StackAxiom
A serverless log and event store that ingests every log line from your app and lets you search them later.
What it actually does
Axiom takes structured JSON log and event data from your app and stores it without you managing indexes or sampling. When something breaks you query the history to see exactly what happened, filtering and aggregating across large volumes.
Its free Personal plan ingests 500 GB/mo with 30-day retention. Paid Axiom Cloud adds a monthly platform fee plus usage-based ingest and query pricing, with in-console spend limits that pause usage rather than auto-billing you.
It is logs and events only. There is no error grouping, session replay, or uptime checking, so you pair it with a separate error tracker like Sentry.
Axiom vs its main rivals
The tools people actually weigh against Axiom: Datadog Logs, Better Stack, Grafana Loki, SigNoz. Same criteria for every column, including where Axiom loses.
 Datadog Logs |  Better Stack |  Grafana Loki | SSigNoz | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pricing & access | |||||
| Free tier | Yes500 GB/mo | No14-day trial | Yes3 GB/mo | YesSelf-host free | NoTrial only |
| Starting price | $25/mo + usage | $0.10/GB ingest | ~$30/mo | Free (OSS) | $49/mo |
Scaling & limits | |||||
| Free monthly ingest | 500 GB | None | 3 GB | Unlimited (OSS) | None |
| Free retention | 30 days | N/A | 3 days | Self-set | N/A |
| Spend limit that pauses | YesYes | NoNo | NoNo | YesSelf-managed | YesSelf-host |
Coverage | |||||
| Full-text log search | YesYes | YesYes | YesYes | NoLabel-based | YesYes |
| Traces + metrics too | YesYes | YesFull suite | NoLimited | YesWith stack | YesOTel-native |
Developer & API | |||||
| OpenTelemetry native | YesYes | YesYes | YesYes | YesYes | YesYes |
| Ingest + query API | Free | Paid | Free | Free | Free |
Team & enterprise | |||||
| Self-host option | NoNo | NoNo | NoNo | YesYes | YesYes |
| SSO / SAML | YesPaid | YesYes | YesPaid | YesSelf-host | YesEnterprise |
- The free Personal plan ingests 500 GB/mo, more log volume than most solo projects generate
- 30-day free retention is longer than Better Stack's 3-day free retention
- In-console spend limits pause ingest instead of auto-billing, so a log flood does not surprise-charge you
- Logs and events only: no error grouping, session replay, or uptime checks, so you still need a separate error tracker
- The paid plan opens with a $25/mo platform fee before any usage, a step up from $0
- It is a hosted-only product; unlike Grafana Loki or SigNoz there is no self-host option if pricing changes
Pay less for it
5 ways found500 GB/mo ingest and 30-day retention, no credit card
Set a hard limit that pauses ingest so usage overages cannot bill you unexpectedly
Axiom Cloud ingest bills in credits (~0.12 credits/GB, dropping toward ~0.09 at high volume) with automatic volume discounts as you scale
Grafana Loki or SigNoz can be run on your own infrastructure for free if you outgrow the free tier
Grafana Loki — Open-source, self-hosted log aggregation with effectively unlimited ingest at only infrastructure cost, if you are comfortable running it yourself
StackTracker tracks what you actually pay for Axiom and every other tool, flags overpayment, and shows the dollars you would save by switching.
Is it the right tool for you
- You want free log search and 30-day retention without a credit card
- You are happy pairing it with a separate error tracker like Sentry
- You want spend limits that pause rather than surprise-bill
- You want logs, metrics, traces, and APM unified in one paid platform → use Datadog
- You want to self-host to avoid usage-based pricing entirely → use Grafana Loki
Track what Axiom and the rest of your stack cost
StackTracker adds up every subscription, plus your hours, so you see the real number.
Prices and limits last verified 2026-07-20.