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AWS-native metrics, logs, alarms and tracing · by Amazon Web Services

Amazon CloudWatch

AWS's built-in monitoring service for metrics, logs, alarms, dashboards, X-Ray traces, synthetics and RUM, pay-per-use with a free tier and no minimum fee.

Visit aws.amazon.com ↗ Alternatives Free tier EU region
Amazon CloudWatch homepage
§1

Overview

CloudWatch is the monitoring layer built into AWS. EC2, RDS, Lambda, ELB, S3 and most other services publish metrics to it automatically, and you can add custom metrics, send logs from apps and agents, build dashboards, and set alarms that trigger SNS notifications or auto scaling.

Beyond the basics it includes Logs Insights queries and Live Tail, X-Ray and Application Signals for tracing and service health, Synthetics canaries for scripted checks, RUM for browser performance, Container and Database Insights, and OpenTelemetry metric ingestion queryable with PromQL.

There is no subscription: every feature has its own meter and the free tier covers light use. For apps already on AWS it is the default place to start, but log ingestion at $0.50/GB and per-metric charges for high-cardinality dimensions are common sources of bill surprises, so review what you log and which dimensions you publish.

§2

Pricing and plans

Free tier · card required

Basic AWS service metrics, 10 custom or detailed metrics, 10 alarms, 3 dashboards, 5 GB of logs (ingest, storage and queries), 100,000 X-Ray traces, 100 canary runs a month.

At the limit Bills overage Usage past the free allowance is billed to your AWS account; set a budget alert.

Plan Price What you get
Free tier $0 10 custom metrics, 10 alarms, 3 dashboards, 5 GB logs, 100k X-Ray traces, 100 canary runs/mo
Logs (Standard) $0.50/GB ingested Storage $0.03/GB-month; Infrequent Access class ingests at $0.25/GB (us-east-1)
Custom metrics Up to $0.30/metric/mo Tiered down to lower rates at volume; PutMetricData $0.01 per 1,000 requests
OpenTelemetry metrics $0.50/GB ingested Includes 15 months of storage; PromQL queries $0.01 per million samples

Prices vary by AWS Region; figures here are US East (N. Virginia). Log ingestion and storage rates come from AWS's pricing-page examples and an AWS re:Post article (July 2026); the $0.30 top metric tier is from the pricing page's detailed-monitoring example. Alarms, dashboards beyond three, vended logs, Logs Insights scans, Application Signals, RUM and Synthetics each have their own rates. Application Signals has a 3-month free usage period. AWS lists many compliance programs for its services generally; none were listed on the CloudWatch pricing page itself.

Source: aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/pricing/ · prices as published, excluding tax.

§3

What it does

Automatic AWS metrics
Most AWS services send basic metrics for free with no setup.
CloudWatch Logs
Log ingestion, storage, Logs Insights queries and Live Tail; Standard and cheaper Infrequent Access classes.
Alarms and dashboards
Alarms on metrics or queries that notify or trigger actions; 3 dashboards free.
Tracing
X-Ray traces and Application Signals for service golden metrics and transaction spans.
Synthetics and RUM
Scripted canary checks and real user monitoring for web apps.
OpenTelemetry metrics
OTLP ingestion at $0.50/GB including 15 months of storage, queryable with PromQL.
§4

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • No setup for AWS service metrics and deep integration with AWS actions.
  • Pay only for what you use, with a free tier.
  • Data stays in the AWS Region you choose, including EU Regions.
  • Covers metrics, logs, traces, synthetics and RUM in one AWS service.

Limitations

  • Every feature is metered separately and rates vary by Region, making costs hard to predict.
  • Each unique dimension combination counts as a separate billed custom metric.
  • Infrequent Access logs lack Live Tail, subscription filters and metric filters.
  • Much less useful for workloads outside AWS.
§5

Who it suits

Good for

  • Applications running on AWS
  • Teams wanting alarms that trigger AWS actions such as auto scaling
  • Serverless apps on Lambda

Look elsewhere if

  • Multi-cloud or non-AWS workloads
  • Teams that want a single predictable monthly price
§6

Alternatives to Amazon CloudWatch

Tool From Free option Stages
OpenObserve Open-source logs, metrics, traces and RUM platform
Usage-based Free tier
SigNoz Open-source OpenTelemetry APM, logs and metrics
$49/mo Free tier
Grafana Cloud Hosted metrics, logs, traces and dashboards
$19/mo Free tier
New Relic Full-stack observability platform
$10/mo Free tier
Rollbar Error tracking and session replay
$15.83/mo Free tier
Checkly Synthetic and uptime monitoring as code
$24/mo Free tier

All monitoring, uptime and error tracking →

§7

Questions

Is CloudWatch free?

There is a free tier with basic AWS metrics, 10 custom metrics, 10 alarms, 3 dashboards and 5 GB of logs a month; usage beyond that is billed.

How much does CloudWatch Logs cost?

In US East, Standard ingestion is $0.50 per GB, Infrequent Access $0.25 per GB, and storage $0.03 per GB per month.

Does CloudWatch support OpenTelemetry?

Yes, it ingests OpenTelemetry metrics at $0.50 per GB including 15 months of storage, and supports PromQL queries.

Why is my CloudWatch bill high?

Usually log ingestion volume or many custom metrics from high-cardinality dimensions; both are billed per unit.

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