Datadog vs Axiom
Default scenario: At 3,000 GB log ingest / month, 50 monitored hosts, estimated bills are $3,252/yr for Axiom and $102,600/yr for Datadog. That’s a $99,348 difference before accounting for different features or operating costs.
The services may differ in features, performance, support and the work you need to do yourself. Read the notes and test what matters to your setup.
Your selected usage
3,000 GB log ingest / month, 50 monitored hosts
- Datadog: $102,600/yr estimated
- Axiom: $3,252/yr estimated
Estimated costs at different usage levels
| Usage | Datadog | Axiom |
|---|---|---|
| Startup100 GB log ingest / month, 5 monitored hosts | $4,020/yrPro (annual) · $260 logs + $75 hosts | $300/yr$0 logs + $0 hosts |
| Mid-size3,000 GB log ingest / month, 50 monitored hosts | $102,600/yrPro (annual) · $7,800 logs + $750 hosts | $3,252/yr$246 logs + $0 hosts |
| Large50,000 GB log ingest / month, 500 monitored hosts | $1,650,000/yrPro (annual) · $130,000 logs + $7,500 hosts | $72,624/yr$6,027 logs + $0 hosts |
About 30 days of searchable log retention. Vendors billing per event assume ~1 KB per event; custom metrics, traces and users are extra. Try your own numbers against all logs & monitoring providers.
Side by side
| Datadog | Axiom | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Broad SaaS monitoring platform (infrastructure, APM, logs) priced per host plus per-GB log ingest and per-million-event log indexing. | Usage-priced event and log platform billed on data loading, query compute and compressed storage, with 1 TB/month ingest in the $25 Cloud plan. |
| Headquarters | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Parent jurisdiction | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇺🇸 United States |
| EU self-serve plan | Available; check eligible plans and regions | Available; check eligible plans and regions |
| GDPR DPA | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | subscription | payg |
| Free tier | Free plan for up to 5 hosts with 1-day metric retention; no log management. | Personal plan, $0 - 500 GB/month ingest, 25 GB storage, 10 GB-hours query compute, 30-day retention. |
| Open source | No | No |
| Source last checked | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-06 |
| Pricing evidence | Modeled rates | Modeled rates |
Which should you choose?
Axiom has the lower estimated bill at every usage level we tested, from 300 GB log ingest / month, 5 monitored hosts to 300,000 GB log ingest / month, 5,000 monitored hosts.
Choose Datadog if…
Our data shows no advantage on price, residency, jurisdiction or licensing. Compare features in the notes below.
Choose Axiom if…
- it has the lower estimated bill at Startup, Mid-size and Large usage
Based on estimated list-price bills and the facts above. Features, performance and support aren’t scored.
Datadog pricing
Published rates converted using workload assumptions. Read the notes. Assumes 1 KB per indexed event and indexes all ingested logs for 30 days. APM and custom metrics are extra.
| Plan | Log ingestion + retention / GB | Monitored host / month |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 |
| Pro (annual) | $2.6 | $15 |
Infrastructure Pro is $15/host/month billed annually ($18 month-to-month or on-demand); Enterprise $23 ($27). APM starts at $31/host annually. Logs are billed twice: ingestion $0.10/GB plus indexing per million events, $2.50/M with 30-day retention annually ($3.00 monthly, $3.75 on-demand; 15-day is $1.70/M). At ~1 KB per event, 1M events is ~1 GB, so per_gb = $0.10 + $2.50 = $2.60. Flex Logs storage is $0.05/M events (annual) for cheaper, slower search. EU1 site (Germany) is selectable at signup on all plans. Custom metrics, APM, RUM and synthetics are extra.
Datadog plan limits, full rates and cheaper alternatives · official pricing page
Axiom pricing
Published rates converted using workload assumptions. Read the notes. Assumes 10× log compression and 30 days of retention. Query compute overages are excluded.
| Base fee / month | Log ingestion + retention / GB |
|---|---|
| $25 | $0.123 |
Modelled on Axiom Cloud: $25/month platform fee including 1,000 GB data loading, 100 GB storage and 100 GB-hours of query compute. Data loading then costs $0.12/GB (1-100 TB), falling to $0.10, $0.085, $0.07 and $0.06/GB at higher volumes. Storage is charged on compressed data at $0.03/GB-month (frequent access); assuming ~10x compression, 30 days of retention adds ~$0.003 per GB ingested, so per_gb is ~$0.123 (compression ratio is our assumption). Query compute above the allowance is extra ($0.20/GB-hour, falling with volume) and is excluded. No per-host pricing: metrics are ingested and billed like any other data, so per_host_month is 0. The free Personal plan (500 GB/month, 30-day retention) is aimed at personal projects and is not used here. Regions: US East 1 and EU Central 1 (Frankfurt); the pricing page lists regional residency as included. DPA at axiom.co/docs/legal/data-processing, incorporated into the terms without signature.
Axiom plan limits, full rates and cheaper alternatives · official pricing page
Frequently asked questions
Is Datadog cheaper than Axiom?
Axiom has the lower estimated bill at every usage level we tested, from 300 GB log ingest / month, 5 monitored hosts to 300,000 GB log ingest / month, 5,000 monitored hosts. At 3,000 GB log ingest / month, 50 monitored hosts, the estimates are $102,600/yr for Datadog and $3,252/yr for Axiom. Estimates use list prices and leave out features, support and operating costs.
Do Datadog and Axiom offer EU data residency?
Both offer EU data residency on a self-serve plan. Check which plans and regions qualify.
Do Datadog and Axiom have a free tier or trial?
Datadog: Free plan for up to 5 hosts with 1-day metric retention; no log management. Axiom: Personal plan, $0 - 500 GB/month ingest, 25 GB storage, 10 GB-hours query compute, 30-day retention.
Where are Datadog and Axiom based?
Datadog is headquartered in the United States. Axiom is headquartered in the United States.