Log Management · head to head
Rollbar vs Azure Monitor
Azure Monitor
Log Management
Azure's Monitoring and Diagnostics Service
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Rollbar the free plan allows 5,000 occurrences a month with 30 day retention; Azure Monitor billed per GB ingested across three separate log plans, Auxiliary, Basic and Analytics, so the plan chosen changes the rate as much as the volume does
- They diverge on capability: Rollbar covers Error tracking, Azure Monitor covers Log collection.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Rollbar and Azure Monitor actually diverge.
| Attribute | Rollbar | Azure Monitor |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 | 2010 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Log Management).
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 Rollbar
- Error tracking
- Real-time alerts
- Error grouping
- Source maps
Only in Azure Monitor
- Log collection
- Metrics collection
- Alerts and notifications
- Custom dashboards
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.
Rollbar
- Tracking application errors and exceptions across deploymentsnot Azure Monitor
- Grouping and alerting on production error occurrencesnot Azure Monitor
Azure Monitor
- Collecting logs and metrics from Azure resourcesnot Rollbar
- Alerting on metric thresholds and log queriesnot Rollbar
- Application performance monitoring through Application Insightsnot Rollbar
- Long-term log retention for compliancenot Rollbar
- Querying operational data with KQLnot Rollbar
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Rollbar
- The free plan allows 5,000 occurrences a month with 30 day retention
- Retention is a paid ladder rather than a setting, at up to 90 days on Essentials and up to 180 on Advanced
- Advanced alerting, the RQL analytics query language and SCIM provisioning are excluded from the free plan
- Enterprise requires a $4M annual plan minimum
- No price is published for Essentials or Advanced, so only the free tier has a visible cost
Azure Monitor
- Billed per GB ingested across three separate log plans, Auxiliary, Basic and Analytics, so the plan chosen changes the rate as much as the volume does
- Only the first 5 GB a month of Analytics logs is free per billing account
- Retention beyond the base period is charged per GB per month, up to 2 years interactive and 12 years long term
- Log queries and search jobs are billed per GB scanned, so investigating an incident costs money
- Alert rules are billed per time series for metrics and by execution frequency for logs
- The pricing page shows placeholders rather than rates until a region and currency are chosen
Pricing, plan by plan
Rollbar
Free- FreeFree
- Error tracking
- Real-time alerts
- Error grouping
Azure Monitor
Free- FreeFree
- Log collection
- Metrics collection
- Alerts and notifications
Which should you pick?
Choose Rollbar if
- You need error tracking.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want real-time alerts.
Choose Azure Monitor if
- You need log collection.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want metrics collection.
Questions people ask
- Is Rollbar or Azure Monitor better?
- Neither clearly leads. Rollbar starts at Free and Azure Monitor at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Rollbar or Azure Monitor?
- Rollbar starts at Free and Azure Monitor at Free.
- Does Rollbar or Azure Monitor run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Rollbar for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Rollbar best used for?
- Rollbar is most often used for tracking application errors and exceptions across deployments, grouping and alerting on production error occurrences. Of those, tracking application errors and exceptions across deployments and grouping and alerting on production error occurrences are not what Azure Monitor is typically brought in for.
- What can Rollbar do that Azure Monitor cannot?
- Rollbar covers Error tracking, Real-time alerts, Error grouping, Source maps. Azure Monitor covers Log collection, Metrics collection, Alerts and notifications, Custom dashboards. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.