; monitoring has stopped collecting traces with no warning
Airbrake
- Data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier
- The entry plan at $19 a month covers 25,000 errors and 7,500 events
- Errors beyond the plan quota are billed on demand
- Audit logs and spike forgiveness require the Pro tier
- The lowest tier is limited to 1 user and 1 team
Pricing, plan by plan
Retrace
Free- FreeFree
- Log management
- Application performance tracking
- Error detection
Airbrake
Free- FreeFree
- Error tracking
- Performance monitoring
- Deploy tracking
Which should you pick?
Choose Retrace if
- You need log management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, .NET, Java, PHP, Node.js, Python.
- You also want application performance tracking.
Choose Airbrake if
- You need error tracking.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want performance monitoring.
Questions people ask
- Is Retrace or Airbrake better?
- Neither clearly leads. Retrace starts at Free and Airbrake at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Retrace or Airbrake?
- Retrace starts at Free and Airbrake at Free.
- Does Retrace or Airbrake run on more platforms?
- Retrace runs on Web, .NET, Java, PHP, Node.js, Python. Airbrake runs on Web, Api.
- Can I use Retrace for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Retrace best used for?
- Retrace is most often used for log monitoring, application performance, security analytics, troubleshooting. Of those, log monitoring and application performance are not what Airbrake is typically brought in for.
- What can Retrace do that Airbrake cannot?
- Retrace covers Log management, Application performance tracking, Error detection, Code profiling. Airbrake covers Error tracking, Performance monitoring, Deploy tracking, Custom notifications. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Retrace: What does Retrace monitor?
Retrace provides application performance monitoring (APM), centralized log management, error tracking, code profiling, and real user monitoring (RUM). It aggregates logs from applications and servers in one place.
SourceRetrace: What programming languages does Retrace support?
Retrace supports .NET, .NET Core, PHP, Node.js, Ruby, Python, and Java applications. Support for Node.js, Python, and newer ecosystems is noted as less mature.
SourceRetrace: Is Retrace being discontinued?
Yes. Retrace will reach End of Life on March 31, 2027. Users should plan to migrate to alternative solutions.
SourceRetrace: What databases and services does Retrace integrate with?
Retrace supports SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, and cloud platforms like AWS and Azure.
Source