In this post, we'll compare five popular application performance monitoring tools to New Relic, helping you determine which one might be the best fit for your needs. To kick things off, we'll compare New Relic with AppSignal.
1. AppSignal
- Founded: 2012
- Supports: Ruby, Elixir, Node.js, front-end Javascript, Python
- G2 Rating: 4.8/5
- Plans start from: $23 per month
What Is AppSignal?
AppSignal's all-in-one monitoring toolkit provides deep insights into your application, helping you reduce deployment times and keep your applications running smoothly. It works for teams of any shape and size, offering error tracking, performance monitoring, log management, continuous process monitoring, and more, from a single, easy-to-use interface.
We offer excellent customer support and transparent pricing. As passionate advocates for developers, you may have met us at an AppSignal-sponsored event or eaten one of the thousands of stroopwafels we ship to customers and events every year.
AppSignal's Core Features
Error Tracking: Monitor and track errors cross-deployment with instant notifications when issues arise.
Performance Monitoring: Track your app's performance and pinpoint bottlenecks or inefficient requests and functions.
Host Monitoring: Gain detailed CPU, network usage, disk space, and more metrics.
Anomaly Detection: Set up triggers to alert you when your app experiences unusual behavior, like memory surges, slow responses, or increased error rates.
Check-ins: Track the health of background tasks such as cron jobs, scheduled tasks, and continuous processes.
Uptime Monitoring: Receive alerts when your app experiences downtime, with pings sent every minute to check availability.
Metric Dashboards: Monitor key metrics with personalized dashboards. AppSignal generates dashboards automatically when it detects metrics from supported packages like FastAPI or Fastify.
Log Management: Monitor and manage application logs from one easy-to-navigate interface, seamlessly switching between reviewing log lines, performance samples, and error reports.
Simple Pricing: Enjoy transparent pricing with no hidden fees, making it easy to scale your plan as your needs grow.
Why Developers Choose AppSignal
AppSignal simplifies team monitoring with its monitoring toolkit, comprehensive pricing plans, and flexible upgrade policy.
When asked why they chose AppSignal, many customers highlighted its seamless integration. A lot of core libraries require little to no setup. Customers particularly appreciate the log management feature, which consolidates logs in one place.
AppSignal is easily the most easily integrated APM I've used for Elixir + Phoenix. A lot is set up for you by just integrating the libraries. In particular, the logging integration keeps everything in one place, which I appreciate.
AppSignal: Strengths and Weaknesses
AppSignal has a score of 4.8/5 stars on G2. For those considering a switch from New Relic to AppSignal, here are some points to keep in mind:
Pros
Transparent Pricing: AppSignal provides clear, straightforward pricing.
User-Friendly Experience: AppSignal's intuitive interface and quick setup makes it easy for users to get started with monitoring.
Built-In Integrations: AppSignal's out-of-the-box support for many frameworks and libraries allows users to monitor their stack easily.
Cons
Limited Language Support: New Relic supports more languages than AppSignal. However, AppSignal excels in providing top-tier support for Ruby, Elixir, Node.js, Python, and front-end JavaScript applications.
Third-Party Integrations: AppSignal focuses on offering out-of-the-box support for popular third-party development tools, prioritizing smooth integrations over an expansive ecosystem with limited support.
Simplified Customization: AppSignal's interface is designed with fast issue resolution in mind, placing ease of use above deep customization options. Users looking for extensive configuration options and large amounts of analytical data might find this more streamlined approach limiting.
New Relic and AppSignal Compared
| Feature | New Relic | AppSignal |
|---|---|---|
| Error tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Performance monitoring | ✓ | ✓ |
| Host monitoring | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Uptime monitoring | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Automated dashboards | ✓ | ✓ |
| Background job and process monitoring | ⨉ | ✓ Monitor cron jobs, background processes, and more with check-ins |
| Namespace monitoring | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Custom metrics | ✓ | ✓ |
| Unlimited free users | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Free 30-day trial | ⨉ 14 days | ✓ |
| Free support | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Relaxed upgrades and simple pricing | ⨉ | ✓ |
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
Honeybadger's Core Features
- Error Tracking: Monitor errors across your deployments and receive instant notifications when issues arise.
- Performance Monitoring: Keep an eye on performance to identify slow code and requests that need attention.
- Broad Software Support: Honeybadger supports thirteen languages, making it ideal for teams working with multiple tech stacks.
- Mobile App Error Tracking: Track errors in MacOS and iOS applications with Cocoa support and Android apps with Java support.
Why Developers Choose Honeybadger
Honeybadger is an affordable solution that integrates with various widely used software libraries. Like AppSignal, Honeybadger offers free support and all the essential features needed to monitor your application's performance properly.
I love how fresh the Honeybadger interface looks. The error reports are also very detailed and easy to understand. It is easy to spot the problem from the exact line of code that caused it.
Honeybadger: Strengths and Weaknesses
Honeybadger has a 4.5/5 star rating on G2. If you're thinking about switching to Honeybadger from New Relic, first consider its pros and cons:
Pros
Messaging Platform Integrations: Honeybadger works seamlessly with widely used messaging tools like Slack, delivering real-time alerts to improve team communication and increase response times.
Framework and Library Compatibility: Honeybadger works with a variety of popular frameworks and libraries, giving teams the versatility to work with various tech stacks.
Intuitive Breadcrumb Feature: Honeybadger's breadcrumb feature simplifies tracing the causes of errors, helping reduce debugging time.
Cons
Limited Alerting Channels: Depending on platforms like Slack for alerts may feel restrictive for users seeking more notification options.
Limited Features: Honeybadger lacks certain advanced functionality (like host monitoring and namespaces) found in more feature-rich monitoring tools.
Overage Fees: Exceeding your plan limits may result in overage charges, meaning unplanned additional expenses.
New Relic and Honeybadger Compared
Let's compare Honeybadger's feature set with New Relic.
| Feature | New Relic | Honeybadger |
|---|---|---|
| Error tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Performance monitoring | ✓ | ✓ |
| Host monitoring | ⨉ | ⨉ |
| Uptime monitoring | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Automated dashboards | ✓ | ✓ |
| Background job and process monitoring | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Namespace monitoring | ⨉ | ⨉ |
| Custom metrics | ✓ | ✓ |
| Unlimited free users | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Free 30-day trial | ⨉ 14 days | ✓ |
| Free support | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Relaxed upgrades and simple pricing | ⨉ | ⚠️ Simpler pricing but will charge for overages |
3. Sentry
- Founded: 2008
- Supports: 22+ libraries and frameworks, including Ruby, Elixir, Python, and Go.
- G2 Rating: 4.5/5
- Plans start from: $26 per month
Sentry's Core Features
- Extensive Language Support: Sentry supports 22 programming languages and is ideal for teams managing diverse tech stacks.
- Error Tracking: Enables developers to identify and resolve application errors swiftly.
- Performance Monitoring: Delivers detailed insights to analyze application performance.
- Session Replay: Lets you replay user sessions to gain a clearer understanding of error occurrences.
Why Developers Choose Sentry
Developers choose Sentry because it supports a wide range of languages. This makes it a great choice for multi-stack teams. Sentry's feature set is geared towards practical solutions.
I love the details provided in every error. Sentry has made it easier to track down some of our hardest-to-find issues. It has also allowed us to find items we never would have known about.
Sentry: Strengths and Weaknesses
Sentry has a 4.5/5 rating on G2. For users thinking about switching from New Relic to Sentry, here are some key things to consider:
Pros
Comprehensive Language Support: Sentry offers compatibility with various languages.
Comprehensive Error Tracking: Provides clear, actionable error reports to streamline the troubleshooting process.
Mobile App Monitoring: Supports monitoring across mobile platforms for full coverage of app performance.
Cons
Strict Limits: Users may quickly reach error thresholds if frequent, small bugs occur, potentially missing critical issues.
Restricted Feature Access: Some advanced features are only available to business plan customers, which can add additional costs for users seeking full functionality.
Complex Learning Curve: Sentry's onboarding and setup can be complex for users switching from other tools, making it difficult to fully leverage its capabilities immediately.
New Relic and Sentry Compared
Let's take a direct look at how Sentry compares to New Relic:
| Feature | New Relic | Sentry |
|---|---|---|
| Error tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Performance monitoring | ✓ | ✓ |
| Host monitoring | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Uptime monitoring | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Automated dashboards | ✓ | ⚠️ You need to provide your stack to Sentry for accurate suggestions |
| Background job and process monitoring | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Namespace monitoring | ⨉ | ⨉ |
| Custom metrics | ✓ | ✓ |
| Unlimited free users | ⨉ | ✓ (But excluded on free plans) |
| Free 30-day trial | ⨉ 14 days | ⨉ 14 days |
| Free support | ⨉ | ⨉ |
| Relaxed upgrades and simple pricing | ⨉ | ⨉ |
4. Datadog
- Founded: 2010
- Supports: 26+ libraries and frameworks, including Ruby, Elixir, Python, and Go.
- G2 Rating: 4.3/5
- Plans start from: $15 per month
Datadog's Core Features
- Broad Software Compatibility: Datadog is ideal for teams using diverse tech stacks, offering support for 26 programming languages.
- Customizable Sandbox Environment: Datadog is a flexible application performance monitoring and observability platform, enabling advanced users to tailor it to their specific requirements.
- Extensive Feature Set: Datadog provides a robust set of features, including the ability to identify vulnerabilities in your dependencies.
Why Developers Choose Datadog
With its extensive monitoring feature set, Datadog is suitable for large organizations with broad and complex requirements. Datadog's product focuses on delivering a unified overview with a strong emphasis on analytics and reporting.
The user experience [...] is amazing. The granularity and flexibility of filters and charts make[s] it easy to quickly sift through large amounts of data and find what you need. This is especially useful when trying to troubleshoot an incident quickly.
Datadog: Strengths and Weaknesses
Datadog has a 4.3/5 rating on G2. Customers considering a switch from New Relic to Datadog should consider these key pros and cons.
Pros
Customizable Sandbox Interface: Datadog offers a high level of customization to suit a broad range of reporting requirements.
Wide Software Compatibility: Datadog is ideal for teams using language-agnostic solutions, supporting 26 different programming languages.
Feature Set: Datadog offers numerous features, such as vulnerability detection, which helps further enhance your code.
Cons
Complicated Pricing Structure: With more than 75 pricing plans, customers often struggle to understand their billing, which can lead to unpredictable costs and complex invoices.
Challenging Learning Curve: New users may find it difficult to fully leverage Datadog's features due to its intricate interface and sandbox-style monitoring setup.
Metric-Heavy Focus: Datadog's emphasis on reporting can be overwhelming for those looking for a more straightforward solution-oriented monitoring tool.
New Relic and Datadog Compared
Let's directly compare Datadog with New Relic:
| Feature | New Relic | Datadog |
|---|---|---|
| Error tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Performance monitoring | ✓ | ✓ |
| Host monitoring | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Uptime monitoring | ⨉ | ⚠️ Only with Synthetic Monitoring plan |
| Automated dashboards | ✓ | ⨉ |
| Background job and process monitoring | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Namespace monitoring | ⨉ | ⨉ |
| Custom metrics | ✓ | ⚠️ Limited based on plan |
| Unlimited free users | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Free 30-day trial | ⨉ 14 days | ⨉ 14 days |
| Free support | ⨉ | ⨉ |
| Relaxed upgrades and simple pricing | ⨉ | ⨉ |
5. Scout
- Founded: 2008
- Supports: Ruby, Python, Elixir, PHP
- G2 Rating: 4.6/5
- Plans start from: $19 per month
Core Scout Features
- Performance Insights: Scout offers insights that help you address performance issues, such as N+1 queries.
- OpenTelemetry Agent: Scout includes an OpenTelemetry agent that supports monitoring traces, logs, and metrics.
- Code Backtraces: When integrated with GitHub, Scout can pinpoint the exact location of issues in your codebase.
- Time Comparisons: Scout enables you to compare current metrics against historical averages, helping you analyze performance trends over time.
Why Developers Choose Scout
With its affordable pricing and focus on performance insights, Scout is an excellent choice for teams already using Rollbar for error tracking.
Customers appreciate Scout's user-friendly interface, noting that it makes identifying and resolving issues quick and straightforward.
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 great job of showing the right data, highlighting the most pressing performance problems so that you can use precious development time most effectively to fix them.
Scout: Strengths and Weaknesses
On G2, reviewers rate Scout 4.6/5 stars. Here's what Scout customers like and dislike about the service.
Pros
Easy Setup: Customers appreciate the straightforward setup process with Scout.
Comprehensive Insights: With detailed insights across various application layers, Scout helps identify performance bottlenecks and optimize efficiency.
Excellent Support: Scout is frequently praised for its responsive customer service, with quick and helpful responses to customer inquiries.
Cons
Rollbar Dependence: Scout's error tracking requires external integration with tools like Rollbar, adding complexity and cost.
Limited Customization: Some users find Scout's customization options restrictive, making it harder to tailor the service to their specific needs.
Third-Party Integration Gaps: Users have noted that Scout offers limited integrations with certain third-party platforms (e.g., GitLab and Jira), complicating workflow integration.
New Relic and Scout Compared
Now, let's directly compare New Relic with Scout:
| Feature | New Relic | Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Error tracking | ✓ | ⚠️ Only with a Rollbar integration |
| Performance monitoring | ✓ | ✓ |
| Host monitoring | ⨉ | ⨉ |
| Uptime monitoring | ⨉ | ⨉ |
| Automated dashboards | ✓ | ⨉ |
| Background job and process monitoring | ⨉ | ⨉ |
| Namespace monitoring | ⨉ | ⨉ |
| Custom metrics | ✓ | ⚠️ Yes, via custom contexts |
| Unlimited free users | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Free 30-day trial | ⨉ 14 days | ⨉ 14 days |
| Free support | ⨉ | ✓ |
| Relaxed upgrades and simple pricing | ⨉ | ✓ |
How to Select the Best New Relic Alternative
We've provided insights into various New Relic alternatives (including ours), but the choice ultimately depends on your unique requirements. When selecting the right tool for you, consider the following:
- Features: Are you getting the essential features you need, like error tracking, alerts, log management, and uptime monitoring?
- Pricing Structure: What are your budget constraints, and how will your costs evolve as your app grows?
- Ease of Use: Will the integration be smooth, without a steep learning curve?
- Integration Compatibility: Does the tool work well with the tools your team already uses, like GitHub, Slack, or other common platforms?
- Quality of Documentation: Are the documentation and learning resources clear and helpful, making it easy to set up and monitor your app efficiently?
Every application performance monitoring platform has its strengths and limitations, and what suits one team might not work for another. We recommend trying out a few different options that align with your requirements and selecting the one that best meets your needs, budget, and future growth plans.
Why AppSignal Is a Great Alternative to New Relic
Now that we've compared New Relic to its top competitors, here's why AppSignal stands out:
Designed By Developers, For Developers: Whether you're working solo or in a large team, AppSignal provides the essential tools you need to effectively monitor and scale your applications.
Actionable Insights Over Complexity: Rather than overwhelming you with an extensive monitoring sandbox, AppSignal focuses on delivering clear, actionable insights with a straightforward interface and minimal setup.
Transparent Pricing and Flexible Upgrades: With AppSignal, you'll never be caught off guard by unexpected bills—even if your usage exceeds your plan's limits by 10x. We'll give you a heads-up well in advance if it's time to consider a larger plan, so you'll always know what you're paying for and stay on the plan that fits your needs.
Switching is a big decision, so we offer a 30-day free trial. This way, you can experience how AppSignal integrates seamlessly with your stack without any commitment. Sign up today – no credit card required!
If you have any questions or want more details about how AppSignal can enhance your application's performance, don't hesitate to contact us, we're always on hand to help!
