# GlitchTip vs Grafana Cloud

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/glitchtip-vs-grafana-cloud/

Every value below is read from GlitchTip's and Grafana Cloud's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | GlitchTip | Grafana Cloud |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Entry paid plan | $15/month for the 100,000 event plan; $50 for 500,000 and $250 for 3 million | $19/month platform fee for Pro, which includes 10,000 active series before usage billing starts. |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly tiers bought by event ceiling, with a free self-hosted build as the alternative to paying at all | A $19 platform fee plus metered usage, with volume discounts applied automatically rather than negotiated. The enterprise tier starts at a $25,000 annual spend commitment. |
| Retention window | 90 days by default when self-hosted, set by GLITCHTIP_RETENTION_DAYS and configurable per data type — events, transactions, logs, uptime checks and files all inherit it, releases keep 365 days. Events move from Postgres to cold storage after 30 days but stay queryable. GlitchTip publishes no retention figure for its hosted plans. | 13 months for metrics and 30 days for logs, traces, profiles and k6 tests on Pro. The free tier is 14 days for everything. |
| Self-hostable | Supported | Supported |

## Where they differ

### Entry paid plan

- GlitchTip: $15/month for the 100,000 event plan; $50 for 500,000 and $250 for 3 million ([source](https://glitchtip.com/pricing))
- Grafana Cloud: $19/month platform fee for Pro, which includes 10,000 active series before usage billing starts. ([source](https://grafana.com/pricing/))

### Pricing model

- GlitchTip: Flat monthly tiers bought by event ceiling, with a free self-hosted build as the alternative to paying at all ([source](https://glitchtip.com/pricing))
- Grafana Cloud: A $19 platform fee plus metered usage, with volume discounts applied automatically rather than negotiated. The enterprise tier starts at a $25,000 annual spend commitment. ([source](https://grafana.com/pricing/))

### Retention window

- GlitchTip: 90 days by default when self-hosted, set by GLITCHTIP_RETENTION_DAYS and configurable per data type — events, transactions, logs, uptime checks and files all inherit it, releases keep 365 days. Events move from Postgres to cold storage after 30 days but stay queryable. GlitchTip publishes no retention figure for its hosted plans. ([source](https://glitchtip.com/documentation/install))
- Grafana Cloud: 13 months for metrics and 30 days for logs, traces, profiles and k6 tests on Pro. The free tier is 14 days for everything. ([source](https://grafana.com/pricing/))

## Which should you choose?

Pick GlitchTip if Anyone who wants Sentry-shaped error tracking without Sentry's bill — the SDKs are compatible, so switching is a DSN change, and self-hosting is free and genuinely supported.

Pick Grafana Cloud if Metrics-heavy monitoring where 13 months of retention matters — that window is an order of magnitude beyond what the error trackers and most telemetry platforms keep.

Consider something else: GlitchTip — It tracks errors and nothing else. No tracing, no replays, no uptime monitoring, so a team wanting one pane of glass will be assembling it from parts.

Consider something else: Grafana Cloud — Logs and traces get 30 days rather than 13 months, so the headline retention figure does not describe most of what you send it.

## Documented by only one

- Events included: GlitchTip: 100,000 events a month on the cheapest paid plan; 1,000 on the free hosted plan. One meter, not several — GlitchTip counts events and nothing else.
- Ingest price per GB: Grafana Cloud: From $0.050 per GB processed, falling to $0.046 above 10,000 GB and $0.044 above 25,000 with automatic volume discounts.

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: GlitchTip or Grafana Cloud?**

GlitchTip: $15/month for the 100,000 event plan; $50 for 500,000 and $250 for 3 million
Grafana Cloud: $19/month platform fee for Pro, which includes 10,000 active series before usage billing starts.

**Should I choose GlitchTip or Grafana Cloud?**

Pick GlitchTip if Anyone who wants Sentry-shaped error tracking without Sentry's bill — the SDKs are compatible, so switching is a DSN change, and self-hosting is free and genuinely supported.
Pick Grafana Cloud if Metrics-heavy monitoring where 13 months of retention matters — that window is an order of magnitude beyond what the error trackers and most telemetry platforms keep.