Comparison
Datadog is a broad SaaS platform for infrastructure monitoring, APM, logs, RUM, security, network monitoring, incident workflows, and more. Nova is a focused private-beta Linux monitoring service for teams that want managed host visibility without operating a Grafana-based stack.
Last reviewed: June 21, 2026
Datadog pricing and product details can change and vary by contract. This page uses public list pricing where available and does not estimate private discounts or committed-use terms.
Choose Datadog if you need a large, integrated observability and security platform with mature APM, RUM, logs, infrastructure monitoring, cloud security, network monitoring, and deep integrations.
Consider Nova if your team mainly needs Linux host monitoring, logs, dashboards, alerts, support-led onboarding, and a smaller operating surface than a multi-product enterprise observability suite.
| Nova | Datadog | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary scope | Managed Linux host monitoring with metrics, logs, dashboards, alerts, tenant access, and Grafana SSO. | Broad SaaS observability and security platform spanning infrastructure, logs, APM, RUM, network, databases, cloud security, SIEM, and more. |
| Infrastructure monitoring | Linux host metrics and optional Docker telemetry for the supported V1 scope. | Mature infrastructure monitoring across many clouds, platforms, containers, and integrations. |
| Logs | Systemd journal logs and selected file logs routed into a managed Grafana/Loki-based workflow. | Dedicated log management with separate ingestion and indexed-event pricing options in public list pricing. |
| APM and tracing | Outside Nova V1 scope. | Mature APM, distributed tracing, data streams, profiling, and service maps with separate pricing units. |
| Security products | Not a security monitoring suite. | Offers multiple security products such as cloud security, SIEM, workload protection, app/API protection, and code security. |
| Setup effort | Staff-assisted private beta onboarding with a narrow supported path. | Powerful integrations and agents, but product selection, data routing, tagging, and cost controls can require platform ownership. |
| Pricing model | Private beta commercial terms are confirmed directly. | Published list pricing includes per-host infrastructure pricing and separate usage units for logs, APM, security, RUM, and other products. |
| Best operational fit | Small teams that want useful host monitoring quickly and do not need full enterprise APM/security coverage yet. | Teams that need a single large platform for multiple engineering, SRE, security, and product analytics workflows. |
Datadog is the stronger option when a team needs a broad, integrated platform and has enough operational maturity to make use of it. Its product surface is much larger than Nova V1.
For teams with significant microservices, front-end monitoring, security monitoring, and cross-cloud needs, Datadog can reduce tool sprawl by bringing many workflows into one vendor.
Nova does not try to match Datadog feature-for-feature. Its narrower goal is to make Linux host monitoring easier for teams that do not have dedicated observability engineers.
That narrower product scope can be a benefit when the buyer wants useful production visibility without making a large platform decision.
This page uses official product and pricing sources where possible.
Published list pricing for infrastructure, logs, APM, security, RUM, and other Datadog products.
Current Nova V1 scope and onboarding model.
How Nova uses the Grafana-based stack for supported monitoring workflows.