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Log and event data platform · by Axiom, Inc.

Axiom

Managed store for logs, traces and events with schema-less ingest and a query language (APL), priced by compute usage with a permanent free Personal plan.

Visit axiom.co ↗ Alternatives Free tier EU region
Axiom homepage
§1

Overview

Axiom is a managed event store for logs, traces and other machine data. You send data through OpenTelemetry, Vector, its API or integrations for Vercel, Cloudflare, AWS and Kubernetes, and it stores everything compressed without fixed schemas or indexes to manage. Queries use APL, a pipe-based language similar to Kusto, with virtual fields, joins and scheduled queries for alerts.

The Personal plan is free for good: 500 GB a month of ingest compute, 10 GB-hours of query compute, 25 GB of storage and 30 days of retention, with no card. Axiom Cloud charges a $25 platform fee that includes larger allowances and then bills extra usage in compute credits, with discounts that apply automatically as volume grows.

It is a data platform rather than a full APM suite: no uptime checks or status pages, and dashboards and monitors are built on your queries. Popular with Vercel and serverless developers who want cheap, searchable logs.

§2

Pricing and plans

Free tier · no card

Personal plan: 500 GB a month of data loading compute, 10 GB-hours of query compute, 25 GB storage, 30-day retention, all integrations, community support.

At the limit Not stated The vendor does not say what happens at the limit, or we have not found it yet.

Plan Price What you get
Personal $0 500 GB loading compute, 10 GB-hrs query, 25 GB storage, 30-day retention
Axiom Cloud $25/mo + usage 1 TB loading, 100 GB-hrs query and 100 GB storage included; configurable retention, spend caps
Add-ons $50 to $100/mo each RBAC $50, Extended Audit Logs $50, SAML SSO $100, Directory Sync $100

Usage above the allowance is billed in compute credits at $1 each on pay-as-you-go, with automatic tiered volume discounts; pre-purchased credits can be up to 40% off. Spending limits pause usage instead of billing more. HIPAA BAA is a self-serve add-on. The full rate card is published at axiom.co/pricing/llms.txt. EU residency is based on the 'regional residency' statement on the pricing page.

Source: axiom.co/pricing · prices as published, excluding tax.

§3

What it does

Schema-less ingest
Send any JSON events; fields are discovered on read, with no indexes to manage.
APL queries
Pipe-based query language with aggregations, joins, virtual fields and scheduled queries.
Integrations
OpenTelemetry, Vector, CloudWatch, AWS, Kubernetes and CI/CD integrations on every plan.
Monitors and dashboards
Alerts and dashboards built from APL queries.
Spend controls
Spend alerts and hard caps on Axiom Cloud pause usage instead of billing more.
MCP server
MCP server and agent skills included for querying data from AI coding tools.
§4

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Permanent free plan with 500 GB of monthly ingest compute and 30-day retention.
  • Enterprise add-ons such as SSO and RBAC are self-serve at fixed monthly prices.
  • Hard spending caps prevent surprise bills.
  • Published rate card, including a machine-readable version.

Limitations

  • Free Personal plan retention is fixed at 30 days.
  • No uptime checks, status pages or error grouping; it is a data store with querying and alerts.
  • SAML SSO costs $100 a month and RBAC $50 a month as add-ons.
  • APL is its own query language to learn.
§5

Who it suits

Good for

  • Serverless and Vercel apps that need searchable logs
  • Teams with high log volume watching cost
  • Developers who want OpenTelemetry traces and logs in one query tool

Look elsewhere if

  • Teams wanting uptime checks and status pages
  • Teams wanting a turnkey APM with automatic service dashboards
§6

Alternatives to Axiom

Tool From Free option Stages
Sentry Error tracking and application monitoring
$26/mo Free tier
Honeybadger Error tracking, logging, uptime and status pages
$26/mo Free tier
Checkly Synthetic and uptime monitoring as code
$24/mo Free tier
Hyperping Uptime monitoring, status pages and on-call
$24/mo Free tier
AppSignal APM with errors, logs, hosts and uptime
$23.25/mo Free tier
OneUptime Open-source uptime, status pages, on-call, APM and logs
$22/mo Free tier

All monitoring, uptime and error tracking →

§7

Questions

Is Axiom free?

Yes, the Personal plan is free with 500 GB of loading compute, 10 GB-hours of queries, 25 GB of storage and 30-day retention.

How much does Axiom Cloud cost?

A $25 monthly platform fee that includes 1 TB of loading compute, 100 GB-hours of queries and 100 GB of storage, then usage in compute credits.

Can I cap my Axiom bill?

Yes, Axiom Cloud has spending limits and alerts; usage above the limit is paused rather than billed.

Does Axiom support OpenTelemetry?

Yes, it ingests OpenTelemetry logs, traces and metrics.

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