Prometheus vs. Datadog Comparison

Who should you choose and why?

🤔 Slightly consider Prometheus over Datadog if

You run an environment that makes use of Kubernetes almost exclusively.

🤔 Strongly consider Datadog over Prometheus if

Essentially all cases where you are not overly cost sensitive and have a significant number of non-Kubernetes workloads running.

📝Other Notes

With a fair bit of work, it is possible to get a similar quality of dashboarding available in Datadog by rolling out your own Prometheus/Grafana/Kibana.

Prometheus

Prometheus, an open-source monitoring toolkit, is particularly well-suited for Kubernetes environments. Designed with a focus on reliability, each Prometheus server operates independently, standing out as a robust solution during infrastructure outages. While it doesn't offer the same out-of-the-box dashboarding as some leading APMs like Datadog or New Relic, with considerable effort, users can achieve comparable quality. By using its flexible query language, PromQL, and integrating with open-source tools like Grafana and Kibana, Prometheus allows for a customizable, powerful monitoring system.

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.

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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

Product Information

Pricing Pages

Datadog APM and Continuous Profiler Pricing Page

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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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