Papertrail Free Plan 2026: What's Included & What's Not
Honest breakdown of the free tier limits and features
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: No free tier available
- Billing: Monthly and annual (save 15-20%)
- Hidden costs: Add ~35% for implementation, support, and training
Papertrail offers a freemium model with limited features; upgrade to unlock more.
What's Included in the Free Plan
- 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
What's NOT Included (Paid Only)
- 1 GB/month log volume (~33 MB/day)
- 7-day searchable retention
- 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
Free Plan Limits
| Limit | Free Plan | Paid Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly volume | 50 MB | Unlimited/Higher |
| Retention | 48 hours | Unlimited/Higher |
| Saved searches | 2 | Unlimited/Higher |
| Support | Community only | Unlimited/Higher |
You'll Need to Upgrade When...
- You exceed the user limit
- You need features like 1 GB/month log volume (~33 MB/day) or 7-day searchable retention
- 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
- Papertrail 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 Small Plan Comparison
| Free $0 | Small $7/$7/month | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 11 included | 10+ included |
| Support | Community/Email | Priority Support |
| Branding | Papertrail branding | Your branding |
| Best For | Hobbyists, side projects, and single-app monitoring with minimal logging needs | Small teams and startups monitoring a few applications with moderate log volume |
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Papertrail free?
Yes, Papertrail offers a freemium plan with 11 core features included. However, there are limits on monthly volume, retention that may require upgrading.
02 What's included in Papertrail's free plan?
Papertrail's free plan includes: 50 MB/month log volume (16 MB/day), 48-hour searchable retention, Unlimited systems/sources, Real-time log tailing, Live search and filtering, and 6 more features. Key limits include Monthly volume: 50 MB, Retention: 48 hours, Saved searches: 2.
03 What's NOT included in Papertrail's free plan?
The free plan excludes: 1 GB/month log volume (~33 MB/day), 7-day searchable retention, Real-time log streaming, Advanced search with regex, Saved searches and alerts. You'll also have Papertrail branding and limited support options.
04 When should I upgrade from Papertrail's free plan?
Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like 1 GB/month log volume (~33 MB/day) or 7-day searchable retention, require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $7/$7/month.
05 Is Papertrail's free plan really free forever?
Yes, Papertrail'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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