Datadog vs. Lightstep Comparison

Who should you choose and why?

Take a look at the feature, compliance and integration comparison tables below to figure out who matches your requirements best.

Datadog

Datadog has been at the forefront of cloud monitoring for cloud-native companies. Its Application Performance Monitoring (APM) service is part of an extensive portfolio of complementary monitoring and observability tools. By capturing traces across various layers and services, Datadog APM provides developers with deep insights into their applications' performance, allowing for more effective troubleshooting and performance optimization.

Lightstep

Lightstep's observability platform is designed with a specific focus on monitoring and tracing challenges inherent to microservice-based environments. It provides deep, real-time visibility into complex, multi-layered architectures, empowering developers and operators to understand, troubleshoot, and optimize their microservices. For teams managing microservices, Lightstep offers a granular and context-rich tool for ensuring their system's reliability and performance.

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“Gotchas”

Feature Comparison

Feature

Use Case Fit

Problem Resolution

Pricing

Observability

Instrumentation

Integration With Other Services

Not all observability providers have the integrations or compatibility with tools and languages like Rancher, AlertOps, or Rust.

Compliance Requirements

Compliance with standards like PCI DSS, HIPAA, ISO 27001, FedRAMP and more have been tracked and recorded.

Helpful Links

Learn about APM and Observability

Learn more about APM and Observability from our deep dive posts created with the help of the leading industry analysts in the field.

Open Source/Free APM Tools

Top 8 APM Vendors

Open Source/Free Observability Tools

What is an APM or Observability Platform?

Observability Tools

APM, Monitoring and Observability for Kubernetes

Most Important APM Features

APM vs. Observability

What is Observability?

What is Open Telemetry?

About the Author

Louis-Victor Jadavji

Louis-Victor Jadavji (or "LV") is a recognized leader in the cloud services industry. He's helped 50+ digital native companies like ModusBox, Later, and NS1 choose the right cloud stack for their applications. His work has been featured in Forbes (30 Under 30 All-Star), HuffPost, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, and Inc. Magazine.

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