Grafana vs Datadog

Author: Petar Petrov

In this article, we will compare two well-known tools for monitoring. You will see a brief introduction to both software programs, and then we will compare their pros and cons.

Before we start talking about Datadog and Grafana. We have to say that both of them are used - for monitoring tech infrastructure, servers, and systems. Datadog and Grafana have many features to offer in terms of tools and are user-friendly with great interfaces.

Datadog

Let’s start with Datadog. One of the best software packages for monitoring the market. The tool has many features, such as security, network, real-user, and application performance monitoring. Each of these is of great value. Datadog, as we said, is great for monitoring performance, apps, etc., and comfortable to use. Aside from that, the dashboard permits you to put all the metrics and logs you want to trace in one window. Getting all the data you need on one dashboard is great, and I bet most of you agree with this. It can save you a lot of time, and it’s customizable to fit your or your team’s needs. If this is not enough, the dashboard even allows you to communicate with other team members, making cooperation even easier. To simply put it, Datadog is a fantastic SaaS that allows you to observe inside any application. It offers great features, and on top of that, the tool can even notify you. Datadog’s price is by far not low if you want to use all their tools. The price varies for the different ones but is charged monthly, and, sometimes, depending on what you want, can be costly.

Grafana

Now it’s time for Grafana. The first thing we can talk about is that Grafana is an open-source tool for visualization. Similar to Datadog, it allows you to visualize and then analyze all the data you need. It works on the same principle as a dashboard filled with all the metrics you need. This tool, by its nature, is open-source, which somehow helps it to constantly improve and, at the same time, is free. Although it is free, the features it offers are no less than the previous one.

Of its many opportunities, one of our favorites is that Grafana lets you analyze data in many ways. Trust us when we say many, we mean it. For example, you can do so with histograms or maps, which, in our opinion, come in handy sometimes. If this is not enough for you, this tool offers an alerting system like the previous one. Being able to set up alerts is always useful.

If this is not enough for you, then you should pay attention to the plug-ins. Yes, there are many good ones that you can include if you so desire. We have to say that although Grafana is free, it also has its own paid services, but the free version is more than enough in our opinion.

When comparing them, we have to point out the details from the text above to decide which is better and why.

Grafana and Datadog are very similar in terms of their methods. Both are used for monitoring, but while Datadog is a tool with many features, it is paid (a hefty price) and is a good all-rounder. It offers you everything you need, but it doesn’t focus on one thing, and this is what everyone will tell you. Packed with all these great features, it makes it easy to work with its dashboard focused on many tasks, but as we said, it doesn’t go 100% fully in one direction. Grafana, on the other hand, has many great features. The best examples are tools like Prometheus, Jaeger, and Elastictools, which are both very high-end developments. They provide high-quality monitoring but, at the same time, are costly to maintain. This is the big downside of free open source. While Datadog is paid, it does cover everything from an agent to an amazing dashboard and leaves you worry-free.

In conclusion, we advise you to pick Datadog if you want to focus on many tasks without the need for highly developed monitoring tools like Prometheus. This is the best option for many teams, as it’s easier to maintain and if you do not want to deal with the maintenance job, this one is best for you. Grafana from its side, as we said, is free, but this comes at the cost of taking care of your maintenance costs. Because you need a place to store the data, and while the tools are free, you have to take care of this yourself. In our opinion, this is enough reason to choose Datadog, because it comes like a packed box based on what plan you choose. You open it and start working; no need to focus or worry about side things like maintaining your monitoring tool. Sometimes paying more is better, depending on the situation. Although Grafana can do a great job, the utility and pros of Datadog are better. We hope this article was helpful. Until next time..