Sentry vs Datadog
Sentry and Datadog both monitor application health, but at very different price points and scopes. Sentry is the leading error and exception tracking tool - it captures crashes, stack traces, and source maps and surfaces them to developers. Datadog is the full observability platform covering metrics, logs, traces, and more. Sentry is developer-focused and affordable; Datadog is ops-focused and expensive.
Build a custom alternative freeSide-by-side
Application error tracking and performance monitoring vs All-in-one cloud monitoring and observability.
| Feature | Sentry | Datadog |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing from | Free / $26/month | From $15/host/month |
| Error tracking | Best-in-class - stack traces, source maps | Error Tracking module (less developer-friendly) |
| Infrastructure monitoring | No | Yes - core product |
| Pricing | Free / $26-$custom | $15+/host + add-ons |
| Developer UX | Excellent - built for devs | Good but ops-centric |
| Performance monitoring | Good - Sentry Performance | Best-in-class APM |
| Best for | Dev teams tracking application errors | DevOps teams monitoring infrastructure + apps |
The third option most teams miss
Picking between Sentry and Datadog isn't the only choice.
For teams that need a custom error dashboard and incident log connecting development and operations data, Appaca builds the internal engineering ops view.
- No code, no deployment, no devops
- Built-in database, dashboards, team access
- Refine with chat as your needs change
- Free to start, no per-seat pricing surprises
Common questions
Use Sentry if your primary need is error tracking and you want developers to see and fix crashes quickly. Use Datadog if you need full infrastructure observability, APM, and log management. Many teams use both - Sentry for dev-side errors, Datadog for infrastructure.
Sentry has a generous free plan for small projects (5k errors/month, 10k performance transactions). Paid plans start at $26/month. It is significantly cheaper than Datadog for pure error tracking use cases.
Appaca is a third option for teams that don't want to choose between two existing tools. Instead of forcing your workflow into someone else's product, Appaca builds a custom app from a description - with built-in database, hosting, and team access. Try it free at appaca.ai.