GlitchTip vs OpenObserve
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of GlitchTip and OpenObserve built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose 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.
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…
- 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.
- OpenObserve: Ingest is $0.50 per GB against Grafana Cloud's $0.050, so the simplicity costs an order of magnitude at volume.
2 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
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.
GlitchTip 0
OpenObserve 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | GlitchTip | OpenObserve |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Flat monthly tiers bought by event ceiling, with a free self-hosted build as the alternative to paying at all | 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 | 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. | 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. |
| Self-hostable | Supported | Supported |
Where they differ.
Pricing model
- GlitchTip
- Flat monthly tiers bought by event ceiling, with a free self-hosted build as the alternative to paying at all
- 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 — GlitchTip ↗
“Self-hosted version Free [...] Up to 100k events/mo $15 / month [...] Up to 500k events/mo $50 / month [...] Up to 3 million events/mo $250 / 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
- 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.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Installation — GlitchTip documentation ↗
“Data Retention [...] GlitchTip automatically cleans up old data based on configurable retention periods. [...] GLITCHTIP_RETENTION_DAYS 90 Master default for all retention periods [...] GLITCHTIP_EVENT_HOT_DAYS 30 Days to keep events in PostgreSQL before archival [...] GLITCHTIP_RELEASE_RETENTION_DAYS 365 Release retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
- 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
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
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 GlitchTip or OpenObserve?
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 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.