Grafana Reviews

Name: Grafana
Brand: Grafana Labs
Rating: 3.9 (41 reviews)

3.9 out of 5

41 reviews
85% willing to recommend

192 followers

What is Grafana?

Grafana is an open-source visualization and analytics platform that stands out in the field of monitoring solutions. Grafana is widely recognized for its powerful, easy-to-set-up dashboards and visualizations. Grafana supports integration with a wide array of data sources and tools, including Prometheus, InfluxDB, MySQL, Splunk, and Elasticsearch, enhancing its versatility. Grafana has open-source and cloud options; the open-source version is a good choice for organizations with the resources to manage their infrastructure and want more control over their deployment. The cloud service is a good choice if you want a fully managed solution that is easy to start with and scale.

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Grafana is the #6 ranked solution in APM tools. PeerSpot users give Grafana an average rating of 7.8 out of 10. Based on the analysis of the 41 most recent Grafana reviews, the overall sentiment is positive, with a sentiment score of 7.2. Grafana is most commonly compared to Dynatrace: Grafana vs Dynatrace. Grafana is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 69% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 21% of all views.

Helped 824,053 peers since 2012

Featured reviews

AbhishekGupta

Engineering Leader at Walmart

We are using Grafana for observability dashboards Grafana has helped our organization with observability and operational excellence. Operational excellence is a key part of any organization from a data platform perspective and setting the alerts and monitoring policies on Grafana was easy. The…

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Sarthak Kushwaha

Software Development Engineer I / Backend Engineer at Primathon

One thing I got to know is that Grafana doesn't provide anything for reporting. As a DevOps engineer, I would like to get a weekly report expressing the system's overall performance in the last week. For example, how many alerts were triggered, how many APIs responded with bad requests, and how many failures occurred? All these things are generally required at the beginning of the week so that we can better research and optimize everything that's required. Currently, Grafana sends a PDF version of the report, and they are not doing anything beyond that. So, that's a feature that Grafana can work on to make it more accurate and better. In the additional features, I would like to see logs. Logs are basically created when an API is hit. The log contains information such as the API that was hit, the status code, and the time taken. For instance, the log file would store the error message if there was an error in the API. It makes it easier for the developer to debug the API that showed an error. Grafana claims that it has Loki, which is used for logging and saving logs. However, I could not configure Loki with Grafana to see my logs. Grafana could look into this field and make changes to improve it.

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Vikash-Agarwal

Aplication Architect at Amazon

Grafana provides a user-friendly interface for viewing infrastructure metrics through dashboards. It integrates with Prometheus to pull data and offers a straightforward setup process. Users can monitor metrics with greater ease, and the tool aids in quickly identifying issues by providing a visual representation of data. Grafana's integration capability is straightforward, which facilitates building dashboards as needed.

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Grafana mindshare

As of December 2024, the mindshare of Grafana in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category stands at 7.1%, up from 5.5% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

PeerAnalyst reports

Type	Title	Date
Category	Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability	Dec 20, 2024	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Dec 20, 2024	Download
Comparison	Grafana vs Datadog	Dec 20, 2024	Download
Comparison	Grafana vs Dynatrace	Dec 20, 2024	Download
Comparison	Grafana vs New Relic	Dec 20, 2024	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Dynatrace	4.4	12.4%	95%	344 interviews Add to research
Datadog	4.3	10.1%	96%	187 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Grafana's standout features include customizable dashboards, seamless integration with various data sources, and an intuitive user interface for visualizations. It excels in creating diverse graph types and fostering collaboration by sharing dashboards. Users appreciate the open-source model, active community, and cost-effectiveness. Grafana's alerting capabilities, integration with third-party tools, and ability to import/export dashboards enhance monitoring efficiency. Its support for multiple query languages and application servers further boosts versatility. Scalability and stable performance are commonly praised.

"Grafana provides a user-friendly interface for viewing infrastructure metrics through dashboards."
"Grafana provides a user-friendly interface for viewing infrastructure metrics through dashboards."
"Grafana is stable and has great engineers."

Room for Improvement

Grafana users find its security, data aggregation, and reporting capabilities lacking. Permissions on dashboards need enhancement. The ability to aggregate data from multiple sources is insufficient, and the reporting options are limited. Users face challenges with performance during data querying and require actionable error messages. Simplification of configuration and documentation is desired. The complexity of integration, limited API support, and the need for more intuitive features are also areas requiring attention. Better alerting and machine learning capabilities are sought.

"Grafana could consider building its own metrics system to eliminate the reliance on other tools like Prometheus, providing a one-stop solution."
"Grafana could consider building its own metrics system to eliminate the reliance on other tools like Prometheus, providing a one-stop solution."
"The features are complicated and not intuitive."

ROI

Users confidently report a 100% return on investment with Grafana, enhancing data visualization and analytics. They find it appealing to senior management who appreciate clear data representation. Grafana allows easy management of monitoring and alerting policies. Companies widely utilize Grafana, noticing its cost-effectiveness and its ability to provide comprehensive views of applications and infrastructure. Some have not examined the ROI in detail, yet appreciation for Grafana's benefits is evident across organizations.

Pricing

Grafana offers both open-source and enterprise editions, with many organizations opting for the free version due to its comprehensive features. Enterprise pricing varies based on metrics and infrastructure, and some features require a paid license. While some users find it cost-effective, others perceive it as moderately priced. For full commercial use, entities should consider licensing needs. Organizations using the open-source version incur no costs, but certain plugins, like MongoDB, require enterprise licensing.

"For me, Grafana is a cheap tool because I don't have to spend much time learning the product since it is a simple solution."
"It's free of cost; it operates as an open-source tool."
"I am using an open-source version"

Popular Use Cases

Organizations primarily use Grafana for data analytics and visualization, monitoring infrastructure, applications, and transactions. They integrate it with tools like Zabbix and Prometheus for enhanced observation and create custom dashboards for Kubernetes, financial applications, and technical metrics. Businesses utilize Grafana for profiling CPU usage and setting up alerts, while also tracking user behavior and system logs. Customization and flexibility in visualizing metrics are key reasons for its widespread adoption.

Service and Support

Grafana's support varies; many rely on community forums and documentation for guidance. Those who interacted directly with Grafana's team found them knowledgeable and efficient. For open-source users, community assistance is robust and helpful. Enterprises with pro versions have access to dedicated customer support, which is often responsive. Some users leverage online resources to resolve issues independently. Those involved with the DX APM reported positive experiences with Grafana's expertise in resolving related queries.

Deployment

Grafana's initial setup is generally straightforward, with documentation aiding deployment. Complexities arise in LDAP configuration and when integrating data sources. Internal teams handle setup, though some find it tricky initially. Experience and training help speed up implementation, sometimes involving Docker or Kubernetes. Organizations without prior experience may face challenges, but it becomes easier over time. Some teams require weeks to become familiar with the interface, while others deploy quickly with minimal issues.

Scalability

Grafana is scalable, with many expressing satisfaction in deploying it across different environments and user bases. Users highlight its ability to support a range of instances, although costs can rise with scaling. Some point out challenges with open-source versions, suggesting enterprise alternatives for broader applications. While certain setups find scaling complex, high availability features and compatibility with numerous data sources enhance its capabilities. Many rate scalability highly, though some indicate room for improvement.

Stability

Grafana runs stably for most users when resources are well-optimized. Many experience no crashes, bugs, or freezes and consider it reliable. Some users report minor issues with dashboards or backend stability, which are often manageable. Ratings generally range from seven to nine out of ten. While Dynatrace and ELK are noted as more stable but pricier, many find Grafana sufficient for their needs. Users appreciate its stability when separated from platforms like Rancher.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our Grafana Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers

By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Retailer

Comms Service Provider

University

Media Company

Government

Healthcare Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Insurance Company

Educational Organization

Real Estate/Law Firm

Hospitality Company

Non Profit

Construction Company

Outsourcing Company

Wholesaler/Distributor

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

Logistics Company

Legal Firm

Consumer Goods Company

Transportation Company

Performing Arts

Pharma/Biotech Company

Engineering Company

Compare Grafana with alternative products

Learn more about Grafana

A key strength of Grafana lies in its ability to explore, visualize, query, and alert on the collected data through operational dashboards. These dashboards are highly customizable and visually appealing, making them a valuable asset for data analysis, performance tracking, trend spotting, and detecting irregularities.

Grafana provides both an open-source solution with an active community and Grafana Cloud, a fully managed and composable observability offering that packages together metrics, logs, and traces with Grafana. The open-source version is licensed under the Affero General Public License version 3.0 (AGPLv3), being free and unlimited. Grafana Cloud and Grafana Enterprise are available for more advanced needs, catering to a wider range of organizational requirements. Grafana offers options for self-managed backend systems or fully managed services via Grafana Cloud. Grafana Cloud extends observability with a wide range of solutions for infrastructure monitoring, IRM, load testing, Kubernetes monitoring, continuous profiling, frontend observability, and more.

The Grafana users we interviewed generally appreciate Grafana's ability to connect with various data sources, its straightforward usability, and its integration capabilities, especially in developer-oriented environments. The platform is noted for its practical alert configurations, ticketing backend integration, and as a powerful tool for developing dashboards. However, some users find a learning curve in the initial setup and mention the need for time investment to customize and leverage Grafana effectively. There are also calls for clearer documentation and simplification of notification alert templates.

In summary, Grafana is a comprehensive solution for data visualization and monitoring, widely used across industries for its versatility, ease of use, and extensive integration options. It suits organizations seeking a customizable and scalable platform for visualizing time-series data from diverse sources. However, users should be prepared for some complexity in setup and customization and may need to invest time in learning and tailoring the system to their specific needs.

Grafana customers

Microsoft, Adobe, Optum, Sky, Nvidia, Roblox, Wells Fargo, BlackRock, Informatica, Maersk, Daimler Truck, SNCF, Atlassian, DHL, SAP, JPMorgan Chase, Cisco, Citi and many others.