Having previously compared the top 5 Datadog alternatives and the top 5 alternatives to Honeybadger, this time we'll compare Sentry against five competing application performance monitoring (APM) tools, so that you can find the best choice for you.

We'll compare Sentry to AppSignal first, then Honeybadger, Datadog, New Relic, and Scout.

1. AppSignal

AppSignal's monitoring toolkit is designed to make monitoring simple, with a suite of tools that help convert metric data into actionable insights.

AppSignal plans are priced transparently and designed to scale with your application. We don't believe in price walls, meaning teams of any size can monitor uptime and performance, track errors, and even manage logs from day one.

At AppSignal we want to be amazing in everything we do. That's why we have common sense pricing, an easy-to-use interface, and support that goes above and beyond compared to our competitors. We're natural developer advocates. We have invested our time into developer meetups and conferences worldwide (as well as offering our famously delicious and free stroopwafels).

• Founded: 2012
• Supports: Ruby, Elixir, Node.js, Python, Front-end Javascript
• G2 Rating: 4.8/5
• Plans start from: $23 per month

AppSignal's Monitoring Toolkit

• Error Tracking: Cross deployment error tracking with notifications for new occurrences.
• Performance Monitoring: Track your app's performance and get insights into slow functions and requests.
• Host Monitoring: Monitor your hardware's performance with detailed insights on CPU usage, disk activity, network performance, and more.
• Anomaly Detection: Create alerts for abnormal activity in your application, including memory surges, increased error rates, or slow response times.
• Uptime Monitoring: Receive alerts for downtime with minute-by-minute pings to your application.
• Metric Dashboards: Have all your metrics in one place with customizable dashboards. AppSignal automatically creates dashboards when it identifies metrics from compatible frameworks and libraries, such as Express and MongoDB.
• Log Management: With our simple log management tool, you can easily navigate from log lines to error reports, performance data, and more.
• Simple Pricing: Enjoy straightforward pricing with no hidden fees or overage charges, and a flexible upgrade policy.

Why Developers Choose AppSignal

Developers love AppSignal because it converts complex metric data into simple, actionable insights.

All of AppSignal's core features are available on all plans and thanks to our relaxed upgrade policy and simple pricing, developers can monitor their apps without the fear of bill shock or overage fees. We make switching to a plan that suits your monitoring needs easy. AppSignal's business add-ons eliminate the need for pricey enterprise plans and make it easy for larger customers to sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) or arrange long-term log storage.

Customers who swap from Sentry to AppSignal are often positively surprised by how quick it is to get monitoring:

Just swapped from Sentry to AppSignal for tracking errors. I'm loving this product. Never seen a monitoring tool as fast as this one before.

Rainer, CEO at Memberkit

AppSignal: The Pros and Cons

AppSignal scores 4.8 out of 5 stars on G2. Customers considering a switch from Sentry to AppSignal should take the pros and cons listed below into account.

Pros

• Clear, Affordable Pricing: AppSignal provides transparent pricing, so customers can easily understand what they're paying for and avoid unexpected fees.
• User-Friendly Experience: AppSignal's intuitive interface and quick setup allow customers to start monitoring their apps in no time.
• Built-In Support: Thanks to AppSignal's out-of-the-box integrations, customers can effortlessly monitor critical stack components with minimal setup.

Cons

• No Mobile Support: AppSignal specializes in providing amazing integration support for Ruby, Elixir, Node.js, Python, and frontend JavaScript applications, whereas Sentry offers support for iOS and Android application monitoring.
• Third-party Integrations: Sentry offers more out-of-the-box third-party integration support than AppSignal does, although AppSignal's API makes it possible to connect to most third-party integrations.
• No Sandbox: Sentry provides a sandbox app to tour Sentry's features, whereas AppSignal requires signing up for a free trial account.

Sentry vs. AppSignal

Having reviewed the advantages and disadvantages of AppSignal, let's see how its features compare to Sentry:

2. Honeybadger

• Founded: 2012
• Supports: Ruby, Elixir, Python, Go, Front-end Javascript, PHP, Crystal, Java, Clojure, Cocoa
• G2 Rating: 4.5/5
• Plans start from: $39 per month

Core Honeybadger Features

• Error Tracking: Monitor and receive notifications for errors in your application.
• Performance Monitoring: Track performance to pinpoint underperforming requests and functions.
• Broad Software Support: Honeybadger supports thirteen languages, making it ideal for teams managing multiple tech stacks.
• Mobile App Error Tracking: Includes support for Cocoa for MacOS and iOS applications, as well as Java for Android error tracking.

Why Developers Choose Honeybadger

Honeybadger supports most popular libraries and frameworks, and it provides free support for customers, like AppSignal. Honeybadger customers tend to be impressed by its ease of use and ability to pinpoint the root cause of an issue:

I love how fresh the Honeybadger interface looks. The error reports are also very detailed and easy to understand. It is easy to spot a problem from the exact line of code causing it.

Bina K., G2 review

Honeybadger: The Pros and Cons

Honeybadger scores 4.5 out of 5 stars on G2. Before switching from Sentry to Honeybadger, users should weigh up the following advantages and disadvantages.

Pros

• Messaging Platform Integrations: Honeybadger offers integrations with third-party platforms, such as Slack, and can alert customers via their preferred communication channels.
• Framework and Library Compatibility: Honeybadger works with a number of frameworks and libraries, giving you the flexibility to monitor a range of apps.
• Intuitive Breadcrumb Feature: The breadcrumb feature in Honeybadger simplifies error tracking, aiding in faster debugging and resolution.

Cons

• Limited Third-party Integration Support: Honeybadger supports fewer third-party integrations compared to Sentry, which could make migration more challenging.
• Limited Features: Honeybadger does not support advanced features such as host monitoring and namespaces.
• Pricing: Honeybadger's plans can be up to 40% more expensive than Sentry's, which might make it harder to justify a switch.

Sentry vs. Honeybadger

Now that we've explored Honeybadger's pros and cons, let's compare its features directly to Sentry:

3. Datadog

• Founded: 2010
• Supports: 26+ libraries and frameworks including, Ruby, Elixir, Python, Go
• G2 Rating: 4.4/5
• Plans start from: $15 per month

Core Datadog Features

• Extensive Software Support: Datadog's support for 26 programming languages makes it perfect for developers who want language-agnostic solutions.
• Sandbox: Datadog is an APM and observability sandbox, meaning it can be molded to fit specific needs.
• Broad Feature Set: Datadog has a broad range of features, including the ability to detect vulnerabilities in your libraries.

Why Developers Choose Datadog

Datadog offers a broad range of monitoring features. It particularly lends itself to larger organizations with stakeholders who want a centralized view of their product and a focus on reporting:

Datadog's products integrate seamlessly both with each other and with our other vendors giving us a centralized view of all of the metrics we need to monitor and improve our software.

Tom F., G2 Review

Datadog: The Pros and Cons

Datadog scores 4.4 out of 5 on G2. If you're thinking about switching to Datadog, we suggest weighing the following factors.

Pros

• All-in-one Solution: Datadog offers an all-in-one solution compared to Sentry's more focused scope, meaning Datadog customers may require additional tools to meet their monitoring needs if they switch to Sentry.
• Popular Language Support: Datadog supports a broad selection of languages, so it should be able to integrate with your stack.
• Synthetic Monitoring: Datadog offers synthetic monitoring, which allows you to automatically simulate user flows and application requests to debug and future-proof performance.

Cons

• Complicated Pricing: With more than 75+ plans, customers often complain that they find it hard to understand what they're paying for, making billing unpredictable.
• Data Centric: As the name suggests, Datadog is designed around data-heavy metric reports. Some customers may find this approach intimidating and frustrating if they want a more pragmatic monitoring tool.
• Complex UI: New Datadog customers may struggle to make full use of Datadog's features because of its complex user interface and sandbox approach to monitoring.

Sentry vs. Datadog

Let's compare the features and functionality Sentry has to what Datadog can offer:

4. New Relic

• Founded: 2007
• Supports: Ruby, Python, Go, Node.js, PHP, .NET, Java
• G2 Rating: 4.3/5
• Plans start from: Depends on usage, e.g., 100 GB of free data ingested per month, $0.35/GB ingested beyond, and from$49.99 per user.

Core New Relic Features

• APM Capabilities: Offers a variety of APM features, such as error tracking and performance monitoring.
• Session Replay: Replay sessions to gain insights into end-user interactions.
• Web Performance Monitoring: Improve SEO and measure webpage performance.
• SAP Monitoring: Provides support for customers with SAP integrations.
• Cloud Monitoring: New Relic offers support for Google Cloud, AWS, and Azure.

Why Developers Choose New Relic

New Relic appeals to a broad range of teams, from hobbyists looking for an APM with a freemium tier to enterprise customers with larger and more complicated stacks. However, its high pricing may make it less cost-effective for startups, scaleups, and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

New Relic's broad range of language support strikes a particularly strong chord with its customers:

New Relic integrates with a wide range of technologies and platforms, including various programming languages, cloud services, databases, and more. This allows businesses to gather comprehensive insights across their entire technology stack.

Atul Kumar P., G2 Review

New Relic: The Pros and Cons

New Relic has a score of 4.3 out of 5 stars on G2. For those thinking about making a change, here are the main advantages and disadvantages to consider.

Pros

• Freemium Tier: New Relic provides a free monitoring tier with basic capabilities.
• Simple Setup: Customers often praise New Relic for its easy setup process, making it straightforward to begin using the tool.
• Integration with SAP: New Relic integrates with SAP, providing extensive monitoring capabilities for enterprise clients.

Cons

• Charged Per User: New Relic has a per-user pricing model, which could lead to higher costs for larger teams.
• Overwhelmed with Data: New Relic's extensive data collection can overwhelm customers, making pinpointing and prioritizing insights tricky.
• Poor Documentation: Customers have reported New Relic's documentation is sometimes outdated and hard to navigate, potentially complicating the onboarding experience for new customers.

Sentry vs. New Relic

Having delved deeper into New Relic, let's compare it directly with Sentry:

5. Scout

• Founded: 2008
• Supports: Ruby, Python, Elixir, PHP
• G2 Rating: 4.6/5
• Plans start from: $19 per month

Scout's Core Features

• Code Backtraces: When connected to GitHub, Scout can pinpoint issues within your code.
• OpenTelemetry Agent: Scout provides an OpenTelemetry agent for monitoring traces, logs, and metrics.
• Performance Insights: Scout specializes in providing insights to help identify and resolve performance issues like N+1 queries.
• Time Comparisons: Scout allows you to compare performance with historical averages, making it easy to spot changes over time.

Why Developers Choose Scout

Scout is a cost-effective APM focused on performance insights, especially for teams who already use Rollbar error tracking.

Scout customers like its ability to highlight performance problems clearly:

Scout APM is the performance monitoring tool that we find most actionable. It's easy to drown in the data, rendering the tool useless. But Scout does a really good job of showing the right data that highlights the most pressing performance problems, so that you can use precious development time most effectively to fix them.

Yoran B., G2 Review

Scout: The Pros and Cons

Scout has a 4.6 out of 5 star score on G2. Developers frequently cite the following common pros and cons.

Pros

• Easy Setup: Customers value Scout APM's simple setup process, which makes getting started with application monitoring quick and straightforward.
• Deep Database Insights: Scout delivers in-depth database performance insights, aiding customers in effectively identifying and addressing potential bottlenecks.
• Responsive Customer Support: Customers often comment on Scout's support, which provides fast assistance and swift resolution of queries.

Cons

• Dependent on Rollbar for Error Tracking: Scout APM requires a Rollbar integration for error tracking, meaning customers need to integrate and pay for an additional tool instead of having a comprehensive, all-in-one solution.
• Restricted Filtering Options: Some users dislike Scout's filtering due to its lack of customization and limited options, making it hard to find and filter data.
• Limited Third-party Integrations: Scout APM offers limited third-party integrations for tools like Jira, GitHub, and Slack, which can make it more challenging to incorporate into your workflow.

Sentry vs. Scout

Let's compare Scout directly with Sentry:

Selecting the Best APM Tool for Your Application

Now we've looked at five alternatives to Sentry, you might be wondering how to choose the best one for your needs. We advise you to consider the following factors:

• Feature Set: Which option meets your feature requirements?
• Pricing: What tool fits into your budget? Consider the costs of a plan you may need in the future as well as the one you currently need.
• Usability: Which alternative offers a level of usability you and your team are comfortable with? Can you adjust to your new APM within a reasonable amount of time?
• Integrations: Which tool integrates best into your workflow? Consider the mission-critical third-party integrations you currently use that an alternative APM must support.
• Documentation: Does the alternative you want have the in-depth documentation necessary for a successful instrumentation? Check the documentation for solutions to monitoring scenarios that are vital for you.

Each alternative has advantages and disadvantages. It's important you take your time and trial several alternatives before choosing the solution best suited to your monitoring requirements.

Explore AppSignal with a Free Trial

Here are just some of the reasons AppSignal is worth trialing:

• Relaxed Upgrades and Simple Pricing: AppSignal's request-based pricing is simple and flexible, and potentially delivers more bang for your buck than a comparable Sentry plan. Our flexible upgrade policy means no pesky overage fees, just predictable monthly costs.
• All the Tools You Need: Whether you're working alone or with a large team, AppSignal has the tools you need to effectively monitor and scale your applications.
• Clear, Actionable Insights: AppSignal doesn't overwhelm you with data. We deliver actionable insights to developers without the hassle of complex setups or interfaces.

AppSignal offers a 30-day free trial: no credit card needed!

If you've got any questions or would like to learn more about what AppSignal can do to help you monitor and enhance your applications, please contact us at any time!