HyperDX vs Bugsink
Both are free/open-source alternatives to Sentry. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
HyperDX
An OpenTelemetry-native observability app with error tracking, logs, traces, and session replay in one.
HyperDX (built on ClickHouse, now part of ClickStack) unifies error tracking with logs, distributed traces, metrics, and session replay in a single self-hostable app, aimed at teams who want Sentry-style error visibility plus broader observability without stitching together several tools. It's fully MIT-licensed and OpenTelemetry-native, so instrumentation isn't tied to a proprietary SDK.
Bugsink
A minimal, actively-maintained self-hosted error tracker built to be a drop-in Sentry replacement.
Bugsink is a Python/Django error tracker built specifically to be self-hosted and Sentry-SDK-compatible: point an existing Sentry SDK's DSN at Bugsink and it starts receiving events with no code changes. It defaults to SQLite for both the app database and its task queue (no Redis or Celery required), with Postgres/MySQL available for larger deployments, making it one of the simplest error trackers to run on a single small server.
Side by side
| HyperDX | Bugsink | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 89 | 81 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | PolyForm Shield 1.0.0 (source-available; free to self-host and use, restricts building a competing hosted product) |
| Pricing | Free to self-host; hosted plan free up to 3GB/mo, then $20/mo for 50GB/mo plus $0.40/GB overage | Free to self-host; hosted plan also available, positioned as ~80% cheaper than Sentry at scale |
HyperDX edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
HyperDX
Strengths
- +Fully MIT-licensed with no field-of-use restrictions
- +One app covers errors, logs, traces, and session replay via OpenTelemetry standards
- +Active project (multiple 2026 releases) with a real Discord community
- +Data portability: OpenTelemetry data isn't locked to HyperDX's format
Trade-offs
- −Heavier self-host footprint than a dedicated error tracker — ClickHouse plus supporting services
- −Not a drop-in DSN swap for existing Sentry SDK code; requires OpenTelemetry instrumentation
- −Broader scope means more surface area to operate than a single-purpose tool
Bugsink
Strengths
- +Drop-in for Sentry SDKs — DSN swap, no application code changes
- +SQLite-first defaults mean no Redis/Celery to operate for small deployments
- +Very active (weekly-cadence releases as of mid-2026) with a responsive maintainer
- +Local variable capture on stack traces out of the box, a genuine debugging strength
Trade-offs
- −Not an OSI-approved open-source license — PolyForm Shield is source-available, not free software by OSI's definition
- −Explicitly forbids using the code to build a competing hosted error-tracking service
- −Smaller community and shorter track record than Sentry or GlitchTip
More Sentry head-to-heads
Facts verified 2026-07-09. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.