Datadog vs OpenObserve
A comparison of Datadog and OpenObserve built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
- Pick Datadog if
- Teams that need one vendor across infrastructure, logs, traces and replay, and can model a bill that has a separate meter for each.
- Pick OpenObserve if
- Teams that want one bill they can predict — ingest, query, and retention included — with session replay and RUM in the same product rather than as separate purchases.
3 sourced criteria separate them:
- Pricing model
- Datadog: Per product, not per plan: infrastructure per host, logs split between ingest per GB and indexing per million events, with retention chosen per index and priced accordingly. There is no single Datadog price — this profile follows Log Management, which is the meter comparable to the per-GB platforms in this category.
- OpenObserve: Two meters and nothing else: $0.50 per GB ingested and $0.01 per GB queried, with retention included rather than sold as a tier. OpenObserve frames it as no hidden tiers and no surprise bills.
- Retention window
- Datadog: Chosen per index and priced with it: 3, 7, 15 or 30 days, or greater than 30 by arrangement. The $1.70 per million rate is the 15-day tier. Infrastructure metrics retain 1 day on the free plan.
- OpenObserve: Included rather than priced: 15 months for metrics and 30 days for logs, traces, RUM and everything else, at no extra cost on pay-as-you-go.
- Ingest price per GB
- Datadog: $0.10 per ingested or scanned GB per month for Log Management, billed annually — the same rate on demand. Indexing those logs is charged separately.
- OpenObserve: $0.50 per GB ingested, quoted with a 30% annual-commitment discount already applied.
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.
Datadog 0
OpenObserve 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Datadog | OpenObserve |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Per product, not per plan: infrastructure per host, logs split between ingest per GB and indexing per million events, with retention chosen per index and priced accordingly. There is no single Datadog price — this profile follows Log Management, which is the meter comparable to the per-GB platforms in this category. | Two meters and nothing else: $0.50 per GB ingested and $0.01 per GB queried, with retention included rather than sold as a tier. OpenObserve frames it as no hidden tiers and no surprise bills. |
| Observability | ||
| Retention window | Chosen per index and priced with it: 3, 7, 15 or 30 days, or greater than 30 by arrangement. The $1.70 per million rate is the 15-day tier. Infrastructure metrics retain 1 day on the free plan. | Included rather than priced: 15 months for metrics and 30 days for logs, traces, RUM and everything else, at no extra cost on pay-as-you-go. |
| Session replay | Supported | Supported |
| Ingest price per GB | $0.10 per ingested or scanned GB per month for Log Management, billed annually — the same rate on demand. Indexing those logs is charged separately. | $0.50 per GB ingested, quoted with a 30% annual-commitment discount already applied. |
Where they differ.
Pricing model
- Datadog
- Per product, not per plan: infrastructure per host, logs split between ingest per GB and indexing per million events, with retention chosen per index and priced accordingly. There is no single Datadog price — this profile follows Log Management, which is the meter comparable to the per-GB platforms in this category.
- OpenObserve
- Two meters and nothing else: $0.50 per GB ingested and $0.01 per GB queried, with retention included rather than sold as a tier. OpenObserve frames it as no hidden tiers and no surprise bills.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Datadog ↗
“Flex Ingest Starting At $ 0.10 Per ingested or scanned GB [...] Standard Indexing [...] $ 1.70 Per million log events, per month [...] Pro Starting At $ 15 Per host, per month”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenObserve ↗
“Pay-as-you-go from $0.50/GB ingested and $0.01/GB queried, with retention included. No hidden tiers, no surprise bills”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Retention window
Chosen per index and priced with it: 3, 7, 15 or 30 days, or greater than 30 by arrangement. The $1.70 per million rate is the 15-day tier. Infrastructure metrics retain 1 day on the free plan.
Included rather than priced: 15 months for metrics and 30 days for logs, traces, RUM and everything else, at no extra cost on pay-as-you-go.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Datadog ↗
“3-day retention 7-day retention 15-day retention 30-day retention Greater than 30 days $ 1.70 Per million log events, per month* [...] 1-day metric retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenObserve ↗
“Included Retention Metrics 15 Months Non metrics (Logs, Traces and etc.) 30-Days [...] The Pay-as-you-Go plan includes the following default retention at no extra cost”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Ingest price per GB
- Datadog
- $0.10 per ingested or scanned GB per month for Log Management, billed annually — the same rate on demand. Indexing those logs is charged separately.
- OpenObserve
- $0.50 per GB ingested, quoted with a 30% annual-commitment discount already applied.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Datadog ↗
“Flex Ingest Starting At $ 0.10 Per ingested or scanned GB, per month* [...] *Per GB of uncompressed data ingested for processing, or compressed data scanned for rehydrating. **Billed annually or $ 0.10 on-demand”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenObserve ↗
“Ingestion $0.50 per GB* Query $0.01 per GB [...] *Includes 30% discount for annual commitment”
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 Datadog if…
Teams that need one vendor across infrastructure, logs, traces and replay, and can model a bill that has a separate meter for each.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose OpenObserve if…
Teams that want one bill they can predict — ingest, query, and retention included — with session replay and RUM in the same product rather than as separate purchases.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Datadog: Ingest and indexing are billed separately on the same logs, so $0.10 per GB is not the cost of keeping a log — the indexing charge above it is where the bill actually lands.
- OpenObserve: Ingest is $0.50 per GB against Grafana Cloud's $0.050, so the simplicity costs an order of magnitude at volume.
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.
Should I choose Datadog or OpenObserve?
Pick Datadog if Teams that need one vendor across infrastructure, logs, traces and replay, and can model a bill that has a separate meter for each.
Pick OpenObserve if Teams that want one bill they can predict — ingest, query, and retention included — with session replay and RUM in the same product rather than as separate purchases.