Sentry vs Datadog: pricing
Observability pricing · Pricing snapshot: June 2026
On headline entry cost, Sentry has the lower headline entry cost (Free 5K errors; Team from $26/mo). Sentry bills per event / volume (Free 5K errors; Team from $26/mo) and Datadog bills per host (APM from $31/host/mo (annual)). Only Datadog 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.
Sentry vs Datadog side by side
| Factor | Sentry | Datadog |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Functional Software, Inc. | Datadog, Inc. |
| Pricing model | Event-volume tiers (errors, spans/performance units, replays) + per-seat; pay-as-you-go overage per event | Per-host (Infra & APM) + per-GB ingested (Logs) + per-session (RUM); modular, products billed separately and stacked |
| Primary billing | Per event / volume | Per host |
| Headline price | Free 5K errors; Team from $26/mo | APM from $31/host/mo (annual) |
| Free tier? | No | Yes |
| Free tier detail | Developer (free): 5,000 errors + 10,000 spans/performance units + 50 replays per month, 1 user, 30-day retention. | Free plan: Infrastructure for up to 5 hosts with 1-day metric retention; 14-day free trial of the full platform. |
| Covers | Error tracking, APM, Distributed tracing, RUM | APM, Infrastructure & metrics, Log management, RUM, Distributed tracing, Error tracking |
Sources: Functional Software, Inc. pricing · Datadog, Inc. pricing.
Per-signal rates
Where the two overlap, here is the rate each charges per signal:
| Signal | Sentry | Datadog |
|---|---|---|
| Error tracking | Free: 5K; Team $26/mo (50K); Business $80/mo (100K) | Add-on (usage-based) |
| APM | Free: 10K spans; included quotas scale with plan | $31/host/mo |
| Distributed tracing | Bundled with Performance (spans) | Bundled in APM |
| RUM | Free: 50 replays; quotas scale with plan | RUM $1.50/1K sessions; Session Replay +$1.80/1K |
Cheaper for small vs cheaper for scale
Small / starting out: Datadog wins - it has a permanent free tier. On headline cost, Sentry has the lower headline entry cost (Free 5K errors; Team from $26/mo).
At scale: Sentry (best-in-class error/exception grouping and stack traces) versus Datadog (single pane of glass across infra, apm, logs, rum and more). Remember Sentry bills per event / volume and Datadog 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, Sentry has the lower headline entry cost (Free 5K errors; Team from $26/mo). But price is only part of the story. Read each full breakdown - Sentry and Datadog - and model your real workload in the cost calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sentry or Datadog cheaper?
On headline entry cost, Sentry has the lower headline entry cost (Free 5K errors; Team from $26/mo). But the two use different models - Sentry bills per event / volume and Datadog 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.
Sentry vs Datadog: which for a small team?
For a small team, lean to whichever has the more usable free tier and lower entry price. Sentry has no permanent free tier (Developer (free): 5,000 errors + 10,000 spans/performance units + 50 replays per month, 1 user, 30-day retention.). Datadog: Free plan: Infrastructure for up to 5 hosts with 1-day metric retention; 14-day free trial of the full platform.
Sentry vs Datadog: how do the billing models differ?
Sentry: Event-volume tiers (errors, spans/performance units, replays) + per-seat; pay-as-you-go overage per event. Datadog: Per-host (Infra & APM) + per-GB ingested (Logs) + per-session (RUM); modular, products billed separately and stacked. 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