SolarWinds Papertrail
SolarWinds Papertrail: A simple hosted log service with a free tier and predictable per-GB pricing. Ranked #50 of 109 in Log Management Software by our editors (4.9/10); pricing: 30-day trial; best for small teams wanting simple affordable hosted logs.
At a glance
- Editor score4.9 / 10
- Pricing30-day trial
- Best forSmall teams wanting simple affordable hosted logs
- Paid from$5/GB/mo
- Founded2011
- Facts checked24 Sep 2026
Where it wins
- Free plan includes 50 MB/month and one week of log access
- Live tailing, regex search, alerts, and log velocity analytics
- REST API, command-line access, archives, and Amazon S3 export
Where it doesn't
- The free plan is limited to 50 MB/month
- Paid plans start at a 1 GB/month volume
- Cloud deployment may not suit teams needing self-hosted logs
Our verdict on SolarWinds Papertrail
SolarWinds Papertrail is a cloud-based log management service for developers, IT teams, and operations teams. It brings application, server, service, and network-device logs into a web interface, where teams can search and filter events, inspect incoming activity in real time, create alerts, and review log volume. The service accepts syslog and text-file logs and provides both REST API and command-line access. Its straightforward hosted model fits small teams that want centralized logs without a broad platform around them.
Pricing is easy to map to usage. The Free plan includes 50 MB per month plus one week of downloadable and analyzable logs. The Paid plan starts at $5 per GB per month, with a 1 GB per month starting volume. Paid retention can be selected from 1 day to 4 weeks, and the plan includes one year of downloadable archives. That structure makes Papertrail approachable for low-volume environments, while teams should account for the 1 GB starting volume and choose retention based on how long searchable logs must remain available.
Papertrail’s strongest fit is focused operational visibility: centralized aggregation, real-time live tailing, regular-expression search, scheduled and inactivity alerts, log velocity analytics, and access control through log groups and user permissions. Slack and PagerDuty integrations support alert workflows, while Amazon S3 export and downloadable archives extend storage options. Teams needing a simple web-and-API service with practical search and archiving should consider it. It is less suitable for organizations that require self-hosted deployment or a broader log platform beyond the listed capabilities.
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SolarWinds Papertrail pricing
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SolarWinds Papertrail fact sheet
| Free plan | Not verified |
|---|---|
| Paid from | $5/GB/mo |
| Included ingestion | Not verified |
| Log retention | Not verified |
| Log pipelines | Yes |
| Archive export | Yes |
| Live log tailing | Yes |
| Deployment options | Cloud |
| Structured log parsing | Yes |
| Free trial | 30 days · no card needed |
| Deployment | Cloud |
| Platforms | Web |
| Compliance & security | SSO/SAML |
| Support | Email, Docs |
| Built for | Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise (editorial estimate) |
| Integrations | 10 integrations: Amazon S3, Amazon Redshift, Amazon Athena, Hadoop on EMR, Slack, PagerDuty … |
| Pricing | 30-day trial (source) |
| Website | papertrail.com |
| Facts checked | 24 Sep 2026 |
SolarWinds Papertrail integrations
SolarWinds Papertrail lists 10 integrations on its own site.
- Amazon S3
- Amazon Redshift
- Amazon Athena
- Hadoop on EMR
- Slack
- PagerDuty
- Heroku
- Fluentd
- Datadog
- Zapier
Alternatives to SolarWinds Papertrail
- ELK StackA flexible open-source log stack with broad deployment options and layered pricing.9.4
- Splunk EnterpriseA broad, self-managed log analytics platform for large enterprises with sales-led pricing.9.3
- Google Cloud LoggingA capable Google Cloud logging service with usage-based pricing and broad routing options.9.2
See all SolarWinds Papertrail alternatives →
Also Ranked In
SolarWinds Papertrail is ranked in 2 of our directories.
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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
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