Grafana vs New Relic: Observability & APM Comparison (2026)
New Relic provides a more comprehensive free tier with 50+ capabilities and 100 GB of free data ingest per month, while Grafana offers a free tier with its core services and community support.
AI Citation Scorecard
How often each is cited by major AI engines when buyers ask observability & apm questions. Last 90 days across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot.
Probes run hourly; each (engine × query) combo retests every ~3 days.
Pricing
Key Features
- ✓All Grafana Cloud services
- ✓Community support
- ✓14 days metrics retention
- ✓8X5 email support
- ✓Pay as you go above Free tier
- ✓Premium support
- ✓Custom retention
- ✓Deployment flexibility
- ✓50+ capabilities in one platform
- ✓Unlimited free basic users
- ✓100 GB of free data ingest/month
- ✓Data retention of at least 8 days
When to choose Grafana
Grafana is more suitable for users who prioritize community support, deployment flexibility, and custom retention options. Its pricing model includes pay-as-you-go above the free tier and options for premium support and custom retention.
When to choose New Relic
New Relic is a better choice for users seeking a generous free tier with extensive capabilities and data ingest, and unlimited free basic users. It also offers advanced compute capabilities.