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Head-to-head · Application Performance Monitoring

Elastic APM vs New Relic APM

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 7 checks side by side
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
New Relic APM #7 in Application Performance Monitoring 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit New Relic

Elastic APM leads on 0 checks, New Relic APM on 1, and 6 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 7 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreElastic APM · 9.4/10
  • Lowest starting priceNew Relic APM · $10/user/mo
  • Free planboth
  • Free trialonly Elastic APM

Elastic APM scores higher on our rubric for application performance monitoring: 9.4 against 8.8 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #7.

New Relic APM is cheaper to start at $10/mo against $99/mo. On deployment model, Elastic APM gives you Hybrid where New Relic APM offers Cloud.

Elastic APM is the better fit for open, hybrid APM with broad observability. New Relic APM is the better fit for teams wanting a mature cloud platform.

  • Elastic APM fits best

    Open, hybrid APM with broad observability

  • New Relic APM fits best

    Teams wanting a mature cloud platform

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Side by side

Feature Elastic APM 9.4/10 Visit ↗ New Relic APM 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.4 8.8
Ranking #1 in Application Performance Monitoring #7 in Application Performance Monitoring
Best for Open, hybrid APM with broad observability Teams wanting a mature cloud platform
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free plan + paid
Starting price $99/mo $10/user/mo (best)
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial 14 days —
Deployment Cloud, Self-hosted Cloud
Platforms Web, Linux, Windows, macOS Web
Support Phone, Docs · 24/7 Tickets, Docs, Community
Integrations 4 integrations 780+ integrations
Built for Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Elastic APM 5/5 · New Relic APM 5/5
Distributed tracing ✓ ✓
Transaction tracing ✓ ✓
Dependency mapping ✓ ✓
Real user monitoring ✓ ✓
Log correlation ✓ ✓
Specs
Deployment model Hybrid Cloud
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
  • Distributed traces, transaction traces, and database query analysis
  • Service maps, error tracking, alerts, and logs in trace context
  • Free plan includes 100 GB monthly data ingest and 50+ capabilities
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 includes just one full platform user
  • Standard is limited to five full platform users
  • Pricing also depends on data ingest or compute usage
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 →

New Relic APM helps engineering teams monitor application and service performance, investigate slowdowns, and trace failures across distributed systems. It suits teams that want APM alongside broader observability capabilities, from small…

Read the review →
  1. Elastic APMApplication Performance Monitoring 9.4Free plan · 14-day trial
  2. New Relic APMApplication Performance Monitoring 8.8Free plan

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

  • New Relic APM — where it wins

    • Distributed traces, transaction traces, and database query analysis
    • Service maps, error tracking, alerts, and logs in trace context
    • Free plan includes 100 GB monthly data ingest and 50+ capabilities

    Where it doesn't

    • Free plan includes just one full platform user
    • Standard is limited to five full platform users
    • Pricing also depends on data ingest or compute usage

More comparisons

All application performance monitoring comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update