Datadog vs New Relic for API Monitoring (2026 Comparison)

Choosing between Datadog and New Relic is one of the most common decisions engineering teams face when building their observability stack. Both are enterprise-grade platforms, both offer deep API monitoring capabilities, and both have evolved significantly in recent years.

This guide compares them head-to-head so you can make the right call for your team.

TL;DR: Quick Comparison

Feature	Datadog	New Relic
Best For	Infrastructure-heavy teams, multi-cloud	APM-first teams, full-stack visibility
APM	✅ Excellent	✅ Excellent
Infrastructure Monitoring	✅ Industry-leading	✅ Strong
Log Management	✅ Integrated	✅ Integrated
Free Tier	14-day trial only	✅ 100GB/mo free forever
Pricing Model	Per-host + per-feature	Per-user + data ingest
Starting Price	~$15/host/mo (Infrastructure)	Free, then $49/user/mo
Integrations	800+	600+
Alerting	✅ Advanced (composite monitors)	✅ Strong (NRQL-based)
Dashboards	✅ Highly customizable	✅ Good, less flexible
Learning Curve	Moderate-High	Moderate
Third-Party API Monitoring	❌ Limited	❌ Limited

Bottom line: Datadog excels at infrastructure monitoring and multi-cloud environments. New Relic offers a more generous free tier and stronger APM heritage. Neither effectively monitors third-party APIs you depend on — that's where API Status Check fills the gap.

What is New Relic?

Website: newrelic.com [AFFILIATE:newrelic]

New Relic is a full-stack observability platform founded in 2008. Originally known as the gold standard in Application Performance Monitoring (APM), New Relic has expanded into infrastructure monitoring, log management, browser monitoring, mobile monitoring, and synthetic testing.

New Relic's differentiator is its data-first pricing model and generous free tier. You get 100GB of data ingest per month for free — forever — which is enough for many small teams to get real value without paying anything.

Key stats:

• 600+ integrations
• NRQL query language for custom analysis
• 100GB/month free data ingest
• Public company (NEWR)

Start with New Relic free — 100GB/month of data ingest, one full-access user, forever free. Create free account →

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Feature-by-Feature Comparison

1. Application Performance Monitoring (APM)

Datadog APM:

• Distributed tracing across services
• Automatic service discovery and dependency mapping
• Continuous profiling (CPU, memory, I/O)
• Error tracking with automatic root cause analysis
• Code-level visibility with flame graphs
• Support for 15+ languages and frameworks

New Relic APM:

• Distributed tracing with cross-application correlation
• Service maps showing dependencies
• Errors Inbox for triaging and managing errors across the stack
• Vulnerability management built into APM
• CodeStream integration for IDE-level observability
• NRQL for custom performance queries

Verdict: Both offer excellent APM. New Relic has a slight edge for teams that want deep application-level insights and custom querying via NRQL. Datadog wins on automatic service discovery in complex microservices architectures.

2. Infrastructure Monitoring

Datadog:

• Agent-based monitoring for servers, containers, serverless
• 800+ integrations (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, Docker, etc.)
• Real-time container and orchestrator maps
• Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) with flow analysis
• Cloud cost management built-in
• Process-level monitoring

New Relic:

• Infrastructure agent for hosts and containers
• Kubernetes cluster explorer
• Cloud integrations (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• On-host integrations for databases, message queues, etc.
• Guided install for quick setup

Verdict: Datadog wins here convincingly. Their infrastructure monitoring is best-in-class, especially for multi-cloud and Kubernetes-heavy environments. Network Performance Monitoring and cloud cost management are features New Relic doesn't match.

3. Log Management

Datadog:

• Log collection from 200+ sources
• Log Pipeline for parsing, enriching, and routing
• Live Tail for real-time log streaming
• Log-based metrics and monitors
• Archives to S3/GCS/Azure Blob for long-term storage
• Sensitive data scanner

New Relic:

• Log forwarding from infrastructure agent
• Log patterns for automatic clustering
• Logs in context (correlated with APM traces)
• Drop filters to reduce ingest volume
• Obfuscation rules for sensitive data
• Included in data ingest pricing (no separate charge)

Verdict: Datadog's log management is more feature-rich with better parsing pipelines. But New Relic's approach is simpler and doesn't charge separately for log storage — it's part of your data ingest quota. For cost-conscious teams, New Relic wins on logs.

4. Alerting & Incident Management

Datadog:

• Composite monitors (combine multiple conditions)
• Anomaly detection with machine learning
• Forecast monitors (predict future issues)
• Downtime scheduling
• Alert fatigue reduction with smart grouping
• Integrations with PagerDuty, Slack, OpsGenie, etc.

New Relic:

• NRQL-based alert conditions (extremely flexible)
• Anomaly detection (static and baseline)
• Workflows for routing and enriching alerts
• Incident Intelligence for correlation
• Decisions engine for deduplication
• Integrations with PagerDuty, Slack, webhooks, etc.

Verdict: Tie. Datadog's composite monitors and forecast alerts are powerful. New Relic's NRQL-based alerting gives more flexibility for custom conditions. Both integrate with major incident management tools.

5. Dashboards & Visualization

Datadog:

• Drag-and-drop dashboard builder
• 20+ visualization types (timeseries, heatmaps, topN, treemaps, etc.)
• Template variables for dynamic filtering
• Dashboard sharing and embedding
• Notebooks for investigation workflows
• Screenboards and Timeboards

New Relic:

• Dashboard builder with NRQL queries
• Multiple chart types
• Filter bars for dynamic exploration
• Dashboard-to-dashboard linking
• TV mode for NOCs
• Custom visualizations via New Relic Apps (React-based)

Verdict: Datadog has more polished, flexible dashboards out of the box. New Relic's NRQL-powered dashboards are powerful but require learning the query language. If your team is technical and values custom queries, New Relic dashboards are excellent. If you want beautiful dashboards fast, Datadog wins.

6. Synthetic Monitoring

Datadog:

• API tests (HTTP, SSL, DNS, TCP, gRPC, WebSocket)
• Browser tests with recorder
• Multi-step API tests
• Private locations for internal endpoints
• CI/CD integration for pre-deploy testing

New Relic:

• Scripted API monitors
• Scripted browser monitors (Selenium-based)
• Simple ping monitors
• Step builder for codeless monitors
• Private minions for internal testing

Verdict: Datadog's synthetic monitoring is more intuitive with better CI/CD integration. New Relic's scripted approach is flexible but has a steeper learning curve. For API-specific synthetic testing, Datadog has the edge.

7. Pricing

This is where the two platforms diverge significantly.

Datadog Pricing:

• Infrastructure: $15/host/mo
• APM: $31/host/mo
• Log Management: $0.10/GB ingested + $1.70/million indexed events
• Synthetic Monitoring: $5/10K test runs
• RUM: $1.50/1K sessions
• Adds up fast: A team monitoring 20 hosts with APM, logs, and synthetics can easily hit $2,000-5,000+/mo

New Relic Pricing:

• Free tier: 100GB/mo data ingest, 1 full user, forever free
• Standard: $49/user/mo (full platform access)
• Pro: $349/user/mo (advanced features)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing
• Data ingest: $0.35/GB beyond free 100GB
• More predictable: Pay per user, not per host. 5 engineers = ~$245/mo + data costs

Verdict: New Relic is significantly cheaper for small-to-medium teams, especially with the 100GB free tier. Datadog's per-host, per-feature pricing scales unpredictably and has surprised many teams with unexpectedly high bills. However, Datadog's pricing can be more economical for large infrastructure with few users.

Budget-conscious? New Relic's free tier gives you real observability for $0. Start free →

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Pros and Cons

Datadog Pros

• ✅ Best-in-class infrastructure monitoring
• ✅ 800+ integrations — connects to everything
• ✅ Excellent Kubernetes and container monitoring
• ✅ Beautiful, flexible dashboards
• ✅ Network Performance Monitoring
• ✅ Cloud cost management
• ✅ Strong security monitoring features

Datadog Cons

• ❌ Expensive and hard to predict costs
• ❌ Per-host pricing adds up fast at scale
• ❌ Feature sprawl — paying for each capability separately
• ❌ Steep learning curve for new users
• ❌ No meaningful free tier (14-day trial only)
• ❌ Vendor lock-in concerns

New Relic Pros

• ✅ Generous free tier (100GB/mo forever)
• ✅ Predictable per-user pricing
• ✅ Powerful NRQL query language
• ✅ Strong APM heritage
• ✅ Errors Inbox for cross-stack error management
• ✅ Vulnerability management built-in
• ✅ Easier to get started

New Relic Cons

• ❌ Infrastructure monitoring not as deep as Datadog
• ❌ Dashboards less flexible out of the box
• ❌ NRQL required for advanced use (learning curve)
• ❌ Fewer integrations than Datadog
• ❌ Network monitoring is limited
• ❌ Per-user pricing can get expensive for large teams

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When to Choose Datadog

Choose Datadog if:

• You manage significant cloud infrastructure (50+ hosts)
• You're running multi-cloud or hybrid environments
• Kubernetes and container monitoring is a priority
• You need Network Performance Monitoring
• Your team values polished dashboards and visualizations
• Budget is less of a concern than feature depth
• You need security monitoring alongside observability

Datadog is ideal for: Mid-to-large engineering teams managing complex infrastructure who need a single platform for everything from APM to security.

Ready to try Datadog? Get full-featured monitoring for 14 days free. Start trial →

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When to Choose New Relic

Choose New Relic if:

• You're a startup or small team watching costs
• APM and application-level monitoring is your primary need
• You want to start free and scale up
• Your team is comfortable with query languages (NRQL)
• You have fewer hosts but need deep application insights
• Predictable billing matters to your business
• You want vulnerability management built into your APM

New Relic is ideal for: Startups, small-to-medium teams, and application-focused engineering orgs that want powerful observability without unpredictable bills.

Start for free with New Relic — 100GB/month, full platform access, no credit card. Get started →

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The Gap Neither Tool Fills: Third-Party API Monitoring

Here's what most comparison guides won't tell you: neither Datadog nor New Relic effectively monitors the third-party APIs your application depends on.

Both tools are excellent at monitoring infrastructure and applications you control. But modern applications depend on dozens of external APIs — Stripe for payments, OpenAI for AI features, AWS services, Twilio for communications, GitHub for CI/CD.

When Stripe has an outage, your Datadog dashboards might show elevated error rates — but they won't tell you why. You'll waste 30 minutes investigating your own code before someone checks Stripe's status page.

This is the problem API Status Check solves.

API Status Check monitors 120+ third-party APIs in real-time and alerts you instantly when they experience issues. It's not a replacement for Datadog or New Relic — it's a complement:

Concern	Datadog/New Relic	API Status Check
Your server performance	✅	❌
Your application errors	✅	❌
Your database queries	✅	❌
Third-party API status	❌	✅
Pre-configured alerts for 120+ APIs	❌	✅
Zero setup required	❌	✅

The best monitoring stack for 2026:

1. Datadog or New Relic — for your infrastructure and application
2. API Status Check — for your third-party API dependencies

Together, you have complete visibility. Try API Status Check free →

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use both Datadog and New Relic together?

Technically yes, but it's rarely worth it. Both are full-stack platforms with significant overlap. Running both means paying for two expensive tools and managing two dashboards. Pick one for your internal monitoring, then use API Status Check for third-party API monitoring.

Which is cheaper — Datadog or New Relic?

For small teams (1-10 engineers): New Relic is significantly cheaper thanks to the 100GB/month free tier and per-user pricing. For large infrastructure teams with few users but many hosts, Datadog can be cheaper, but bills are harder to predict. Most teams find New Relic more cost-effective.

Which has better APM — Datadog or New Relic?

Both have excellent APM. New Relic has a longer APM heritage and NRQL gives more querying flexibility. Datadog's APM integrates more seamlessly with infrastructure metrics. For pure application monitoring, slight edge to New Relic. For correlating app performance with infrastructure, slight edge to Datadog.

Is there a free tier?

New Relic: Yes — 100GB/month of data ingest, one full-access user, unlimited basic users. This is genuinely useful, not a gimmick.

Datadog: No permanent free tier. 14-day trial only. After that, you pay or lose access.

Which is better for startups?

New Relic, hands down. The free tier lets you get real observability from day one. As you grow, the per-user pricing is predictable. Datadog's per-host pricing can catch startups off guard as they scale.

How does API Status Check fit with either platform?

API Status Check monitors the third-party APIs (Stripe, OpenAI, AWS, GitHub, etc.) that your application depends on. Neither Datadog nor New Relic tracks these effectively. Use API Status Check alongside your chosen platform for complete monitoring coverage. Learn more →

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Final Verdict

Choose Datadog if you have complex infrastructure, need deep Kubernetes monitoring, and want the most integrations. Be prepared for higher, less predictable costs.

Choose New Relic if you're cost-conscious, focused on application performance, and want to start free. Accept slightly less infrastructure depth.

Use both with API Status Check to cover your third-party API blind spot. Because when OpenAI or Stripe goes down, neither Datadog nor New Relic will tell you — but API Status Check will.

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