Free Error Tracking and Observability Tools
Which error tracking, logging and observability tools a startup can use for free today, how many errors or how much data the free tier covers, how long it keeps the data, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, read from each tool's own page.
Free allowances read on each provider's own pages, all checked on or after . Monitoring tools change their free allowances from time to time: confirm the terms on the tool's page before you rely on it in production.
Error tracking and observability tools a startup can use for free today include Sentry (5K errors, free Developer plan), Grafana Cloud (Always $0 for early-stage startups), Honeybadger (Free forever, Developer plan), New Relic (100 GB of data ingest a month), and Rollbar ($0 a month: 5K occurrences, 1K sessions). Each of the 13 free allowances below links to the tool's page that states it, with its main limit, how long data is kept, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs.
The first production bug usually reaches a startup through a customer. Error tracking and observability tools catch it first, with the stack trace, the request and the release that caused it, and most of them have a free tier that covers an early product.
The headline rarely tells you how far it goes. A free tier can cap errors or data a month, allow a single user, or keep data for only a few days, which decides whether you can still see last week's incident. Each tool below shows what is free, its main limit, how long data is kept, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, quoted from the tool's own page with the date we read it.
Which tools we picked and the order they appear in are our editorial choices; the terms are the tools'. Some of these tools pay us a referral commission when someone signs up through our link: those links are labeled, and they play no part in which tools are listed or where.
Error tracking with a free plan or trial
Crash and error reports with stack traces, with a free monthly allowance or trial.
- 1
Sentry
Solo developers on small projects
Sentry's Developer plan is $0 for one user, with 5k errors and a 30-day data lookback. The Team plan is $26/mo when billed annually.
- Main limit
- One user only (source: sentry.io)
- Data history
- 30-day lookback (source: sentry.io)
- First paid plan
- Team: $26 a month, billed annually (source: sentry.io)
Start free at SentryTerms read on sentry.io on Sentry: the free allowance and how to start Sentry for Startups: what startups get - 2
Honeybadger
Solo developers who want errors and logs together
Honeybadger's Developer plan is free forever, with 5,000 errors a month and error data kept for 15 days. Team plans start at $26 a month.
- Data history
- 15 days of error data (source: honeybadger.io)
- First paid plan
- Team: $26 a month (source: honeybadger.io)
Start free at HoneybadgerTerms read on honeybadger.io on Honeybadger: the free allowance and how to start - 3
Rollbar
Small apps with modest error volume
Rollbar's Free plan is $0 a month with 5K occurrences and 1K sessions, and keeps data for up to 30 days.
- Data history
- Up to 30 days (source: rollbar.com)
- 4
Bugsnag
Solo developers with a small event volume
Bugsnag's Free plan is for one user, with 7.5K events and 1M spans a month and 7 days of data retention.
- What's free
- Free for solo users (source: bugsnag.com)
- Data history
- 7 days (source: bugsnag.com)
- 5
AppSignal
Startups and side projects that want APM
AppSignal's free plan is permanent, with 30K requests, 1GB of logging and 5-day retention. Usage limits can be extended for free for open-source or humanitarian work.
- What's free
- Permanent free plan (source: appsignal.com)
- Data history
- 5-day retention (source: appsignal.com)
Start free at AppSignalTerms read on appsignal.com on AppSignal: the free allowance and how to start - 6
GlitchTip
Hobby projects and testing before upgrading
GlitchTip's Free plan is free forever with up to 1,000 events a month and 30 days of event retention. The paid Small plan starts at $15 a month.
- First paid plan
- Small plan: $15 a month (source: glitchtip.com)
Start free at GlitchTipTerms read on glitchtip.com on GlitchTip: the free allowance and how to start - 7
Raygun
Teams checking crash reporting before paying
Raygun gives a 14-day free trial on every plan. Basic is $40 per 100,000 errors a month on annual billing, or $60 billed monthly.
- First paid plan
- Basic: $40/mo yearly, 100K errors (source: raygun.com)
Logs, metrics and traces with a free tier
Observability platforms with a free monthly data allowance.
- 1
Grafana Cloud
Early-stage startups that need full observability
Grafana Cloud's free tier is always $0, with no credit card, and is limited to 10k active metric series a month with 14 days of retention. Pro starts at $19 a month plus usage.
- Data history
- 14 days (source: grafana.com)
- Payment card
- No credit card required (source: grafana.com)
- First paid plan
- Pro: from $19 a month plus usage (source: grafana.com)
- 2
New Relic
Startups that want full-stack observability free
New Relic's perpetual free tier includes 100 GB of data ingest a month and one free full platform user. Data beyond 100 GB costs $0.40 per GB.
- Data history
- At least 8 days (source: newrelic.com)
- Payment card
- No credit card required (source: newrelic.com)
- First paid plan
- $0.40 per GB past the free 100 GB (source: newrelic.com)
Start free at New RelicTerms read on newrelic.com on New Relic: the free allowance and how to start New Relic for Startups: what startups get - 3
Honeycomb
Testing and individual projects
Honeycomb's introductory plan is free forever, with up to 20M events a month. The Pro plan starts at $150 a month.
- First paid plan
- Pro: starting at $150 a month (source: honeycomb.io)
- 4
Axiom
Individual developers and small projects
Axiom's Personal plan is permanent and needs no credit card, with 500 GB a month of data loading and 30-day retention. Axiom Cloud is a $25 a month platform fee plus usage.
- Main limit
- 25 GB storage (source: axiom.co)
- Data history
- 30 days (source: axiom.co)
- Payment card
- No credit card required (source: axiom.co)
- First paid plan
- Axiom Cloud: $25 a month plus usage (source: axiom.co)
- 5
Datadog
Monitoring a few servers at no cost
Datadog's Free tier covers up to five Basic hosts with 1-day metric retention, at no cost. Pro hosts start at $15 per host a month.
- Data history
- 1-day metric retention (source: datadoghq.com)
- First paid plan
- Pro: from $15 per host a month (source: datadoghq.com)
Start free at DatadogTerms read on datadoghq.com on Datadog: the free allowance and how to start Datadog for Startups: what startups get - 6
Dash0
Evaluating every feature before paying
Dash0 offers a 14-day unlimited free trial with no credit card required, with full access to all features during the trial. Ingestion is $0.060 per million spans.
- Payment card
- No credit card required (source: dash0.com)
- First paid plan
- Spans: $0.060 per million ingested (source: dash0.com)
Monitoring startup programs
Programs from monitoring companies that give startups credits or free months on paid plans.
Also useful for monitoring and analytics
Referral links, picked for fit and ordered by fit (70%) and what a signup earns us (30%), at no cost to you. They never change this page's ranking.
Compare the top options
How this comparison is built
The list covers error tracking and observability tools a founder can use for free today without applying to a program. The order and the "best for" notes are our editorial reading of each tool's terms. Every term comes from the tool's own pricing or help page on the date shown, never from a third-party list; follow each link for the full conditions. A cap on errors or data a month, a single seat, or a short data history can matter more than the headline, so the comparison quotes them wherever the tool states them. Some of these tools pay StartupPerks a referral commission, and their links are labeled as referral links; that decides neither whether nor where a tool appears, and no tool pays for a placement on this page.
Read the full methodologyCommon questions
What is the best free error tracking tool?
It depends on volume and team size. By the terms each tool states, Sentry's free Developer plan includes 5K errors for one user, Honeybadger 5,000 errors a month, Rollbar 5,000 occurrences a month and Bugsnag 7.5K events a month for solo users, while GlitchTip gives 1,000 events a month.
Is Sentry free?
Yes. Sentry's free Developer plan includes 5K errors and a 30-day lookback for one user. Team costs $26 a month, billed annually.
Which observability platforms have a free tier?
New Relic includes 100 GB of data ingest a month for one full platform user, Axiom 500 GB a month of data loading with 25 GB of storage, Honeycomb 20M events a month and Grafana Cloud 10K active metric series a month. Datadog's free tier covers up to 5 Basic hosts with 1-day metric retention.
How long do free plans keep error data?
From 5 days to 30, by each tool's own terms: AppSignal keeps 5 days, Bugsnag 7 and Honeybadger 15, while Sentry, Rollbar and GlitchTip keep up to 30 days.
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