Quick Answer
Last verified:

Papertrail pricing varies by team size and features, ranging from $0 to $280 per month 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: Yes
  • Billing: Monthly and annual (save 15-20%)
  • Hidden costs: Add ~35% for implementation, support, and training

Papertrail offers 5 pricing tiers: Free, Small, Medium, Large, Enterprise. Standard paid plans include Free at $0/free, Small at $7/$7/month, Medium at $40/$40/month. The Small plan is small teams and startups monitoring a few applications with moderate log volume.

Compared to other log management software, Papertrail is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.

Last verified: January 2026 | Sources: 4 pricing pages and reviews

Papertrail (by SolarWinds) is a cloud-hosted log management service designed for developers and small teams who need instant log aggregation, search, and alerting without complex setup. Trusted by 100,000+ developers since 2011, Papertrail offers real-time log tailing, powerful regex search, and seamless integrations with Slack, PagerDuty, and 50+ tools. With syslog protocol support and HTTPS ingestion, Papertrail works with any application, server, or cloud platform, making it ideal for fast-moving DevOps teams prioritizing simplicity over advanced analytics.

Papertrail pricing is straightforward and volume-based: Free (50MB/month, 48-hour retention), Small ($7/month for 1GB), Medium ($40/month for 10GB), Large ($230/month for 100GB), and Enterprise (custom quote for 500GB-5TB+/month). Most plans include 7-day searchable retention. Average costs range from $280/year for small businesses to $800/year with overages. Overage policy allows up to 200% of base volume at 30% premium pricing, or hard caps causing log drops.

In this guide, we break down Papertrail's 5 pricing tiers, compare per-GB costs to Logz.io and Loggly, reveal hidden costs including 7-day retention limitations, 30% overage premiums, hard monthly caps causing data loss, and show when Papertrail's simplicity justifies costs vs alternatives like Graylog for 100GB+ monthly volumes.

All Papertrail Plans & Pricing

Plan Monthly Annual Best For
Free Monthly volume: 50 MBRetention: 48 hours Free Free 0 Hobbyists, side projects, and single-app monitoring with minimal logging needs
Small Monthly volume: 1 GBRetention: 7 days $7 /$7/month $84 /$7/month Small teams and startups monitoring a few applications with moderate log volume
Medium Monthly volume: 10 GBRetention: 7 days $40 /$40/month $480 /$40/month Growing companies with 5-20 services generating moderate daily log volumes
Large Monthly volume: 100 GBRetention: 7 days (extendable) $230 /$230/month $2760 /$230/month Mid-size companies with complex microservices architectures generating significant log volumes
Enterprise Monthly volume: CustomRetention: Custom (30-90+ days) Contact Contact Large enterprises with multi-terabyte monthly log volumes requiring compliance and dedicated support
View all features by plan

Free

  • 50 MB/month log volume (16 MB/day)
  • 48-hour searchable retention
  • Unlimited systems/sources
  • Real-time log tailing
  • Live search and filtering
  • Basic alerts (up to 2 saved searches)
  • Email notifications
  • Web-based log viewer
  • Syslog protocol support
  • HTTPS log ingestion
  • Community support

Small

  • 1 GB/month log volume (~33 MB/day)
  • 7-day searchable retention
  • Unlimited systems/sources
  • Real-time log streaming
  • Advanced search with regex
  • Saved searches and alerts
  • Email and webhook integrations (Slack, PagerDuty)
  • API access
  • Custom log parsing
  • Email support

Medium

  • 10 GB/month log volume (~333 MB/day)
  • 7-day searchable retention
  • Unlimited systems/sources
  • Real-time log streaming
  • Advanced search and filtering
  • Unlimited saved searches and alerts
  • Integrations with 50+ services
  • API access with rate limits
  • Log archiving to external storage
  • Priority email support

Large

  • 100 GB/month log volume (~3.3 GB/day)
  • 7-day searchable retention (extendable)
  • Unlimited systems/sources
  • Real-time log streaming and tail
  • Advanced regex search and filtering
  • Unlimited saved searches and complex alerts
  • Full API access
  • Custom integrations and webhooks
  • Log archiving and export
  • Dedicated account support
  • Usage-based overages up to 200%

Enterprise

  • Custom log volume (500 GB - 5 TB+/month)
  • Extended retention (30-90+ days)
  • Unlimited systems and sources
  • Dedicated infrastructure
  • Advanced security and compliance features
  • SAML SSO
  • Custom integrations and APIs
  • Professional services for onboarding
  • 24/7 priority support
  • Service level agreements (SLA)
  • Training and best practices
  • Flexible overage policies
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Hidden Costs to Budget For

Watch for 10 hidden costs
  • Hard monthly caps or log drops - Plans have strict monthly GB limits. Exceeding limits either stops log ingestion (data loss) or requires enabling usage-based overages (30% premium)
  • Short 7-day retention on most plans - Only 48 hours on Free, 7 days on paid plans. Extended retention (30-90 days) requires Enterprise custom quote
  • Overage charges at 30% premium - If you enable usage-based service and exceed your monthly volume, additional GBs cost 30% more per GB (up to 200% of base volume)
  • Average annual cost $280-800 - Typical small business usage falls between $280/year (1GB plan) and $800/year (10GB+ with overages)
  • Per-GB pricing inefficient for high volume - At ~$0.25-1.00 per 1 million log messages, high-volume users (100GB+/month) pay more than alternatives like Logz.io or Graylog
  • No volume discounts on standard plans - Unlike competitors, Papertrail doesn't offer tiered discounts. Must jump to Enterprise for negotiated pricing
  • Export and archiving costs extra time/effort - While log archiving is available, setting up automated exports to S3 for long-term storage requires custom scripting
  • Limited advanced analytics - Papertrail focuses on search and alerts. Complex analytics, ML, or security features require external tools (Splunk, Datadog)
  • Integration limitations on lower tiers - Free and Small plans have restricted integrations and API rate limits
  • No dedicated support below Enterprise - Free/Small/Medium rely on email support with slower response times vs priority/24-7 support
Tip

Ask your Papertrail sales rep about these costs upfront. Getting them in writing before signing can save you from surprise charges later.

Full hidden costs breakdown →

Frequently Asked Questions

01 How much does Papertrail cost?

Papertrail pricing starts free (50MB/month, 48-hour retention) and scales: Small $7/month (1GB/month), Medium $40/month (10GB/month), Large $230/month (100GB/month), and Enterprise (custom quote for 500GB-5TB+/month with extended retention). Average costs: $280/year for small businesses, up to $800/year with overages. Most plans include 7-day retention. Per-GB pricing is ~$0.25-1.00 per million log messages.

02 Does Papertrail have a free plan?

Yes, Papertrail offers a permanent free plan with 50MB monthly log volume (~16MB/day), 48-hour searchable retention, unlimited systems/sources, real-time log tailing, basic alerts (2 saved searches), and community support. No credit card required. This is ideal for hobbyists, side projects, and single-app monitoring. Upgrade to Small ($7/month) when you need more than 50MB/month or 7-day retention.

03 What happens if I exceed my Papertrail volume limit?

Papertrail offers two overage policies: (1) Hard cap - logs stop being ingested when you hit your monthly limit (data loss), or (2) Usage-based service - logs continue up to 200% of your base volume at 30% higher per-GB price. For example, on $40/month Medium (10GB), you can use up to 20GB total with overages costing 30% premium. Choose usage-based to avoid data loss but expect surprise bills during high-traffic events.

04 How does Papertrail pricing compare to competitors?

Papertrail is affordable for small volumes but expensive at scale. For 10GB/month: Papertrail $40/month vs Loggly $159/month (more features) vs Logz.io $33/month (14-day retention). For 100GB/month: Papertrail $230/month vs Graylog Cloud $1,250/month (advanced analytics) vs self-hosted Graylog free. Papertrail is best for simple log search under 50GB/month; switch to Logz.io or Graylog for 100GB+/month and advanced analytics.

05 What is included in Papertrail's 7-day retention?

Most Papertrail paid plans (Small, Medium, Large) include 7-day searchable retention - logs are indexed and searchable for one week before automatic deletion. Free plan has only 48-hour retention. If you need longer retention (30-90 days) for compliance or debugging, you must upgrade to Enterprise with custom quote, or manually export/archive logs to S3/external storage using API or syslog forwarding.

06 Can I negotiate Papertrail Enterprise pricing?

Yes, Papertrail Enterprise pricing is negotiable for 500GB+ monthly volumes. Expect volume discounts bringing per-GB cost down 20-40% from standard Large tier rates. Best negotiation timing: SolarWinds fiscal year-end (December) or quarter-end. Leverage competitive quotes from Logz.io, Sumo Logic, or self-hosted options. Multi-year contracts (2-3 years) unlock deeper discounts (30-50%) and include extended retention, SSO, and 24/7 support.

07 Is Papertrail good for small teams?

Yes, Papertrail excels for small teams with <10GB/month log volumes. At $7/month (1GB) or $40/month (10GB), it's one of the most affordable log management solutions with simple setup, real-time search, and essential integrations (Slack, PagerDuty). However, 7-day retention is short for debugging complex issues. For teams growing beyond 50GB/month or needing ML analytics, consider Logz.io or Datadog for better scaling and features.

08 Does Papertrail offer education or startup discounts?

Papertrail (SolarWinds) does not publicly advertise dedicated education or startup discount programs as of January 2026. However, students and educators can use the permanent free plan (50MB/month) for learning projects. Startups with 10-50GB/month needs should contact SolarWinds sales for potential custom pricing, especially if part of accelerator programs (Y Combinator, Techstars) or using AWS/GCP startup credits.

09 How does Papertrail handle log archiving?

Papertrail allows log archiving and export through multiple methods: (1) Syslog forwarding to external systems (S3, Loggly, Splunk) in real-time, (2) API-based log export for historical data within retention period, (3) Webhook integration to send logs to custom endpoints. However, setting up automated long-term archiving (years) requires manual configuration and external storage costs (S3 = $0.023/GB/month). Unlike Splunk/Logz.io, Papertrail doesn't offer built-in cold storage tiers.

10 What's the difference between Papertrail and Loggly?

Both are SolarWinds products with similar capabilities. Key differences: Papertrail is simpler/cheaper ($7-230/month) with focus on real-time search and tailing for developers. Loggly is more expensive ($159-279/month base) with advanced features like dynamic field extraction, charts/dashboards, and better analytics. Papertrail has shorter retention (7 days) vs Loggly (varies by plan). Choose Papertrail for basic log search; choose Loggly for dashboards and analytics.

11 Is Papertrail suitable for compliance requirements?

Papertrail's standard plans (7-day retention) are insufficient for most compliance requirements (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS) which mandate 90-365+ day log retention. Enterprise plan offers extended retention (30-90 days) but requires custom quote. For compliance, consider: (1) Using Papertrail for real-time search + forwarding logs to S3 for long-term archival, or (2) Switching to Splunk, Logz.io Enterprise, or Graylog with built-in compliance features and configurable retention.