Grafana + Prometheus vs SigNoz
Both are free/open-source alternatives to Datadog. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Grafana + Prometheus
TOP PICKThe open-source observability standard.
Prometheus scrapes and stores metrics; Grafana visualizes them (and logs and traces via Loki and Tempo). Together they are the de-facto open-source monitoring stack, fully self-hostable.
SigNoz
An OpenTelemetry-native, single-app Datadog alternative.
SigNoz brings metrics, traces, and logs into one open-source application built natively on OpenTelemetry, so you get APM-style visibility without per-host SaaS pricing.
Side by side
| Grafana + Prometheus | SigNoz | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 90 | 88 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 (Grafana) / Apache-2.0 (Prometheus) | MIT (core) |
| Pricing | Free / self-host | Free / self-host; optional managed cloud |
Grafana + Prometheus is Macrostack's recommended Datadog alternative, so it's our pick here.
Grafana + Prometheus
Strengths
- +Industry-standard, huge ecosystem
- +Metrics, logs, and traces via the same UI
- +Enormous community and dashboards
Trade-offs
- −You assemble and operate the stack
- −Steeper initial setup than a SaaS agent
SigNoz
Strengths
- +One app for traces, metrics, and logs
- +OpenTelemetry-native
- +Purpose-built as a Datadog replacement
Trade-offs
- −Younger ecosystem than Grafana
- −Self-hosting needs a datastore to operate
More Datadog head-to-heads
Facts verified 2026-07-04. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.