Compare / Comparison / App monitoring

New Relic vs Grafana Cloud

Matt Turley, Continuum. Updated 2026-11-05.

We sell Continuum Keep it running, so we say where the other options fit better. Links to other companies go to their own sites and carry no affiliate codes.

The short answer

New Relic vs Grafana Cloud

Neither is better for everyone. New Relic suits teams whose monthly data volume stays within its free allowance and who need one full user. Grafana Cloud suits teams that already use Grafana dashboards or open-source Prometheus and Loki.

New Relic vs Grafana Cloud at a glance

This page compares New Relic and Grafana Cloud using only what the sources below say about each. Where one is the better pick for a situation, we say which and why.

New Relic and Grafana Cloud side by side, from the cited sources.
New Relic and Grafana Cloud side by side, from the cited sources.
QuestionNew RelicGrafana Cloud
What it isNew Relic is an observability platform with a usage-based model priced on data ingest and users. [1]Grafana Cloud is Grafana Labs' hosted observability platform for metrics, logs, traces and dashboards. [2]
Confirmed priceFree $0 [1]; Standard overage $0.40 per GB beyond 100 GB (sources also show $0.35 and $0.30) [3]Free $0 [2]
Free planYes, per the sourcesYes, per the sources
SuitsTeams whose monthly data volume stays within its free allowance and who need one full user.Teams that already use Grafana dashboards or open-source Prometheus and Loki.

We read each source on 2026-11-05. Prices and limits change often, so confirm on the vendor's own page before you buy. A figure marked "one source only" was not matched by a second publisher.

When to pick each one

Pick New Relic if it matches your situation

Choose New Relic over Grafana Cloud for teams whose monthly data volume stays within its free allowance and who need one full user.

Pick Grafana Cloud if it matches your situation

Choose Grafana Cloud over New Relic for teams that already use Grafana dashboards or open-source Prometheus and Loki.

Limits and things to check

New Relic

  • The free tier is perpetual and includes 100 GB of ingest per month and one full platform user.[1]
  • New Relic sends an alert at 85 percent of the 100 GB cap, and ingest stops past 100 GB until you upgrade or the month resets.[3]
  • Overage rate beyond the free 100 GB is shown as $0.40 per GB on the info page, $0.35 per GB on one pricing-page snapshot and $0.30 per GB on another; these conflict.[3]

Grafana Cloud

  • The free tier is limited to 10k active series per month with 14 days retention, and 50 GB of logs ingested per month with 14 days retention.[2]
  • A Grafana community forum post says usage exceeding the Free plan ingestion limits will be discarded.[4]
  • Several third-party sites list 3 users on the free tier; this was not found on Grafana's own page in these results.[5] One source only.

Pricing as reported

New Relic

Pricing as reported for New Relic:

  • Free: $0 (100 GB data ingest per month, one full platform user, unlimited basic users, no credit card needed) [1]
  • Standard overage: $0.40 per GB beyond 100 GB (sources also show $0.35 and $0.30) (Original data beyond the free 100 GB; additional full platform users $99 per month each, up to five, per New Relic info page) [3]

Grafana Cloud

Pricing as reported for Grafana Cloud:

  • Free: $0 (10k active series per month, 50 GB logs ingested per month, 14-day retention) [2]

Where Continuum fits

We make Continuum Keep it running. Weigh what we say here with that in mind. The tools above are the better choice when you want software you run yourself; ours is the better choice when you want a person to do or read the work.

Continuum Keep it running (ours)

A monthly retainer where a person handles monitoring, security and dependency patching, and incident triage for an app.[6]

What our own page says:

  • It is a service with a person in the loop, not a self-serve monitoring product.[6]

Limits and things to check:

  • It does not replace an error tracker or uptime tool you want to read yourself.[6]

Pricing as reported for Continuum Keep it running:

  • Keep it running: $500/mo (Keep-alive level) [6]

Suits a founder who wants someone else to watch the app and respond when it breaks.

Details on Continuum Keep it running.

Know what breaks first

Monitoring tells you after a failure. A pre-launch review tells you what is likely to fail. See the Ship Check
Book a call →See all services and prices →
FAQ

Straight answers

Is New Relic or Grafana Cloud better?
Neither is better in general. New Relic suits teams whose monthly data volume stays within its free allowance and who need one full user. Grafana Cloud suits teams that already use Grafana dashboards or open-source Prometheus and Loki.
Do New Relic and Grafana Cloud have free plans?
New Relic and Grafana Cloud have a free plan or tier per the sources we read. Check limits on the vendor page.
When were these sources read?
All sources on this page were read on 2026-11-05. Prices and limits change, so confirm on the vendor page before you buy.
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Sources
  1. 1. New Relic free tier, New Relic, 2026-11-05: New Relic's own page
  2. 2. What's included in Grafana Cloud Free, Grafana Labs, 2026-11-05: Grafana Cloud's own page
  3. 3. New Relic pricing info, New Relic, 2026-11-05: New Relic's own page
  4. 4. Grafana community: exceeding Free plan limits, Grafana Labs, 2026-11-05: Grafana Cloud's own page
  5. 5. Grafana Cloud free tier directory entry, freetier.co, 2026-11-05: third-party page
  6. 6. Continuum Keep it running on uxcontinuum.com, Continuum, 2026-11-05: Continuum Keep it running's own page
New Relic vs Grafana Cloud | Continuum