Cloud monitoring and observability platform. Free for 5 hosts, then per-host pricing from $15-$23/host/mo — but log management, APM traces, and custom metrics create massive cost overruns.
Advertised Price
$0
/month
Estimated True Cost
$505
/month (typical usage)
Surprise Factor
N/A×
more than expected
Confidence
75%
Data source: manual
What the pricing page doesn't tell you
Log management costs $0.10/GB ingested per month. A mid-size app generating 500GB/mo of logs = $50/mo for ingestion alone, plus $0.03/GB for retention beyond 15 days.
Trigger: logIngestionGb > 10
+$150
/monthly
Application Performance Monitoring is a separate product at $31/host/mo (APM) or $35/host/mo (APM + profiling). 20 hosts = $620-700/mo extra.
Trigger: apmHosts > 0
+$310
/monthly
Each plan includes 100 custom metrics. Additional custom metrics cost $0.05/metric/mo. Apps with detailed instrumentation easily generate 1,000+ custom metrics = $45+/mo extra.
Trigger: customMetrics > 100
+$45
/monthly
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per mo) | Key Limits | Overage Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Free | $0 | $0 |
| No overages |
ProPOPULAR | $15 | $15 |
|
|
Enterprise | $23 | $23 |
|
|
Datadogoffers a free plan, but with significant restrictions. Here's exactly what you get — and what forces you to upgrade.
⚠️ When you'll need to upgrade:
Most teams outgrow the free plan within 1-3 months. The first paid tier (Pro) costs $15/mo.
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