Error monitoring · Comparison
Sentry vs Datadog vs New Relic: Sentry leads at 9.2; 100,000 errors from $37.50
We read the pricing, security and docs pages of three error monitoring tools on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. How each one bills, what 5 users and 100,000 errors cost, and who should pick which.
On this page8 sections
On six indicators read from each vendor's public pages, Sentry scores 9.2, Datadog 7.2 and New Relic 6.6 out of 10. For our reference scenario, 5 people who triage errors and 100,000 errors a month, Datadog lists the lowest price ($37.50, billed annually), Sentry's calculator shows $44.13 on Team, and New Relic comes to $206 by our arithmetic, because it bills users and data rather than errors. Sentry tops four of six items: unlimited users, up to 90 days of error history on its entry plan, and SOC 2, ISO 27001 and EU storage on every plan. New Relic has the largest free tier: 100 GB of data a month.
The three bill on different models, so the scenario figures are not like for like. The scores measure what the public pages commit to, not grouping quality, alerting or how a product feels to use, and we did not sign up for any of the three.
At a glance
| Sentry | Datadog | New Relic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Error monitoring, unlimited users | Error tracking in a wider platform | A whole platform, priced by data and users |
| Billing units | Errors (plan quota, then per error) | Errors (flat fee to 50,000, then per 1,000) | Data ingest (GB) and users by type |
| Free option | 5,000 errors/mo, 1 user | 14-day trial, no card | 100 GB/mo, 1 full platform user |
| 5 users, 100,000 errors/mo | $44.13 (Team, annual) | $37.50 (annual) | $206, computed, if ingest stays within 100 GB |
| Error retention, entry paid plan | Up to 90 days | 30 days (error samples) | 8 days (98 with Data Plus) |
| HIPAA BAA | Business plan and up | Signed for eligible services | Enterprise with Data Plus |
| EU data region | Frankfurt | EU1 site (Germany) | Yes, +$0.05/GB |
| SAML SSO | Business ($80, annual) | Listed on Infrastructure Pro and Enterprise | Standard |
| Score (public pages) | 9.2 Excellent | 7.2 Good | 6.6 Good |
What the public pages show
Sentry sells plans with a quota: the free Developer plan covers 5,000 errors a month for one user, and Team ($26 billed annually) and Business ($80) include 50,000 errors with unlimited users, then charge per error. The pricing table marks SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA security and data residency on every plan, with a BAA and SAML SSO from Business. The docs add EU (Frankfurt) storage and a self-hosted version.
Datadog prices Error Tracking as one product in its platform: a flat $25 for up to 50,000 errors a month billed annually ($36 on-demand), then a falling rate per 1,000. Errors that arrive through APM traces or RUM sessions are tracked at no additional cost. The trust center lists SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001, and Error Tracking is HIPAA-eligible.
New Relic has no error-monitoring plan as such: errors inbox is part of a platform priced by data ingested (100 GB a month free, then $0.40 per GB) and by user type. Core users ($49) get errors inbox, full platform users get everything, and free basic users cannot use those views. The free tier needs no card.
Strengths and things to know
Sentry. Strengths: no per-user charge, compliance and EU storage on every plan, 90-day history on Team, spend controls, a self-hosted option. Things to know: the free plan is one user, SAML SSO and the BAA start on Business, and errors beyond your budget are dropped for the rest of the cycle.
Datadog. Strengths: APM and RUM errors at no extra cost, the lowest listed price at 100,000 errors, every volume to 50 million priced, an EU site. Things to know: no free Error Tracking plan, error samples kept 30 days, SAML listed with the Infrastructure plans, and no monthly flat fee on the page.
New Relic. Strengths: the largest free tier, one bill for errors, APM, logs and infrastructure with unlimited hosts, SAML SSO on Standard. Things to know: the people who triage errors are the main cost, error data is kept 8 days without Data Plus, and a HIPAA BAA needs Enterprise.
Pricing reality
The three bill on different models: Sentry by error events with unlimited seats, Datadog by error volume (or through APM hosts and RUM sessions), New Relic by gigabytes and users. So we state one scenario and show the arithmetic. Reference scenario: 5 people who triage errors and 100,000 errors a month, at the lowest listed rates.
| Service | Plan | Monthly cost | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Datadog | Error Tracking | $37.50 | Listed: $25 for 50,000, plus 50 × $0.25 per 1,000, billed annually |
| Sentry | Team | $44.13 | Listed by the pricing calculator: $26 plus 50,000 errors at $0.0003625, billed annually |
| New Relic | Standard | $206 | Computed: first full platform user $10 plus 4 core users at $49 |
Billed monthly, Sentry's calculator shows $47.13. Datadog at on-demand rates comes to $36 plus 50 × $0.38, or $55, and Sentry's reserved-volume rate in its docs ($0.00029 per error) makes $40.50 if prepaid; both are our arithmetic.
New Relic's figure rests on an assumption its pricing page cannot settle: it bills data in GB, not errors, so we assume total ingest stays within the free 100 GB ($0.40 per GB above). The $206 also covers APM, logs and infrastructure, and if only one person triages errors, the free tier covers it at $0 under the same condition.
How we scored them
Every product in this category is scored on the same six indicators, read from the vendor's own pricing, security or docs pages, with fixed formulas. The overall score is the plain mean. Our methodology page explains how these scores work.
| Indicator | Sentry | Datadog | New Relic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing clarity | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| Free tier | 8 | 2 | 8 |
| Price for 5 users and 100,000 errors | 8.1 | 8.6 | 3 |
| Error retention | 10 | 7.6 | 5.9 |
| Compliance and data residency | 10 | 9 | 8.5 |
| Team and control | 9 | 7 | 6 |
| Overall | 9.2 | 7.2 | 6.6 |
Datadog's free-tier score reflects a trial but no free plan. New Relic loses most on the scenario price, because five people who triage are five billed users, then on retention (8 days on the original data option) and on clarity, because you estimate data and users rather than errors. Sentry's one lost point is SAML SSO starting on Business.
The rubric rewards what a buyer can confirm before signing up. It has no item for platform breadth, where Datadog and New Relic cover far more than errors, and cannot see grouping quality, alerting or SDK coverage. Hands-on runs will add that later.
Who should choose which
- Choose Sentry if most of the team triages errors and you want compliance documents, EU storage and 90-day history on a small plan. Look elsewhere if you need SAML SSO on the cheapest paid plan.
- Choose Datadog if you already run Datadog APM or RUM, or want error tracking billed only by volume at the lowest listed price. Look elsewhere if you want a permanent free plan.
- Choose New Relic if you want errors, APM, logs and infrastructure in one tool, few people triage errors, and your data stays near 100 GB a month.
Bottom line
From public pages alone, Sentry is the most complete package for a team that mainly needs error monitoring, and Datadog lists the lowest price for 100,000 standalone errors. New Relic's lower score reflects how this rubric counts people and retention; for a small team that wants a whole observability platform, its free tier is the largest here.
How we checked
We read the vendors' pricing, security or trust, and documentation pages on Oct 15, 2026, and used the volume selectors on Sentry's and Datadog's pricing pages for the 100,000-error prices. We did not sign up, install an SDK or send an error. Facts the pages did not state, such as whether Sentry asks for a card, are left out rather than guessed. Every figure is on the vendors' pages as of that date or, where marked, computed from them.
