OpenObserve vs Relay.app — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)
OpenObserve starts at Free. Relay.app starts at $38/mo. OpenObserve is $38/mo cheaper on the entry tier than Relay.app.
See price history: OpenObserve · Relay.app
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.
- OpenObserve (Per Usage) — OpenObserve bills purely on usage — $0.50/GB ingest + $0.01/GB query (30% off annual, no per-seat fees). There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.
- Relay.app (Hybrid) — Relay.app is hybrid: a fixed subscription from $38/mo plus metered usage on top. Your real bill moves with volume, not seat count.
Per-minute, per-credit and per-token rates exclude any downstream model, speech or telephony costs unless the vendor states otherwise.
OpenObserve is a Datadog/Splunk/New Relic alternative positioned on transparent pay-as-you-go pricing with no per-seat or per-host fees. Cloud PAYG: $0.50/GB ingestion + $0.01/GB query (30% off with annual commit). Includes 15-month metrics retention + 30-day non-metrics retention default. Enterprise adds SSO/RBAC, AI SRE agent, BYO bucket infinite retention. Self-hosted OSS is free; Self-hosted Enterprise free up to 50GB/day.
AI-native workflow automation platform — workflows can pause for human approval and use AI to draft any step. Pricing: Free (400 runs/mo), Pro $9/user/mo (5K runs), Team $59/mo (5 users, 20K runs), Enterprise custom. Positioned as the AI-native alternative to Zapier and Make for teams that want human-in-the-loop workflows.
All plans compared
| Tier role | Plan | OpenObserve monthly | OpenObserve annual | Relay.app monthly | Relay.app annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free / starter | Cloud Professional (PAYG) / Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Entry paid | — / Professional | — | — | $38 | $19 |
| Teams | — / Team | — | — | $118 | $59 |
| Enterprise | Cloud Enterprise / Enterprise | Custom | Custom | 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
OpenObserve is worth it if… OpenObserve is ideal for teams migrating off Datadog, Splunk, or New Relic who want radically transparent pay-per-GB pricing with no seat fees. Best if your telemetry cost is dominated by log and metric volume rather than user count.
Relay.app is worth it if… g. AI drafts a customer email, human reviews before sending.
Bottom line: Choose based on how you want to pay — OpenObserve is per usage, Relay.app is hybrid.
Choose OpenObserve over Relay.app if…
Choose OpenObserve if…
- You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, a free entry tier).
- You match the profile OpenObserve is built for: ideal for teams migrating off Datadog, Splunk, or New Relic who want radically transparent pay-per-GB pricing with no seat fees.
- You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.
Choose Relay.app if…
- You're fine with a base subscription plus metered usage on top (from $38/mo).
- You match the profile Relay.app is built for: Relay.
- You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.
At a glance
| OpenObserve | Relay.app | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Entry price | Free | $38/mo |
| Enterprise available | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per Usage | Hybrid |
| Last verified | September 16, 2026 | September 20, 2026 |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified September 20, 2026. Tracked daily.