Quick answer
Grafana Cloud - Grafana Cloud's free plan meters each signal on its own: 10k metric series, 50 GB of logs and 50 GB of traces a month. Honeycomb's free plan meters events: up to 20M events and 100M metric data points a month. The paid step is $19 a month plus usage on Grafana Cloud and from $150 a month on Honeycomb.
How the free tiers compare
Grafana Cloud's free plan includes all Grafana Cloud services with usage limits: 10k active metric series, 50 GB of logs and 50 GB of traces sent each month, 14 days of retention and 3 active users. It needs no credit card. Honeycomb's free plan allows up to 20M events and 100M metric data points a month. It includes 2 triggers, distributed tracing, BubbleUp, OpenTelemetry support and Honeycomb MCP.
Grafana Cloud vs Honeycomb free tier, side by side
| Grafana CloudFTV 58 | HoneycombFTV 61 | |
|---|---|---|
| Free ingest | 10k metric series, 50 GB logs, 50 GB traces per month | Up to 20M events per month |
| Free metrics | 10k active series per month | Up to 100M data points per month |
| Free alerting and users | 3 active users | 2 triggers |
| First paid plan | Pro - $19/mo platform fee plus usage | Pro - from $150/mo, up to 750M events |
| Paid retention or limits | 13 months for metrics, 30 days for logs and traces | 100 triggers, 2 SLOs, SSO |
After you outgrow the free tier
Grafana Cloud Pro charges a $19 monthly platform fee. The fee covers the free allowances, and usage above them is billed. Metrics start at $6.50 per 1k series, and extra users start at $8 per active user. Honeycomb Pro starts at $150 a month for 50M events and goes up to 750M events and 3.75B metric data points. Enterprise starts with 300 triggers and 100 SLOs on Honeycomb, and at a $25,000 yearly commit on Grafana Cloud.
Cost at real usage
| Usage | Grafana Cloud | Honeycomb |
|---|---|---|
| Entry paid plan, no usage above the free allowances | $19/mo | $150/mo for 50M events |
Estimates, not quotes. Usage-based rates change - verify with the vendor's pricing page before committing.
When to pick each one
Pick Grafana Cloud when…
- You collect metrics, logs and traces and want a separate allowance for each.
- You want dashboards for a few people. The free plan allows 3 active users.
- You want a low paid step. Pro starts with a $19 monthly platform fee.
Pick Honeycomb when…
- Your telemetry is mostly events and traces, and 20M events a month covers it.
- You want to query high-cardinality data with BubbleUp.
- You want unlimited seats for your team.
Bottom line
Pick Grafana Cloud if you want metrics, logs and traces with their own free limits and a cheap paid step. Pick Honeycomb if you debug with events and traces and 20M events a month is enough.
Read the full listings: Grafana Cloud and Honeycomb. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more head-to-heads on /compare, or see the top-ranked free tiers on /top.