AppSignal vs New Relic: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will compare AppSignal and New Relic, two popular application monitoring tools. Both tools provide insights into the performance and health of web applications, but they have several key differences. Below are the 6 key differences between AppSignal and New Relic.

1. Pricing Model: AppSignal offers a flexible pricing model based on the number of hosts with a flat monthly fee per host. On the other hand, New Relic follows a complex pricing structure based on the number of users, data retention, and features used. This difference in pricing models can significantly impact the cost for organizations with varying infrastructure sizes.

2. Language Support: AppSignal supports a variety of programming languages, including Ruby, Elixir, JavaScript, and more. New Relic, on the other hand, offers support for a wide range of languages, including Java, .NET, Python, PHP, Node.js, and more. The difference in language support allows New Relic to cater to a broader range of development teams working with diverse tech stacks.

3. Ease of Setup: AppSignal has a straightforward and quick setup process, with minimal configuration required. It provides out-of-the-box instrumentation for popular frameworks, making it ideal for developers looking for a hassle-free monitoring setup. New Relic, while feature-rich, has a comparatively more complex setup process, often requiring additional configuration steps and manual instrumentation. This difference in ease of setup can affect the time and effort required to get started with monitoring.

4. User Interface: AppSignal offers a clean and intuitive user interface with a focus on simplicity. The interface provides essential monitoring data in a user-friendly manner, making it easy for developers to identify performance issues. New Relic, on the other hand, has a more extensive and visually complex interface, providing in-depth analysis and a wide range of customizable dashboards. The difference in user interface design caters to developers with varying preferences and needs.

5. Alerting and Notifications: AppSignal offers built-in alerting capabilities with customizable triggers and thresholds. It provides notifications via email and collaboration tools like Slack, ensuring teams stay informed about critical issues in real-time. In contrast, New Relic provides a robust alerting and notification system, allowing users to set up alerts based on specific conditions. It supports various notification channels, including email, SMS, and PagerDuty, providing flexibility in how teams receive alerts. This difference in alerting and notifications accommodates different monitoring workflows and preferences.

6. Third-Party Integrations: AppSignal offers integrations with popular third-party tools like GitHub, GitLab, and Trello, enabling seamless integration within existing development workflows. New Relic provides a wide range of integrations, including popular solutions for logging, deployment, issue tracking, and collaboration. This difference in third-party integrations extends the capabilities of the monitoring tool and facilitates better collaboration across teams.

In Summary, AppSignal and New Relic differ in their pricing model, language support, ease of setup, user interface design, alerting and notifications features, and third-party integrations. Organizations can choose the tool that aligns best with their specific requirements and preferences.