We may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It never changes a score or a ranking. How we make money
SigNoz combines logs, metrics and traces, with OpenTelemetry coverage, a free plan and pricing from $49. The reasons to reconsider are practical: usage overages can complicate spend, self-hosting means owning infrastructure work, and SSO is behind a paid tier, according to the published pricing and Reddit material. The alternatives below range from broader observability suites to open-source monitoring tools. The right switch depends on what you need to replace—and what ongoing cost or operational work you are willing to take on.
01Why people leave SigNoz
Usage can make costs harder to predict
SigNoz uses usage-based pricing, and the pricing page flags overages as a concern. Check expected telemetry use against the plan before switching.
Self-hosting means owning infrastructure work
Self-hosters manage the infrastructure themselves. That can suit teams wanting control, but it adds operational work that a hosted alternative may avoid.
SSO sits behind a paid tier
A Reddit commenter objected that SSO/OIDC is behind a price wall, a problem for self-hosted teams that require shared authentication.
02The alternatives, ranked by fit
- Broad observability coverage
DatadogDatadogSwitch to Datadog if you want broader monitoring coverage or to consolidate observability and security tools. Its listing also names Datadog AI features as a fit for teams adopting them. The listed starting price is $500, but the source cautions that this does not show the full bill. It is a bigger-suite choice, not a like-for-like price comparison.
Trade-off: The $500 starting price does not reveal the full bill.
6.7/10from
$500/mo - Configurable dashboards
GrafanaGrafanaGrafana fits teams combining multiple telemetry signals and needing configurable dashboards. That makes it worth considering if you want to build around a broader mix of signals rather than standardize on SigNoz. The listing shows a free plan and Pro from $19, but warns that the Pro fee is only the start of the bill.
Trade-off: Monitor usage charges; Pro’s $19 fee is only a starting point.
7.0/10from
$19/mofree plan - Open-source monitoring
PrometheusPrometheusPrometheus is a fit if your priority is open-source monitoring, cloud-native service monitoring or PromQL-based queries and alerts. Its listing shows a free plan and no published starting price. It may suit teams that want a monitoring base without a listed license price, rather than a single replacement with every SigNoz capability.
Trade-off: Independent servers use local storage.
7.6/10from
Freefree plan - All-in-one observability
New RelicNew RelicNew Relic is listed for teams consolidating observability tools, prioritizing incident response or starting with a free plan. It is a candidate if you want all-in-one observability rather than SigNoz. The listed starting price is $10, but the source warns that user and ingest costs can rise.
Trade-off: User and ingest costs can rise.
7.5/10from
$10/mofree plan - No license fee
ZabbixZabbixZabbix is worth considering if avoiding per-host license fees matters more than having a managed setup. Its listing describes broad monitoring at no license cost and names IT and OT infrastructure as use cases. It suits experienced teams willing to manage their own stack, not teams looking to eliminate operational work.
Trade-off: It takes work to configure well.
7.6/10from
Freefree plan - Topology-driven investigation
DynatraceDynatraceDynatrace fits teams needing broad observability coverage, especially in Kubernetes and cloud-native environments, and those valuing topology-driven investigation. The listed starting price is $7. Consider it if those priorities match your reason for leaving SigNoz, but check the annual commitment before treating that price as a straightforward comparison.
Trade-off: Check the annual commitment behind the $7 starting price.
6.8/10from
$7/mo - Traces and logs
Scout APMScout APMScout APM is listed for teams wanting traces and logs together, developers using AI coding agents and small workloads testing monitoring tools. It is a narrower candidate if those are your main needs rather than a broad SigNoz replacement. The listing shows a free plan and a starting price of $19.
Trade-off: Plan limits make the price table worth checking closely.
6.5/10from
$19/mofree plan
03Side by side
| Tool | Score | From | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 SigNoz SigNoz (current) | 6.5 | $49/mo | Yes | Teams standardizing on OpenTelemetry |
| Datadog Datadog | 6.7 | $500/mo | No | Teams seeking broad monitoring coverage |
| Grafana Grafana | 7.0 | $19/mo | Yes | Teams combining multiple telemetry signals |
| Prometheus Prometheus | 7.6 | Free | Yes | Teams wanting open-source monitoring |
| New Relic New Relic | 7.5 | $10/mo | Yes | Teams consolidating observability tools |
| Zabbix Zabbix | 7.6 | Free | Yes | Teams avoiding per-host license fees |
| Dynatrace Dynatrace | 6.8 | $7/mo | No | Teams needing broad observability coverage |
| Scout APM Scout APM | 6.5 | $19/mo | Yes | Teams wanting traces and logs together |
Questions people ask
What is the best alternative to SigNoz?
There is no single best fit on the pricing page. Datadog is positioned for broad monitoring and tool consolidation; Grafana for combining signals and configurable dashboards; Prometheus for open-source monitoring; and Zabbix for teams avoiding per-host license fees. Start with the capability you need to replace.
How much does SigNoz cost?
The pricing page gives SigNoz a free plan and a starting price of $49. It also flags usage overages as a cost to weigh. The material does not provide plan limits or an overage rate, so check SigNoz's current pricing page against your expected use before budgeting.
Which SigNoz alternatives have a free plan?
The pricing page show free plans for Grafana, PagerDuty, FireHydrant, Prometheus, Kentik, New Relic, Scout APM and SigNoz. Zabbix is listed with no license cost. A free plan or no license fee does not tell you whether usage, infrastructure or other costs apply.