Sazabi vs Datadog: How They Compare for Log-Centered Teams
Prices and facts checked on vendor pages on Nov 8, 2026.
Datadog is a broad monitoring platform with separate products for infrastructure, APM, logs, security and incident response. Sazabi is AI-native observability and security built around logs. It fits best when your main question is "what broke in production, and why?" Sazabi wrote this page. The Datadog facts below come from Datadog's own pages, checked on 2026-11-08.
At a Glance
How Datadog Works and Charges
Datadog sells most capabilities as separate line items. The price list for the US1, US3 and US5 site shows these log meters as of 2026-11-08:
Two details matter for a log-centered team. First, ingestion and indexing are separate charges, so a log line you index is billed at both steps. Second, Datadog's billing documentation says you set a monthly commitment on indexed events, and usage above it is charged on demand with a 50% premium.
On the AI side, Datadog describes Bits Investigation as an autonomous AI agent that forms hypotheses and gathers telemetry to find root causes. Its documentation lists monitor alerts (manual or automatic), Synthetic tests, Real User Monitoring and Error Tracking as entry points, plus MCP, API and CLI access. AI Credits are listed at $500 per 500-credit bundle on annual billing, or $1.30 per credit on demand.
How Sazabi Works and Charges
Sazabi has no indexing decision. Logs, metrics, traces and events land in Sazabi-managed storage as searchable records, and retention depends on your plan. You pay $50, $200 or $1,000 per 30 days for Hobby, Startup or Growth. Each plan includes 200 GB ingested, 50 GB scanned, 20 issues and 500 AI credits. After that, it is $0.10 per GB ingested, $0.10 per GB scanned, $4 per issue and $0.01 per AI credit. There is no yearly billing. See Sazabi pricing for the full table.
The unit that has no match in Datadog's price list is the issue. Sazabi detects problems by investigating your live logs, so there is no monitor to write first. Each issue arrives with what happened, why, and the evidence. Repeats of the same problem are grouped into one issue. You can then ask follow-up questions in plain language, or hand the issue to your coding agent through MCP, CLI or API. Sazabi investigates root cause. Your coding agent writes the change.
A Worked Monthly Example
Assume 500 GB of logs per month at about 1 KB per event, which is roughly 500 million events. Assume every event is indexed with no exclusion filters, retention is 15 days on Datadog and 30 days on Sazabi, and Datadog uses annual list prices. All figures exclude host, APM and seat charges.
The Sazabi figure assumes scans stay inside the 50 GB allowance and issues stay under 20. Datadog's total falls if you index only part of your volume, which exclusion filters allow. Sazabi's total follows the volume you send and scan. Rerun the arithmetic with your own event size and retention.
Key Differences for a Log-Centered Team
- Billing unit. Datadog bills the event again after it is indexed. Sazabi bills the GB when it arrives and the GB when you scan it.
- Detection. Datadog investigations start from monitor alerts, Synthetic tests, RUM, Error Tracking or a prompt. Sazabi opens issues without a monitor, though you can add scheduled automations for specific conditions.
- Breadth. Datadog covers hosts, containers, APM, SIEM and incident response. Sazabi does not replace those products.
- Self-hosted storage. Datadog BYOC Logs keeps logs in your object storage on AWS, Google Cloud or Azure. Sazabi BYOC is AWS only and needs an enterprise agreement.
- Compliance. Sazabi holds SOC 2 Type II, SOC 1, ISO 27001 and ISO 27017 certifications. Anyone who signs an NDA, customer or not, can request the SOC 2 Type II report and ISO 27001 audit reports from the Sazabi Trust Center. HIPAA safeguards are available on select plans.
For a deeper look at Datadog's bill, read the Datadog pricing guide or see other Datadog alternatives.
When to Pick Datadog
Pick Datadog when you need one vendor for infrastructure, APM, security and incident management, and logs are one signal among many. Pick it when your team already writes monitors and dashboards there, or when you need BYOC storage on Google Cloud or Azure. Pick it if you want the Datadog MCP Server to expose that wider product surface to your own AI agents.
When to Pick Sazabi
Pick Sazabi when logs are your main source of truth and you want issues opened and investigated without maintaining monitors. Pick it when you want a plan price with usage on top, or when coding agents are part of how you debug. A smaller team can start on Hobby, and Sazabi's quickstart describes setup in minutes.
Trying Sazabi Alongside Datadog
You do not need to rip anything out. The Datadog Agent can add Sazabi as an additional logs endpoint through logs_config.additional_endpoints, so Datadog keeps receiving the same logs. Only the Agent's logs pipeline is forwarded, not Datadog metrics or APM traces. See the Datadog Agent log source and the Datadog integration. If you already ship through OpenTelemetry, add OpenTelemetry as a second destination instead.
You can also give the Sazabi agent read access to Datadog. The Datadog MCP connector uses an API key and an Application Key, so an investigation can pull Datadog monitors, dashboards and traces alongside your logs. Compare the results on one real incident before you decide. For a similar head-to-head, see Sazabi vs New Relic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I send logs to Datadog and Sazabi at the same time?
Yes. The Datadog Agent can add Sazabi as an additional logs endpoint, so your existing Datadog pipeline keeps running. Only the Agent logs pipeline is forwarded, not Datadog metrics or APM traces.
Does Sazabi replace Datadog infrastructure monitoring or APM?
No. Sazabi works from logs, plus traces and metrics sent over OpenTelemetry, and does not replace Datadog host, container or APM products. Teams that need those products keep Datadog for them.
Which is cheaper for logs, Datadog or Sazabi?
It depends on how many events you index and for how long. Datadog charges for ingestion and again per million indexed events, while Sazabi charges per GB ingested and per GB scanned. The worked example on this page shows the arithmetic with stated assumptions.
Can Sazabi query my Datadog data?
Yes. A Sazabi MCP connector uses a Datadog API key and Application Key so the Sazabi agent can query Datadog metrics, logs, traces, monitors and incidents during an investigation.
Sources
- Log ingestion, indexed log events, Flex Logs, Observability Pipelines and AI Credits list prices (US1, US3, US5 site; annual, month-to-month and on-demand columns) (accessed Nov 8, 2026)
- Log Management billing: monthly commitment on indexed events and the 50% on-demand premium above it (accessed Nov 8, 2026)
- BYOC Logs runs in your own infrastructure and stores logs in your object storage (accessed Nov 8, 2026)
- Bits Investigation is described as an autonomous AI agent that investigates production issues (accessed Nov 8, 2026)
- Bits investigations can start from monitor alerts, manually or automatically, and are available through MCP, API and CLI (accessed Nov 8, 2026)
- Datadog MCP Server lets AI agents query Datadog metrics, logs and traces (accessed Nov 8, 2026)
- Sazabi plan prices, included usage, overage rates and retention (accessed Nov 8, 2026)
- Datadog Agent dual-ship and Sazabi-only log forwarding, logs only (accessed Nov 8, 2026)
- Sazabi MCP connector for Datadog metrics, logs, traces, monitors and incidents (accessed Nov 8, 2026)