Grafana vs CircleCI Pricing (2026)
Compare / Grafana vs CircleCI
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Team size
25 seats

Grafana vs CircleCI

Developer Tools pricing comparison · 2026

Grafana pricing ranges from $0–$19/month (base) + usage, while CircleCI ranges from $0–$15/month. Grafana is typically 37% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

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See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Compare
2 products · Developer Tools
Side-by-side · live
Grafana
Grafana is the leading open-source observability and visualization platform, used by thous
verified 18d ago
$68K $100K
View pricing →
CircleCI
CircleCI is a continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) platform that automates software
verified 8w ago
$68K $100K
View pricing →
Verdict · Vendr median · year 1
CircleCI saves $32K vs Grafana · 25 seats
Cheapest $68K
Spread 32%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Grafana Cloud Pro
$5.7K/yr
year 1 license · $19/seat
Performance
$4.5K/yr
year 1 license · $15/seat
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
Median annual
$100K/yr
Vendr · n=78 avg 16% negotiated
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$68K/yr
Vendr · n=279 avg 11% negotiated
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 10 sourced facts
6 hidden-cost · 2 contract · Vendr median · 1 review platform
Last verified 2w ago
Confidence Medium confidence
Sources 6 sourced facts
3 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median · 1 review platform
Last verified 1mo ago
Confidence Medium confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
4 documented
  • Active Timeseries Pricing Complexity
    $8/1000 active timeseries
    1 source
  • Self-Hosting Infrastructure and Maintenance Costs
    10-25% of avoided SaaS costs
    2 sources
  • Enterprise Per-User Licensing Costs
    $5-$9/user/month
    2 sources
  • Annual Price Escalation Clauses
    5%
    1 source
3 documented
  • Per-Seat Licensing for All Users Including View-Only
    $15/user/month
    1 source
  • Build Freeze When Unprovisioned User Signs In
    $15/user/month
    1 source
  • macOS/iOS Build Pricing Premium
    5-15% of license costs
    1 source
REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

Grafana
CircleCI
Auto-renewal
Yes
Cancellation
60 days before renewal
Commitment
1 year typical for Enterprise
Annual (inferred from Vendr deal flow data showing $67,680/year median contract)
Price escalation
5% annual uplift clause standard in Enterprise contracts but negotiable
Can downgrade
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
TrustRadius
8.6out of 5 (155)
Best for
Teams comfortable self-hosting who want full dashboard flexibility at zero cost
Watch out
Pricing complexity and unexpected cost escalation at scale
No public ratings yet
Best for
Open source and side projects
Watch out
High per-user cost relative to value
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Developer Tools

Grafana

$0–$19
/month (base) + usage
4 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Developer Tools

CircleCI

$0–$15
/month
4 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →

Grafana and CircleCI both operate in the developer tools category. This page compares their list pricing.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan Grafana CircleCI
Grafana OSS Free /free (self-hosted) Free /month
Grafana Cloud Free Free /free $15 /month (starting)
Grafana Cloud Pro $19 /$19/month base + usage-based Custom
Grafana Cloud Enterprise Custom Custom

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

Grafana

7 scenarios
$0/month
Small Startup (Free Tier)
Within free tier limits (10K series, 50 GB logs, 3 users), no charges apply
$499/month
Mid-Size Team (Pro, 50K Series)
$19 platform fee + $260 metrics (40K billable series x $6.50/1K) + $75 logs (150 GB billable x $0.50) + $120 users (15 x $8) + $25 k6
$25,000
Enterprise (Advanced, 500K Series)
+/year minimum - Volume-discounted pricing with dedicated Observability Architect, custom SLA, and Adaptive Metrics for cost optimization
See all 7 scenarios →

CircleCI

5 scenarios
$0/month (free tier with basic features)
Solo / Getting Started
$15/month
Growing Business
plus potential add-ons
Custom pricing — typically negotiated annually, contact sales for quote
Enterprise (100+ users)
See all 5 scenarios →

Market Intelligence

Grafana

Median annual cost
$100,058
Average negotiated discount
16%
Based on
78 deals

CircleCI

Median annual cost
$67,680
Average negotiated discount
11%
Based on
279 deals

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

Grafana 4 hidden costs

high
Active Timeseries Pricing Complexity $8/1000 active timeseries
medium
Self-Hosting Infrastructure and Maintenance Costs 10-25% of avoided SaaS costs
medium
Enterprise Per-User Licensing Costs $5-$9/user/month
low
Annual Price Escalation Clauses 5%
See all Grafana hidden costs →

CircleCI 3 hidden costs

high
Per-Seat Licensing for All Users Including View-Only $15/user/month
critical
Build Freeze When Unprovisioned User Signs In $15/user/month
high
macOS/iOS Build Pricing Premium 5-15% of license costs
See all CircleCI hidden costs →

Contract Terms

Term Grafana CircleCI
Auto-renewal Yes
Cancellation 60 days before renewal
Minimum commitment 1 year typical for Enterprise Annual (inferred from Vendr deal flow data showing $67,680/year median contract)
Price escalation 5% annual uplift clause standard in Enterprise contracts but negotiable

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