Grafana Cloud alternatives
Teams leave Grafana Cloud over cost: the generous free tier hides that pro adds a $19 platform fee, splits each gb into process plus write plus retain, and charges $8 per user just to view dashboards. most teams report the real bill lands two to five times over their first estimate.
At a 25 hosts, 300 GB/mo, 10 users workload, Grafana Cloud runs about $264/mo on list rates. Here is how the alternatives compare on the same workload, cheapest first.
Open-source first: pure per-GB cloud with no host or seat charges, or self-host for free.
Best for: Cost-sensitive teams happy on OpenTelemetry who want predictable per-GB billing or a free self-hosted option.
The broadest platform, priced per host with every module billed on its own line.
Best for: Teams that want one tool for everything and have a stable, countable host fleet.
One usage pool priced by data ingested, plus a per-seat charge for full users.
Best for: Teams with modest data volume and few power users who want everything in one bucket.
Costs use the Growth profile on list rates; change the inputs in the calculator for your own numbers.