Error Monitoring
Best Rollbar Alternatives & Open-Source Competitors in 1970
Rollbar is priced as per-event volume + seats, starting at $12/mo (Starter, 25,000 events). Here are 3 alternatives, with their pricing, self-hosting effort and trade-offs.
Why teams move away from Rollbar
- Event-based pricing becomes expensive as traffic grows
- No self-hosting option
- Weaker performance-monitoring story than Sentry or Datadog
Rollbar alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Licence | Starting price | Self-hosting | Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rollbar | Proprietary | $12/mo (Starter, 25,000 events) | Not available | N/A |
| GlitchTip | Open SourceSelf-Hostable | $0 (self-hosted) or ~$15/mo (hosted) | Low (Docker Compose with Postgres and Redis) | N/A |
| Sentry | ProprietarySelf-Hostable | $26/mo (Team, 50,000 errors) | High (Docker Compose with Kafka, ClickHouse and Snuba) | 45.8k |
| Bugsnag (SmartBear) | Proprietary | Free tier then from ~$46/mo | Not available | N/A |
The alternatives in detail
GlitchTip
Open source (MIT, source on GitLab) / hosted plans
- Starting price
- $0 (self-hosted) or ~$15/mo (hosted)
- Free tier
- Hosted Hobby: 1,000 events/mo; self-hosted unlimited
- Self-hosting
- Low (Docker Compose with Postgres and Redis)
Pros
- Sentry-compatible event intake, so the existing Sentry SDKs just point at it
- MIT licensed and runnable on one modest server with Postgres and Redis
- Roughly a fifth of the operational weight of a Sentry self-host
Cons
- Source lives on GitLab, so GitHub-based tooling does not see it
- Fewer features than Sentry: no comparable profiling or replay depth
- Small team, so releases and integrations move slower
Sentry
Per-event volume + seats
- Starting price
- $26/mo (Team, 50,000 errors)
- Free tier
- Free Developer plan: 5,000 errors/mo, 1 user
- Self-hosting
- High (Docker Compose with Kafka, ClickHouse and Snuba)
Pros
- Best-in-class stack traces with releases, source maps and breadcrumbs
- Performance tracing, session replay and profiling share one SDK
- Self-hosted option keeps error data inside your own infrastructure
Cons
- Event and seat pricing climbs quickly for teams and noisy apps
- Self-hosting is heavy: Kafka, ClickHouse, Snuba and workers to operate
- The self-hosted licence is source-available (FSL), not OSI open source
Bugsnag (SmartBear)
Per-event plan tiers
- Starting price
- Free tier then from ~$46/mo
- Free tier
- Free 7,500 events/mo
- Self-hosting
- Not available
Pros
- Stability scores and release-stage tracking built into the dashboard
- Strong native crash reporting for iOS and Android
- Procurement-friendly as part of the SmartBear portfolio
Cons
- Price steps up steeply once the free event allowance is exceeded
- Shallower performance tracing than Sentry
- UI and API feel dated next to newer tools
Rollbar alternatives: FAQ
Why do teams look for Rollbar alternatives?
The most common reasons are: event-based pricing becomes expensive as traffic grows; no self-hosting option; weaker performance-monitoring story than Sentry or Datadog.
What is the best open-source alternative to Rollbar?
GlitchTip is the most-starred open-source option in this directory (N/A GitHub stars). Sentry-compatible event intake, so the existing Sentry SDKs just point at it.
Can I self-host a Rollbar alternative?
GlitchTip: Low (Docker Compose with Postgres and Redis). Sentry: High (Docker Compose with Kafka, ClickHouse and Snuba).
Is there a free alternative to Rollbar?
GlitchTip: Hosted Hobby: 1,000 events/mo; self-hosted unlimited. Sentry: Free Developer plan: 5,000 errors/mo, 1 user. Bugsnag (SmartBear): Free 7,500 events/mo.