Datadog vs n8n — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)
Datadog starts at $18/mo. n8n starts at $25.92/mo. Datadog is $7.920000000000002/mo cheaper on the entry tier than n8n.
How pricing works
These two tools don't price the same way, so the headline numbers below aren't directly comparable until you plug in your own volume.
- Datadog (Per Usage) — Datadog bills on usage — host on top of a paid plan starting at $18/mo. The plan includes an allowance; anything beyond it is metered.
- n8n (Per Usage) — n8n bills on usage — Workflow executions/month on top of a paid plan starting at $25.92/mo. The plan includes an allowance; anything beyond it is metered.
Per-minute, per-credit and per-token rates exclude any downstream model, speech or telephony costs unless the vendor states otherwise.
The dominant cloud observability platform (metrics, logs, traces, APM), publicly traded (DDOG), ~$45B market cap. Positioned as the alternative to New Relic + Splunk + PagerDuty stitched together. Distinctive for its notorious usage-based pricing that has surprised engineering teams with 6-figure monthly bills (Coinbase's leaked contract was ~$65M/year in 2022). Priced by seat + host + volume across 20+ meters. Popular with engineering teams; feared by finance teams.
Open-source workflow automation positioned as the alternative to Zapier and Make for developers who want self-hosting + code-level control. Distinctive for fair-code license (free for internal use, paid for embedded resale) and its JavaScript node execution. Valued $2.3B private (2025 raise). Free when self-hosted; Cloud plans $20-$50/mo (annual). Popular with technical teams whose Zapier bill grew painful and who want to run automations on their own infrastructure.
All plans compared
| Tier role | Plan | Datadog monthly | Datadog annual | n8n monthly | n8n annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free / starter | Free / — | Free | Free | — | — |
| Entry paid | Infrastructure Pro / Starter | $18 | $15 | $25.92 | $21.6 |
| Pro / power | — / Pro | — | — | $64.8 | $54 |
| Teams | — / Business | — | — | $864 | $720 |
| Enterprise | Infrastructure Enterprise / Enterprise | $27 | $23 | Custom | Custom |
Tier names differ across vendors. Rows are aligned by tier role, not name. Full tier structures on each tool's page.
What each is best for
Datadog is worth it if… infrastructure teams (10+ engineers) that need APM + logs + metrics + synthetics + RUM in one platform — the observability default at mid-market and enterprise scale. Infrastructure covers hosts; APM, Logs, RUM, Synthetics, Database Monitoring each priced separately per module.
n8n is worth it if… developers and ops-savvy teams that want visual workflow automation with the option to self-host and write custom JavaScript nodes — particularly if you value data sovereignty or need automations that Zapier/Make can't handle. Starter covers small teams; Pro adds more execution; Business adds RBAC and versioning; self-hosted free forever.
Bottom line: Similar positioning, closer to a preference call than a strategic one.
Choose Datadog over n8n if…
Choose Datadog if…
- You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, from $18/mo).
- You match the profile Datadog is built for: infrastructure teams (10+ engineers) that need APM + logs + metrics + synthetics + RUM in one platform — the observability default at mid-market and enterprise scale.
- You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.
Choose n8n if…
- You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, from $25.92/mo).
- You match the profile n8n is built for: developers and ops-savvy teams that want visual workflow automation with the option to self-host and write custom JavaScript nodes — particularly if you value data sovereignty or need automations that Zapier/Make can't handle.
- You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.
At a glance
| Datadog | n8n | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Entry price | $18/mo | $25.92/mo |
| Enterprise available | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per Usage | Per Usage |
| Verification | Pricing under review | Checked September 28, 2026 |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified September 28, 2026. Tracked daily.