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Grafana vs Sentry.io
Short answer: Pick Grafana if you want open-standard full-stack observability; pick Sentry.io if you want unified error, trace, and performance monitoring. Grafana has a free plan; Sentry.io has a free plan, paid from $26/month.
GrafanaOpen-source dashboards and observability
Sentry.ioError tracking and performance monitoring for developersWhich to pick
Pick Grafana if you want…
- Open-standard full-stack observability
- Open-source dashboards
- Integrations with OpenTelemetry, Prometheus or Kubernetes (on Grafana's list, not Sentry.io's)
Pick Sentry.io if you want…
- Unified error, trace, and performance monitoring
- Integrations with GitHub, Jira or Linear (on Sentry.io's list, not Grafana's)
Side by side
- What it is
- Grafana:Grafana Cloud is an open-source-based observability platform that unifies metrics, logs, traces, profiles and business data.
- Sentry.io:Sentry provides error tracking and performance monitoring with SDKs, AI debugging, and integrated alerts for developers.
- Best for
- Grafana:Open-standard full-stack observability
- Sentry.io:Unified error, trace, and performance monitoring
- Who it’s for
- Grafana:Developers, SREs and teams needing full-stack observability and cost-optimized telemetry.
- Sentry.io:Developers and software teams needing real-time error and performance insights
- Pricing
- Grafana:Freemium
- Sentry.io:Freemium
- Starting price
- Grafana:—
- Sentry.io:$26/month (Team)
- Free plan or trial
- Grafana:Free plan (Free)
- Sentry.io:Free plan (Developer) · Free trial
- Plans
- Grafana:Free $0 · Pro $19 per month + usage · Enterprise $25,000 per year spend commit
- Sentry.io:Developer $0 · Team $26/mo per month · Business $80/mo per month
- Open source
- Grafana:Yes, 77,033 GitHub stars
- Sentry.io:Yes, 44,893 GitHub stars
- Works with
- Grafana:OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Kubernetes, Slack
- Sentry.io:GitHub, Slack, Jira, Linear, Node.js, Python, Go, Ruby
Grafana features
- AI Assistant. Ask natural-language questions, build dashboards and run investigations directly from Grafana, Slack or the terminal.
- Adaptive Telemetry. Automatically identifies low-value data and aggregates it, cutting telemetry spend by up to 80%.
- Full-stack observability. Unified view of metrics, logs, traces, profiles and synthetic monitoring on a single map.
- OpenTelemetry-native. Native support for OpenTelemetry and Prometheus with hundreds of plugins and integrations.
- Cost Management. Pay-as-you-go pricing with volume-based discounts and a free tier that includes all services.
- Compliance & Security. FedRAMP, NIST-100, PCI-DSS, GDPR and SOC-2 certifications for enterprise use.
Sentry.io features
- SDK Integration. Add Sentry with a few lines of code, no agents required.
- AI Debugger (Seer). AI agent that root-causes issues and suggests fixes.
- Session Replay. Replays of user sessions to see errors in context.
- Agent Tracing. Tracks AI agent output, tool calls, and spend.
- Alerting & Notifications. Email and integrated tool alerts for incidents.
- Third-Party Integrations. Connects with GitHub, Slack, Jira, Linear and more.
Grafana vs Sentry.io FAQ
What is the difference between Grafana and Sentry.io?+
Grafana is open-source dashboarding for metrics, whereas Sentry combines error tracking, tracing, and AI debugging in one platform.
Should I use Grafana or Sentry.io?+
Pick Grafana if you want open-standard full-stack observability, open-source dashboards or integrations with OpenTelemetry, Prometheus or Kubernetes (on Grafana's list, not Sentry.io's). Pick Sentry.io if you want unified error, trace, and performance monitoring or integrations with GitHub, Jira or Linear (on Sentry.io's list, not Grafana's).
Is Grafana or Sentry.io free?+
Grafana has a free plan and paid plans. Sentry.io has a free plan (Developer); paid plans start at $26/month (Team).
Is Grafana or Sentry.io open source?+
Yes, both are open source: Grafana (grafana/grafana on GitHub, AGPL-3.0 license) and Sentry.io (getsentry/sentry on GitHub).
Do Grafana and Sentry.io integrate with the same tools?+
Partly. Both list Slack. Grafana also lists OpenTelemetry, Prometheus and Kubernetes; Sentry.io also lists GitHub, Jira, Linear, Node.js and 9 more.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.