SigNoz vs Grafana Cloud
A comparison of SigNoz and Grafana Cloud built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
- Pick SigNoz if
- Teams that want per-GB billing without per-host or per-seat charges, and the option to run the same product themselves rather than being locked to the cloud version.
- 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.
5 sourced criteria separate them:
- Free tier
- SigNoz: No
- Grafana Cloud: Yes
- Entry paid plan
- SigNoz: $49/month for Teams, and the $49 is usage credit rather than a fee on top — SigNoz bills against it before charging more.
- Grafana Cloud: $19/month platform fee for Pro, which includes 10,000 active series before usage billing starts.
- Pricing model
- SigNoz: Per GB ingested, with no per-user, per-host or custom-metric pricing — SigNoz states all three exclusions explicitly. Retention is a per-signal choice that changes the rate.
- 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.
- Retention window
- SigNoz: 15 days by default for logs and traces, selectable up to 30, 90, 180 days or 1 year at higher rates.
- 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.
- Ingest price per GB
- SigNoz: $0.30 per GB ingested for logs, and the same for traces. Retention is chosen per signal and priced with it.
- 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.
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.
SigNoz 0
Grafana Cloud 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | SigNoz | Grafana Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Entry paid plan | $49/month for Teams, and the $49 is usage credit rather than a fee on top — SigNoz bills against it before charging more. | $19/month platform fee for Pro, which includes 10,000 active series before usage billing starts. |
| Pricing model | Per GB ingested, with no per-user, per-host or custom-metric pricing — SigNoz states all three exclusions explicitly. Retention is a per-signal choice that changes the rate. | 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. |
| Observability | ||
| Retention window | 15 days by default for logs and traces, selectable up to 30, 90, 180 days or 1 year at higher rates. | 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 |
| Ingest price per GB | $0.30 per GB ingested for logs, and the same for traces. Retention is chosen per signal and priced with it. | From $0.050 per GB processed, falling to $0.046 above 10,000 GB and $0.044 above 25,000 with automatic volume discounts. |
Where they differ.
Free tier
- SigNoz
- No
- Grafana Cloud
- Yes
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — SigNoz ↗
“Teams For fast-scaling teams that need observability to scale with them. starts from $199 $49 /month [...] After the included $49 of usage [...] Most teams start with Teams Cloud free trial”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
- Pricing — Grafana Cloud ↗
“Limited to 50 GB ingested per month 14 day retention Community support”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Entry paid plan
- SigNoz
- $49/month for Teams, and the $49 is usage credit rather than a fee on top — SigNoz bills against it before charging more.
- Grafana Cloud
- $19/month platform fee for Pro, which includes 10,000 active series before usage billing starts.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — SigNoz ↗
“Teams For fast-scaling teams that need observability to scale with them. starts from $199 $49 /month [...] After the included $49 of usage”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Grafana Cloud ↗
“Pro Self-serve From $19 / month + usage with volume discounts [...] Platform fee of $19 per month includes: 10k active series per month then pay as you go 13 months retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Pricing model
- SigNoz
- Per GB ingested, with no per-user, per-host or custom-metric pricing — SigNoz states all three exclusions explicitly. Retention is a per-signal choice that changes the rate.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — SigNoz ↗
“Simple Usage-based Predictable Observability Costs No user-based pricing No host-based pricing No special pricing for custom metrics”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Grafana Cloud ↗
“From $19 / month + usage with volume discounts [...] Automatic volume discounts [...] Enterprise Full service Starts at $25,000 / year spend commit”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Retention window
15 days by default for logs and traces, selectable up to 30, 90, 180 days or 1 year at higher rates.
13 months for metrics and 30 days for logs, traces, profiles and k6 tests on Pro. The free tier is 14 days for everything.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — SigNoz ↗
“Logs $ 0.3 /GB ingested 15 days retention 15 days retention 30 days retention 90 days retention 180 days retention 1 year retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- 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
Ingest price per GB
- SigNoz
- $0.30 per GB ingested for logs, and the same for traces. Retention is chosen per signal and priced with it.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — SigNoz ↗
“Logs $ 0.3 /GB ingested 15 days retention [...] Traces $ 0.3 /GB ingested 15 days retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Grafana Cloud ↗
“Pro Self-serve Starts at $0.050/GB Process Rate / GB GB $0.050 1 - 10,000 $0.046 10,001 - 25,000 $0.044 25,001+ Automatic volume discounts”
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 SigNoz if…
Teams that want per-GB billing without per-host or per-seat charges, and the option to run the same product themselves rather than being locked to the cloud version.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
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
Consider something else if…
- SigNoz: $0.30 per GB is six times OpenObserve's rate, so a high-volume log pipeline pays a large premium for the packaging.
- 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.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: SigNoz or Grafana Cloud?
SigNoz: $49/month for Teams, and the $49 is usage credit rather than a fee on top — SigNoz bills against it before charging more.
Grafana Cloud: $19/month platform fee for Pro, which includes 10,000 active series before usage billing starts.
Free tier: SigNoz or Grafana Cloud?
SigNoz: No
Grafana Cloud: Yes
Should I choose SigNoz or Grafana Cloud?
Pick SigNoz if Teams that want per-GB billing without per-host or per-seat charges, and the option to run the same product themselves rather than being locked to the cloud version.
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.