Datadog vs New Relic
Default scenario: At 3,000 GB log ingest / month, 50 monitored hosts, estimated bills are $14,040/yr for New Relic and $102,600/yr for Datadog. That’s a $88,560 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
- New Relic: $14,040/yr estimated
Estimated costs at different usage levels
| Usage | Datadog | New Relic |
|---|---|---|
| Startup100 GB log ingest / month, 5 monitored hosts | $4,020/yrPro (annual) · $260 logs + $75 hosts | $0/yrFree · $0 logs + $0 hosts |
| Mid-size3,000 GB log ingest / month, 50 monitored hosts | $102,600/yrPro (annual) · $7,800 logs + $750 hosts | $14,040/yrStandard · $1,160 logs + $0 hosts |
| Large50,000 GB log ingest / month, 500 monitored hosts | $1,650,000/yrPro (annual) · $130,000 logs + $7,500 hosts | $239,640/yrStandard · $19,960 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 | New Relic | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Broad SaaS monitoring platform (infrastructure, APM, logs) priced per host plus per-GB log ingest and per-million-event log indexing. | Full-stack observability platform priced by data ingested (per GB) plus per-user fees, with no per-host charges. |
| Headquarters | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Parent jurisdiction | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇺🇸 United States (Francisco Partners and TPG) |
| 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. | 100 GB data ingest/month, 1 full platform user, unlimited basic users. |
| Open source | No | No |
| Source last checked | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-06 |
| Pricing evidence | Modeled rates | Published rates |
Which should you choose?
New Relic 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 New Relic 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
New Relic pricing
Calculated from the listed vendor rates; exclusions still apply.
| Plan | Base fee / month | Log ingestion + retention / GB |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 |
| Standard | $10 | $0.4 |
| Pro (annual) | $349 | $0.4 |
Original Data is $0.40/GB beyond 100 GB free per month (Data Plus $0.60/GB, 120-day log retention); logs on Original Data are retained 30 days. All telemetry (logs, metrics, traces) counts toward the same GB meter; hosts, agents and containers are unlimited, so per_host_month is 0. Users are billed separately: Standard $10 for the first full platform user and $99 each for up to 5; Pro $349/user/month annual ($418.80 pay-as-you-go); core users $49. Modelled with one full platform user. EU data center costs an extra $0.05/GB. Owned by Francisco Partners and TPG since 2023.
New Relic plan limits, full rates and cheaper alternatives · official pricing page
Frequently asked questions
Is Datadog cheaper than New Relic?
New Relic 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 $14,040/yr for New Relic. Estimates use list prices and leave out features, support and operating costs.
Do Datadog and New Relic offer EU data residency?
Both offer EU data residency on a self-serve plan. Check which plans and regions qualify.
Do Datadog and New Relic have a free tier or trial?
Datadog: Free plan for up to 5 hosts with 1-day metric retention; no log management. New Relic: 100 GB data ingest/month, 1 full platform user, unlimited basic users.
Where are Datadog and New Relic based?
Datadog is headquartered in the United States. New Relic is headquartered in the United States and owned by Francisco Partners and TPG (the United States).