Docs For AI
Monitoring

Monitoring Tools

Comparison of frontend monitoring and observability tools

Monitoring Tools Comparison

A comparison of popular frontend monitoring tools for error tracking, RUM, and APM.

Overview

ToolPrimary FocusPricing ModelOpen Source
SentryError TrackingPer-eventYes (self-host)
DatadogFull-stack APMPer-host + eventsNo
New RelicAPM + RUMPer-GB ingestedNo
LogRocketSession ReplayPer-sessionNo
BugsnagError TrackingPer-eventNo
GrafanaDashboardsPer-userYes

Error Tracking Tools

Sentry

Best for: Developers focused on error tracking and debugging.

AspectDetails
StrengthsDeep stack traces, breadcrumbs, issue grouping
WeaknessesAPM less mature than competitors
PricingFree tier: 5K errors/mo, Team: $26/mo
Self-hostingAvailable (open source)
// Sentry setup
import * as Sentry from '@sentry/react';

Sentry.init({
  dsn: 'https://xxx@sentry.io/xxx',
  integrations: [
    Sentry.browserTracingIntegration(),
    Sentry.replayIntegration(),
  ],
  tracesSampleRate: 0.1,
  replaysSessionSampleRate: 0.1,
});

Bugsnag

Best for: Mobile-first teams needing cross-platform support.

AspectDetails
StrengthsMobile SDKs, stability score
WeaknessesLess community, closed source
PricingFree tier: 7.5K errors/mo, Team: $59/mo

APM & RUM Tools

Datadog

Best for: Enterprise teams needing full-stack observability.

AspectDetails
StrengthsUnified platform, AI-powered analysis
WeaknessesExpensive at scale, complex pricing
PricingRUM: $1.50/1K sessions, APM: $31/host
// Datadog RUM setup
import { datadogRum } from '@datadog/browser-rum';

datadogRum.init({
  applicationId: 'xxx',
  clientToken: 'xxx',
  site: 'datadoghq.com',
  service: 'my-app',
  env: 'production',
  sessionSampleRate: 100,
  trackUserInteractions: true,
  trackResources: true,
});

New Relic

Best for: Teams wanting comprehensive APM with RUM.

AspectDetails
StrengthsMature APM, good free tier
WeaknessesUI can be overwhelming
PricingFree: 100GB/mo, Pro: $0.30/GB

Session Replay Tools

LogRocket

Best for: Product teams needing session replay for debugging.

AspectDetails
StrengthsVideo-like replay, Redux integration
WeaknessesLimited backend monitoring
PricingFree: 1K sessions/mo, Team: $99/mo
// LogRocket setup
import LogRocket from 'logrocket';

LogRocket.init('app-id/project');
LogRocket.identify('user-id', {
  name: 'User Name',
  email: 'user@example.com',
});

Sentry Replay

Best for: Existing Sentry users wanting replay.

AspectDetails
StrengthsIntegrated with error tracking
WeaknessesNewer, fewer features than LogRocket
PricingIncluded in Sentry plans

Open Source Alternatives

Grafana Stack

  • Grafana: Dashboards and visualization
  • Loki: Log aggregation
  • Tempo: Distributed tracing
  • Prometheus: Metrics collection

OpenTelemetry

Vendor-neutral observability framework:

import { WebTracerProvider } from '@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-web';
import { OTLPTraceExporter } from '@opentelemetry/exporter-trace-otlp-http';

const provider = new WebTracerProvider();
provider.addSpanProcessor(
  new BatchSpanProcessor(new OTLPTraceExporter({
    url: 'https://collector.example.com/v1/traces',
  }))
);
provider.register();

Feature Comparison

FeatureSentryDatadogNew RelicLogRocket
Error Tracking★★★★★★★★☆☆★★★★☆★★★☆☆
RUM / Web Vitals★★★☆☆★★★★★★★★★☆★★★★☆
Session Replay★★★★☆★★★☆☆★★★☆☆★★★★★
APM / Tracing★★★☆☆★★★★★★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Alerting★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆★★★☆☆
Pricing Value★★★★★★★☆☆☆★★★★☆★★★☆☆
Self-hosting★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Recommendations

ScenarioRecommended Tool
Startup / Small TeamSentry (free tier)
Enterprise Full-stackDatadog
Cost-sensitiveSentry self-hosted + Grafana
Product-focusedLogRocket + Sentry
Existing AWS/AzureNew Relic or native tools
Open Source PriorityGrafana + OpenTelemetry

Cost Comparison (Monthly, 100K users)

ToolEstimated Cost
Sentry Team~$80
Datadog RUM~$150
New Relic Pro~$100
LogRocket Team~$200
Self-hosted (Sentry + Grafana)~$50 (infra)

On this page