SigNoz

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Introduction

SigNoz is an open-source observability platform built on OpenTelemetry. Its README says the goal is an enterprise-grade alternative to fragmented monitoring stacks, with logs, metrics, traces, alerts and dashboards in one place. The repository has about 32,600 GitHub stars.

You can run it three ways: SigNoz Cloud (fully managed), Enterprise (Enterprise Cloud, BYOC or Enterprise Self-Hosted), or the free Community edition in your own infrastructure.

Licensing is mixed: the repository’s licence file says portions are licensed under different terms, so check which components you use. The Community edition is free to self-host.

In the quality loop, SigNoz covers production monitoring and is also a convenient place to watch services during performance and chaos experiments, because traces, metrics and logs are correlated in one UI.

Features

1. Traces, metrics and logs: One platform for all three signals.
2. OpenTelemetry-native: Instrument once with OpenTelemetry.
3. APM views: Service latency, error rates and throughput.
4. Dashboards: Custom dashboards and queries.
5. Alerts: Alerting on metrics, logs and traces.
6. Trace-to-log correlation: Jump between related signals.
7. Deployment choices: Cloud, BYOC, Enterprise self-hosted or Community.
8. Regional hosting: SigNoz Cloud offers regional data hosting.

Pros

1. All-in-one: Fewer tools to stitch together.
2. Open-source option: Self-host the Community edition for free.
3. OpenTelemetry first: No proprietary agents required.
4. Transparent entry price: Usage-based from $49 on Cloud.
5. Active: Commits on the day of review.

Cons

1. Self-hosting effort: Running it at scale takes operations work.
2. Mixed licence: Some components are under different terms.
3. Younger than incumbents: Fewer integrations than long-established vendors.
4. Enterprise features gated: RBAC, compliance and custom retention are Enterprise items.
5. Usage costs: Cloud costs grow with data volume.

Usage and Links (Example)

Self-host the Community edition using the install instructions in the docs (Docker or Kubernetes), then send OpenTelemetry data to it. For example, with the OpenTelemetry Java agent:

OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://<signoz-host>:4317 \
OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES=service.name=checkout \
java -javaagent:opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -jar app.jar

Tips: start with one service, add trace-to-log correlation by including trace IDs in logs, and define alerts on latency and error rate before expanding.

Resources:

• SigNoz website
• Pricing
• GitHub repository

Pricing

From the SigNoz README:

1. Community: free open-source edition you run in your own infrastructure.
2. SigNoz Cloud: fully managed, 30-day free trial with no credit card, usage-based pricing that starts at $49, and regional data hosting.
3. Enterprise: Enterprise Cloud, BYOC or Enterprise Self-Hosted with compliance, support, custom retention, RBAC, ingestion controls and data residency. See site for prices.

Recommended for?

1. Teams adopting OpenTelemetry who want one backend.
2. Cost-conscious teams comparing against large APM vendors.
3. Organisations needing self-hosting or BYOC.
4. Not a fit if you need the deepest catalogue of vendor integrations today.

Conclusion

SigNoz is a strong OpenTelemetry-native, all-in-one observability option with both open-source and managed paths.

Check the licence of the parts you use and model Cloud costs against your data volume.