Datadog vs Papertrail Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Datadog | Papertrail | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $18/mo | $5/mo |
| Number of plans | 3 | 1 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | usage-based | usage-based |
Free
Pro
Enterprise
Log Observability
- Intuitive Web-based log viewer
- Team-wide groups & searches
- Unlimited systems & users
- Encrypted logging
- Long-term archive
- REST API
- Search alerts
Datadog vs Papertrail FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Papertrail is the cheaper option, starting at $5/mo vs $18/mo for Datadog.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Datadog has a free plan. Papertrail doesn't — though they do offer a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Both use a usage-based model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Datadog: At $18-27/host, Datadog sits firmly in the premium tier of observability — more expensive than open-source stacks like Grafana + Prometheus, and pricier than New Relic's per-user model for many team sizes. They're not chasing budget buyers; they're targeting mid-market and enterprise engineering orgs that want a single pane of glass and are willing to pay for it. Papertrail: At $5/GB, Papertrail sits on the affordable end of log management — well below Datadog's log pricing and competitive with entry-level Loggly. They're clearly targeting smaller engineering teams and startups who need simple, no-frills log aggregation without the complexity tax of full observability platforms.
Still deciding? See the best Datadog alternatives or the best Papertrail alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for Datadog and Papertrail and let you know when something moves.