10 Best Datadog Alternatives for Network Monitoring

Datadog is one of the most capable observability platforms on the market, but capability and affordability do not always go hand in hand. Infrastructure monitoring starts at $15 per host per month, APM adds another $31 per host, and once you factor in log ingestion, custom metrics, and container overages, mid-size teams routinely face bills between $50,000 and $100,000 per year.

Enterprise deployments can exceed $500,000.

The pricing model is modular by design, which means every additional feature you enable adds a new billing lever. Custom metrics alone can account for 30 to 50 percent of the total invoice at scale, and the high-water-mark billing method charges you for your peak usage across the entire month, not just the hours you actually needed extra capacity.

For IT teams and managed service providers managing network infrastructure, this cost structure creates a real tension between visibility and budget.

If you are evaluating Datadog alternatives because of pricing unpredictability, complexity you do not need, or a monitoring scope that is narrower than full-stack observability, this guide compares 10 platforms across network monitoring, infrastructure visibility, and IT operations.

Each tool is assessed on features, pricing transparency, deployment model, and the type of team it serves best.

Why Look for Datadog Alternatives?

Datadog does a lot of things well. It provides a unified view across metrics, traces, logs, and user experience in a single platform with over 600 integrations. For cloud-native organizations running complex microservice architectures, it is hard to beat on breadth.

But breadth is not always what teams need. Here are the most common reasons organizations start looking elsewhere.

Unpredictable costs at scale. Datadog bills per host, per custom metric, per GB of logs ingested, and per indexed span. Each of these billing dimensions scales independently, which makes forecasting difficult. A five-day traffic spike can inflate your monthly bill for every host you scaled up, because the 99th-percentile billing method captures sustained peaks rather than momentary spikes.

Complexity that exceeds requirements. Many IT teams need network device monitoring, uptime tracking, and configuration management rather than distributed tracing and APM. Paying for a full-stack platform when you use 20 percent of its capabilities creates waste.

Vendor lock-in concerns. Datadog converts OpenTelemetry data into its proprietary format internally. Migrating away means re-instrumenting applications and rebuilding dashboards, which increases switching costs with every month of usage.

Data residency requirements. As a SaaS-only platform, Datadog stores your telemetry data in its cloud. Organizations in regulated industries or regions with strict data sovereignty rules may need on-premises or self-hosted options that Datadog does not offer.

Best Datadog Alternatives for Network Monitoring

1. Auvik — Best for MSPs and Multi-Site Network Management

Auvik takes a fundamentally different approach to monitoring than Datadog. Where Datadog is built for cloud-native application observability, Auvik is purpose-built for network infrastructure. It automatically discovers every device on your network, builds a real-time topology map, and starts monitoring within minutes of deployment.

The platform is particularly strong for managed service providers and multi-site IT teams. You can manage an unlimited number of client networks from a single dashboard, with automatic device classification, configuration backups, and encrypted traffic analysis through NetFlow.

Auvik supports over 15,000 device types from more than 700 vendors, which means it works with virtually any network hardware already in place.

Key strengths: Automated network discovery and real-time topology mapping, configuration backup and change tracking, 64+ pre-configured alerts based on industry best practices, unlimited users and sites included, remote management via in-app terminal and secure tunneling.

Pricing: Auvik uses a per-device model across three categories: network devices, infrastructure devices, and edge devices. Only switches, routers, firewalls, servers, and similar managed devices count toward billing. Access points, printers, IoT devices, and other peripherals are monitored for free.

Two tiers are available: Basic for essential monitoring and Core for advanced traffic intelligence and ML-powered analytics. Volume discounts apply as device counts increase.

See the full Auvik pricing breakdown for detailed plan comparisons.

Best for: MSPs managing multiple client networks, mid-market IT teams that need network-first visibility without the overhead of a full observability stack, and organizations that want predictable per-device pricing instead of usage-based billing surprises.

2. SolarWinds Observability — Best for Hybrid IT Environments

SolarWinds built its reputation on network performance monitoring and has since expanded into a full observability platform covering applications, databases, logs, and digital experience. The SaaS-delivered Observability product provides unified visibility across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud-native environments.

What sets SolarWinds apart from Datadog in the network monitoring context is its heritage. The platform has decades of refinement in SNMP polling, NetFlow analysis, and network device management.

Organizations already running SolarWinds NPM or Hybrid Cloud Observability benefit from a natural upgrade path without re-tooling their entire monitoring approach.

Key strengths: Deep network performance monitoring with SNMP, NetFlow, and packet analysis. AI-powered alerting and root cause analysis. Unified dashboards across network, application, database, and log data. Both SaaS and self-hosted deployment options.

Pricing: SolarWinds Observability SaaS starts at approximately $7 per node per month for infrastructure monitoring. Database observability starts at $142 per database per month. The pricing model is node-based rather than host-based, and containers count at a 10:1 ratio. A 30-day free trial is available for all modules.

Note that after the Turn/River acquisition in 2025, SolarWinds transitioned to a subscription-only model, and some existing customers have reported renewal price increases.

Best for: Enterprises with hybrid infrastructure spanning on-premises and cloud. Teams migrating from legacy SolarWinds products. Organizations that need deep network visibility alongside application monitoring.

3. PRTG Network Monitor — Best for Straightforward Sensor-Based Monitoring

PRTG by Paessler organizes monitoring around sensors, where each sensor tracks a single metric on a single device. This model makes scoping and budgeting straightforward because you know exactly what you are paying for before deployment begins.

The platform covers network devices, servers, applications, bandwidth, and virtual environments with over 250 pre-built sensor types. Auto-discovery identifies devices on the network automatically, and the visual maps feature provides intuitive dashboards that are easier to interpret than Datadog’s more developer-oriented interface.

Key strengths: Sensor-based model with 250+ types for network, server, application, and bandwidth monitoring. Auto-discovery and visual network maps. Mobile app for monitoring on the go. On-premises deployment with full data control.

Pricing: PRTG is free for up to 100 sensors, which is often enough to monitor a small office network. Commercial licenses start at $1,750 for 500 sensors. The pricing is a one-time perpetual license with annual maintenance, which makes long-term costs significantly more predictable than Datadog’s consumption model.

A 30-day trial with unlimited sensors is available.

Best for: Windows-centric organizations, small to mid-size IT teams that want flat and predictable costs, and businesses that prefer on-premises deployment with full control over monitoring data.

4. LogicMonitor — Best for AIOps and Automated Infrastructure Discovery

LogicMonitor is a SaaS-based monitoring platform that competes directly with Datadog on infrastructure observability but focuses more heavily on automated discovery and AIOps. The platform monitors networks, servers, storage, cloud resources, and applications using over 2,000 pre-built integrations.

Its dynamic topology mapping is a standout feature. LogicMonitor automatically discovers infrastructure dependencies and visualizes them in a way that helps operations teams understand the blast radius of any given failure. TechRadar named it the best network monitoring tool of 2025 for its AI-powered workflows.

Key strengths: AI-driven anomaly detection, root cause analysis, and forecasting. Dynamic topology mapping of infrastructure dependencies. 2,000+ pre-built integrations with automatic discovery. Strong multi-cloud and hybrid environment support.

Pricing: LogicMonitor does not publish pricing publicly. Plans are device-based and typically quoted on an annual subscription. Enterprise pricing reportedly starts in the mid-five figures for larger deployments. A 14-day free trial is available. The pricing is generally considered competitive with Datadog for infrastructure monitoring but can be expensive for very large environments.

Best for: Infrastructure operations teams and MSPs that want automated discovery and AI-powered insights. Organizations running complex hybrid environments across multiple cloud providers.

5. ManageEngine OpManager — Best Value for On-Premises Network Monitoring

ManageEngine OpManager, part of the Zoho Corporation family, is a comprehensive network monitoring tool that covers routers, switches, firewalls, servers, VMs, and anything with an IP address. It is one of the few enterprise-grade platforms that still offers both perpetual and subscription licensing, giving buyers flexibility in how they structure costs.

The platform provides real-time dashboards, customizable alerts, automated fault management, and integration with the broader ManageEngine ITOM suite for workflow automation, configuration management, and bandwidth analysis.

Key strengths: Perpetual licensing option alongside subscriptions. Comprehensive device monitoring with support for SNMP, WMI, CLI, and API-based collection. Plug-and-play add-ons for APM, bandwidth monitoring, and configuration management. On-premises deployment with full data sovereignty.

Pricing: ManageEngine OpManager offers a perpetual license starting at $1,987 for monitoring up to 25 devices, which makes it one of the most affordable options for long-term cost-conscious organizations. Subscription plans are also available. A free edition monitors up to 3 devices, and a 30-day trial provides full feature access.

Best for: Budget-conscious IT teams, organizations that prefer perpetual licensing over subscriptions, and enterprises looking for a modular ITOM platform they can expand over time without vendor lock-in.

6. Domotz — Best for Remote IT Management and Network Monitoring

Domotz combines network monitoring with remote IT management in a single platform designed for IT professionals, MSPs, and systems integrators. It focuses on practical network operations: device discovery, real-time monitoring, SNMP-based alerting, power management, and remote access to network devices.

The platform is particularly popular among smaller MSPs and IT service companies that manage distributed client sites. It provides an agent-based model where a single collector per site discovers and monitors the entire local network.

Key strengths: Automated network discovery with continuous monitoring. Remote power management and device control. SNMP, TCP, and custom monitoring sensors. Network security scanning and vulnerability detection. Affordable per-site pricing model.

Pricing: Domotz starts at $35 per site per month for its Pro plan, which includes unlimited devices, network discovery, monitoring, and remote access. This per-site rather than per-device pricing makes it one of the most cost-effective options for organizations managing many devices across fewer locations. A 14-day free trial is available.

Best for: MSPs and IT service providers managing distributed client sites. Small to mid-size IT teams looking for combined monitoring and remote management at an affordable price point.

7. New Relic — Best Free Tier for Full-Stack Observability

New Relic is the closest direct competitor to Datadog in terms of feature breadth, offering infrastructure monitoring, APM, log management, browser monitoring, and synthetic testing in a unified platform. The key differentiator is pricing: New Relic offers a permanent free tier with 100 GB of data ingestion per month, which is significantly more generous than Datadog’s limited free plan of five hosts.

New Relic’s pricing model is based on data ingestion volume and user seats rather than per-host billing. This removes the penalty for scaling horizontally, which is a common pain point with Datadog’s host-based pricing in containerized environments.

Key strengths: 100 GB/month free tier with full platform access. User-based and ingestion-based pricing instead of per-host. Strong APM with code-level tracing and distributed tracing. OpenTelemetry-native support for vendor-neutral instrumentation. AI-powered anomaly detection and alerting.

Pricing: The free tier includes one full-platform user and 100 GB of data per month. Standard plans start with additional full-platform users at $49 per user per month (annual) plus $0.30 per GB of ingested data beyond the free allotment. Pro and Enterprise tiers add advanced features like HIPAA compliance and dedicated support.

Best for: Teams that want Datadog-level observability with more transparent pricing. Startups and small teams that can operate within the free tier. Organizations using OpenTelemetry who want a commercial backend without lock-in.

8. Dynatrace — Best for Enterprise AI-Powered Observability

Dynatrace is an enterprise-grade observability platform built around its proprietary Davis AI engine, which automatically detects anomalies, identifies root causes, and maps infrastructure dependencies without manual configuration.

It provides full-stack monitoring across applications, infrastructure, networks, and user experience.

Compared to Datadog, Dynatrace is less modular and more opinionated in its approach. The platform auto-discovers your entire environment and begins monitoring immediately, which reduces setup time but also means you get less granular control over what data is collected and billed.

Key strengths: Davis AI engine for automatic root cause analysis and anomaly detection. OneAgent deployment model that auto-discovers the full stack. Deep network monitoring with process-level visibility. Strong in hybrid and multi-cloud enterprise environments. User experience monitoring including session replay.

Pricing: Dynatrace full-stack monitoring starts at $69 per month for 8 GB per host when billed annually. Infrastructure-only monitoring is available at a lower price point. The pricing is host-based like Datadog but includes broader capabilities per host. Enterprise pricing requires custom quotes.

Best for: Large enterprises that want hands-off, AI-driven observability. Organizations running complex hybrid environments where automatic discovery and root cause analysis save significant engineering time.

9. Grafana Stack (with Prometheus) — Best Open-Source Observability Platform

The Grafana stack, combining Grafana for visualization, Prometheus for metrics, Loki for logs, and Tempo for traces, is the most widely adopted open-source alternative to Datadog. Self-hosted, it is entirely free.

Grafana Cloud offers a managed version with a generous free tier that includes 10,000 metrics series, 50 GB of logs, and 50 GB of traces per month.

For teams with DevOps expertise, the Grafana stack provides maximum flexibility and zero vendor lock-in. Dashboards are highly customizable, PromQL is a powerful query language, and the ecosystem supports virtually any data source through its extensive plugin library.

Key strengths: Fully open-source and self-hostable at no cost. Best-in-class data visualization with highly customizable dashboards. PromQL for powerful metric querying. OpenTelemetry-native with no proprietary formats. Massive community support and plugin ecosystem.

Pricing: Self-hosted is free. Grafana Cloud starts at $0 for small usage with pay-as-you-go beyond free tier limits. Pro plans start at $29 per month. Enterprise pricing is custom. The total cost depends on the infrastructure you run it on if self-hosted, which means you trade licensing fees for operational overhead.

Best for: Teams with strong DevOps skills who want full control over their observability stack. Organizations already using Prometheus. Cost-sensitive teams willing to invest in setup and maintenance to avoid vendor lock-in.

10. Zabbix — Best Free Enterprise-Grade Infrastructure Monitoring

Zabbix is a mature, fully open-source monitoring platform that has been in production use for over two decades. It monitors networks, servers, VMs, cloud resources, and applications using both agent-based and agentless collection methods.

It can scale to tens of thousands of devices and supports auto-discovery, customizable templates, and flexible alerting with escalation policies.

The trade-off is setup complexity. Zabbix requires more initial configuration than SaaS platforms like Datadog or Auvik, and the UI is functional rather than polished. But for organizations that need enterprise-scale monitoring at zero licensing cost, it remains one of the most proven options available.

Key strengths: Completely free and open-source with no feature gating. Scales to 100,000+ devices in production. Agent-based and agentless monitoring with flexible data collection. Robust alerting with escalation policies and maintenance windows. Predictable costs since you only pay for the hardware it runs on.

Pricing: Free and open-source. Commercial support is available through Zabbix’s official support plans. Infrastructure costs depend on your deployment size. Community support through documentation and forums is extensive.

Best for: Large enterprises with dedicated operations teams and the expertise to manage self-hosted infrastructure. Organizations that need zero licensing costs with enterprise-grade capabilities. Teams comfortable with investing setup time in exchange for long-term cost savings.

Datadog Alternatives Comparison Table

How to Choose the Right Datadog Alternative

Selecting the right monitoring platform depends on what you actually need to monitor, the expertise available on your team, and how you want to manage costs over time. Here is a decision framework based on common scenarios.

If your primary need is network device monitoring and you manage routers, switches, firewalls, and access points across multiple sites, Auvik, PRTG, or ManageEngine OpManager will serve you better than Datadog. These platforms are built for network operations and do not charge for application-level features you will not use.

If you need full-stack observability but want more predictable pricing, New Relic or Grafana Cloud are the strongest options. New Relic’s ingestion-based model avoids the per-host trap, and Grafana Cloud gives you commercial support with open-source flexibility.

If you are an MSP managing client networks, Auvik and Domotz are purpose-built for this use case. Multi-tenant dashboards, per-site or per-device pricing, and remote access tools are table stakes for MSPs, and both platforms deliver them without requiring custom enterprise contracts.

If you have a strong DevOps team and want maximum control, the Grafana stack with Prometheus or Zabbix gives you zero licensing costs and full customization. The trade-off is setup and maintenance time, which translates to engineering hours rather than vendor invoices.

If you are in a regulated industry with data residency requirements, on-premises options like PRTG, ManageEngine, Zabbix, or the self-hosted Grafana stack keep your monitoring data within your own infrastructure. Datadog and most other SaaS platforms cannot offer this.

Datadog Alternatives FAQ

What is the best alternative to Datadog for network monitoring?

For dedicated network monitoring, Auvik is the strongest alternative. It provides automated network discovery, real-time topology mapping, configuration backups, and traffic analysis with predictable per-device pricing.

Unlike Datadog, which charges for a full observability stack, Auvik is purpose-built for network infrastructure and includes unlimited users and sites. You can explore it with a 14-day free trial.

Is Datadog worth the cost for small teams?

For small teams with limited infrastructure, Datadog’s costs can be manageable. The free tier covers up to 5 hosts with basic metrics. However, costs escalate quickly once you add APM, log management, or custom metrics.

Small teams often get better value from New Relic’s free tier (100 GB per month with full features), PRTG’s free 100-sensor license, or Auvik’s predictable per-device model.

What is the cheapest Datadog alternative?

Grafana Stack with Prometheus and Zabbix are both fully free and open-source, with no feature limitations. The cost is limited to the infrastructure you run them on and the engineering time to set up and maintain them.

For commercial platforms, ManageEngine OpManager at $1,987 perpetual license for 25 devices offers the best long-term value for budget-constrained teams.

Can I replace Datadog with open-source tools?

Yes. The Grafana Stack (Prometheus for metrics, Loki for logs, Tempo for traces, and Grafana for dashboards) provides comparable observability capabilities to Datadog without licensing costs. Zabbix is another strong option for infrastructure monitoring.

The main trade-off is operational overhead: you need DevOps expertise to deploy, configure, and maintain open-source monitoring at scale.

How does Datadog pricing compare to alternatives?

Datadog’s infrastructure monitoring starts at $15 per host per month, with APM adding $31 per host and logs at $0.10 per GB ingested. Mid-size deployments typically cost $50,000 to $100,000 per year.

By comparison, Auvik charges per network device with most devices monitored for free, PRTG offers perpetual licenses starting at $1,750, and New Relic provides 100 GB of monthly ingestion at no cost.

The right comparison depends on what you are monitoring and at what scale.

Which Datadog alternative is best for MSPs?

Auvik is the top choice for MSPs. It supports multi-tenant management from a single dashboard, offers MSP-specific pricing packages, includes unlimited sites and users, and provides the remote access tools that MSPs need to manage client networks without on-site visits.

Domotz is another strong option for smaller MSPs, with per-site pricing starting at $35 per month. Both platforms integrate with popular PSA and RMM tools.

Final Verdict

Datadog remains a powerful platform for cloud-native, full-stack observability. But not every organization needs that breadth, and not every budget can absorb its pricing model at scale.

For network-focused monitoring with predictable costs and fast deployment, Auvik delivers the strongest combination of automation, multi-site management, and transparent pricing.

For teams that need full-stack observability without the billing surprises, New Relic and Grafana Cloud provide credible alternatives with more transparent pricing models. And for organizations committed to zero licensing costs, Zabbix and the self-hosted Grafana stack prove that enterprise-grade monitoring does not have to come with an enterprise-grade invoice.

The best Datadog alternative is the one that matches your actual monitoring requirements, not the one with the longest feature list.

Start with what you need to monitor, determine your budget ceiling, and evaluate the two or three platforms closest to that scope. Most offer free trials long enough to test in a real environment before committing.

Explore the best network monitoring software on Tekpon to compare more options and find the right fit for your team.