If you're looking for the best tool to monitor your applications and infrastructure, there's no shortage of options. However, two of the most popular services are Grafana and New Relic. Read on to learn how they compare and which is right for your organization.

grafana versus newrelic

What is Grafana? 

Grafana is an open-source analytics platform designed to help users quickly visualize, analyze, and monitor data as it comes in from multiple sources. 

It allows users to customize their dashboards with various data visualization options, including graphs, charts, tables, and other visuals. 

In addition to its visual capabilities, Grafana offers many features that make it ideal for monitoring and debugging distributed applications in diverse environments.

Grafana can connect to various databases and other data sources such as Prometheus, Elasticsearch, InfluxDB, and more through its extensible architecture. 

Users can then create real-time alerts based on their queries and set up notifications when thresholds are exceeded. Grafana also has an API that can be used to create custom visualizations and extend its functionality.

Grafana is a powerful analytics platform that helps users quickly identify trends and gain insights into their data. Its flexible dashboards and extensive plugin library make it the ideal solution for monitoring applications across various environments. 

It is also highly extensible, allowing users to develop custom plugins and create tailored visualizations. Grafana is easy to use and secure and can query data from a wide range of sources. 

Grafana's robust interface and powerful capabilities make it the go-to choice for data analysis in many organizations.

What is New Relic? 

New Relic is a software analytics platform that helps organizations monitor, troubleshoot and optimize their applications running on multiple platforms. 

It provides users with detailed insights into the performance of their applications, enabling them to identify problems quickly and resolve them promptly. 

With its intuitive user interface, New Relic makes it easy for users to drill down into the details of their application performance.

New Relic collects and stores data from web applications, servers, mobile devices, and microservices to comprehensively view all activity within an organization's infrastructure. 

This data can be analyzed in real-time or stored for future use, enabling users to get up-to-date information on the performance of their applications. 

New Relic is also programmable, which helps users to automate tasks such as creating alerts and receiving notifications when performance issues arise.

New Relic also provides tools for monitoring the entire application stack, including network services, databases, caching layers, and web servers. 

Additionally, New Relic can be used to track application errors, allowing developers to quickly identify problems and address them before they become major issues. 

It is the best fit for companies looking to increase the applications' performance, reliability, and scalability.

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Difference Between Grafana and New Relic: Here's What You Need To Know

When to Use Grafana vs New Relic?

Grafana is ideal for companies that need to visualize performance metrics or server health data. It can track trends over time, display multiple data sources in a single dashboard, and alert users when specific thresholds are reached.

New Relic is best suited for companies that want an in-depth look into their application stack. It provides detailed performance data on application code, server resources, and database queries. This data can be used to identify bottlenecks and optimize the performance of applications.

Also Read: New Relic vs Datadog

New Relic vs Grafana: Pricing

New Relic has a range of pricing tiers that depend on the number of application servers and user licenses. Prices start at about $149 per month.

Grafana is open-source software that is free to use and modify. However, paid versions are available with additional features, such as support and extended data storage.

Grafana vs New Relic: Ease of Usage

Grafana is relatively easy to use and has a comprehensive user guide. However, it does require some technical knowledge for setup and configuration.

New Relic is designed to be easy to use and intuitive, emphasizing data visualization. The interface allows users to easily create or access detailed reports and analytics.

Grafana vs New Relic: Ease of Installation & Deployment

Grafana has a straightforward installation process and is available as Docker images, packages, or binary programs.

New Relic can be quickly deployed using an agent that monitors applications and infrastructure automatically. The New Relic user guide includes detailed setup instructions for various platforms.

New Relic vs Grafana: Security Features

New Relic uses a comprehensive authentication system to ensure the security of user data. It also provides tools for monitoring and controlling access to sensitive information. 

Furthermore, it offers secure communication channels with third-party services.

Grafana offers several security features, including user authentication with LDAP, secure SSL connection, and advanced logging.

Also Read: Grafana vs Datadog

Grafana vs New Relic: Availability of Third-Party Resources

Grafana has many third-party resources available, from tutorials to plugins. These resources allow users to extend the capabilities of their monitoring solutions.

New Relic also offers access to numerous third-party resources, such as a library of public dashboards and an expansive plugin collection. This allows users to customize their monitoring solutions to meet their organizational needs.

New Relic vs Grafana: Ease of Integration

New Relic also has an extensive integration library, ensuring it can be used with many different systems. In addition, various third-party extensions are available to help users further customize their monitoring solutions.

Grafana integrates easily with standard APIs and tools like Prometheus and Graphite. This makes it easy for users to implement their monitoring solutions quickly.

Also Read: What are DORA Metrics?

Grafana vs New Relic: Final Verdict

Grafana and New Relic both offer powerful monitoring solutions. Grafana has a more open-ended approach to integrating with external sources, whereas New Relic has a library of ready-made integrations. Both products allow users to customize their monitoring solutions to meet their organizational needs. 

In conclusion, when choosing which product best suits your organization's needs, consider the extent of customization you require and the sources you need to integrate with.