Grafana Cloud vs SigNoz: true cost
Pay-as-you-go on top of a small platform fee, with a per-active-user charge to view dashboards.
Open-source first: pure per-GB cloud with no host or seat charges, or self-host for free.
Cost across three workloads
| Workload | Grafana Cloud | SigNoz | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
Startup 5 hosts, 50 GB/mo, 3 users | $71 | $49 | SigNoz |
Growth 25 hosts, 300 GB/mo, 10 users | $264 | $90 | SigNoz |
Scale 100 hosts, 2 TB/mo, 25 users | $1,319 | $600 | SigNoz |
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.
The simplest model here: pure per-GB with no host or per-seat charge, so the bill is easy to predict. The only catch is the $49/mo cloud minimum, or you run the open-source version yourself for free.
Totals use list rates on hosts, data, and seats; tune them in the calculator. Sources: Grafana Cloud 2026-06-25, SigNoz 2026-06-25.