Best Application Performance Monitoring in 2026
Updated
In short: Middleware is ranked #1 of 31 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of Grafana Cloud Application Observability and Uptrace. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Grafana Cloud Application Observability. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Grafana Cloud Application Observability at $0.03/mo.
Application performance monitoring software helps you observe application behavior and investigate performance issues. Compare options on distributed tracing, transaction tracing, real user monitoring, and log correlation to see which kinds of signals and investigation features are listed. Dependency mapping and deployment model offer further ways to assess how each product represents application relationships and fits your environment. Free-plan availability and paid-from pricing add cost context. Middleware, SigNoz, and Uptrace are the first entries, followed by groundcover, Honeycomb, Apache SkyWalking, Dynatrace Application Monitoring, and Azure Monitor. The entries are ordered as a ranked best-of list, so use the stated criteria to compare monitoring approaches relevant to your applications.
31 application performance monitoring ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
#1 Middleware Top pick · 7.6 Free plan · $0.30/mo
#2 Grafana Cloud Application Observability Runner-up · 7.4 Free plan · $0.03/mo
#3 Uptrace Also great · 7.4 Free plan · $39/mo
- Free planFree trial AndroidapiiOSLinuxmacOSWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$0.30/mofirst paid tier About MiddlewareVisit site - Free plan LinuxmacOSWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$0.03/mofirst paid tier About Grafana Cloud Application ObservabilityVisit site - Free planFree trial apiLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 39 /mo
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$39/mofirst paid tier About UptraceVisit site - Free plan apiLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free planFree trial AndroidapiiOSself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 150 /mo
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$150/mofirst paid tier About HoneycombVisit site - Free plan apiLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- No
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free plan Linuxself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$29.08/mofirst paid tier About New Relic Kubernetes MonitoringVisit site - Free planFree trial AndroidapiiOSself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 49 /mo
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$19/mofirst paid tier About SigNozVisit site - Free planFree trial Linuxself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 30 /mo
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$30/mofirst paid tier About groundcoverVisit site - Free plan AndroidiOSLinuxWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$32.92/mofirst paid tier About ManageEngine Applications ManagerVisit site - Free trial apiLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - apiextensionLinuxmacOSWebWindows
- Free plan
- No
- Distributed tracing
- No
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms€33.25/mofirst paid tier About Blackfire.ioVisit site - Free trial AndroidapiiOSLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- No
- Paid from
- 7 /mo
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$58/mofirst paid tier About Dynatrace Application MonitoringVisit site - Free trial AndroidiOSLinuxWebWindows
- Free plan
- No
- Paid from
- 80 /mo
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$120/mofirst paid tier About Raygun Application Performance MonitoringVisit site - Free trial apiWeb
- Free plan
- No
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$0.16/mofirst paid tier About Coralogix APMVisit site - Free trial apiWeb
- Free plan
- No
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$0.16/mofirst paid tier About Logz.io APMVisit site - WebWindowsLinux
- Free plan
- No
- Paid from
- 100 /mo
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - WebiOSAndroid
- Free plan
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Web
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - WebLinuxmacOS
- Free plan
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- No
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - WebWindowsLinux
- Free plan
- No
- Paid from
- 8 /mo
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
- Real user monitoring
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Web
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 23.25 /mo
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Web
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Web
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Transaction tracing
- Yes
- Dependency mapping
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Web
- Free plan
- No
- Paid from
- 99 /mo
- Distributed tracing
- No
- Transaction tracing
- No
- Dependency mapping
- No
- Real user monitoring
- No
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
Is your app on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which application performance monitoring is ranked first on Everything Xiaomi?
Middleware is ranked #1 of 31 with a score of 7.6. Grafana Cloud Application Observability is second and Uptrace third.
How many of these have a free plan?
10 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Grafana Cloud Application Observability has the lowest first paid tier we found: $0.03/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes: documentation depth, a free tier and the platforms it runs on. Paid placements never change a rank.