Datadog vs Grafana OSS

Fit:

Migration notes

Replaces dashboarding/alerting workflow when paired with separately operated telemetry stores and collectors. Grafana alone is not a full Datadog APM/logs/security replacement; dashboards and alert rules require rebuilding.

Sources: grafana.com, www.datadoghq.com · checked 2026-10-21

DatadogPaid incumbent

Entry priceUSD 15 / usage / month

Pricing modelmixed, billed annual

OwnerDatadog, Inc.

Infrastructure Pro starts at $15 per host/month billed annually; other modules priced separately. Source

Datadog plans reviewed
Infrastructure Pro	entry	USD 180 / monitored host / yr
Infrastructure Pro	business	USD 180 / monitored host / yr
Infrastructure Enterprise	enterprise	USD 276 / monitored host / yr

Grafana OSSOpen-source alternative

Fit for Datadog

License

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 Permissions of this strongest copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications, which include larger works using a licensed work, under the same license. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. When a modified version is used to provide a service over a network, the complete source code of the modified version must be made available. May Commercial useModificationDistributionPatent usePrivate use Must License and copyright noticeState changesDisclose sourceNetwork use is distributionSame license No LiabilityWarranty Summary from GitHub's choosealicense.com

Paid-feature tier C

Self-host

Paid-feature limits4 noted

Grafana OSS plans reviewed
Grafana OSS	free self-hosted Grafana core	Free
Grafana Cloud Pro	vendor commercial cloud	USD 19 / organization / mo
Grafana Cloud Enterprise	vendor commercial cloud	USD 25,000 / organization / yr

What you may give up

Enterprise data-source plugins
Scheduled reporting
SAML authentication and team synchronization
Data-source permissions and usage insights

Tier C: OSS dashboards and alerting are AGPL. Commercial edition includes both enterprise administration and routine workflow extensions such as proprietary data-source integrations and reporting; conservative tier C, not feature-complete A. License source

What running it takes

Hover or focus an icon for its name. Dashed means not established; struck through means no; grouped icons are alternatives.

Binary/package and Docker deployment routes. Production should use My SQL or Postgre SQL; SQLite is an embedded evaluation default. No mandatory standalone cache/queue identified for a single Grafana server. Infrastructure and staff time are not priced here; this page does not compare total cost.