Logs and monitoring · replacement recipe

Go from Datadog to Grafana Cloud

The job: Observability platform (Infrastructure and host metrics, Log management and search, Dashboards, Alerts and monitors). Pick where you are today and where you want to land; the move below follows your pick.

From · what you pay for now
Datadog
Datadog Infrastructure Pro · $18/mo
Year one+$166modeled
To · your pickBest fit
Grafana Cloud
Free plan · $0 a month
Change where you land

The money

$18/mo today $0/mo

Datadog Infrastructure Pro

Year one, net+$166
Pays back in2.8 months

Modeled from public list prices, with your time at $50 an hour. Show the math

Does it do the job? 4 of 4 covered

  • Infrastructure and host metrics
  • Log management and search
  • Dashboards
  • Alerts and monitors

The work

Setup
About 1 h
Upkeep
None
Watch out
Check first: You only rely on: Infrastructure and host metrics, Log management and search, Dashboards, Alerts and monitors

Make the move in four steps

  1. Export from Datadog

    Customer Data after a contract or order ends

    Export steps

  2. Set up Grafana Cloud

    Suits small apps: Grafana Cloud Free gives 10k metric series, 50 GB of logs and 50 GB of traces a month for 3 active users with 14-day retention…

    Details

  3. Switch links and integrations

    Point links, embeds and integrations at Grafana Cloud, then send a test through every one.

  4. Cancel Datadog

    Turn off renewal before your renewal date, once the new setup works. Access runs until: Contract customers: the end of the Order Term; after termination….

    How to cancel Datadog
Open Grafana CloudHow to cancel Datadog
Modeled, not measured. Savings use public prices and planning assumptions: the bill you stop paying, minus the new tool, your upkeep time and your setup time at $50/hour, over the first 12 months. Paths marked Tested by Stackcut were run end to end by us on our own products. They're our tests, not customer results. Check the must-haves in each recipe before you switch.

The whole recipe: 2 ways out, best first

What you use

  • Infrastructure and host metrics
  • Log management and search
  • Dashboards
  • Alerts and monitors

Not covered

  • APM and distributed tracing
  • Log archives and rehydration
  • Anomaly detection and forecasts
  • SSO and role-based access control

Check before switching

  • You only rely on: Infrastructure and host metrics, Log management and search, Dashboards, Alerts and monitors
  • Export your data from Datadog before canceling

Agents: get_recipe("replace-datadog") on the Stackcut MCP server.

2 ways out, best first

Switch vendorGrafana Cloud (free tier)Saves $166 in year one
$18/mo today → $0/mo · setup 1 h · then $216/yr · payback 2.8 mo
If your use fits the free tier (Free forever, no credit card: 10k active metric series, 50 GB logs, 50 GB traces and 50 GB profiles a month, 3 active users, 14-day retention, community support).
Covers 100% of the core features
Suits small apps: Grafana Cloud Free gives 10k metric series, 50 GB of logs and 50 GB of traces a month for 3 active users with 14-day retention; Pro is $19/mo plus usage past that.
How we got this
You pay now: Datadog Infrastructure Proflat price$18/mo
New cost: Grafana Cloud (free tier)free plan$0/mo
Difference each month$18 − $0+$18/mo
Over 12 months+$18 × 12+$216
Setup, once1 h × $50/h−$50
Year one+$216 − $50+$166
  • Not counting your time (1 h in year one): saves $216 in year one.

Year one = 12 × (what you pay now − the new cost − upkeep) − setup, with your time at $50/hour. Prices are public list prices; hours are Stackcut’s planning estimates. Price it for your team

Sources: datadoghq.comgrafana.com
Open sourceOpenObserveCosts $1,244 more in year one
$18/mo today → $5/mo + 2 h upkeep · setup 4 h
Covers 100% of the core features
Suits teams that can run their own server: OpenObserve (AGPL-3.0) self-hosts logs, metrics and traces for free, and its self-hosted enterprise edition (SSO, RBAC) is free up to 50 GB ingested a day.
License: open_source
How we got this
You pay now: Datadog Infrastructure Proflat price$18/mo
New cost: OpenObservea small server (modeled)$5/mo
Your upkeep time2 h/mo × $50/h$100/mo
Difference each month$18 − $5 − $100−$87/mo
Over 12 months−$87 × 12−$1,044
Setup, once4 h × $50/h−$200
Year one−$1,044 − $200−$1,244
  • Not counting your time (28 h in year one): saves $156 in year one.

Year one = 12 × (what you pay now − the new cost − upkeep) − setup, with your time at $50/hour. Prices are public list prices; hours are Stackcut’s planning estimates. Price it for your team

Sources: datadoghq.comopenobserve.aigithub.com

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