Axiom vs SigNoz
A comparison of Axiom and SigNoz built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
- Pick Axiom if
- Small projects that want a real telemetry platform for nothing — 500 GB a month loaded with 30-day retention, permanently, is the most generous free allowance in this category.
- Pick SigNoz if
- Teams that want per-GB billing without per-host or per-seat charges, and the option to run the same product themselves rather than being locked to the cloud version.
4 sourced criteria separate them:
- Free tier
- Axiom: Yes
- SigNoz: No
- Entry paid plan
- Axiom: $25/month platform fee for Cloud, plus usage, with no minimum commitment. The plan carries an always-free allowance of 1 TB loaded, 100 GB-hours of query compute and 100 GB stored.
- SigNoz: $49/month for Teams, and the $49 is usage credit rather than a fee on top — SigNoz bills against it before charging more.
- Pricing model
- Axiom: A platform fee plus three separate meters — data loaded, query compute in GB-hours, and stored GB — each with an always-free allowance included on every plan and automatic volume discounts above it.
- SigNoz: Per GB ingested, with no per-user, per-host or custom-metric pricing — SigNoz states all three exclusions explicitly. Retention is a per-signal choice that changes the rate.
- Retention window
- Axiom: 30 days on the free Personal plan; configurable on Cloud rather than fixed.
- SigNoz: 15 days by default for logs and traces, selectable up to 30, 90, 180 days or 1 year at higher rates.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Axiom 0
SigNoz 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Axiom | SigNoz |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Entry paid plan | $25/month platform fee for Cloud, plus usage, with no minimum commitment. The plan carries an always-free allowance of 1 TB loaded, 100 GB-hours of query compute and 100 GB stored. | $49/month for Teams, and the $49 is usage credit rather than a fee on top — SigNoz bills against it before charging more. |
| Pricing model | A platform fee plus three separate meters — data loaded, query compute in GB-hours, and stored GB — each with an always-free allowance included on every plan and automatic volume discounts above it. | Per GB ingested, with no per-user, per-host or custom-metric pricing — SigNoz states all three exclusions explicitly. Retention is a per-signal choice that changes the rate. |
| Observability | ||
| Retention window | 30 days on the free Personal plan; configurable on Cloud rather than fixed. | 15 days by default for logs and traces, selectable up to 30, 90, 180 days or 1 year at higher rates. |
Where they differ.
Free tier
- Axiom
- Yes
- SigNoz
- No
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Axiom ↗
“Personal For individual developers and small projects. $0 / month Permanent. No credit card required. → 500 GB/mo data loading → 10 GB-hours query compute → 25 GB storage → 30-day retention → Full APL access”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — SigNoz ↗
“Teams For fast-scaling teams that need observability to scale with them. starts from $199 $49 /month [...] After the included $49 of usage [...] Most teams start with Teams Cloud free trial”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
Entry paid plan
- Axiom
- $25/month platform fee for Cloud, plus usage, with no minimum commitment. The plan carries an always-free allowance of 1 TB loaded, 100 GB-hours of query compute and 100 GB stored.
- SigNoz
- $49/month for Teams, and the $49 is usage credit rather than a fee on top — SigNoz bills against it before charging more.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Axiom ↗
“Cloud For teams scaling from first deployment to hyperscale. $25 / month Platform fee + usage. No minimum commitment. → Always Free allowance (1 TB / 100 GB-hrs / 100 GB) included”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — SigNoz ↗
“Teams For fast-scaling teams that need observability to scale with them. starts from $199 $49 /month [...] After the included $49 of usage”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Pricing model
- Axiom
- A platform fee plus three separate meters — data loaded, query compute in GB-hours, and stored GB — each with an always-free allowance included on every plan and automatic volume discounts above it.
- SigNoz
- Per GB ingested, with no per-user, per-host or custom-metric pricing — SigNoz states all three exclusions explicitly. Retention is a per-signal choice that changes the rate.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Axiom ↗
“Platform fee + usage. No minimum commitment. → Always Free allowance (1 TB / 100 GB-hrs / 100 GB) included → Automatic volume discounts on usage beyond the allowance → Configurable retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — SigNoz ↗
“Simple Usage-based Predictable Observability Costs No user-based pricing No host-based pricing No special pricing for custom metrics”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Retention window
30 days on the free Personal plan; configurable on Cloud rather than fixed.
15 days by default for logs and traces, selectable up to 30, 90, 180 days or 1 year at higher rates.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Axiom ↗
“→ 25 GB storage → 30-day retention → Full APL access [...] → Configurable retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — SigNoz ↗
“Logs $ 0.3 /GB ingested 15 days retention 15 days retention 30 days retention 90 days retention 180 days retention 1 year retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Which should you choose?
Choose Axiom if…
Small projects that want a real telemetry platform for nothing — 500 GB a month loaded with 30-day retention, permanently, is the most generous free allowance in this category.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose SigNoz if…
Teams that want per-GB billing without per-host or per-seat charges, and the option to run the same product themselves rather than being locked to the cloud version.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Axiom: Query compute is billed as its own meter in GB-hours, so an expensive dashboard costs money even when ingest is inside the allowance.
- SigNoz: $0.30 per GB is six times OpenObserve's rate, so a high-volume log pipeline pays a large premium for the packaging.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Axiom or SigNoz?
Axiom: $25/month platform fee for Cloud, plus usage, with no minimum commitment. The plan carries an always-free allowance of 1 TB loaded, 100 GB-hours of query compute and 100 GB stored.
SigNoz: $49/month for Teams, and the $49 is usage credit rather than a fee on top — SigNoz bills against it before charging more.
Free tier: Axiom or SigNoz?
Axiom: Yes
SigNoz: No
Should I choose Axiom or SigNoz?
Pick Axiom if Small projects that want a real telemetry platform for nothing — 500 GB a month loaded with 30-day retention, permanently, is the most generous free allowance in this category.
Pick SigNoz if Teams that want per-GB billing without per-host or per-seat charges, and the option to run the same product themselves rather than being locked to the cloud version.