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Grafana Cloud vs OpenObserve

SEPT 2026 audit

A comparison of Grafana Cloud and OpenObserve built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.

Reviewed by Palash BagchiUpdated 26 criteria comparedSources last checked

The short answer

Choose 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.

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…

  • 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.
  • OpenObserve: Ingest is $0.50 per GB against Grafana Cloud's $0.050, so the simplicity costs an order of magnitude at volume.

Neither quite fits? Every other option, ranked by iScore: Grafana Cloud alternatives · OpenObserve alternatives

18 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.

Visit Grafana Cloud documentationVisit OpenObserve documentation

No affiliate links, sponsored placements or paid rankings appear on this site. Ordering follows the sourced data and the stated criteria.

01.

At a glance.

CriterionGrafana CloudOpenObserve
Pricing
Free tier
Yes
No — Cloud offers a 14-day trial only; the self-hosted Enterprise build is free up to 50 GB/day
Kind of free offerFree tierFree trial
Credit card to startNoNo
Entry paid plan$19/month platform fee for Pro, which includes 10,000 active series before usage billing starts.No minimum: Cloud Professional is pay-as-you-go from $0.50 per GB ingested plus $0.01 per GB queried, billed monthly with no upfront commitment.
Pricing modelA $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.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.
Infrastructure
Regions
28 region/provider combinations across AWS, GCP and Azure, from US East and EU Germany to UK, India, Singapore, Japan, Brazil and Australia; a stack cannot change region after creation.
Four OpenObserve Cloud regions: US West 2 (California, Azure), US East 2 (Ohio, AWS), EU Central 1 (Frankfurt, AWS) and Asia Pacific South 1 (Mumbai, AWS).
Observability
Retention window
13 months for metrics and 30 days for logs, traces, profiles and k6 tests on Pro. The free tier is 14 days for everything.
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
Limited — Public preview add-on to Frontend Observability, disabled by default and enabled per stack on request.
Supported
Self-hostableSupportedSupported
Ingest price per GB
From $0.050 per GB processed, falling to $0.046 above 10,000 GB and $0.044 above 25,000 with automatic volume discounts.
$0.50 per GB ingested, quoted with a 30% annual-commitment discount already applied.
Support
Support on entry paid planCommunity support on Free; 8x5 email support on Pro, from $19/month plus usage. Enterprise starts at $25,000/year.Premium support is listed among the enterprise features. The pay-as-you-go cloud plan's support level is not stated; the page directs anyone wanting enterprise support to sales.
Compliance
SOC 2SOC 2 report listed in the Grafana Labs Trust Center, available on request.SOC 2 Type II certified; the report is requested through security@openobserve.ai or the trust portal.
ISO 27001ISO/IEC 27001 certificate and Statement of Applicability listed in the Trust Center.ISO 27001 certification announced November 2025, with the certificate held in the trust portal; the security page itself makes no ISO representation.
GDPR / data residencyGDPR, EU-US DPF and UK/Swiss extensions listed in the Trust Center with a DPA; residency comes from choosing one of the published regions at stack creation.Customer selects the storage region and OpenObserve does not relocate stored data without instruction; a DPA covering EU and UK GDPR is published.
PCI DSS
PCI DSS v4.0.1 listed among Trust Center compliance documents.
Enterprise-tier Cipher Keys are documented as giving encryption and compliance support for PCI. A feature-level statement in the Enterprise Features docs, not a PCI DSS attestation or AOC.
Encryption at rest
AES-256 for storage and HTTPS/TLS in transit; Grafana Cloud manages the keys with industry-standard key management systems.
Not guaranteed by OpenObserve: storage-layer encryption and key management depend on the hosting provider and deployment architecture.
Customer-managed keysKeys are managed by Grafana Cloud with industry-standard key management systems. — Read from the Grafana Assistant security page, which describes how Grafana Cloud stores customer data.Cipher Keys (Enterprise Edition and Cloud): you supply the key and may hold it in your own Akeyless external key management system. Keys decrypt encrypted log fields at query time; not storage-layer key management.
Role-based access controlGrafana Cloud administrative controls and role-based access control (RBAC).Yes on Cloud (preconfigured) and Enterprise (via OpenFGA); not available in the open-source edition, where all users have unrestricted access.
Private networking / VPC
AWS PrivateLink, Azure Private Link and GCP Private Service Connect are documented connectivity options for Grafana Cloud.
Named for BYOC, where the customer manages VPC peering, Transit Gateway or PrivateLink; for Cloud the SLA names only the customer's own internet egress. Read from the shared-responsibility tables: Cloud in section 4.2, BYOC in 4.3.
Dedicated infrastructureBring Your Own Cloud deploys the managed stack into a dedicated cloud account in your AWS or GCP (Azure case-by-case) rather than a Grafana Labs-owned account.Single-Tenant Hosted and OpenObserve-managed BYOC deployments are offered alongside multi-tenant Cloud, all under the 99.8% SLA.

Only criteria both providers publish appear here; a tinted cell marks a real difference. Criteria only one of them documents are listed below, and an absence there means we found no source — not that the feature is missing. How we source this.

The small bar above a value is inetGeek's own lean toward that side — computed from the same facts shown, never a number the provider published. See the picker below "The short answer" to weigh only the criteria you care about.

02.

Where they differ.

Free tier

Grafana Cloud
Yes
OpenObserve
No — Cloud offers a 14-day trial only; the self-hosted Enterprise build is free up to 50 GB/day
Sources (2) →

Kind of free offer

Grafana Cloud
Free tier
OpenObserve
Free trial
Sources (2) →

Entry paid plan

Grafana Cloud
$19/month platform fee for Pro, which includes 10,000 active series before usage billing starts.
OpenObserve
No minimum: Cloud Professional is pay-as-you-go from $0.50 per GB ingested plus $0.01 per GB queried, billed monthly with no upfront commitment.
Sources (2) →

Pricing model

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.
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) →

Regions

Grafana Cloud

28 region/provider combinations across AWS, GCP and Azure, from US East and EU Germany to UK, India, Singapore, Japan, Brazil and Australia; a stack cannot change region after creation.

OpenObserve

Four OpenObserve Cloud regions: US West 2 (California, Azure), US East 2 (Ohio, AWS), EU Central 1 (Frankfurt, AWS) and Asia Pacific South 1 (Mumbai, AWS).

Sources (2) →

Retention window

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.

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) →
  • Pricing — Grafana Cloud ↗

    “13 months retention for metrics; 30 days retention for logs, traces, profiles, & k6 performance tests [...] Limited to 50 GB ingested per month 14 day retention”

    Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • 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 · Report a correction

Session replay

Grafana Cloud
Limited — Public preview add-on to Frontend Observability, disabled by default and enabled per stack on request.
OpenObserve
Supported
Sources (2) →

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.
OpenObserve
$0.50 per GB ingested, quoted with a 30% annual-commitment discount already applied.
Sources (2) →

Support on entry paid plan

Grafana Cloud
Community support on Free; 8x5 email support on Pro, from $19/month plus usage. Enterprise starts at $25,000/year.
OpenObserve
Premium support is listed among the enterprise features. The pay-as-you-go cloud plan's support level is not stated; the page directs anyone wanting enterprise support to sales.
Sources (2) →
  • Grafana Cloud Pricing ↗

    “benefits: all Grafana Cloud services, with limited usage community support 14 days retention for metrics, logs, traces, profiles, & k6 performance tests [...] everything in free plus: pay as you go above the free tier 8x5 email support 13 months retention for metrics”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • OpenObserve Pricing ↗

    “role-based access control (rbac) premium support deployment flexibility (public cloud, or bring your own cloud) architecture reviews volume discounts slas [...] for ingestion volumes above 50 gb per day or additional enterprise support, contact the openobserve sales team.”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction

SOC 2

Grafana Cloud
SOC 2 report listed in the Grafana Labs Trust Center, available on request.
OpenObserve
SOC 2 Type II certified; the report is requested through security@openobserve.ai or the trust portal.
Sources (2) →

ISO 27001

Grafana Cloud
ISO/IEC 27001 certificate and Statement of Applicability listed in the Trust Center.
OpenObserve
ISO 27001 certification announced November 2025, with the certificate held in the trust portal; the security page itself makes no ISO representation.
Sources (2) →

GDPR / data residency

Grafana Cloud
GDPR, EU-US DPF and UK/Swiss extensions listed in the Trust Center with a DPA; residency comes from choosing one of the published regions at stack creation.
OpenObserve
Customer selects the storage region and OpenObserve does not relocate stored data without instruction; a DPA covering EU and UK GDPR is published.
Sources (2) →
  • Trust Center ↗

    “GDPR Microsoft SSPA EU-US DPF UK Extension to EU-US DPF Swiss-US DPF”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

  • Security & Compliance | OpenObserve ↗

    “Customers select among the storage regions available for their service, as reflected in their order or deployment configuration. OpenObserve does not relocate stored Customer Data to another region without customer instructions or agreement.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

PCI DSS

Grafana Cloud
PCI DSS v4.0.1 listed among Trust Center compliance documents.
OpenObserve
Enterprise-tier Cipher Keys are documented as giving encryption and compliance support for PCI. A feature-level statement in the Enterprise Features docs, not a PCI DSS attestation or AOC.
Sources (2) →

Encryption at rest

Grafana Cloud
AES-256 for storage and HTTPS/TLS in transit; Grafana Cloud manages the keys with industry-standard key management systems.
OpenObserve
Not guaranteed by OpenObserve: storage-layer encryption and key management depend on the hosting provider and deployment architecture.
Sources (2) →

Customer-managed keys

Grafana Cloud
Keys are managed by Grafana Cloud with industry-standard key management systems. — Read from the Grafana Assistant security page, which describes how Grafana Cloud stores customer data.
OpenObserve
Cipher Keys (Enterprise Edition and Cloud): you supply the key and may hold it in your own Akeyless external key management system. Keys decrypt encrypted log fields at query time; not storage-layer key management.
Sources (2) →

Role-based access control

Grafana Cloud
Grafana Cloud administrative controls and role-based access control (RBAC).
OpenObserve
Yes on Cloud (preconfigured) and Enterprise (via OpenFGA); not available in the open-source edition, where all users have unrestricted access.
Sources (2) →

Private networking / VPC

Grafana Cloud
AWS PrivateLink, Azure Private Link and GCP Private Service Connect are documented connectivity options for Grafana Cloud.
OpenObserve
Named for BYOC, where the customer manages VPC peering, Transit Gateway or PrivateLink; for Cloud the SLA names only the customer's own internet egress. Read from the shared-responsibility tables: Cloud in section 4.2, BYOC in 4.3.
Sources (2) →

Dedicated infrastructure

Grafana Cloud
Bring Your Own Cloud deploys the managed stack into a dedicated cloud account in your AWS or GCP (Azure case-by-case) rather than a Grafana Labs-owned account.
OpenObserve
Single-Tenant Hosted and OpenObserve-managed BYOC deployments are offered alongside multi-tenant Cloud, all under the 99.8% SLA.
Sources (2) →

When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.

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03.

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 — except where we say we read the other provider's own page on a given date and it does not state it. Those rows lean, and the provider can correct them with a link.

What the free plan includesGrafana Cloud: 50 GB ingested a month with 14-day retention and community support, described as always free.
When the free offer endsOpenObserve: 14 days.
Uptime SLAOpenObserve: SLAs appear in the enterprise feature list alongside architecture reviews and volume discounts. No percentage is published on the pricing page.
Events includedGrafana Cloud: Free plan, per month: 10k active metrics series; 50 GB each of logs, traces and profiles; 50k frontend-observability sessions; 500 k6 virtual user hours; 100k API test executions. Grafana meters series, GB, sessions and host hours; no event-count meter is published.
Query priceOpenObserve: $0.01 per GB queried, billed separately from ingest.
HIPAAOpenObserve: Enterprise-tier Cipher Keys are documented as giving encryption and compliance support for HIPAA. A feature-level statement in the Enterprise Features docs, not a certification, audit report or BAA.
04.

Questions this comparison answers.

Entry paid plan: Grafana Cloud or OpenObserve?

Grafana Cloud: $19/month platform fee for Pro, which includes 10,000 active series before usage billing starts.

OpenObserve: No minimum: Cloud Professional is pay-as-you-go from $0.50 per GB ingested plus $0.01 per GB queried, billed monthly with no upfront commitment.

Free tier: Grafana Cloud or OpenObserve?

Grafana Cloud: Yes

OpenObserve: No — Cloud offers a 14-day trial only; the self-hosted Enterprise build is free up to 50 GB/day

Should I choose Grafana Cloud or OpenObserve?

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.

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.

Provider pages

Grafana CloudHosted Grafana, Loki, Mimir and Tempo with a small platform fee, usage billing and unusually long metrics retention.OpenObserveOpen-source observability covering logs, metrics, traces, RUM and session replay, priced per GB with retention included.

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Comments

Every page here is sourced and dated.