Datadog pricing ranges from $0 at the Free tier to $34 per host per month for DevSecOps Enterprise, billed annually. Most mid-sized companies pay $15-23 per host per month. Final costs depend on data volume, number of hosts, and selected security features.
Datadog offers comprehensive monitoring and security solutions for businesses of all sizes. The platform provides a range of products designed to help organizations manage their infrastructure, applications, and security needs. With flexible pricing options and robust features, Datadog has become a go-to solution for companies seeking comprehensive digital monitoring and protection.
At UnderDefense, as a Microsoft Partner Network member, we integrate and manage cloud security and observability tools, like Datadog, as part of broader security operations.
How much does Datadog cost?
Datadog pricing starts with a Free tier and scales up to $34 per host per month for DevSecOps Enterprise (billed annually). Costs scale based on host count, data ingestion volume, and selected features.
Based on UnderDefense’s experience managing Datadog for 50+ organizations, typical infrastructure monitoring costs range from $180 to $2,500 per month, depending on host count and data ingestion volume.
Datadog gives teams deep visibility into infrastructure and application behavior, but security teams often struggle to determine which anomalies actually matter and which are just clutter.
This is where UnderDefense MAXI will come in handy. UnderDefense MAXI is an AI-driven platform that investigates suspicious signals, correlating them across systems, only escalating confirmed threats that require human attention.
Reduce alert fatigue without losing coverage
UnderDefense MAXI
Datadog pricing comparison table
Choosing the right Datadog plan depends on your business size, monitoring needs, and security requirements. To help you decide, we’ve created a Datadog pricing comparison table, breaking down features, costs, and benefits across different tiers. Whether you need basic monitoring, advanced security, or full-stack observability, this table will help you find the most cost-effective option for your team.
Datadog pricing is not a flat monthly fee. It scales with your infrastructure size. The Free Plan is not suitable for production environments with multiple users.
Feature Free Pro Enterprise DevSecOps Pro DevSecOps Enterprise Monthly Price $0 $15/host/month $23/host/month $22/host/month $34/host/month Hosts Included 5 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Metric Retention 1 day 15 months 15 months 15 months 15 months Log Management Limited Enhanced Unlimited Full Full
What Datadog pricing does not include:
- Premium support is NOT included in the Pro tier (Enterprise only)
- Historical data before subscription start is NOT retroactively available
- Custom development or integration work is NOT part of standard pricing
- On-premises deployment is NOT available (cloud-only SaaS model)
- Free tier does NOT include security monitoring or advanced features
Datadog products overview
Datadog offers monitoring, logging, analytics, security, and application performance products. Choose from Free, Pro, Enterprise, DevSecOps Pro, and DevSecOps Enterprise plans. Each tier adds capabilities for infrastructure monitoring, security features, and compliance requirements.
The platform caters to various audiences, from small startups to large enterprises, with scalable options that can be customized based on specific requirements:
- Startup/Small Business: Free and Pro tiers
- Mid-sized Companies: Pro and DevSecOps Pro plans
- Large Enterprises: Enterprise and DevSecOps Enterprise plans
Let’s take a detailed look at the security packages offered by Datadog.
Datadog Free Plan pricing and features
The Free plan provides basic monitoring capabilities at no cost. It’s ideal for small teams or individual developers looking to get started with cloud monitoring and basic infrastructure tracking.
Key features of Datadog Free Plan:
- Basic infrastructure monitoring
- Limited log management
- Simple alerting capabilities
- Up to 5 hosts
- 1-day metric retention
- 1,000+ integrations
- Out-of-the-box dashboards
- Host and Container Maps
- Unlimited user accounts
- 5 containers per host allowed
Pros of Datadog Free Plan:
- No financial commitment
- Easy onboarding
- Fundamental monitoring tools
Cons of Datadog Free Plan:
- Significant feature limitations
- Limited data retention
- Restricted number of hosts
Datadog Pro Plan pricing and features
Priced at $15 per host per month (billed annually or $18 on-demand), the Datadog Pro plan offers more comprehensive monitoring capabilities for growing businesses. It includes custom dashboards, alerting, integrations with cloud services, and log management, making it a great choice for growing teams that require real-time monitoring and automated issue detection.
Key features of Datadog Pro Plan:
- Advanced infrastructure monitoring
- Enhanced log management
- More sophisticated alerting
- Expanded integration options
- Watchdog: Automated insights (AI-driven anomaly detection)
- Forecast Monitoring (predictive analytics)
- Outlier Detection
- Anomaly Detection
- 15-month metric retention
- Unlimited alerts
- 100 custom metrics per host allotment
- 500 custom events per host allotment
- Single Sign-On with SAML
- Governance Console for compliance control
- Data Access Control
- Cross-Org Visibility
- 1-to-1 Collaboration on Co-Screen
Pros of Datadog Pro Plan:
- Suitable for mid-sized businesses
- Scalable monitoring solutions
- Improved visibility across infrastructure
Cons of Datadog Pro Plan:
- Can become costly with multiple hosts
- Some advanced features require additional investment
Datadog Enterprise Plan pricing and features
The Enterprise plan, priced at $23 per host per month (billed annually or $27 on-demand), provides full-scale monitoring and security solutions for large organizations.
Key features of Datadog Enterprise Plan:
- Comprehensive infrastructure monitoring
- Advanced security capabilities
- Custom integrations
- Unlimited log management
- 15-month metric retention
- Unlimited alerts
- 200 custom metrics per host allotment
- 1000 custom events per host allotment
- 10 containers per host allotted
- Governance Console for compliance control
- Advanced administrative controls (SCIM, Multiple SAML Providers, IP Allowlist, Email Domain Allowlist)
- Data Access Control (100 datasets)
- Cross-Org Visibility (100 connections)
Pros of Datadog Enterprise Plan:
- Full-scale enterprise-grade solutions
- Customizable dashboards
- Advanced compliance features
Cons of Datadog Enterprise Plan:
- Higher price point
- Complexity might overwhelm smaller teams
Datadog DevSecOps specialized plans
Datadog offers DevSecOps Specialized Plans designed to integrate security monitoring into the development lifecycle, ensuring continuous protection without slowing down innovation. These plans focus on identifying vulnerabilities, detecting misconfigurations, and automating security analysis across cloud environments, applications, and CI/CD pipelines.
- DevSecOps Pro ($22 per host/month, billed annually or $27 on-demand): Ideal for growing teams that need real-time security monitoring, automated threat detection, and compliance tracking. This plan includes runtime security, application vulnerability detection, and cloud security posture management.
- DevSecOps Enterprise ($34 per host/month, billed annually or $41 on-demand): Best suited for large organizations requiring advanced threat intelligence, deeper forensic capabilities, and full compliance enforcement. It offers custom security rules, dedicated threat intelligence feeds, and enhanced reporting.
Both plans help DevSecOps teams bridge the gap between security and development, ensuring faster incident response and a more resilient security posture.
How can UnderDefense help you maximize Datadog productivity?
Datadog is often the first place teams notice something is wrong: unusual traffic patterns, spikes in activity, or unexpected behavior across infrastructure and applications. The challenge is that Datadog shows symptoms, not whether those symptoms represent an active security threat.
UnderDefense MAXI turns Datadog alerts into investigated incidents by providing context, correlation, and response beyond observability.
UnderDefense MAXI addresses common Datadog challenges by:
- Investigating suspicious operational activity. Determining whether Datadog anomalies indicate misconfiguration, performance issues, or malicious activity.
- Reducing alert noise through correlation. Connecting Datadog signals with identity, endpoint, cloud, and network activity to confirm real compromise.
- Escalating only confirmed incidents. AI-assisted triage ensures human SOC analysts focus on real threats, not raw alerts.
- Responding before issues escalate. Driving containment when observability issues turn into security incidents, limiting blast radius and downtime.
The result: Teams move from reacting to Datadog alerts to understanding and acting on what actually matters.
1. Can I switch between Datadog plans?
Yes, Datadog allows flexible plan upgrades or downgrades to match your evolving business needs.
2. Are there discounts for annual commitments at Datadog?
Datadog typically offers discounted rates for organizations willing to commit to annual billing cycles.
3. How quickly can I deploy Datadog?
Most organizations can implement basic Datadog monitoring within hours, with more complex setups taking a few days.
4. Is training provided with Datadog plans?
Datadog offers documentation, webinars, and support resources across different pricing tiers.
5. What security certifications does Datadog have?
Datadog maintains several industry-standard security certifications, ensuring robust protection for your infrastructure.
6. Do I pay for inactive hosts?
No. Hosts are billed only when actively reporting metrics to Datadog within a billing period.
7. Is log ingestion charged separately?
Log ingestion (standard tier) costs $0.10/GB, included with most plans; Flex storage costs $0.05/GB for less frequently accessed logs.
8. How does Datadog compare to Splunk in pricing?
Datadog uses per-host pricing ($15-34/month). Splunk uses per-GB pricing (typically $5-10/GB), making it more expensive for high-volume data ingestion scenarios.
