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Logging · head to head

Rollbar vs Stackdriver

Rollbar logo

Rollbar

Logging

Real-Time Error Tracking and Debugging

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Stackdriver logo

Stackdriver

Logging

Google Cloud Operations - Monitoring and Logging

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Rollbar the free plan allows 5,000 occurrences a month with 30 day retention; Stackdriver stackdriver is now branded Google Cloud Observability and cloud.google.com/stackdriver redirects to the Observability product page
  • They diverge on capability: Rollbar covers Error tracking, Stackdriver covers Log management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Rollbar and Stackdriver actually diverge.

Attributes where Rollbar and Stackdriver differ
AttributeRollbarStackdriver
Pricing modelfreemiumusage-based
Founded20122006

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), 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 Rollbar

  • Error tracking
  • Real-time alerts
  • Error grouping
  • Source maps

Only in Stackdriver

  • Log management
  • Metrics collection
  • Real-time monitoring
  • Error reporting

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 Stackdriver
  • Grouping and alerting on production error occurrencesnot Stackdriver

Stackdriver

  • Application performance monitoringnot Rollbar
  • Log aggregation and analysisnot Rollbar
  • Cloud infrastructure observabilitynot Rollbar
  • Distributed trace analysisnot 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

Stackdriver

  • Stackdriver is now branded Google Cloud Observability and cloud.google.com/stackdriver redirects to the Observability product page
  • Cloud Logging charges $0.50 per GiB ingested, with only the first 50 GiB per project per month free
  • Logs kept beyond 30 days cost an extra $0.01 per GiB per month on top of the ingestion charge
  • Monitoring metric ingestion starts at $0.2580 per MiB, with only the first 150 MiB per billing account free
  • Alerting policies are billed at $0.35 per month for each metric reference in the policy
  • Uptime checks cost $0.30 per 1,000 executions and synthetic monitors $1.20 per 1,000 executions, with only 100 synthetic executions per billing account free
  • Monitoring read API calls cost $0.50 per million time series returned beyond the first million per billing account
  • Log volume is measured before indexing on the actual size of log entries, so verbose logging directly drives cost

Pricing, plan by plan

Rollbar

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 5K occurrences per month
    • 1K replays
    • Real-time alerts
  • Essentials$null/month
    • 10K-50M occurrences
    • 4K credits included
    • 90-day retention
  • Advanced$null/month
    • 8K credits
    • Adaptive alerts
    • RQL and Metrics API
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • 80M+ events
    • Direct Slack support
    • Priority SLAs

Stackdriver

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Log management
    • Metrics collection
    • Real-time monitoring

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.
Rollbar review

Choose Stackdriver if

  • You need log management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want metrics collection.
Stackdriver review

Questions people ask

Is Rollbar or Stackdriver better?
Neither clearly leads. Rollbar starts at Free and Stackdriver at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Rollbar or Stackdriver?
Rollbar starts at Free and Stackdriver at Free.
Does Rollbar or Stackdriver 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 Stackdriver is typically brought in for.
What can Rollbar do that Stackdriver cannot?
Rollbar covers Error tracking, Real-time alerts, Error grouping, Source maps. Stackdriver covers Log management, Metrics collection, Real-time monitoring, Error reporting. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Rollbar: How much does Rollbar cost?

Free plan is $0 with 5K occurrences per month. Essentials, Advanced, and Enterprise plans do not have published pricing and require contact with sales.

Source
Stackdriver: How much does Google Cloud Observability (Stackdriver) cost?

Google Cloud Observability does not publish fixed subscription prices. The service uses a usage-based pricing model where you pay for actual consumption. Specific rates require visiting the individual pricing pages for Cloud Logging, Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Trace, and Cloud Profiler.

Source
Rollbar: Is there a free trial?

Yes, a 14-day full access trial is available with 200K occurrences, 10K replays, and 15K credits.

Source
Stackdriver: What is the pricing model for Cloud Logging?

Cloud Logging uses usage-based pricing charged per GB of logs ingested and per GB stored, with monthly free tiers included. Storage charges vary by retention period and location.

Source
Rollbar: How are overages handled?

Three overage protection options are available: stop processing at plan limits, enable on-demand billing at standard rates, or set a custom overage budget cap.

Source
Stackdriver: How is Cloud Monitoring billed?

Cloud Monitoring charges per custom metric time series per month, with a monthly free tier for metrics. Standard monitoring includes basic default metrics at no extra charge.

Source
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