highlight.io
Best for self-hosting
Why teams pick it
Flexible deployment: hosted cloud, hobby Docker setup, or enterprise self-hosted
Open-source alternatives to Datadog
Compare community-driven replacements for Datadog in observability suites workflows. We curate active, self-hostable options with transparent licensing so you can evaluate the right fit quickly.
Datadog
Datadog unifies infrastructure monitoring, APM, logs, RUM, and security monitoring with 400+ integrations and alerting.Read more
Key stats
- 18Alternatives
- 7Support self-hosting
Run on infrastructure you control
- 17Active development
Recent commits in the last 6 months
- 12Permissive licenses
MIT, Apache, and similar licenses
Counts reflect projects currently indexed as alternatives to Datadog.
Start with these picks
These projects match the most common migration paths for teams replacing Datadog.
Apache HertzBeat
Privacy-first alternative
Why teams pick it
Keep customer data in-house with privacy-focused tooling.
All open-source alternatives
highlight.io
Open-source fullstack monitoring with session replay and error tracking
Self-host friendlyActive developmentPrivacy-firstTypeScript
Why teams choose it
- High-fidelity DOM-based session replay with network requests and console logs
- Unified error monitoring with customizable grouping and embedded session context
- Fullstack observability linking frontend sessions to backend logs and traces
Watch for
Hobby self-hosted deployment limited to 10k sessions and 50k errors monthly
Migration highlight
Debugging User-Reported Bugs
Replay exact user sessions showing interactions, network calls, and console logs leading to errors, eliminating guesswork in reproduction.
Odigos
Instant distributed tracing for any app without code changes
Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyGo
Why teams choose it
- Code‑free instrumentation in minutes
- eBPF‑based high‑performance tracing
- Automatic scaling of OpenTelemetry collectors via web UI
Watch for
Limited to environments where eBPF is supported (Linux kernel)
Migration highlight
Add tracing to a multi‑service Java microservice suite
Instant visibility into request flows across services without modifying any source code.
OpenObserve
Petabyte‑scale observability platform, 10x easier, 140x cheaper
Active developmentFast to deployAI-powered workflowsTypeScript
Why teams choose it
- Logs, metrics, traces & RUM with OpenTelemetry compatibility
- SQL and PromQL query engine with dynamic schema
- Single binary or HA deployment supporting local, S3, MinIO, GCS, Azure storage
Watch for
Enterprise‑only features like SSO and advanced RBAC require a paid plan
Migration highlight
Kubernetes log aggregation
Reduce storage cost up to 140× while retaining fast query performance
Pixie
Instant, code‑free observability for Kubernetes applications and clusters
Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyC++
Why teams choose it
- Automatic eBPF telemetry with zero code changes
- In‑cluster edge compute uses <5 % CPU
- PxL Pythonic query language across UI, CLI, API
Watch for
Requires Kubernetes with eBPF‑compatible kernel
Migration highlight
Network Monitoring
Visualize intra‑cluster traffic flows, DNS queries, TCP drops, and retransmissions in real time.
XO
Programmable observability platform built for developers
Integration-friendlyAI-powered workflowsTypeScript
Why teams choose it
- Native OpenTelemetry support for metrics, logs, and distributed tracing
- WebAssembly-powered plugin system for custom data processing pipelines
- Deep chart and page interactivity with extensive customization options
Watch for
Core observability features still in development (pre-V1.0)
Migration highlight
Custom APM Dashboard
Build tailored application performance monitoring with OpenTelemetry traces, custom metrics aggregation via WebAssembly plugins, and interactive drill-down workflows.
Cilium
eBPF-based networking, observability, and security for Kubernetes
Self-host friendlyActive developmentPermissive licenseGo
Why teams choose it
- eBPF-based dataplane for high-performance networking without kernel module dependencies
- Identity-based L3-L7 security policies independent of network addressing
- Distributed load balancing with kube-proxy replacement and XDP acceleration
Watch for
Requires modern Linux kernel with eBPF support, limiting compatibility with older systems
Migration highlight
Kubernetes CNI with kube-proxy Replacement
Achieve scalable, low-latency service networking using socket-level load balancing and efficient eBPF hash tables instead of traditional per-packet NAT.
Apache HertzBeat
Real-time agentless observability with custom monitoring and alerting
Self-host friendlyActive developmentPermissive licenseJava
Why teams choose it
- Agentless monitoring with zero-installation overhead across 100+ integrations
- YAML-based template system for custom monitoring types without coding
- Prometheus-compatible with native ecosystem support and metric collection
Watch for
Requires Java 17 runtime, which may necessitate infrastructure updates
Migration highlight
Multi-Cloud Infrastructure Monitoring
Monitor Kubernetes clusters, databases, and middleware across AWS, Azure, and on-premises without deploying agents, using collector clusters for isolated network segments.
GreptimeDB
Unified observability database for metrics, logs, and traces
Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyRust
Why teams choose it
- Unified storage for metrics, logs, and traces as timestamped wide events
- Sub-second query performance at petabyte scale with distributed Rust engine
- Cloud-native architecture with compute/storage separation and object storage support
Watch for
Currently in beta status with GA planned for mid-2025
Migration highlight
Unified Observability Platform
Replace separate Prometheus, Elasticsearch, and tracing backends with one database, reducing operational complexity and infrastructure costs
Uptrace
Unified tracing, metrics, and logs platform for modern applications
Self-host friendlyActive developmentPrivacy-firstGo
Why teams choose it
- Single UI for traces, metrics, and logs
- 50+ auto‑generated dashboards
- SQL‑like span queries and PromQL‑like metric queries
Watch for
Requires both ClickHouse and PostgreSQL to be provisioned
Migration highlight
Microservice latency troubleshooting
Correlate traces, metrics, and logs to pinpoint slow endpoints and reduce response times.
Netdata
Instant, per‑second visibility into every infrastructure component.
Active developmentFast to deployIntegration-friendlyC
Why teams choose it
- Per‑second data collection with instant visualizations
- Zero‑configuration auto‑discovery of services and containers
- Edge‑based ML models for unsupervised anomaly detection
Watch for
High‑frequency data can increase storage requirements if long‑term retention is needed
Migration highlight
Production outage investigation
Engineers pinpoint the exact second a resource spike occurred, reducing mean time to resolution.
Helicone
Open-source LLM observability and developer platform for AI applications
Self-host friendlyActive developmentPermissive licenseTypeScript
Why teams choose it
- One-line integration with 20+ LLM providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini
- Agent and session tracing with cost, latency, and quality metrics
- Prompt versioning and playground for rapid iteration with production data
Watch for
Self-hosting requires managing five separate services (Web, Worker, Jawn, Supabase, ClickHouse, MinIO)
Migration highlight
Multi-Agent System Debugging
Trace complex agent interactions across sessions to identify bottlenecks, track costs per agent, and optimize prompt chains using production data in the playground.
OpenLLMetry
Full‑stack observability for LLM applications via OpenTelemetry
Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyPython
Why teams choose it
- Native OpenTelemetry compatibility
- Instrumentation for major LLM providers, vector DBs, and AI frameworks
- Plug‑and‑play SDK with one‑line initialization
Watch for
Instrumentation limited to providers listed in documentation
Migration highlight
Debug LLM prompt failures
Trace each prompt, response, and token usage across providers, pinpointing latency spikes or error patterns.
Coroot
eBPF-powered observability platform with automated root cause analysis
Active developmentPermissive licenseFast to deployGo
Why teams choose it
- Zero-instrumentation telemetry collection via eBPF with automatic service discovery
- AI-powered root cause analysis with 80+ predefined application inspections
- Integrated deployment tracking and cost monitoring for Kubernetes environments
Watch for
eBPF-based instrumentation requires Linux kernel 4.14+ and specific permissions
Migration highlight
Troubleshooting Microservice Latency Spikes
Engineers click on anomalous requests to view distributed traces, identify slow dependencies, and profile CPU usage down to specific code lines—all from a single interface.
SigNoz
Unified observability: logs, metrics, and traces in one UI
Self-host friendlyActive developmentPrivacy-firstTypeScript
Why teams choose it
- Unified UI for logs, metrics, and traces with native correlation
- OpenTelemetry‑based ingestion eliminates vendor lock‑in
- ClickHouse backend delivers fast, scalable log analytics
Watch for
Self‑hosting requires Docker/Kubernetes expertise
Migration highlight
Root‑cause analysis of latency spikes
Correlate p99 latency metrics with trace flamegraphs and log entries to pinpoint bottlenecks.
OneUptime
All-in-one observability platform for uptime, incidents, and performance.
Active developmentPermissive licenseFast to deployTypeScript
Why teams choose it
- Unified monitoring, status pages, incident workflow, and on‑call scheduling
- Built‑in APM and log analytics with global probes
- 5000+ integrations and workflow automation
Watch for
Self‑hosting requires Kubernetes expertise
Migration highlight
Website uptime monitoring
Detect downtime across global locations and receive instant alerts via Slack, reducing mean time to detection.
HyperDX
ClickHouse-native observability platform unifying logs, traces, and replays
Self-host friendlyActive developmentPermissive licenseTypeScript
Why teams choose it
- Unified search across logs, traces, metrics, and session replays in one interface
- Schema-agnostic design works on top of existing ClickHouse clusters
- Intuitive full-text and property search syntax with optional SQL queries
Watch for
Requires ClickHouse expertise for production tuning and optimization
Migration highlight
Correlating Frontend Errors with Backend Traces
Engineers replay user sessions to see JavaScript errors, then jump directly to related API traces and logs to identify the root cause in minutes instead of hours.
Apache SkyWalking
Cloud-native APM for distributed tracing and observability
Active developmentPermissive licenseAI-powered workflowsJava
Why teams choose it
- Multi-language agents (Java, .NET, Go, Python, Rust, PHP, NodeJS) with active maintenance
- Scales to 100+ billion telemetry data points per cluster with native BanyanDB storage
- eBPF-powered Rover agent for Kubernetes CPU and network profiling
Watch for
Steeper learning curve compared to simpler APM solutions
Migration highlight
Microservices Performance Troubleshooting
Trace requests across 50+ services to identify latency bottlenecks and optimize critical user journeys in production.
Logfire
Simple Python‑centric observability platform for faster development
Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyPython
Why teams choose it
- Intuitive dashboard delivering powerful observability at a glance
- Deep Python‑specific telemetry, including object inspection and event‑loop profiling
- SQL‑based data exploration compatible with existing BI tools
Watch for
Dashboard UI is closed source; self‑hosting requires an enterprise license
Migration highlight
Debugging FastAPI request handling
View request payloads, validation errors, and database query timings in a unified dashboard.
Choosing a observability suites alternative
Teams replacing Datadog in observability suites workflows typically weigh self-hosting needs, integration coverage, and licensing obligations.
- 7 projects let you self-host and keep customer data on infrastructure you control.
- 17 options are actively maintained with recent commits.
Tip: shortlist one hosted and one self-hosted option so stakeholders can compare trade-offs before migrating away from Datadog.