Splunk AppDynamics vs Dynatrace: pricing
Observability pricing · Pricing snapshot: June 2026
On headline entry cost, Splunk AppDynamics has the lower headline entry cost (APM (Premium) ~$33/vCPU/mo). Splunk AppDynamics bills per vcpu (APM (Premium) ~$33/vCPU/mo) and Dynatrace bills per host (Full-stack from ~$69/mo per 8 GiB host). Neither has a permanent free tier. The real winner depends on your host count, data volume and team size. Pricing snapshot: June 2026 - verify current pricing on the vendor's site before relying on these figures.
Data as of June 2026.
Splunk AppDynamics vs Dynatrace side by side
| Factor | Splunk AppDynamics | Dynatrace |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Splunk (Cisco) | Dynatrace LLC |
| Pricing model | Per-vCPU/core: APM, Infrastructure and Enterprise editions priced per vCPU per month | Consumption-based (DPS): per memory-GiB-hour / host-hour for full-stack, per-GiB for logs, capability units for the rest |
| Primary billing | Per vCPU | Per host |
| Headline price | APM (Premium) ~$33/vCPU/mo | Full-stack from ~$69/mo per 8 GiB host |
| Free tier? | No | No |
| Free tier detail | 15-day free trial; no permanent free tier. | 15-day free trial of the full platform; no permanent free tier. |
| Covers | APM, Infrastructure & metrics, RUM, Distributed tracing | APM, Infrastructure & metrics, Log management, RUM, Distributed tracing |
Sources: Splunk (Cisco) pricing · Dynatrace LLC pricing.
Per-signal rates
Where the two overlap, here is the rate each charges per signal:
| Signal | Splunk AppDynamics | Dynatrace |
|---|---|---|
| APM | $33/vCPU/mo (annual) | $0.08/hr per GiB ~ $69/mo per 8 GiB host |
| Infrastructure & metrics | $6/vCPU/mo | ~$0.04/hr per host (~$22/mo, 8 GiB) |
| RUM | $0.06 per 1,000 sessions | Per-session DPS units |
| Distributed tracing | Bundled in APM editions | Bundled in Full-Stack |
Cheaper for small vs cheaper for scale
Small / starting out: Neither has a permanent free tier; compare headline entry prices. On headline cost, Splunk AppDynamics has the lower headline entry cost (APM (Premium) ~$33/vCPU/mo).
At scale: Splunk AppDynamics (per-vcpu billing maps to compute, not host count) versus Dynatrace (deterministic ai (davis) root-cause analysis, strong at enterprise scale). Remember Splunk AppDynamics bills per vcpu and Dynatrace bills per host, which flips the answer depending on whether you scale by hosts, by data volume or by team size.
Verdict
On headline cost alone, Splunk AppDynamics has the lower headline entry cost (APM (Premium) ~$33/vCPU/mo). But price is only part of the story. Read each full breakdown - Splunk AppDynamics and Dynatrace - and model your real workload in the cost calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is Splunk AppDynamics or Dynatrace cheaper?
On headline entry cost, Splunk AppDynamics has the lower headline entry cost (APM (Premium) ~$33/vCPU/mo). But the two use different models - Splunk AppDynamics bills per vcpu and Dynatrace bills per host - so the real winner depends on your host count, data volume and team size. Compare the per-signal table on this page. Pricing snapshot: June 2026.
Splunk AppDynamics vs Dynatrace: which for a small team?
For a small team, lean to whichever has the more usable free tier and lower entry price. Splunk AppDynamics has no permanent free tier (15-day free trial; no permanent free tier.). Dynatrace has no permanent free tier (15-day free trial of the full platform; no permanent free tier.).
Splunk AppDynamics vs Dynatrace: how do the billing models differ?
Splunk AppDynamics: Per-vCPU/core: APM, Infrastructure and Enterprise editions priced per vCPU per month. Dynatrace: Consumption-based (DPS): per memory-GiB-hour / host-hour for full-stack, per-GiB for logs, capability units for the rest. Per-host models penalize dense Kubernetes nodes; per-GB/per-event models penalize verbose telemetry. Model your real usage before deciding. Pricing snapshot: June 2026 - verify current pricing on the vendor's site before relying on these figures.
More comparisons
Last updated: 2026-06-21