Datadog is a unified monitoring platform with competitive pricing starting at $15/month per host and faster onboarding (15 minutes), while Splunk is an enterprise-focused data platform with deeper log analytics capabilities but higher starting costs around $120/day and longer implementation timelines (4-8 weeks).
Datadog vs Splunk — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Comprehensive observability platform with 600+ integrations, supporting metrics, logs, traces, and RUM.
Enterprise data platform for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine-generated data.
Starting Price. Onboarding Time. Primary Use Case. APM (Application Performance Monitoring). Log Ingestion Volume (at $10k/month spend). Integration Count. Enterprise Customer Base
Choose Datadog if you need faster deployment, lower costs, unified observability across infrastructure and applications, and modern DevOps workflows. Choose Splunk if you require advanced compliance reporting, deep historical log analysis for security investigations, or have existing enterprise licensing agreements and dedicated IT teams to manage complex deployments.
Datadog: Distributed tracing and session replay | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Comprehensive with advanced orchestration | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Native distributed tracing | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Built-in with retention policies | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: $32 per host/month | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Most comprehensive with custom parsing | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Advanced features, steeper learning curve | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: $0 - limited (3 hosts max) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Advanced with ML insights | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: $15 per host minimum | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: $15.00 (base) + metered | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 600+ native integrations | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 60% alert reduction via AI | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Yes (full distributed tracing) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Basic (limited schedule management) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: $180+/month (Standard plan) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Full log aggregation and analytics | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 15+ major frameworks | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 600+ integrations | Splunk: 2,000+ apps
Datadog: Monthly/pay-as-you-go | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Machine learning-based pattern recognition | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 35% reduction (typical) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: $15/month (Standard tier) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 0.5 hours | Splunk: 4-8 (managed cloud)
Datadog: 450 days (15 months default) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Unlimited with tag aggregation | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 800-1200 (with agent) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 24/7 phone, email, chat | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Native support | Splunk: Limited (add-on required)
Datadog: Method-level with sampling | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Yes, standard in most plans | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Basic anomaly detection | Splunk: N/A
APM (Application Performance Monitoring)
Datadog: Advanced APM with distributed tracing | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Advanced session replay with pixel-perfect reproduction | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: SAML, SSO, SOC2 Type II, HIPAA compliance, security monitoring | Splunk: Enterprise Security module, threat detection, compliance dashboards
Datadog: 15 months | Splunk: 120 months (10 years)
Datadog: ~600+ integrations | Splunk: 700+ integrations
Datadog: 1-5 seconds | Splunk: 10-30 seconds
Datadog: 2-5 minutes | Splunk: 15-30 minutes
Default Data Retention (included in pricing)
Datadog: 100% of traces stored | Splunk: Sampling-dependent (configurable)
Datadog: 0 (add-on only) | Splunk: 12 (HIPAA, PCI, SOC2, NIST)
Datadog: Limited query builder; UI-driven | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 2/10 - agent-based, minimal config | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Infrastructure, APM, logs, metrics, synthetics, RUM | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: SaaS, full on-premise, hybrid | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Available with RUM plan | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 600+ pre-built integrations | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Basic container metrics and logs | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Yes, with distributed tracing | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Yes (anomaly detection, AI Advisor) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP, HIPAA | Splunk: N/A
Base Monthly Pricing (1GB/day ingestion)
Datadog: 15 days standard | Splunk: 30-365 days
Datadog: 50+ security rules | Splunk: 400+ built-in detections
Maximum Data Ingestion Per Day (Enterprise)
Datadog: Unlimited (licensing dependent) | Splunk: Unlimited (licensing dependent)
Datadog: 450 days (15 months) | Splunk: 30 days included
Datadog: Datadog Query Language (DQL) + PromQL support | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 99.99% guaranteed SLA | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 24/7 dedicated support with SLA | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: $15-20 per host (estimated) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 3 hops (with manual configuration) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 3+ agents (APM, Infrastructure, Logs) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 4.6/5.0 (2,100+ reviews) | Splunk: N/A
Typical Enterprise Annual Cost (1000 hosts)
Datadog: $180K-240K (with logs) | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: 32% faster than legacy APM | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: iOS, Android, React Native | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: Hosts, containers, Kubernetes, cloud services, databases | Splunk: N/A
Datadog: $360 (~$15/host × 24 hosts typical) | Splunk: $3,600 ($120/day minimum)
Datadog: 15 | Splunk: 2,880 (4-8 weeks average)
Datadog: 15 (upgradeable to 400+) | Splunk: 30 (upgradeable to unlimited)
Datadog: Included in all plans | Splunk: Requires add-on license ($X additional)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: 15-60 minutes (depends on alert configuration)
Starting Annual Cost (single user/endpoint)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: Varies by threat rules configured
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: 800+ apps in Splunkbase
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: Heavy (varies, 500MB+)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: Via SOAR integration (external)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: 6 (HIPAA, SOC2, PCI-DSS, FedRAMP, GDPR, ISO27001)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: 15+ (threat detection, predictive analytics, correlation, clustering)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: Unlimited (license-dependent)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: 1 (24/7 enterprise SLA)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: $4,500+ (minimum commitment)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: Not applicable (generates alerts)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: Limited (dashboards only)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: Full ML for anomaly detection, forecasting, root cause analysis
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: FedRAMP Authorized
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: 150+ (broader enterprise data ecosystem)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: 20+ (anomaly detection, forecasting, UEBA)
Datadog: N/A | Splunk: 2,500+ (proprietary, less open)
How to choose between Datadog and Splunk
Datadog vs Splunk — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Datadog vs Splunk. Contains 181 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Datadog vs Splunk — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Datadog vs Splunk.
Datadog is significantly cheaper for small teams. Datadog's per-host model means a startup with 10 servers pays ~$150/month, while Splunk's minimum $3,600/month commitment makes it prohibitive for companies under 50 employees. Datadog also includes APM at no extra cost, whereas Splunk charges separately.
Can Splunk do real-time alerting like Datadog?
Yes, but Splunk's strength is historical analysis and complex searches. Splunk can send real-time alerts, but Datadog's sub-second metric granularity and purpose-built alerting rules make it faster for ops teams. Splunk excels at forensic investigation after incidents occur, not preventing them in real-time.
Which requires more technical expertise to use?
Datadog has a gentler learning curve with visual dashboard builders and pre-configured dashboards for common services. Splunk's SPL query language is powerful but requires training; most organizations hire Splunk specialists or take 4-8 week onboarding. Datadog can be configured by junior DevOps engineers within days.
Is Splunk better for security and compliance?
Yes, for regulated industries (healthcare, finance, government). Splunk has 20+ years of SIEM expertise and pre-built compliance templates for HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC 2, and NIST. Datadog is adding security features but is primarily a monitoring platform. For security operations centers (SOCs), Splunk remains the industry standard.
Can I use both Datadog and Splunk together?
Yes, many large enterprises do. Common pattern: Datadog for real-time infrastructure/APM alerting, Splunk for centralized security logs, compliance auditing, and historical forensics. They integrate via APIs, though this creates operational complexity and dual licensing costs (~$14k+/month for mid-market).
How to Choose Between Datadog and Splunk
Starting Price: Datadog has $15/month per host, while Splunk has $120/day (~$3,600/month).
Onboarding Time: Datadog has 15 minutes, while Splunk has 4-8 weeks.
Primary Use Case: Datadog has Real-time monitoring & observability, while Splunk has Enterprise log analytics & compliance.
Consider: APM (Application Performance Monitoring)
APM (Application Performance Monitoring): Datadog has Native, included in standard plans, while Splunk has Available, requires separate licensing.
Consider: Log Ingestion Volume (at $10k/month spend)
Log Ingestion Volume (at $10k/month spend): Datadog has ~500GB/day, while Splunk has ~200GB/day.
Integration Count: Datadog has 500+ pre-built integrations, while Splunk has 300+ pre-built integrations.
Enterprise Customer Base: Datadog has ~22,000 organizations (as of 2025), while Splunk has ~12,000 organizations (as of 2025).