Grafana Cloud wants a subscription.
These cost $0.
3 free alternatives to Grafana Cloud, checked for license, recent activity and real adoption. Each one tells you the catch, so you can switch with your eyes open.
Grafana Cloud vs Free Alternatives Matrix
Quick side-by-side comparison · $0/mo vs paid
| Alternative | Type | License | Where It Runs | Stars | Head-to-Head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenObserve | open source | AGPL-3.0 | Local or hosted | ★ 21k | Grafana Cloud vs OpenObserve → |
| HyperDX | open source | — | — | ★ 9.8k | Grafana Cloud vs HyperDX → |
| Uptrace | open source | AGPL-3.0 | Local or hosted | ★ 4.3k | Grafana Cloud vs Uptrace → |
The picks
3 open source · ranked by fit
- 01
OpenObserve
open sourceAGPL-3.0Local or hosted21kaug 2026Logs, metrics, traces and dashboards in one stack; fewer logos, same telemetry.
The catch vs Grafana CloudIt unifies the core telemetry signals, but it does not reproduce Grafana Cloud's enormous dashboard, data-source, alerting, and LGTM ecosystem.
Install, platforms & data +
- platforms
- webself-hosteddocker to self-host
- install
- Hosted signup, or a single binary/Docker container; Helm plus external services for HA
- setup
- The easy single-node path still needs collectors and persistent storage; production HA adds Kubernetes, object storage, PostgreSQL, and NATS.
- your data
- Telemetry is stored as Apache Parquet on local disk or object storage; single-node metadata defaults to SQLite, while HA uses PostgreSQL and NATS.
- checked
- 2026-08-14
- 02
HyperDX
open source9.8kaug 2026An OpenTelemetry stack with logs, metrics and traces; ClickHouse replaces the alphabet soup.
Install, platforms & data +
- platforms
- webself-hosteddocker to self-host
- 03
Uptrace
open sourceAGPL-3.0Local or hosted4.3kjun 2026OpenTelemetry APM with two databases and no pretending that is one click.
The catch vs Grafana CloudIt is a capable OpenTelemetry APM, but it is narrower than the hosted Grafana, Prometheus, Loki, and Tempo ecosystem and carries a multi-database self-hosting burden.
Install, platforms & data +
- platforms
- webself-hostedself-host, real ops
- install
- Hosted signup, or Docker Compose with Uptrace, ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, Redis, and an OpenTelemetry Collector
- setup
- Even the small-team Compose deployment is a multi-database stack, and production operation adds collectors, backups, TLS, retention tuning, and ordered upgrades.
- your data
- Self-hosted telemetry lives in ClickHouse, metadata in PostgreSQL, and transient cache/session data in Redis; Docker uses persistent named volumes.
- checked
- 2026-08-14
Frequently Asked Questions
Direct answers · Grafana Cloud open-source replacements
What is the best free alternative to Grafana Cloud?+
The top free alternative to Grafana Cloud is OpenObserve (open source, AGPL-3.0). Logs, metrics, traces and dashboards in one stack; fewer logos, same telemetry. Other popular Grafana Cloud replacements include HyperDX, Uptrace.
Can I self-host a free replacement for Grafana Cloud?+
Yes. Of the 3 free alternatives to Grafana Cloud, 3 can be self-hosted on your own server or local machine: OpenObserve (AGPL-3.0), HyperDX (free), Uptrace (AGPL-3.0).
Should I vibe-code or build my own Grafana Cloud clone from scratch?+
Our build verdict for Grafana Cloud is NOT REALLY (use a free alternative, save the tokens). A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Grafana Cloud, host Grafana, Prometheus, Loki, and Tempo for a small stack on user-owned infrastructure. The hard boundary is managed global telemetry, integrations, retention, support, and scalable operations, plus independent infrastructure and reliable alerting.
What is the catch when switching from Grafana Cloud to OpenObserve?+
It unifies the core telemetry signals, but it does not reproduce Grafana Cloud's enormous dashboard, data-source, alerting, and LGTM ecosystem.
