I have used Grafana mainly to build custom dashboards. We haven't got Grafana Enterprise due to billing issues. I have used Grafana, installing it physically on a server to build custom dashboards using plug-ins. I have used Enterprise Grafana cloud for many integrations, like RabbitMQ, JMSQs, and datasets. We are mainly focused on dashboards and not on alerting.
Staff Engineer at Project44
An open-source solution used to build custom dashboards
Pros and Cons
- "Grafana's built-in integration with third-party tools, databases, and MQs is an amazing feature."
- "Setting up alerts via Grafana is a bit complicated, and alerting needs to improve."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Grafana's built-in integration with third-party tools, databases, and MQs is an amazing feature. Now they are leading many integration modules as well for RabbitMQ specifically. You will get a prebuilt dashboard. You have to configure the RabbitMQ, and you will have all the monitoring available. You don't have to actually develop a dashboard and identify what needs to be monitored.
What needs improvement?
Setting up alerts via Grafana is a bit complicated, and alerting needs to improve. We used Azure for our alerts and Grafana purely as a dashboard tool.
The solution's stability needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Grafana for three to four years.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have come across multiple issues with Grafana, like getting shut down automatically, the process getting killed, etc. Grafana, on a main level, is good, but the stability of the underneath platform supporting Grafana's UI needs to be improved.
I rate Grafana an eight out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
While using the Grafana open-source version, scalability will definitely be a big challenge because you are not using an enterprise version. Grafana's open-source version is not scalable. It's useful for small use cases and specific use cases. Using the Grafana open-source version will be challenging if you want to deploy a hundred applications and bring up a hundred dashboards for different reasons. While it is possible to do, you will end up having issues.
How are customer service and support?
For open source, Grafana does not have technical support. It has an open forum where you can post your questions, and they will respond to you. However, their response on the open forum was good. Being an open-source solution, having a big community to support is an added advantage compared to other tools.
How was the initial setup?
Grafana's deployment takes around two hours. It's not super complicated, and it's pretty straightforward. Everything is available on the internet. You can browse the internet and get a bunch of documents to complete the deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Since Grafana is an open-source solution, it is free of cost.
What other advice do I have?
It's very good to start with the open source and very seamless. You can directly connect your data sources to the solution. You won't have to worry about managing the Grafana UI because Grafana comprises two things, namely, the data source where you are connecting and the dashboard. Getting started with Grafana Cloud is good because it's very seamless, good, and helpful. If you want to scale and use Grafana as an observability tool, I would say you have to think twice before choosing it because there are a lot of gaps, especially on the APM side of its application and performance monitoring side. The infrastructure gets complex as it scales. For a small use case, for independent use cases, or for building simple dashboards, I recommend Grafana.
With Grafana's open-source, you download a package, put it in your server, and run it. I've used Grafana Cloud as well. For Grafana open-source, the login is limited to two or three people. More people cannot log in, and you can create multiple users. You can create around five to six dashboards and use 10 to 12 plugins. If you have just one or two use cases to be used, like if you have order delivery and you are looking for a tool, Grafana is a great one because the integration is pretty simple.
Overall, I rate Grafana a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Head SRE Latam at PayU
Feature-rich and has many integrations and good community support
Pros and Cons
- "What I found most valuable in Grafana is that it has a lot of integrations and features that I need for data processing and visualization."
- "One area for improvement in Grafana is that depending on your version, you have to pay for the features, making the license expensive. It would be great if the licensing model could be more flexible. In the next release of Grafana, I want cluster creation to be available, which would help in Grafana deployment and scaling. Currently, the scaling process for the solution is a bit complicated."
What is our primary use case?
We use Grafana for application metrics and data utilization for consumer databases. We also use it to connect and evaluate clients and create databases where we upload client data.
How has it helped my organization?
We find Grafana essential for our company because of the visualization function for all application metrics in our environment.
What is most valuable?
What I found most valuable in Grafana is that it has a lot of integrations and features that I need for data processing and visualization.
What needs improvement?
One area for improvement in Grafana is that depending on your version, you have to pay for the features, making the license expensive. It would be great if the licensing model could be more flexible.
In the next release of Grafana, I want cluster creation to be available, which would help in Grafana deployment and scaling. Currently, the scaling process for the solution is a bit complicated.
Easier integration is also what I want to see in Grafana in the future.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Grafana for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Grafana is a very stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scaling Grafana is a bit complicated, so I want to create a cluster to promote high availability in the solution, deploy in one step, and for Grafana to scale automatically.
How are customer service and support?
My company has the open-source version of Grafana, so it gets support from the community. The community support is good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In terms of standalone visualization tools, I've only used Grafana. I used another monitoring solution, but the visualization was only integrated.
Other solutions can provide what Grafana provides, but you need to pay. Grafana, on the other hand, has an open-source version, and as an open-source solution, it's complete, at least for my company's needs.
Compared to other software, it can take some time to get used to how Grafana works, but you can live with it because you can learn to use it.
How was the initial setup?
One person deployed Grafana for my company, and the process only took twenty minutes maximum.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My company uses the open-source version of Grafana, so it's free.
What other advice do I have?
I'm currently using Grafana.
My company is a Grafana customer.
I'm using the open-source version of Grafana, 9.3.
Between sixty and one hundred people, mostly software engineers, use the solution in my company.
Grafana requires maintenance, and that's the responsibility of the entire team.
There's a plan to increase the usage of Grafana in other areas besides engineering. My company plans to create dashboards for data in other areas.
I advise people who want to use the solution to try it out first. For example, Grafana has many good integrations if you need to gather metrics, and you can technically use any query to create dashboards and graphs inside Grafana. I advise that you explore the solution.
My rating for Grafana is eight out of ten because it's a very good product. It's complete and has an open-source version with many features. However, some of its interface capabilities could be cheaper.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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December 2024
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Information Technology Operations Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Good dashboard and user forums but needs more plugins
Pros and Cons
- "The dashboards are very easy to work with."
- "There are not a lot of plugins for financial market monitoring."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution in a financial institution to monitor applications and infrastructure.
What is most valuable?
We really only started.
So far, the management is very good.
The dashboards are very easy to work with.
It's a fantastic tool.
Support is helpful. There are many useful forums users can turn to as well.
It can scale.
The stability is good.
What needs improvement?
There are not a lot of plugins for financial market monitoring. Our old tool had more plugin capabilities.
We need more AI features. We need more data analytics and monitoring done by AI.
For how long have I used the solution?
We just started using the solution. We haven't used it for that long.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. There are no issues with reliability. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I'd rate the scalability nine out of ten. It can extend well.
How are customer service and support?
The team that is implementing the solution has relied quite a bit on the support and forums, and so far, it has been helpful. So far, we are satisfied with the level of support on offer.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used to use a different solution. It had very specific tools for fixed message monitoring, among other features, that were useful for finance companies. Grafana doesn't have much that tailors to our sector.
How was the initial setup?
I was not involved in the implementation. I work with the team that has implemented it.
What other advice do I have?
We're a customer and end-user.
We are likely using the latest version of the solution. I'm not sure of the version number.
I'd rate the solution six out of ten. So far, I can't say it's doing more than our older monitoring was doing.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Specialist at Qualitest
The solution has a good UI dashboard, is easy to deploy, and is easy to monitor data
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of the solution is the UI dashboard because we need to create a dashboard on Grafana to monitor our data."
- "I would like the ability to download my results into any format in order to share the information with my clients."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is used for monitoring the live monitoring of our load test.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of the solution is the UI dashboard because we need to create a dashboard on Grafana to monitor our data.
What needs improvement?
The solution's integration with other tools needs improvement.
I would like the ability to download my results into any format in order to share the information with my clients.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for over three years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We currently have over 50 people using the solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment usually takes one and a half hours.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Engineering Manager at Alice
You can create dashboards to instantly see your business, technical, and service metrics
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup is straightforward with just a few clicks on the solution's cloud."
- "The solution has room for improvement with a better API to help automate the construction of the dashboards easier."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case of the solution is to create business and technical dashboards in the metrics provided by the services through Prometheus.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has improved our organization by providing a centralized way to instantly see our business, technical, and service metrics.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the user-friendly interface and the ability to connect with many data sets.
What needs improvement?
The solution has room for improvement with a better API to help automate the construction of the dashboards easier.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously we used New Relic before switching to the solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward with just a few clicks on the solution's cloud.
What about the implementation team?
The solution was implemented in-house with a few clicks.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution an eight out of ten.
There are 40 people using the solution in our organization and it requires three people to maintain it.
I would recommend you try to use as many tools as you can. You can have an ecosystem that is quiet and works like using Temple, Prometheus, and so on.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technical Lead at Ernst & Young
Good dashboards, stable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The dashboards are the most valuable features."
- "The technical support has room for improvement."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for integrated logging, which works on our Kubernetes cluster and our separate VM.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution allows our teams to search and conduct application troubleshooting.
What is most valuable?
The dashboards are the most valuable features.
What needs improvement?
I would like to have a better configuration in the next release.
The technical support has room for improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I give the stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I give the scalability an eight out of ten.
We have five users in our organization.
How was the initial setup?
I give the initial setup an eight out of ten. There was a lack of support documents to help with the deployment. We just need to configure the file to plan the cluster.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I give the price an eight out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution an eight out of ten.
We use Grafana with a Kubernetes filter and it works well. I am not sure how the solution will work on its own.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technical Lead at Capgemini
Helps us to monitor our traffic, but there are limited options
Pros and Cons
- "The best feature was the creation of graphs and trends."
- "If there was an issue on one node, we couldn't drill down and see all the issues on other nodes."
What is our primary use case?
We used Grafana to monitor our traffic.
What is most valuable?
The best feature was the creation of graphs and trends to know if the traffic was low or okay. We could create week-over-week traffic and trend analysis as well. All these features were good and were the only features I used.
What needs improvement?
If there was an issue on one node, we couldn't drill down and see all the issues on other nodes or see if there were interlinked issues. However, Datadog allowed us to do this. In Datadog, we could take our complete environment and see what nodes went down simultaneously and the cause. For example, Datadog allows you to see in the graphs whether the database is locked or if there was a firewall issue. However, in Grafana, we had to add everything into a single dashboard manually.
In the next release, there should be more of a colour palette. The colour palette in Grafana is limited, and it chooses its own. We used hundreds of services to monitor into a single graph, so in the stacked chart, it chose the colour needs, and when we wanted to change it, there were only four or five options.
For how long have I used the solution?
I used this solution when I worked for Expedia. We used the solution for about three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There were no breakdowns or hiccups.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I am unaware of the scalability. There were around 500 users when I worked there. The network team was using it on a large scale.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I don't believe that Grafana fulfilled the requirements completely. That's why we moved to Datadog.
How was the initial setup?
I was not involved in the initial setup. We had a password issue at a point, but I am unsure if that was an issue with the solution or just within the organization.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Grafana was not an open source, and we had to pay for a license to use it. The same was the case with CashPoint. There was a license, but I'm unaware of how much we were paying.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I believe my old company chose Grafana because they initially wanted to monitor the traffic and know the firewall and scaling.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Grafana a six out of ten because Grafana has limited options compared to Datadog. Regarding advice, it was pretty simple to use Grafana. The trickiest part was creating a new dashboard, working on the query and adding the requirement. So you have to have the source and path handy to put that in the query. Any user can use Grafana once they understand what the dashboards are doing and what data is being searched from those dashboards.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
System Engineer / Systems & Storage at Vernity
A tool that users can understand and learn quickly to use
Pros and Cons
- "The product's initial setup phase was very easy."
- "I have a problem with Grafana in the area of documentation."
What is our primary use case?
I use Grafana since it is interconnected with Zabbix. I also use Grafana for the dashboard of machines from VMware and for some network devices connected to Zabbix.
What is most valuable?
The ability to use Grafana with Zabbix is a valuable feature for me. Zabbix provides me with alerts and information if something goes wrong, while Grafana offers a better dashboard that is more stable. If you know Grafana well, it can show you everything, like the uptime of different sources and other areas.
What needs improvement?
I have a problem with Grafana in the area of documentation. There is a problem in the area of some graphs where you connect elements. With Grafana, there is only one name that can be included for ten hours. In Grafana, only one big field with one text name is shown in the documentation. When it comes to production, it is only for a period of time that some fields on each side give the information they have. I researched on Google and other forums and saw that people face problems when they can't connect a field with the same value. The aforementioned area in the tool needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Grafana for nine months. I am a customer of the product.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have always had a stable version of the product. In general, I have not had any issues with the product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The technical personnel in my company use the tool, and it is possible to add or delete devices and other statuses in the solution. Around five people in my company use the product.
How are customer service and support?
I have always used the online forums or the internet to find information related to the product. I have not contacted the tool's technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The product's initial setup phase was very easy.
The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and 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. I don't know if there are different paid versions of the product.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
My company chose Grafana over other products in the market considering its integration capabilities with Zabbix, good documentation, and the many topics about the tool that are available on the internet.
What other advice do I have?
I would suggest Grafana to those who use Zabbix because it helps users get a lot of information on networks and resolve a lot of problems.
I could do everything in Grafana with the help of graphs and documentation and get information on different types of devices.
I rate the overall tool an eight to nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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