Custom metrics, predictably priced
A custom metrics alternative with no cardinality surprises
If your monitoring bill is driven by how many tag combinations your metrics have, a different model may suit you: one price per metric, set by its name, the levels you keep and for how long - and nothing that grows with what you put in.
The problem it avoids
In some monitoring products a custom metric is each unique combination of a metric name and its tag values - so adding a tag such as a customer id multiplies the number of metrics you are charged for. Check any provider's own pricing page for how it counts.
How Easy Observability prices it
- A metric is identified by its name alone - there are no tags or labels
- Each level a metric keeps costs 15 to 75 credits a month at its default retention, so a metric kept down to the day is 45 credits a month ($0.045) and down to the minute 150 credits; keeping a level longer costs in proportion
- No per-host, per-seat or per-gigabyte charges
- You start with 10,000 free credits
- Credits are bought up front: nothing is charged automatically, so the most you can spend is what you chose to buy
The trade-off
With no tags you cannot slice one metric by dimension - if you want a breakdown, you create separate metrics (checkout_errors_uk, checkout_errors_us). That is what keeps the price predictable. Alerts also watch metrics only (not logs or traces yet), and nothing is collected automatically. It is a much smaller product than the big platforms.
What you do get
- Metrics rolled up into minute, hour, day, month and year totals, with charts and derived metrics
- Logs with search and levels, and traces with flame charts
- One HTTP API for all three - no agent or SDK
- Optional distinct counts, for example unique users
Questions, answered
Why is pricing per metric rather than per host or per gigabyte?
Because it is the number you can predict. A metric is identified by its name alone - it has no tags or labels - so its price never grows because of what you put in it, and a busy day costs the same as a quiet one. If you want a breakdown, create separate metrics (for example checkout_errors_uk and checkout_errors_us).
How much does it cost?
There are no per-host, per-seat or per-gigabyte charges, and you start with 10,000 free credits. Add more credits any time as necessary, and use the pricing calculator to plan ahead. Each level of a metric costs 15 to 75 credits a month at its default retention (a day level is the cheapest, a minute level the dearest), and 500 logs, or 250 traces, kept for a day cost 1 credit.