Best Kubernetes Monitoring in 2026
Updated
In short: Middleware is ranked #1 of 49 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of Netdata and Dynatrace Kubernetes Monitoring. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Netdata. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Grafana Cloud Application Observability at $0.03/mo.
For monitoring Kubernetes environments, compare how tools cover the control plane, logs and distributed traces, along with the alerting channels and data retention they offer. Managed Kubernetes support can help distinguish where each tool fits, while free plans and starting prices provide cost context. The entries are ordered by rank, beginning with Site24x7 Kubernetes Monitoring and Datadog Kubernetes Monitoring, followed by Coroot and groundcover. Prometheus, VictoriaMetrics, Botkube and Azure Monitor also appear near the start. Use these criteria to judge which monitoring capabilities align with the clusters and operational needs you’re responsible for.
49 Kubernetes monitoring ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
#1 Middleware Top pick · 7.5 Free plan · $0.30/mo
#2 Netdata Runner-up · 7.5 Free plan · $4.50/mo
#3 Dynatrace Kubernetes Monitoring Also great · 7.4 $1.40/mo- Free planFree trial AndroidapiiOSLinuxmacOSWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$0.30/mofirst paid tier About MiddlewareVisit site - Free planFree trial AndroidiOSLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 4.5 /mo
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$4.50/mofirst paid tier About NetdataVisit site - Free trial AndroidapiiOSLinuxself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- No
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$1.40/mofirst paid tier About Dynatrace Kubernetes MonitoringVisit site - Free plan LinuxmacOSWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$0.03/mofirst paid tier About Grafana Cloud Application ObservabilityVisit site - Free planFree trial apiLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 149 /mo
- Kubernetes logs
- No
- Distributed tracing
- No
- Alerting channels
- Slack, PagerDuty, Opsgenie, Microsoft Teams, webhooks
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$149/mofirst paid tier About RadarVisit site - Free planFree trial apiLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$275/mofirst paid tier About CheckmkVisit site - Free planFree trial apiLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 1 /mo
- Control-plane monitoring
- Yes
- Kubernetes logs
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Alerting channels
- email, Slack, PagerDuty, Microsoft Teams, webhooks
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$1/mofirst paid tier About Datadog Kubernetes MonitoringVisit site - Free plan Linuxself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$29.08/mofirst paid tier About New Relic Kubernetes MonitoringVisit site - Free planFree trial apiLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 200 /mo
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$200/mofirst paid tier About VictoriaMetricsVisit site - Free planFree trial apiLinuxself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 4.99 /mo
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$4.99/mofirst paid tier About WatchlogVisit site - Free planFree trial apiLinuxself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 1 /mo
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$1/mofirst paid tier About CorootVisit site - Free planFree trial AndroidapiiOSself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 150 /mo
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$150/mofirst paid tier About HoneycombVisit site - Free plan LinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindowsRecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
- Free planFree trial AndroidapiiOSself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 49 /mo
- Distributed tracing
- 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
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$30/mofirst paid tier About groundcoverVisit site - Free plan AndroidiOSLinuxWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$32.92/mofirst paid tier About ManageEngine Applications ManagerVisit site - Free plan Linux
- Free plan
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$19/mofirst paid tier About Grafana k6Visit site - Free trial AndroidapiiOSLinuxmacOSWebWindows
- Free plan
- No
- Control-plane monitoring
- Yes
- Kubernetes logs
- Yes
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
- Alerting channels
- email, SMS, webhooks, voice calls
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free plan apiWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 299 /mo
- Kubernetes logs
- Yes
- Alerting channels
- email, webhook
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$299/mofirst paid tier About SubstrateVisit site - Free planFree trial self-hosted
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 10 /mo
- Kubernetes logs
- Yes
- Alerting channels
- Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Mattermost, PagerDuty, Webhook
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$10/mofirst paid tier About BotkubeVisit site - Free trial apiLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- No
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free planFree trial Web
- Free plan
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free trial apiLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 50 /mo
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free plan Web
- Free plan
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free trial apiLinuxmacOSWebWindows
- Free plan
- No
- Distributed tracing
- Yes
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 Kubernetes monitoring is ranked first on Everything Xiaomi?
Middleware is ranked #1 of 49 with a score of 7.5. Netdata is second and Dynatrace Kubernetes Monitoring third.
How many of these have a free plan?
20 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.