Who is each tool for?
Pr
Prometheus
Teams wanting powerful open-source metrics monitoring with PromQL
Da
Datadog Metrics
Enterprises needing scalable metrics with extensive integrations
Pros and Cons
Pr
Prometheus
Pros
- Powerful PromQL query language
- Excellent Kubernetes integration
- Active open-source community
- Pull-based model is firewall-friendly
Cons
- Limited long-term storage by default
- No built-in dashboards (needs Grafana)
- High cardinality can be challenging
Da
Datadog Metrics
Pros
- 700+ out-of-box integrations
- Powerful anomaly detection
- Excellent visualization options
- Seamless cloud provider integration
Cons
- Can become expensive at scale
- Custom metrics pricing adds up
- Vendor lock-in concerns
Feature Comparison
Feature
Pr
PrometheusDa
Datadog MetricsAPM
5
7
Log Management
3
6
Infrastructure Monitoring
9
9.5
Alerting
8.5
9
Integrations
8.5
10
Ease of Use
7
8.5
Support
7
8.5
Value for Money
10
7.5
Overall Score
8.9
9.2
Pricing
Pr
Prometheus
Free / Open Source
Pricing varies by data volume and features. Contact Prometheus for a custom quote.
Da
Datadog Metrics
From $15/host/mo
Pricing varies by data volume and features. Contact Datadog Metrics for a custom quote.
Our Verdict
Both Prometheus and Datadog Metrics are excellent observability platforms. Datadog Metrics edges ahead with a score of 9.2/10, particularly excelling in APM and Log Management.
