Rollbar specializes in error tracking and real-time bug detection with a focus on developer experience, while New Relic offers comprehensive full-stack observability including APM, infrastructure monitoring, and analytics in a single platform.
Rollbar vs New Relic — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Real-time error tracking and debugging platform for web and mobile applications.
Enterprise observability platform providing APM, infrastructure monitoring, and analytics.
Primary Focus. Starting Price (Monthly). APM Capabilities. Infrastructure Monitoring. Setup Time (Hours). Supported Languages. Free Tier Data Retention (Days)
Choose Rollbar if you need fast error tracking implementation, budget constraints, and primarily focus on backend debugging with a developer-friendly interface. Choose New Relic if you require comprehensive observability across your entire stack—including infrastructure, databases, front-end performance, and advanced APM—and have the budget for an enterprise solution.
Rollbar: No ($500+/month add-on) | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: Manual configuration required | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: Rule-based (manual configuration) | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: Third-party integration required | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: 20+ (Node.js, Python, Ruby, PHP, Java, Go, etc.) | New Relic: 25+
Rollbar: Automatic with API uploads | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: Basic page load and error correlation | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: 50+ integrations | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: $500 (Business tier) | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: $99/month (Pro plan) | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: 12+ languages | New Relic: 20+ languages
Rollbar: 5-10 minutes | New Relic: 3-5 days
Rollbar: Error-centric only | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: Not available | New Relic: Native (servers, containers, Kubernetes)
Rollbar: Limited (error logs only) | New Relic: N/A
Rollbar: 22 minutes | New Relic: 52 minutes
Rollbar: 100+ integrations | New Relic: 600+ integrations
Rollbar: Basic alert rules | New Relic: Advanced ML-based detection
Rollbar: 3,000+ customers | New Relic: 16,000+ customers
Rollbar: 0.5-1 hour | New Relic: 2-4 hours
Rollbar: Basic | New Relic: Enterprise-grade
Rollbar: 80% noise reduction | New Relic: 75% noise reduction
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Limited trial only
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: $1,200+ (Enterprise tier)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Integrated with 100+ data sources
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Advanced profiling and error intelligence
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: $0.30 per GB ingested
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Solid core capabilities
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: More intuitive, faster onboarding
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Good with cloud-native focus
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Multi-tenant SaaS limit (typically 50-500TB per org)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 3 (NRQL - SQL-like, intuitive)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: SaaS only (cloud-hosted)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Method-level profiling
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Rule-based thresholds
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 35-45% reduction
Monthly Platform Cost (100GB/month ingestion)
Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) Improvement
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 30-40% faster (manual investigation)
Setup Time for Multi-Service Environment
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 7-14 days (manual per service)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 14 days unlimited
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Supported via agents, requires configuration
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 4.6 stars (1,800+ reviews)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: $500-$800 typical (based on ~1-2 GB/day ingestion)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: ~700 integrations (includes agents, APIs, partners)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 900+ with automatic instrumentation
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 1-2 hours (wizard-based, automatic)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Cloud-only SaaS (no self-hosted option)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Built-in AI with predictive analysis and root cause identification
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 24/7 with 1-4 hour response SLA depending on tier
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 30 days (logs), 365 days (metrics)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Full team access included; per-user pricing optional
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 500+ integrations (AWS, Azure, GCP, Datadog, PagerDuty, Slack)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 600 calls/minute
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Transaction tracing, error stack traces
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Native (full instrumentation out-of-box)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 4.6 stars (2,400+ reviews)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 100 GB ingestion/month
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Advanced cluster intelligence with pod diagnostics
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 13 days (metrics) / 8 days (events)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Manual configuration required
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: Available with premium add-on
Average Customer Satisfaction (G2 Rating)
Rollbar: N/A | New Relic: 4.3/5.0 (2,100+ reviews)
How to choose between Rollbar and New Relic
Rollbar vs New Relic — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Rollbar vs New Relic. Contains 109 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Rollbar vs New Relic — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Rollbar vs New Relic.
Which is better for error tracking alone?
Rollbar is superior for pure error tracking. It has better error grouping (80% noise reduction), faster implementation (30 minutes vs 2+ hours), and a more intuitive interface specifically designed for debugging. New Relic's error tracking is solid but bundled within a broader platform.
Which should I choose for a microservices architecture?
New Relic is the clear winner for microservices. Its distributed tracing across 20+ languages, 600+ integrations, and advanced APM capabilities are built for complex distributed systems. Rollbar lacks the infrastructure visibility necessary for coordinating traces across dozens of services.
Rollbar's starter plan costs $588/year ($49/month), while New Relic's equivalent is $1,188/year ($99/month). However, costs escalate differently—Rollbar's Pro plan (at scale) is $149/month, while New Relic's Enterprise tier can exceed $5,000+/month, making Rollbar more cost-effective for smaller teams.
Yes, many companies use both. Rollbar handles error tracking and developer workflows, while New Relic provides infrastructure and APM observability. This approach leverages each tool's strengths but increases complexity and cost. Most enterprises consolidate to New Relic alone.
New Relic includes 24/7 support and dedicated account managers on paid plans. Rollbar offers email and chat support with slower response times on lower tiers. For mission-critical systems, New Relic's support is more robust, but Rollbar's community support is active and helpful for standard use cases.
How to Choose Between Rollbar and New Relic
Primary Focus: Rollbar has Error tracking & debugging, while New Relic has Full-stack observability.
Starting Price (Monthly): Rollbar has $49/month, while New Relic has $99/month.
APM Capabilities: Rollbar has Limited/Basic, while New Relic has Enterprise-grade.
Infrastructure Monitoring: Rollbar has Not included, while New Relic has Included.
Setup Time (Hours): Rollbar has 0.5-1 hour, while New Relic has 2-4 hours.
Supported Languages: Rollbar has 12+, while New Relic has 20+.
Consider: Free Tier Data Retention (Days)
Free Tier Data Retention (Days): Rollbar has 7 days, while New Relic has 1 day.