Datadog vs Vanta: Pricing Comparison (2026)
Datadog starts at $18/mo. Vanta starts at $667/mo. Datadog is $649/mo cheaper on the entry tier than Vanta.
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.
Compliance automation platform that made SOC 2 attestation possible for early-stage startups in weeks instead of quarters. Positioned as the AI-native alternative to hiring a $150K compliance manager or paying $50K+ to a Big 4 firm for manual audit prep. Distinctive for its 200+ automated evidence collectors + trust-center product (public compliance page for enterprise buyers) + AI questionnaire responses. Priced quote-based with reference $8K-$30K+/year across Core/Growth/Scale tiers plus custom Enterprise. Series C at $2.45B valuation (2024). Serves 10,000+ customers including Autodesk, Ramp, Notion, Chili Piper. Category-defining product in the security-compliance-automation space.
All plans compared
| # | Plan | Datadog monthly | Datadog annual | Vanta monthly | Vanta annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Free / Core | 0 | 0 | 667 | 667 |
| 2 | Infrastructure Pro / Growth | 18 | 15 | 1250 | 1250 |
| 3 | Infrastructure Enterprise / Scale | 27 | 23 | 2500 | 2500 |
| 4 | Enterprise | — | — | custom | custom |
What each is best for
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.
Compliance automation platform that made SOC 2 attestation possible for early-stage startups in weeks instead of quarters. Positioned as the AI-native alternative to hiring a $150K compliance manager or paying $50K+ to a Big 4 firm for manual audit prep. Distinctive for its 200+ automated evidence collectors + trust-center product (public compliance page for enterprise buyers) + AI questionnaire responses. Priced quote-based with reference $8K-$30K+/year across Core/Growth/Scale tiers plus custom Enterprise. Series C at $2.45B valuation (2024). Serves 10,000+ customers including Autodesk, Ramp, Notion, Chili Piper. Category-defining product in the security-compliance-automation space.
At a glance
| Datadog | Vanta | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Entry price | $18/mo | $667/mo |
| Enterprise available | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per Usage | — |
| Last verified | August 26, 2026 | August 21, 2026 |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified August 26, 2026. Tracked daily.