Comparison
New Relic is a full-stack observability platform with APM, infrastructure monitoring, logs, browser and mobile monitoring, synthetics, alerts, and many integrations. Nova is a narrower managed Linux monitoring service for teams that want support-led setup around host metrics, logs, dashboards, and alerts.
Last reviewed: June 21, 2026
New Relic pricing details can change and may vary by edition, user type, data option, and contract. This page summarizes public pricing and documentation, not private terms.
Choose New Relic if you want a full-stack observability platform with APM-centric workflows, many application and user-experience features, and a data-plus-user pricing model.
Consider Nova if your first priority is managed Linux host monitoring, Grafana-compatible dashboards, logs, alerts, and rollout help for a smaller production team.
| Nova | New Relic | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary scope | Managed Linux host monitoring with metrics, logs, dashboards, alerts, tenant access, and Grafana SSO. | Full-stack observability platform covering APM, infrastructure, logs, browser, mobile, synthetics, alerts, and many data insights. |
| Application monitoring | Outside Nova V1 scope. | Strong APM and curated application experiences are a central part of the platform. |
| Infrastructure monitoring | Focused Linux host metrics and optional Docker telemetry per node. | Infrastructure monitoring is one of many platform capabilities alongside application and user-experience monitoring. |
| Logs | Host logs routed into a Grafana/Loki-based workflow for supported beta use cases. | Log management is part of the broader platform and data ingest model. |
| Pricing model | Private beta commercial terms are confirmed directly. | Public pricing describes free data ingest, per-GB data charges beyond included usage, user types, editions, and add-ons. |
| Retention model | Beta retention requirements are confirmed directly against supported scope. | Public docs describe Original Data and Data Plus options with different retention and query limits. |
| Dashboards and query language | Grafana dashboards and Prometheus/Loki-oriented workflows. | New Relic dashboards and NRQL-centered workflows. |
| Best operational fit | Small teams that mainly need host monitoring without building a full observability program. | Teams that want application-first observability and broad platform capabilities across the software lifecycle. |
New Relic is built for broad application and platform observability. It is a better fit when the team needs deep application troubleshooting, user-experience monitoring, and a single platform for many telemetry workflows.
Nova focuses on a smaller outcome: get Linux hosts visible with metrics, logs, dashboards, and alerts, then keep the underlying Grafana-compatible stack managed.
New Relic's public pricing includes 100 GB of free monthly data ingest, published per-GB data prices beyond included usage, and user costs that vary by type and edition.
Because Nova is still private beta, a fair commercial comparison should start with the actual hosts, telemetry volume, retention requirement, and onboarding support expected from Nova.
This page uses official product and pricing sources where possible.
Free tier, data ingest pricing, user types, editions, and platform capability summary.
How New Relic explains data, user billing, retention options, and billable data.
Published list prices for data, Data Plus, core users, and full platform users.
Current Nova V1 scope and onboarding model.