Elastic Observability vs New Relic
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Elastic Observability and New Relic.
Quick Verdict
4.0/5
Elastic Observability
0 reviews
4.0/5
New Relic
0 reviews
Both Elastic Observability and New Relic are equally rated at 4.0/5. Unified observability platform that collects and analyzes metrics, logs, and traces from servers, applications, and services. Built for DevOps teams managing complex distributed systems. New Relic is a full-stack observability platform with a unique pricing model: 100GB free data ingest/month. APM, infrastructure, browser monitoring, synthetics, and logs in one platform.
Elastic Observability Real-time visibility into infrastructure, applications, and logs | New Relic Full-stack observability — 100GB free per month | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.0 (0 reviews) | 4.0 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best for | Engineering teams running Elasticsearch who need consolidated observability with high-volume log retention and can manage the platform's operational complexity | Engineering teams that want APM, infrastructure, and logs in one platform with usage-based pricing and a genuinely free starting point |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ✓ | |
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ✓ | |
| Snapshots | ✓ | |
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ||
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourceself hostableapi accessteam features | free tierapi accessteam features |
| Visit Elastic Observability → | Visit New Relic → | |
Elastic Observability
Pros
- + One search engine for logs, metrics, traces, synthetics and RUM with a single query language
- + Open source again (AGPLv3/SSPL/ELv2 since August 2024) — self-managed deployments are free
- + Cheap volume-tiered ingest on serverless: from $0.07/GB (Logs Essentials) with $0.017/GB-month retention
- + Data tiers and searchable snapshots keep long retention affordable while staying queryable
- + 50+ cloud regions on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure with FedRAMP High, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS
Cons
- - Genuine learning curve: query DSL, index lifecycle, shard and mapping decisions
- - Self-managed operation (JVM tuning, upgrades, snapshots) is a real operational project
- - Meters run on enriched pre-compression volumes and "as low as" rates are volume-tiered — bills surprise the unprepared
- - Support priced as a percentage of spend (5% Gold, 10% Platinum, 15% Enterprise on top of consumption)
New Relic
Pros
- + Best free tier in observability: 100 GB ingest/month, one full platform user, unlimited basic users, no credit card
- + No per-host, per-agent, per-container, or per-function charges — cost tracks telemetry, not fleet size
- + Published unit pricing: $0.40/GB original data, $0.60/GB Data Plus, $49 core users, $10/$99 Standard full users
- + One platform for APM, infrastructure, logs, browser/mobile, synthetics, and alerting with NRQL across all of it
- + Published support response SLAs per edition (2 business days Standard, 2-hour critical Pro, 1-hour Enterprise)
Cons
- - Pro full platform users at $349/user (annual) or $418.80 monthly make seat costs the dominant expense
- - Free tier hard-stops ingest and platform access past 100 GB until the next month or an upgrade
- - Uptime commitments are contract-defined and vacated on Standard — no availability SLA below Pro
- - Cost forecasting across ingest tiers, user types, and Advanced Compute metering takes real effort
- - SaaS-only with US/EU data residency; NRQL dashboards and alerts carry switching costs
Stay in the loop
Get weekly updates on the best new hosting and infrastructure providers, deals, and comparisons.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.