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Head-to-head · Kubernetes Monitoring

Splunk Observability Cloud vs groundcover

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 2 checks side by side
Higher score Splunk Observability Cloud #7 in Kubernetes Monitoring 8.5/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Splunk
groundcover #15 in Kubernetes Monitoring 7.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 4 features Visit groundcover

Splunk Observability Cloud leads on 0 checks, groundcover on 0, and 2 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 2 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreSplunk Observability Cloud · 8.5/10
  • Free planboth
  • Most featuresgroundcover · 1 of 4

Splunk Observability Cloud scores higher on our rubric for kubernetes monitoring: 8.5 against 7.7 out of 10; our editors rank them #7 and #15.

Splunk Observability Cloud is the better fit for teams needing broad observability with a free tier. groundcover is the better fit for eBPF observability with RUM.

  • Splunk Observability Cloud fits best

    Teams needing broad observability with a free tier

  • groundcover fits best

    eBPF observability with RUM

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Side by side

Feature Splunk Observability Cloud 8.5/10 Visit ↗ groundcover 7.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.5 7.7
Ranking #7 in Kubernetes Monitoring #15 in Kubernetes Monitoring
Best for Teams needing broad observability with a free tier eBPF observability with RUM
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free plan + paid
Starting price $15/mo $30/unit/mo
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms Web Web
Integrations 6 integrations 8 integrations
Features Splunk Observability Cloud 0/4 · groundcover 1/4
Control-plane monitoring Not checked yet Not checked yet
Kubernetes logs Not checked yet Not checked yet
Distributed tracing Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Managed Kubernetes support Not checked yet Not checked yet
Specs
Alerting channels Not checked yet Not checked yet
Data retention 416 days Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Free Edition covers up to 15 hosts with full feature parity
  • Combines infrastructure, application, database, log, trace, and user monitoring
  • Supports OpenTelemetry plus AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Splunk integrations
  • Collects application telemetry without code changes
  • Combines tracing, logs, metrics, events, and RUM analysis
  • Offers cloud and self-hosted deployment options
Cons
  • Kubernetes-specific capabilities are not a stated focus
  • Paid plans use annual billing and per-host pricing
  • SaaS delivery excludes customer-managed deployment
  • Free plan retains data for 12 hours
  • RBAC is limited to the Enterprise plan
  • Paid plans start at $30 per host per month
Our verdict

Splunk Observability Cloud is a cloud-based observability platform for engineering, operations, and development teams. It brings infrastructure, applications, services, user interfaces, metrics, traces, and logs into one environment, with…

Read the review →

groundcover is a cloud-native observability platform for engineering teams operating Kubernetes and other cloud environments. Its eBPF sensor collects application metrics and traces without application code changes, covering API calls,…

Read the review →
  1. Splunk Observability CloudKubernetes Monitoring 8.5Free plan
  2. groundcoverKubernetes Monitoring 7.7Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Splunk Observability Cloud — where it wins

    • Free Edition covers up to 15 hosts with full feature parity
    • Combines infrastructure, application, database, log, trace, and user monitoring
    • Supports OpenTelemetry plus AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Splunk integrations

    Where it doesn't

    • Kubernetes-specific capabilities are not a stated focus
    • Paid plans use annual billing and per-host pricing
    • SaaS delivery excludes customer-managed deployment

  • groundcover — where it wins

    • Collects application telemetry without code changes
    • Combines tracing, logs, metrics, events, and RUM analysis
    • Offers cloud and self-hosted deployment options

    Where it doesn't

    • Free plan retains data for 12 hours
    • RBAC is limited to the Enterprise plan
    • Paid plans start at $30 per host per month
  • Splunk Observability Cloud8.5/10 · Free plan

    Broad observability coverage with a useful free tier, but limited Kubernetes-specific emphasis.

    Visit SplunkFull verdict →
  • groundcover7.7/10 · Free plan

    eBPF observability with tracing, dependency maps, log correlation, and RUM.

    Visit groundcoverFull verdict →

More comparisons

All kubernetes monitoring comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update