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OpenObserve vs Sentry

SEPT 2026 audit

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

Reviewed by Palash BagchiUpdated 28 criteria comparedSources last checked

The short answer

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

Choose Sentry if…

Teams that want tracing, logs, replays and uptime in one place and will pay per meter for it. The tooling is the deepest in the category and the SDK coverage is the widest.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Consider something else if…

  • OpenObserve: Ingest is $0.50 per GB against Grafana Cloud's $0.050, so the simplicity costs an order of magnitude at volume.
  • Sentry: Five meters bill independently, so 50,000 errors is not 50,000 units of observability. A team watching cost needs to watch spans and logs too, not just the error count.

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

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

Visit OpenObserve documentationVisit Sentry 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.

CriterionOpenObserveSentry
Pricing
Free tier
No — Cloud offers a 14-day trial only; the self-hosted Enterprise build is free up to 50 GB/day
Yes
Kind of free offerFree trialFree tier
Entry paid planNo 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.$26/month for Team, the cheapest paid plan
Pricing modelTwo 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.A plan fee plus five independent meters — errors, logs, application metrics, tracing spans and session replays — each with its own included amount and its own overage. Logs and metrics overflow at $0.50/GB; extra uptime alerts at $1.00 each.
Observability
Retention windowIncluded 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.30-day lookback on Developer, the free plan. Up to 90 days on Team, and up to 90 days plus additional sampled retention on Business. Enterprise is custom. "Up to" is Sentry's own wording — the 90 days is a ceiling, not a guarantee.
Session replaySupportedSupported
Self-hostable
Supported
Limited
Support
Support on entry paid planPremium 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.Four levels listed: community support via GitHub and Discord, email support, a dedicated technical account manager, and premium customer success. Enterprise is the tier the page names for the account manager and dedicated support.
Compliance
SOC 2SOC 2 Type II certified; the report is requested through security@openobserve.ai or the trust portal.SOC 2 Type I and Type II certifications; report available via account or on request.
ISO 27001ISO 27001 certification announced November 2025, with the certificate held in the trust portal; the security page itself makes no ISO representation.ISO 27001 certified; certificate available via account or on request.
HIPAA
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.
HIPAA attestation obtained. — Listed as an attestation among compliance certifications, not as a BAA offer.
Encryption at rest
Not guaranteed by OpenObserve: storage-layer encryption and key management depend on the hosting provider and deployment architecture.
All data encrypted at rest; keys managed via a redundant, globally distributed Key Management Service.
Role-based access controlYes on Cloud (preconfigured) and Enterprise (via OpenFGA); not available in the open-source edition, where all users have unrestricted access.Role-based access: Billing, Member, Admin, Manager, Organization Owner.

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

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

Kind of free offer

OpenObserve
Free trial
Sentry
Free tier
Sources (2) →

Entry paid plan

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.
Sentry
$26/month for Team, the cheapest paid plan
Sources (2) →

Pricing model

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.
Sentry
A plan fee plus five independent meters — errors, logs, application metrics, tracing spans and session replays — each with its own included amount and its own overage. Logs and metrics overflow at $0.50/GB; extra uptime alerts at $1.00 each.
Sources (2) →
  • 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 · Report a correction

  • Pricing — Sentry ↗

    “Error Monitoring 5k errors 50k errors [...] Logs 5GB 5GB +$0.50/GB additional [...] Application Metrics 5GB 5GB +$0.50/GB additional [...] Tracing 5M spans [...] Session Replay 50 replays [...] Uptime Monitoring 1 uptime monitor +$1.00/uptime alert additional”

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

Retention window

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.
Sentry
30-day lookback on Developer, the free plan. Up to 90 days on Team, and up to 90 days plus additional sampled retention on Business. Enterprise is custom. "Up to" is Sentry's own wording — the 90 days is a ceiling, not a guarantee.
Sources (2) →
  • 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

  • Pricing — Sentry ↗

    “Data retention [...] 30-day lookback [...] Up to 90-day lookback [...] Up to 90-day lookback & additional sampled retention [...] Custom”

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

Self-hostable

OpenObserve
Supported
Sentry
Limited
Sources (2) →
  • Pricing — OpenObserve ↗

    “Cloud Self Hosted Most Popular Cloud [...] Pay-as-you-go from $0.50/GB ingested and $0.01/GB queried, with retention included.”

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

  • Self-Hosted Sentry — Sentry Developer Documentation ↗

    “In addition to making its source code available publicly, Sentry offers and maintains a minimal setup that works out-of-the-box for simple use cases. This version comes with no guarantees or dedicated support. Sentry engineers will do their best to answer questions and are dedicated to making sure self-hosted is running, but that's where our involvement ends.”

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

Support on entry paid plan

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.
Sentry
Four levels listed: community support via GitHub and Discord, email support, a dedicated technical account manager, and premium customer success. Enterprise is the tier the page names for the account manager and dedicated support.
Sources (2) →
  • 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

  • Sentry Pricing ↗

    “SUPPORT Community support via GitHub and Discord Email support Dedicated technical account manager Premium customer success [...] Enterprise For organizations with advanced needs Custom Business features + Technical account manager Dedicated customer support”

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

SOC 2

OpenObserve
SOC 2 Type II certified; the report is requested through security@openobserve.ai or the trust portal.
Sentry
SOC 2 Type I and Type II certifications; report available via account or on request.
Sources (2) →

ISO 27001

OpenObserve
ISO 27001 certification announced November 2025, with the certificate held in the trust portal; the security page itself makes no ISO representation.
Sentry
ISO 27001 certified; certificate available via account or on request.
Sources (2) →

HIPAA

OpenObserve
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.
Sentry
HIPAA attestation obtained. — Listed as an attestation among compliance certifications, not as a BAA offer.
Sources (2) →

Encryption at rest

OpenObserve
Not guaranteed by OpenObserve: storage-layer encryption and key management depend on the hosting provider and deployment architecture.
Sentry
All data encrypted at rest; keys managed via a redundant, globally distributed Key Management Service.
Sources (2) →
  • Security & Compliance | OpenObserve ↗

    “Storage-layer encryption, key management, network controls, backup options, and infrastructure isolation depend on the hosting provider and deployment architecture.”

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

  • Sentry Security ↗

    “All data in Sentry servers is encrypted at rest. Google Cloud Platform stores and manages data cryptography keys in its redundant and globally distributed Key Management Service.”

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

Role-based access control

OpenObserve
Yes on Cloud (preconfigured) and Enterprise (via OpenFGA); not available in the open-source edition, where all users have unrestricted access.
Sentry
Role-based access: Billing, Member, Admin, Manager, Organization Owner.
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 includesSentry: 5,000 errors, 5 GB of logs, 5 million spans, 50 session replays and 1 uptime monitor a month.
Credit card to startOpenObserve: No
When the free offer endsOpenObserve: 14 days.
When you exceed a capSentry: Billed, not throttled: each meter charges for additional usage beyond the included amount, at a published per-unit rate.
RegionsOpenObserve: 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).
Uptime SLAOpenObserve: SLAs appear in the enterprise feature list alongside architecture reviews and volume discounts. No percentage is published on the pricing page.
Events includedSentry: 50,000 errors a month on Team and Business; 5,000 on Free. Errors are one meter of several — logs, spans, replays and uptime monitors are counted and billed separately.
Ingest price per GBOpenObserve: $0.50 per GB ingested, quoted with a 30% annual-commitment discount already applied.
Query priceOpenObserve: $0.01 per GB queried, billed separately from ingest.
Audit logsSentry: In the audit log, all of the actions by user and event within the Sentry UI (e.g., member.invite, project.create) are listed chronologically by time and IP address so you’ll always have a view into your organization’s most recent history.
GDPR / data residencyOpenObserve: Customer selects the storage region and OpenObserve does not relocate stored data without instruction; a DPA covering EU and UK GDPR is published.Sentry: not stated on its own page when read on 2026-09-21 — corrections welcome · every such claim about Sentry.
PCI DSSOpenObserve: 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.Sentry: not stated on its own page when read on 2026-09-21 — corrections welcome · every such claim about Sentry.
Customer-managed keysOpenObserve: 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.Sentry: not stated on its own page when read on 2026-09-21 — corrections welcome · every such claim about Sentry.
Private networking / VPCOpenObserve: 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.Sentry: not stated on its own page when read on 2026-09-21 — corrections welcome · every such claim about Sentry.
Dedicated infrastructureOpenObserve: Single-Tenant Hosted and OpenObserve-managed BYOC deployments are offered alongside multi-tenant Cloud, all under the 99.8% SLA.
04.

Questions this comparison answers.

Entry paid plan: OpenObserve or Sentry?

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.

Sentry: $26/month for Team, the cheapest paid plan

Free tier: OpenObserve or Sentry?

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

Sentry: Yes

Should I choose OpenObserve or Sentry?

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.

Pick Sentry if Teams that want tracing, logs, replays and uptime in one place and will pay per meter for it. The tooling is the deepest in the category and the SDK coverage is the widest.

Provider pages

OpenObserveOpen-source observability covering logs, metrics, traces, RUM and session replay, priced per GB with retention included.SentryError monitoring and tracing sold per event across errors, spans, logs and replays, with a self-hosted build offered without support guarantees.

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Comments

Every page here is sourced and dated.