New Relic is a huge name in the website observability and analytics industry. They’ve carved out a space for themselves in a highly competitive monitoring space, and have garnered thousands of users and hundreds of millions in revenue.
New Relic is known for its Infrastructure Monitoring capabilities, but it also has a number of other tools that are just as popular. But, New Relic is not so popular with everyone. In fact, it’s well known that New Relic caters more towards large corporations with deep pockets.
This has led many people to look for New Relic alternatives and is likely why you are reading this now.
Whatever your reason for wanting to find an alternative to New Relic, this list will help you narrow down your search. Here, we’ll go over the pros, cons, features, and prices of the top 10 New Relic alternatives on the market today.
New Relic Features and Solutions
New Relic is a massive tool, which means that it comes with a decent variety of features. That being said, these features can be grouped together into 5 basic tools.
Starting from the top, New Relic offers Infrastructure Monitoring, Application Monitoring, Browser Monitoring, Log Management, and Application Security.
New Relic also recently launched a new tool called New Relic Grok. This is an AI assistant that helps you troubleshoot and run root cause analysis for various errors via chat interface.
Bear in mind that each one of the solutions mentioned above comes with its own price tag, and typically it’s a hefty one.
New Relic Pricing
New Relic is expensive. They offer reasonable data ingestion prices, but the real gut punch comes from the amount of money they charge for users.
To put this into perspective, every account, no matter if it’s the Standard, Pro, or Enterprise plan, gets 100GB of data ingestion for free each month, and then they charge $0.30 per GB after that. This is not a bad price for simple data ingestion.
However, on top of the $0.30 per GB cost after the initial 100GB allowance, you have to pay per user. How much? Well, it depends on the level of observability you want the user to have. They offer a basic, free option, but it is highly limited.
Beyond the limited, free access, the price per Core user starts at $49 per month per user on the standard plan. But, if you read the fine print, this doesn’t give the user full platform access. For full platform access with the standard plan, the price hikes up to $99 per user per month, and comes with a limit of 5. Fortunately, they do offer 1 free, full-platform access account.
Moving on to the Pro plan, they still offer the free, limited account, and the Core user is still $49 per seat. But if you want full platform access, those seats go up to a staggering $418.80/month each! The Pro plan is also where they begin to offer “Data Plus Ingestion”. With this option, instead of paying $0.30 per GB beyond the 100GB allowance, you’ll pay $0.50 per GB.
Moving on to the Enterprise plan, the prices remain the same until you want full access. Here, you’ll have to fork out a massive $658.80 per user per month.
Top 10 New Relic Alternatives
1. Sematext
Sematext is an all-in-one observability solution that offers all the key monitoring functionality most organizations and teams need. Much like New Relic it offers Log Management, Real user Monitoring, Synthetic Monitoring, and Infrastructure monitoring, all in the same place. Unlike New Relic, Sematext is not aimed at big-budgeted corporations.
Across all of these solutions, Sematext and New Relic are very comparable in functionality.
Sematext doesn’t leave a massive hole in your pocket, but it still provides all the visual components you need to fully maximize your data. How? Out-of-the-box dashboards. These dashboards are not only highly visual, but they are created specifically for each integration.
DevOps and SREs love Sematext’s Synthetic Monitoring. You can use it to monitor the performance and availability of one or more APIs or websites from multiple locations from one interface. If you want to use a private location to run your tests, say because you want to monitor APIs or websites behind your firewall, you have that option, too. This stuff is cheap (see further down).
If you want to share response times or the status of your services, you can let your customers and stakeholders know via shareable Status Pages, which are free of charge. You can quickly let users know about downtime with planned maintenance incidents, and monitor SSL certificates.
In Sematext, Real User Monitoring (RUM), is also known as Sematext Experience. This solution gives you the power to utilize real user data to test and track the performance of your website. Page load time, HTTP requests, resources used, and interactions in UI are all examples of metrics that you could be keeping track of with Experience.
Monitoring your infrastructure and applications with Sematext gives you the visibility you need to understand and improve health and performance. The onboarding is seamless, agent installation is trivial, and monitoring of discovered logs and services is configured via the UI.
Log Monitoring is available with Sematext when you need to perform performance or availability troubleshooting. Essentially, it’s a centralized hub for all you log data, no matter where they’re coming from. Because they’re centralized, you can troubleshoot any problems across your infrastructure effectively from a single location. Furthermore, Logs Pipelines are available to help you modify or eliminate unwanted log events. This really helps you control your costs. You can even trim unwanted fields, enhance your logs, or transform them as needed.
For Sematext Monitoring and Logs, there are integrations designed for specific services. Each integration comes complete with dashboards and alert rules right out of the box.
You can correlate logs and metrics by using the Split-screen feature without switching the context, and each integration comes with a few out-of-the-box alert rules. Sematext also offers anomaly detection, heartbeat, and threshold-style alerting, and it supports numerous Notification Hooks for alert notifications.
Features
- Full stack observability
- Infrastructure Monitoring
- Log Monitoring
- Real User Monitoring
- Synthetic Monitoring
- SSL Certificate Monitoring
- Status Pages
- Alerting with anomaly detection
- Correlation
- 100+ integrations
Pros
- Far less expensive than New Relic
- Flexible payment options (credit cards, monthly invoicing, pre-payment for additional discount) with zero contracts or commitments
- Quick setup process and helpful support staff
- Versatile internal and external monitoring capabilities
- Resilient anomaly detection with thorough browser checks
- Diverse and customizable alert triggers
- Smooth incorporation with Incident Management Systems
Cons
- Fewer integrations than some larger competitors
- No support for transaction tracing or security monitoring
Pricing
Sematext offers pricing and plans that scale affordably for organizations of any size, especially when you compare it to New Relic. There is no per-user pricing, and there are a variety of pricing packages, including free versions for certain solutions.
Starting with Logs, the price is based on daily log volume and data retention period. Plans start at $50 per month, but keep in mind that the Logs Pipelines let you drop or reduce log events completely or partially, thus further controlling your costs.
The entry-level cost for Infrastructure Monitoring is just $3.6 per host. Given the New Relic’s pricing model and the amounts, Sematext is a steal. Sematext is one of, if not, the only monitoring vendor that lets you choose your metrics retention duration, thus giving you extra control over your costs.
Real User Monitoring starts with a Startup plan at $9 per month for 25,000 page views, with customization options based on views and retention needs.
Synthetics provides Pay-as-you-go pricing where a single HTTP monitor costs just $2 for up to 200,000 runs, while a browser monitor costs only $7 for up to 15,000 runs. There is also the Standard plan, which starts at $29 per month, and a Pro plan.
Want more details on how Sematext stacks up to New Relic? Check out our page on Sematext vs New Relic.
2. Datadog
Comparing Datadog vs New Relic, you’ll find that they are very similar in functionality, making it a good addition to our list of New Relic Alternatives. Unfortunately, they are also very similar in the fact that they are both expensive solutions, so if you are trying to move away from New Relic primarily to reduce your costs, Datadog may not be the most optimal choice.
Datadog currently offers 21 unique solutions, each with its own set of features and pricing. These solutions include cloud infrastructure, application, container, network, logs, and serverless monitoring, but there are a lot more. Datadog is highly adaptable to most organizations, and it is quite efficient at providing users with detailed observability for their entire application stack.
Datadog also offers a diverse set of features for data analysis, alerting mechanisms, and customizable dashboards, making it an excellent option for users seeking a New Relic alternative or comprehensive monitoring solution.
Features
- Serverless monitoring
- Synthetic Monitoring
- Infrastructure Monitoring
- Log management and monitoring
- Browser monitoring
Pros
- Customizable graph widget
- Extensive range of integrations
- User-specified thresholds
- Intuitive data visualization
- Comprehensive monitoring features
Cons
- Very expensive
- User reviews complain about poor customer service
- 21 individually priced and expensive solutions
- User reviews claim that the interface is hard to navigate
Pricing
Due to the array of tools available within Datadog, it’s unfeasible to provide a comprehensive overview here. Nevertheless, a handful of notable tools deserve attention.
The Basic Infrastructure Monitoring package starts at $18 per host per month, while the advanced plan reaches $27 per host per month. Furthermore, API tests for Synthetics cost $7.20 for every 10,000 test runs, and browser tests are priced at $18 for every 1,000 tests.
Needless to say, the bills can stack up quickly with Datadog. Some users are even ranting on X, calling Datadog’s prices “insane”. It’s crucial to approach Datadog’s pricing with caution. It’s also important to note that because Datadog offers so many tools, you might find yourself paying a lot of money for the level of insight that you’re looking for.
Want to see how Sematext stacks up? Check out our page on Sematext vs Datadog.
3. AppDynamics
AppDynamics is a full-stack observability and monitoring solution that focuses on APM and Infrastructure Monitoring. However, it’s well known for its Synthetic and Real User Monitoring capabilities, making it a good choice for a New Relic alternative. Please note that this solution is still relatively expensive, so if you’re looking to jump ship at New Relic because of the price, this might not be the right alternative for you.[b]
That being said, AppDynamic offers almost exactly the same functionality as New Relic, aside from Application Security Monitoring. Much like New Relic, it is focused on big-tech companies that have big budgets.
Features
- Business Performance Monitoring
- Application Performance Monitoring
- Infrastructure Monitoring
- Database Monitoring
- SAP Monitoring
- End User Monitoring
Pros
- Insights provided by Predictive Intelligence
- Code-level visibility
- High transaction visibility for detailed performance analysis
- Intuitive workflow monitoring within application tracking
- Simple deployment of new applications
Cons
- Pricey!
- User reviews complain of various difficulties across the entire platform
- Challenges with integrating with different event sources
- User Review complains of 3rd-party tools required to start/stop instances being monitored
Pricing
AppDynamics offers Basic Infrastructure Monitoring starting from $6 per month per CPU core. For Synthetic Monitoring, plans start at $60 per month per CPU core, with the Enterprise Edition available for $90.
AppDynamics does not offer any more insight into exactly what is covered in a single CPU core. It is a bit weird that they haven’t priced their solution based on data usage or even the number of users. Either way, please take caution before signing up/
In the same mysterious light, they charge $0.06 per month for 1,000 “tokens” for Real User Monitoring. They don’t explain what that means.
Want to see how Sematext stacks up? Check out our page on Sematext vs AppDynamics.
4. Splunk
Splunk is a well-known log management solution that’s been around forever. It offers a variety of observability solutions, making it an ideal New Relic alternative in terms of functionality. Splunk offers users Log Management, Synthetic monitoring, Infrastructure Monitoring, APM, Security Monitoring, and more.
Splunk’s Application Performance Monitoring (APM) is a solution for cloud-native, microservice-based applications. It also offers auto-instrumentation for popular stacks like Java, Kotlin, Python, Ruby, and more. Users also have the ability to create their own instrumentation using open APIs.
Splunk is one of the founding members and active contributors to OpenTelemetry, which means that Splunk APM supports open, neutral instrumentation.
Sadly, Splunk is another uber-pricey solution whose sales folks are targeting large enterprises with deep pockets ready to sign big contracts. See below for details.
Features
- Log aggregation and monitoring tool
- Application monitoring
- Infrastructure Monitoring
- Real User Monitoring
- Automated anomaly detection
- Synthetic Monitoring
Pros
- Ability to install add-ons
- On-premise or cloud-based
- Supports multiple formats
- Works well with unstructured data from various sources
Cons
- Pricey!
- Requires user to continuously stay updated with SPL (Splunk Processing Language)
- Outdated user interface design
- Limited data modeling and machine learning capabilities
Pricing
Splunk offers a decent number of monitoring, security, and detection tools. Unfortunately, they only offer prices for some of their observability tools, and even those prices are kind of buried in the website.
Synthetic Monitoring starts at just $1, but with that, you only get 10,000 Uptime requests. Incident Response starts at $5 per user per month. Real User Monitoring (RUM) starts at $14, but it only covers 10,000 sessions. Infrastructure Cloud Monitoring starts at $15 per month per host. Finally, APM starts at $55 per month per host.
Keep in mind that these prices are only available if you opt for annual billing, meaning you have to commit to Splunk for an entire year.
Want to see how Sematext stacks up to Splunk? Check out our page on Sematext vs Splunk.
5. Dynatrace
Continuing with the trend of all-in-one platforms, Dynatrace is a great alternative to New Relic. It has a big focus on Application Performance Monitoring (APM), but it offers just about everything New Relic does.
Dynatrace offers Security Analytics for what they call advanced threat protection. They also offer Security Protection, allowing users to discover, analyze, and protect themselves from unknown vulnerabilities.
Dynatrace is great for big businesses looking for enterprise-level monitoring. It’s great for providing essential business metrics across numerous digital platforms, and even implements casual AI to help automate complex workflows.
Features
- Full-stack Monitoring
- Infrastructure Monitoring
- Application Security
- Real User Monitoring
- Synthetic Monitoring
- Log management and Analytics
Pros
- Very Similar to New Relic
- Lots of observability options
- Priced based on data that you use
- Powerful alerting
- Powered by AI
Cons
- Pricey!
- User reviews report that the tool is complex to use
- User reviews report bad customer service and support
- User reviews report poor documentation
Pricing
Dynatrace has a unique pricing model. Instead of charging per GB, they charge per request or hour.
For instance, a synthetic request is $0.001. This might sound like a deal, but let’s put this into perspective. If you set up an HTTP monitor from a single location with 1-minute intervals, the monthly cost would add up quickly. That equation looks like this: 0.001 * 1440 * 30 = $43. 1440 represents the number of runs in a month and 30 is the count of days. This means that you’re paying $43 per month for a single HTTP monitor.
With Infrastructure Monitoring, you’ll be paying $0.04 per hour. With 24 hours in a day and the average month having 30 days, the monthly charge per host is 0.04 * 24 * 30, which totals $28.8 per host.
Real User Monitoring is charged per session, each one costing you $0.00225. Quick math shows us that 100,000 sessions would cost you $225 per month.
Want to see how Sematext stacks up? Check out our page on Sematext vs Dynatrace.
6. Sumo Logic
Another tool similar to or equal to New Relic in functionality is Sumo Logic. In fact, as far as features and tools go, they are nearly identical, making Sumo Logic a very compelling New Relic alternative.
Sumo Logic is unique on this list because it utilizes cloud-based machine learning to power analytics. Because of this, the platform is able to process massive amounts of data at one time.
Sumo Logic is an analytics platform that gives users all the tools they need to detect issues, understand complex data, and pinpoint the root cause of any errors on their website.
Features
- Application Observability
- Infrastructure Monitoring
- Log Analytics
- Cloud SOAR
- Cloud SIEM
- Cloud Security Analytics
Pros
- Very similar to New Relic
- AI-powered
- Real-time insights
- Out-of-the-box dashboards and alerts
Cons
- Pricey!
- User reviews report that the tool is complex and difficult to learn
- User reviews report limited historical data access
- User reviews report searches being slow for large data ranges
7. Sentry
Sentry is focused on APM and error monitoring, so it doesn’t offer the full range of solutions that New Relic does. However, if you’re using New Relic for Application Performance Monitoring, then Sentry might be a good alternative for you to consider.
Sentry offers APM in most languages and frameworks for Self-hosted or SaaS solutions. It’s a great option for collecting, analyzing, and enhancing data. On top of that, it uses end-to-end distributed tracing to discover performance issues and help with root-cause analysis.
As a bonus, Sentry monitors version changes and the impact of code that’s been deployed for the first time.
Features
- Application Performance Monitoring
- Error monitoring
Pros
- Detailed error reports
- Large number of integrations
- Quick and easy to install
- Alert Mechanism is easy to configure
Cons
- Limited functionality compared to others on this list
- User reviews report difficulties in filtering errors
- User reviews report a delay in error reporting
Pricing
Sentry offers a few pricing plans, the first one being free. The free version is very limited, but does cover some error and performance monitoring functionalities.
From there, you can access the Team plan for $26 per month, but that’s only if you’re billed annually. This covers basic Error and Performance Monitoring with flexible event volume.
Next, you have the Business plan. This plan is $80 per month if billed annually, and covers standardized Error and Performance Monitoring with insights powered by Discover.
Finally, you have the Enterprise plan. In order to get a price for this plan, you will need to contact Sentry for a quote. They describe this tier as having full-platform capabilities with cross-project insights and optional Premium Customer Success.
8. AppOptics
AppOptics is an APM and infrastructure solution from SolarWinds. It’s a comprehensive performance monitoring tool for both cloud and on-premise applications.
Being part of the SolarWinds network, AppOptics itself doesn’t cover the range of observability that lots of other New Relic alternatives do. However, if you’re looking for a simple solution for APM and Infrastructure only, then this might be a good option.
AppOptics allows users to quickly visualize their metrics in easy-to-read dashboards, and offers monitoring for server, host, containers, and serverless environments. AppOptics APM covers Java, .Net, Python, PHP, Scala, Node.js, Ruby, and Golang applications.
Features
- Application Performance Monitoring (APM)
- Infrastructure Monitoring
Pros
- On-premise and cloud
- Simple yet insightful graphs and dashboards
- Real-time performance tracking
Cons
- Expensive per host
- Limited functionality compared to other alternatives on this list
- User reviews report that the platform is not flexible
- User reviews report clunky UX
Pricing
SolarWinds AppOptics is simple by design and functionality, but it can quickly run your pockets dry.
Looking at their main website, you see a $9.99 price tag. This is simple enough, and not that much for a starting price, but it is disingenuous. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that it’s $9.99 per host, and sold in packages of 10 hosts. This means that you’ll pay a minimum of $99.99 per month for only 10 hosts and 100 containers.
9. Site24x7
Although Site24x7 doesn’t quite cover the range of tools that New Relic does, it still makes an excellent alternative. Essentially, Site24x7 was created by combining ManageEngine’s solutions with Zoho’s SaaS expertise. This result is then taken and leveraged for a cloud-first approach.
Site24x7 is a cloud-based SaaS that’s sold together with network and server monitoring services. The APM capabilities provide an admirable New Relic alternative for monitoring web apps and microservices, and it also includes Real User Monitoring and Synthetic Monitoring.
Like any decent monitoring tool, Site24x7 alerts users when certain performance thresholds are breached. It lays a strong foundation for automated workflows, giving you the ability to take action on performance issues before they become bigger problems.
Features
- Website Monitoring
- Infrastructure Monitoring
- Application Performance Monitoring (APM)
Pros
- Easy agent installation
- 1-minute polling in all monitors
- Can add multiple webhooks
- Monitor multiple locations from one console
Cons
- Price is not transparent or flexible
- Limited functionality compared to others on this list
- Some solutions locked behind others
- User reviews report an overwhelming amount of spam emails
- User reviews report that the customer service is not very responsive
Price
One of the biggest downsides to Site24x7 is the price. On the surface, the price seems decent, but you really have to pay attention to the add-ons and the additional costs that can accrue if you want the full functionality of the platform.
For example, basic Website Monitoring starts at just $9 per month. It comes with 10 Basic Monitors and 1 Synthetic Web Transaction. But, if you scroll down a bit, you’ll see the extensive list of add-ons.
If you want additional monitors, they start at $15 extra per month for 10 more monitors. Advanced monitors are $20 extra per month for just 2 additional monitors. Log Management starts at $10 per month for 10GB of log data. The list goes on and on, and this is for each one of their solutions.
On top of that, they work with a credit system for APM add-ons that only adds confusion to the mix. They state that 1 transaction, HTTP call, Screen load, or crash is equal to 1 credit. You can purchase 500M “credits” for $99 per month.
10. ManageEngine Applications Manager
Applications Manager provides comprehensive Application Performance Monitoring (APM) that includes compatibility with Java, .Net Core, Node.js, PHP, and Ruby applications. The platform also offers synthetic transaction monitoring that employs Selenium-based scripting, authentic browser assessments from Chrome and Firefox, and several test locations.
Their Real User Monitoring (RUM) presents network awareness along with performance metrics rooted in site, browser, device, and ISP specifics. It further grants visibility into web transactions, user sessions, JavaScript errors, and a plethora of other metrics. ManageEngine additionally offers multi-cloud supervision, encompassing servers, databases, container monitoring, and more.
Features
- Application Performance Monitoring (APM)
- Infrastructure Monitoring
- Synthetic Monitoring
- Real User monitoring (RUM)
Pros
- Centralized and comprehensive view
- Real-time performance monitoring
- Multi-cloud visibility
Cons
- Limited customization options for alerts
- User reviews report that the tool is complex
- User reviews report that the endpoint data is not always accurate
- User reviews report scalability issues
Pricing
Unfortunately, ManageEngine does not offer any sort of price on their website. If you want to get any details on how much this tool will cost you, then you will have to contact them and request a quote.
New Relic Competitors Comparison Table
| Tool | Vs New Relic | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Sematext |
|
Log analysis, performance monitoring, SSL Monitoring, Infrastructure Monitoring, and anomaly detection for organizations with any budget. |
| Datadog |
|
Full stack observability for large organizations with a large budget. |
| AppDynamics |
|
Enterprises and large-scale APM (Application Performance Monitoring). |
| Splunk |
|
Log analysis and data analytics. |
| Dynatrace |
|
Full stack monitoring and observability for large enterprises with large budgets. |
| Sumo Logic |
|
Full stack monitoring, observability, and SIEM for large enterprises with large budgets. |
| Sentry |
|
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Error Monitoring |
| AppOptics |
|
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Infrastructure Monitoring |
| Site24x7 |
|
Website Monitoring, Infrastructure Monitoring, and Application Performance Monitoring (APM) |
| ManageEngine Applications Manager |
|
Application Performance Monitoring (APM), Infrastructure Monitoring, Synthetic Monitoring, Real User Monitoring (RUM) |
Conclusion
There are many New Relic alternatives out there to choose from. Several New Relic competitors like Datadog, AppDynamics, Splunk, and Dynatrace offer similar functionality to New Relic, but also come with a premium enterprise price tag.
Other tools like Sentry, Site24x7, and AppOptics only provide a subset of monitoring capabilities, and even then, can still hit your wallet hard.
Sematext, on the other hand, provides a robust set of solutions that’s comparable to New Relic, but doesn’t break the bank. It’s also worth pointing out that Sematext offers unlimited users, and does not charge ridiculous amounts per seat like New Relic does. There are no contracts or commitments, either.
You get full-stack observability that’s tailored to your needs at a fraction of the cost of New Relic. If Sematext piques your interest you can start a free trial and test our tool for free for 14 days or request a demo.