Grafana vs New Relic: Which Monitoring Platform is Right for You?

Compare Grafana and New Relic for application monitoring, observability, and analytics. Grafana offers open-source flexibility while New Relic provides enterprise APM features.

Updated 2026-09 · 2026

Grafana

Open-source analytics and monitoring platform

Freeself-hosted

Strengths

+Completely free and open-source for self-hosting
+Supports 100+ data sources including Prometheus, InfluxDB, Elasticsearch
+Highly customizable dashboards with extensive plugin ecosystem

Weaknesses

-Requires infrastructure management and maintenance
-Steeper learning curve for initial setup
-Limited built-in alerting compared to commercial solutions

Best for

Teams with DevOps expertise who want full control, need to integrate multiple data sources, or have budget constraints

New Relic

Full-stack observability platform for modern applications

$99per user/month (Full Platform user, plus usage-based data ingest)

Strengths

+Comprehensive APM with automatic instrumentation
+Built-in distributed tracing and error tracking
+Powerful query language (NRQL) for data analysis

Weaknesses

-Expensive at scale, especially for large teams
-Can be complex to configure for optimal cost efficiency
-Data retention limits on lower tiers

Best for

Enterprise teams needing turnkey APM, companies prioritizing support over cost, or organizations without dedicated DevOps resources

Feature Comparison

Feature	Grafana	New Relic
Pricing Model	Free (self-hosted) or Grafana Cloud free tier (10k series metrics, 50GB logs/traces, 14-day retention, 3 users)	Free tier: 100GB data ingest/month + 1 full user. Paid: usage-based ingest fees + per-user fees (Standard $99/user)
Application Performance Monitoring	Requires integration with external APM tools	Native APM with automatic instrumentation
Data Source Support	100+ integrations including Prometheus, InfluxDB, MySQL	Primarily New Relic agents, plus OpenTelemetry and Prometheus remote write support
Dashboard Customization	Highly flexible with extensive plugin ecosystem	Good customization but within platform constraints
Distributed Tracing	Via Tempo or external tracing backends	Built-in distributed tracing included
Alerting	Basic alerting, advanced features in Grafana Cloud	Sophisticated alerting with ML-based anomaly detection
Log Management	Via Loki or external log aggregators	Integrated log management with correlation
Learning Curve	Moderate to steep, requires configuration knowledge	Gentler with guided setup and documentation
Data Retention	Unlimited (self-hosted), configurable	Limited by tier, 8 days to 90+ days
Deployment Options	Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, or Grafana Cloud	SaaS-only, no self-hosted option
Query Language	Depends on data source (PromQL, SQL, etc.)	NRQL (New Relic Query Language)
Mobile App	Limited mobile experience	Full-featured iOS and Android apps

The Verdict

Choose Grafana if you have DevOps resources and want maximum flexibility with zero licensing costs—it's the clear winner for budget-conscious teams who can handle self-hosting. Choose New Relic if you need turnkey APM with minimal setup and have budget for per-user pricing—it's worth the premium for teams prioritizing ease of use and comprehensive support over cost.

How to switch from Grafana to New Relic

1Export each Grafana dashboard's panel layout and queries via Dashboard Settings > JSON Model (or Share > Export) to save a JSON file you can reference while rebuilding views in New Relic.
2Install New Relic APM agents or OpenTelemetry collectors on your services, and configure Prometheus remote write if you're keeping an existing Prometheus setup, so data starts flowing into New Relic.
3Recreate your dashboards in New Relic using NRQL queries, using the exported Grafana JSON as a reference for which metrics, panels, and layouts to rebuild.
4Rebuild your alerting rules as New Relic alert policies and notification channels (Slack, PagerDuty, email) to replace Grafana's alerting setup.
5Run Grafana and New Relic in parallel for a few weeks to validate data accuracy and alert coverage before fully cutting over.
6Migrate team access and on-call workflows to New Relic (including its mobile app), then decommission the Grafana instance once everyone has confirmed the new setup works.

Grafana vs New Relic: common questions

How do I export my dashboards from Grafana before switching to New Relic?+

Grafana doesn't store your metrics itself, but you can export each dashboard's layout and queries via Dashboard Settings > JSON Model, or the Share > Export button, which saves a JSON file with panel definitions. Your actual time-series data stays in the underlying source (Prometheus, InfluxDB, etc.), so you'll need to point New Relic agents or OpenTelemetry collectors at those same sources to bring the data over.

What do I lose by switching from Grafana to New Relic?+

You lose the ability to self-host and the 100+ data source flexibility Grafana offers—New Relic is SaaS-only and works best with its own agents or OpenTelemetry. You'll also give up unlimited, free data retention since New Relic's retention is capped by plan tier (8 to 90+ days).

Is New Relic's free tier enough for a small team?+

New Relic's free tier includes 100GB of data ingest per month and one full platform user, which covers basic APM and dashboarding for a small app or a couple of services. Once you add more users or exceed the ingest cap, you'll hit per-GB and per-seat charges, so teams with multiple engineers or high log/metric volume will outgrow it quickly.

Does New Relic support Prometheus and other data sources Grafana used?+

Yes, New Relic accepts Prometheus metrics via its remote write integration and supports OpenTelemetry, so most Grafana data sources can still feed into New Relic. However, some niche Grafana plugins and data sources (like certain SQL databases or Elasticsearch dashboards) don't have direct equivalents and require custom instrumentation.

How does the cost of New Relic compare to Grafana over time?+

Grafana self-hosted stays free indefinitely aside from your own server costs, while Grafana Cloud's free tier covers small setups before usage-based fees kick in. New Relic costs scale with both users and data ingest, so a growing team or increasing log/metric volume can push monthly bills from a few hundred to several thousand dollars within a year or two.