Observability & APM
Datadog Pricing Explained: Tiers, Limits & Hidden Costs
Proprietary
- Starting price
- $15/host/mo + heavy add-ons
- Pricing model
- Per host + ingested GB + retained spans
- Free tier
- Free up to 5 hosts with 1-day metric retention
Datadog plans and limits
| Tier | What you get |
|---|---|
| Free | Free up to 5 hosts with 1-day metric retention |
| Paid entry point | $15/host/mo + heavy add-ons |
| How the bill grows | Per host + ingested GB + retained spans |
| Self-hosted | Not available |
Hidden costs to budget for
- Notorious for massive unexpected month-end billing surprises
- Complex pricing matrix (custom metrics, APM spans, and log ingestion billed separately)
What Datadog costs as you grow
A team spending $3,000/month on Datadog host licenses and trace ingestion can run SigNoz self-hosted on a single $150/mo cloud instance.
Datadog vs SigNozCheaper alternatives to Datadog
Compare all Datadog alternativesDatadog pricing: FAQ
How much does Datadog cost?
Datadog uses per host + ingested GB + retained spans pricing. Paid usage starts at $15/host/mo + heavy add-ons.
Does Datadog have a free tier?
Free up to 5 hosts with 1-day metric retention.
What are the hidden costs of Datadog?
Notorious for massive unexpected month-end billing surprises. Complex pricing matrix (custom metrics, APM spans, and log ingestion billed separately).
What are cheaper alternatives to Datadog?
SigNoz ($0 (Self-Hosted) or $199/mo (Cloud)).