Elastic APM vs groundcover

Elastic APM9.4Visit groundcover8.5Visit

Higher score Elastic APM #1 in Application Performance Monitoring 9.4/10 Free plan · 14-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Elastic APM

vs

groundcover #10 in Application Performance Monitoring 8.5/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit groundcover

• Elastic APM fits best

  Open, hybrid APM with broad observability

• groundcover fits best

  eBPF-based Kubernetes and hybrid APM

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Side by side

Feature	Elastic APM 9.4/10 Visit ↗	groundcover 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.5
Ranking	#1 in Application Performance Monitoring	#10 in Application Performance Monitoring
Best for	Open, hybrid APM with broad observability	eBPF-based Kubernetes and hybrid APM
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	$99/mo	$30/unit/mo
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	14 days	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, Linux, Windows, macOS	Web
Support	Phone, Docs · 24/7	Community
Integrations	4 integrations	8 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Elastic APM 5/5 · groundcover 5/5
Distributed tracing	✓	✓
Transaction tracing	✓	✓
Dependency mapping	✓	✓
Real user monitoring	✓	✓
Log correlation	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Hybrid	Hybrid
Our review
Pros	Distributed tracing, transaction views, and service dependency maps Free self-managed Elastic Stack deployment OpenTelemetry ingestion plus logs, metrics, traces, and RUM	Collects application telemetry without code changes Correlates traces, logs, metrics, events, and RUM data Offers cloud and self-hosted deployment options
Cons	Usage-based pricing can vary with ingestion volume Self-managed deployment requires Elastic Stack administration Full-stack observability costs $0.09 per GB ingested monthly	Free plan retains data for only 12 hours Pro pricing starts at $30 per host per month On-premise deployment costs $50 per host per month
Our verdict	Elastic APM monitors application performance across services, databases, external HTTP calls, errors, traces, logs, and metrics. It is designed for teams managing distributed applications across web, API, iOS, Android, and self-hosted… Read the review →	groundcover is a cloud-native observability platform for engineering teams operating Kubernetes and other cloud environments. Its application performance monitoring uses eBPF-based collection to capture metrics and traces without… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Elastic APM — where it wins

  • Distributed tracing, transaction views, and service dependency maps
  • Free self-managed Elastic Stack deployment
  • OpenTelemetry ingestion plus logs, metrics, traces, and RUM

  Where it doesn't

  • Usage-based pricing can vary with ingestion volume
  • Self-managed deployment requires Elastic Stack administration
  • Full-stack observability costs $0.09 per GB ingested monthly

• groundcover — where it wins

  • Collects application telemetry without code changes
  • Correlates traces, logs, metrics, events, and RUM data
  • Offers cloud and self-hosted deployment options

  Where it doesn't

  • Free plan retains data for only 12 hours
  • Pro pricing starts at $30 per host per month
  • On-premise deployment costs $50 per host per month

• Elastic APM9.4/10 · Free plan · 14-day trial

  A flexible APM for teams that want open deployment and broad observability.

  Visit Elastic APMFull verdict →
• groundcover8.5/10 · Free plan

  A focused Kubernetes and hybrid APM platform with free entry access.

  Visit groundcoverFull verdict →