What's the difference between Datadog and Snowflake?

Datadog is 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, while Snowflake is Snowflake is the AI data cloud with decoupled compute + storage pricing. Standard ~$2/credit; Enterprise ~$3/credit; Business Critical ~$4/credit (HIPAA/PCI); Virtual Private Snowflake custom. Compute per second (60-sec minimum); storage ~$23/TB/mo. 30-day trial with $400 credit. On price, snowflake is cheaper on the entry tier at Free vs $18/mo for Datadog. Both bill on a per usage model, so the tiers below compare directly.

Which costs less, Datadog or Snowflake?

Snowflake is cheaper on the entry tier at Free vs $18/mo for Datadog.

Is Datadog or Snowflake priced per seat or per usage?

Datadog bills purely on usage — host. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume. Snowflake bills purely on usage — $2-$4+ per compute credit (per-second billing) + ~$23/TB/mo storage. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.

Does Datadog have a free plan?

Yes, Datadog offers a free plan.

Does Snowflake have a free plan?

Snowflake's free-plan availability isn't confirmed — check the pricing page for the latest.

How does Datadog pricing compare to Snowflake for enterprise use?

Both Datadog and Snowflake offer enterprise pricing on request, typically with custom quotes based on seats, usage, and support.

When were these prices last verified?

Pricing was last verified on September 16, 2026. SaaS Price Hub tracks vendor pricing pages daily.

Datadog vs Snowflake — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)

TL;DR

Datadog starts at $18/mo. Snowflake starts at Free. Snowflake is $18/mo cheaper on the entry tier than Datadog.

Both prices verified September 15, 2026

See price history: Datadog · Snowflake

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 purely on usage — host. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.
Snowflake (Per Usage) — Snowflake bills purely on usage — $2-$4+ per compute credit (per-second billing) + ~$23/TB/mo storage. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.

Per-minute, per-credit and per-token rates exclude any downstream model, speech or telephony costs unless the vendor states otherwise.

Datadog

Developer & Infrastructure

Starts at

$18/mo

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.

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Snowflake

Developer & Infrastructure

Starts at

Free

Snowflake is the AI data cloud with decoupled compute + storage pricing. Standard ~$2/credit; Enterprise ~$3/credit; Business Critical ~$4/credit (HIPAA/PCI); Virtual Private Snowflake custom. Compute per second (60-sec minimum); storage ~$23/TB/mo. 30-day trial with $400 credit.

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All plans compared

Tier role	Plan	Datadog monthly	Datadog annual	Snowflake monthly	Snowflake annual
Free / starter	Free / —	Free	Free	—	—
Entry paid	Infrastructure Pro / Standard	$18	$15	$2	$2
Teams	— / Business Critical	—	—	$4	$4
Enterprise	Infrastructure Enterprise / Enterprise	$27	$23	$3	$3

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

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.

Snowflake

Snowflake is worth it if… Snowflake is ideal for enterprises building a data cloud who want decoupled compute + storage billing so idle warehouses don't rack up cost.

Bottom line: Similar positioning, closer to a preference call than a strategic one.

Choose Datadog over Snowflake 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 Snowflake if…

You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, a free entry tier).
You match the profile Snowflake is built for: ideal for enterprises building a data cloud who want decoupled compute + storage billing so idle warehouses don't rack up cost.
You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.

At a glance

	Datadog	Snowflake
Free plan	Yes	No
Entry price	$18/mo	Free
Enterprise available	Yes	Yes
Pricing model	Per Usage	Per Usage
Last verified	September 15, 2026	September 16, 2026
Full pricing	View full pricing	View full pricing