Comparison
Grafana Cloud is a mature managed LGTM platform from Grafana Labs. Nova is a narrower private-beta managed Linux monitoring service built around Grafana Alloy, Grafana, Mimir, and Loki for teams that want support-led setup and a focused operating model.
Last reviewed: June 21, 2026
Competitor details are based on public product and pricing pages. Nova is in private beta, so beta scope and commercial terms are confirmed directly with each customer.
Choose Grafana Cloud if you want a broad, mature managed observability platform with metrics, logs, traces, profiles, synthetic testing, Kubernetes and application observability options, and the wider Grafana ecosystem.
Consider Nova if your immediate need is simpler Linux host monitoring, managed collector enrollment, baseline dashboards, logs, alerts, and local/regional support without asking a small team to become Grafana stack operators.
| Nova | Grafana Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary scope | Managed Linux host monitoring with metrics, logs, dashboards, alerts, tenant access, and Grafana SSO. | Managed observability platform across Grafana, Prometheus/Mimir metrics, Loki logs, Tempo traces, profiles, k6, IRM, Kubernetes monitoring, and more. |
| Collector setup | Generated collector enrollment and staff-assisted rollout during private beta. | Flexible integrations and agents, but teams still need to choose and configure the right collection path for their environment. |
| Metrics and logs | Focused host metrics, systemd journal logs, selected file logs, and optional Docker telemetry per node. | Broad managed metrics and logs with published usage units, free allowances, and cost-management tooling. |
| Traces, profiling, and synthetic tests | Outside Nova V1 scope. | Available as part of Grafana Cloud's broader product set, with usage-based pricing. |
| Kubernetes and application observability | Outside Nova V1 scope. | Available through Grafana Cloud offerings for Kubernetes and application observability. |
| Dashboards | Prebuilt dashboards for supported host monitoring use cases. | Full Grafana dashboard ecosystem with extensive customization and plugins. |
| Pricing model | Private beta terms are confirmed directly; public self-service pricing is not published yet. | Free tier, Pro platform fee plus usage, and Enterprise annual commit options are published by Grafana Labs. |
| Support model | Support-led onboarding for the supported beta scope, with Thailand/regional context. | Community support on Free, email support on Pro, and premium support options for Enterprise. |
| Best operational fit | Small production teams that want host visibility without operating the observability stack. | Teams that want a powerful managed Grafana ecosystem and can tune telemetry, dashboards, and cost controls. |
Grafana Cloud is broader than Nova V1. It is the stronger choice for teams that need a complete managed observability platform across many telemetry types.
Nova deliberately starts narrower. The product bet is that many small production teams do not need every observability capability first; they need reliable Linux host monitoring, useful dashboards, logs, alerts, and a setup path that does not consume engineering time.
Grafana Cloud publishes usage-based prices and plan-level retention details, including a Pro platform fee and usage units for metrics, logs, traces, profiles, and other products.
Nova should be evaluated differently while it is in private beta: confirm supported hosts, retention requirements, telemetry volume, support expectations, and any commercial guardrails directly before comparing against a self-service Grafana Cloud estimate.
This page uses official product and pricing sources where possible.
Plans, retention notes, platform fee, product usage units, and Enterprise minimum commit.
Generally available Grafana Cloud product units such as metrics, logs, traces, profiles, and Kubernetes monitoring.
Grafana guidance for analyzing log ingestion and log costs.
Current Nova V1 scope and onboarding model.