Grafana Free Plan 2026: What's Included & What's Not
Honest breakdown of the free tier limits and features
Grafana pricing varies by team size and features, ranging from $0 to $0 per month (base) + usage in 2026. Your actual cost depends on the tier you choose, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: No free tier available
- Billing: Monthly and annual (save 15-20%)
- Hidden costs: Add ~35% for implementation, support, and training
Grafana offers a freemium model with limited features; upgrade to unlock more.
What's Included in the Free Plan
- Full Grafana dashboard platform
- Self-hosted on your infrastructure
- All core visualizations and panels
- Alert management
- Data source plugins
- Community plugins
- Apache 2.0 license
- Community support
What's NOT Included (Paid Only)
- Everything in Free
- Pay-as-you-go usage beyond free limits
- 13-month metrics retention
- 30-day log/trace/profile retention
- 99.5% uptime SLA
- $8/active user/month for Grafana
- Metrics at $6.50 per 1K series
- Logs/Traces/Profiles at $0.50 per GB ingested
- k6 testing at $0.15 per VUh
- 8x5 email support
- Enterprise data source plugins available ($55/user/month add-on)
Free Plan Limits
| Limit | Free Plan | Paid Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-managed only | Unlimited/Higher |
| Support | Community only | Unlimited/Higher |
| Plugins | Community plugins only | Unlimited/Higher |
You'll Need to Upgrade When...
- You exceed the user limit
- You need features like Everything in Free or Pay-as-you-go usage beyond free limits
- You require premium support or SLA guarantees
- You need to remove branding or watermarks
- You need advanced integrations or API access
Hidden Restrictions on Free Plan
- Grafana branding may appear on your content or communications
- Support is limited to community forums or email with longer response times
- Export options may be restricted or include watermarks
- API access is typically limited or not available
- Advanced reporting and analytics require paid plans
Free vs Paid: Which Do You Need?
Free Plan is Enough If...
- You're an individual or very small team
- You need only basic features
- You don't mind usage limits
- Branding on output is acceptable
- Community support is sufficient
You Need Paid If...
- Your team is growing beyond limits
- You need advanced features
- Professional branding is required
- You need priority support
- Integrations/API access is critical
Free vs Grafana Cloud Pro Plan Comparison
| Grafana OSS $0 | Grafana Cloud Pro $19/$19/month base + usage-based | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 8 included | 11+ included |
| Support | Community/Email | Priority Support |
| Branding | Grafana branding | Your branding |
| Best For | Teams comfortable self-hosting who want full dashboard flexibility at zero cost | Growing teams needing extended retention, SLA guarantees, and flexible usage-based billing |
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Grafana free?
Yes, Grafana offers a freemium plan with 8 core features included. However, there are limits on hosting, support that may require upgrading.
02 What's included in Grafana's free plan?
Grafana's free plan includes: Full Grafana dashboard platform, Self-hosted on your infrastructure, All core visualizations and panels, Alert management, Data source plugins, and 3 more features. Key limits include Hosting: Self-managed only, Support: Community only, Plugins: Community plugins only.
03 What's NOT included in Grafana's free plan?
The free plan excludes: Everything in Free, Pay-as-you-go usage beyond free limits, 13-month metrics retention, 30-day log/trace/profile retention, 99.5% uptime SLA. You'll also have Grafana branding and limited support options.
04 When should I upgrade from Grafana's free plan?
Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like Everything in Free or Pay-as-you-go usage beyond free limits, require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $19/$19/month base + usage-based.
05 Is Grafana's free plan really free forever?
Yes, Grafana's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit. However, feature and usage limits may restrict what you can do without upgrading to a paid plan.
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