Comparison · Updated May 2026

The honest Datadog alternativefor teams that don't want to budget around per-host pricing.

Q: Why is SecureNow cheaper than Datadog?

Datadog charges per host and per feature, then adds separate products for logs, APM, security, and AI assistance. SecureNow is flat per-app pricing: the basic firewall and IP intelligence are free, Pro is $49/app/month for full production security (attack detection, traces, logs, AI investigations, blocking), and Team is $149/month for up to 5 apps with 30-day history.

Q: Does SecureNow replace Datadog APM?

Yes for most teams. SecureNow uses OpenTelemetry (the same standard Datadog now supports), so your traces, spans, latency histograms, and error rates work exactly the same. The difference is we add a real-time firewall and AI forensics layer that Datadog only sells as separate ASM/Bits AI add-ons.

Q: Is migrating from Datadog hard?

If you already use OpenTelemetry, you can point telemetry at SecureNow. If you use the Datadog agent, run `npm install securenow@latest`, `npx securenow login`, and add `-r securenow/register` to your start command. Supported app paths include Express, Fastify, NestJS, Koa, Hapi, Next.js, Nuxt 3, and Vite.

Q: Will my Datadog dashboards transfer?

Dashboards don't transfer (different query languages), but most popular charts have one-click equivalents in SecureNow. We include a Datadog-style starter dashboard so the muscle memory carries over.

Q: Is there a free trial?

Yes - every new account starts with a 14-day full-product free trial and no credit card. During the trial, firewall, telemetry, alerting, forensics chat, AI investigations, and human-approved response are enabled. When the trial ends, those workflows pause until you pick a plan - the basic firewall stays free.

Q: What about logs and metrics retention?

Pro keeps 7 days of traces, logs, and security context per app; Team keeps 30 days across up to 5 apps. Scale plans run on a dedicated isolated telemetry instance with custom retention. The free tier is firewall and IP intelligence only, with no hosted telemetry retention.

SecureNow gives you everything most engineering teams actually use Datadog for - distributed traces, logs, errors - plus a real-time IP firewall and answers when something goes wrong: ask who attacked your login and get the IPs, targeted accounts, and evidence in seconds. 14-day free trial. No credit card. Full product.

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Built for founders, CTOs, and small Node.js teams migrating off Datadog because the bill grew faster than the company.

3–10×

Cheaper for typical mid-sized SaaS workloads (flat per-app pricing beats per-host once you hit scale).

≤ 5 min

Time to first trace + first blocked malicious IP. npm install securenow@latest, npx securenow login, and one preload flag.

0 lock-in

Pure OpenTelemetry — point your collector somewhere else any time. No proprietary DSL or agent.

SecureNow vs Datadog — feature matrix

Feature	Datadog	SecureNow	Notes
APM (traces, latency, errors)			OpenTelemetry under the hood — no proprietary agent.
Logs			Auto-captured via the same `-r securenow/register` preload.
Real-time IP firewall (built-in)			Datadog markets ASM but enforcement still depends on your WAF.
AI-powered incident forensics	Add-on (Bits AI)	Included on Pro	Ask who attacked your login and get the IPs, targeted accounts, and evidence in seconds — during trial and on every paid plan.
No-payment trial	14-day trial	14-day full-product trial	SecureNow starts without a credit card; firewall, ingestion, AI workflows, and detections pause only when the trial ends.
Pricing model	Per-host + per-feature	Flat per-app	Pro is $49/app/month. Team covers up to 5 apps at $149/month. The basic firewall is free.
Dedicated telemetry instance	Shared SaaS	Scale plan	Scale runs on a dedicated isolated telemetry instance with custom retention.
Setup time	Hours (agent install, integrations)	<= 5 min	`npm install securenow@latest`, `npx securenow login`, then one preload.
Lock-in	Custom DDog agent + DSL	Pure OpenTelemetry — portable

Pricing - the actually-honest version

Datadog

• APM: $0.07–$0.31 per host / hour
• Logs: $0.10/GB ingest + $1.70/M indexed events
• ASM: $17/host/month (extra)
• Bits AI assistant: extra
• Custom metrics, RUM, synthetics — all separate line items

A 30-host deployment with logs + ASM + APM pencils out to ~$2.5–4k/month before you touch a dashboard.

SecureNow

• 14-day full-product free trial - no credit card.
• Free: basic Node.js firewall (500k+ known-bad IPs, hourly refresh), IP intelligence, local AI security audit, CLI.
• Pro: $49/app/month for attack detection, traces, logs, AI investigations, blocking, rate limits, alerts, 7-day history, up to 5M protected requests/month.
• Team: $149/month for up to 5 apps, 30-day history, team members, shared policies.
• Scale: custom pricing with a dedicated isolated telemetry instance.

Flat per-app pricing that follows the job - no per-host math, no per-feature line items.

Migrating from Datadog in an afternoon

1. Install. npm install securenow@latest
2. Preload. Add -r securenow/register to your start command, or npx securenow init for Next.js / Nuxt.
3. Sign in. npx securenow login - pick or create the app you're migrating.
4. Verify. npx securenow doctor checks collector reachability, span emission, and firewall sync.
5. Cancel Datadog.Or run them side-by-side for a week to compare. We're fine either way.

FAQ

Why is SecureNow cheaper than Datadog?

Datadog charges per host and per feature, then adds separate products for logs, APM, security, and AI assistance. SecureNow is flat per-app pricing: the basic firewall and IP intelligence are free, Pro is $49/app/month for full production security (attack detection, traces, logs, AI investigations, blocking), and Team is $149/month for up to 5 apps with 30-day history.

Does SecureNow replace Datadog APM?

Yes for most teams. SecureNow uses OpenTelemetry (the same standard Datadog now supports), so your traces, spans, latency histograms, and error rates work exactly the same. The difference is we add a real-time firewall and AI forensics layer that Datadog only sells as separate ASM/Bits AI add-ons.

Is migrating from Datadog hard?

If you already use OpenTelemetry, you can point telemetry at SecureNow. If you use the Datadog agent, run `npm install securenow@latest`, `npx securenow login`, and add `-r securenow/register` to your start command. Supported app paths include Express, Fastify, NestJS, Koa, Hapi, Next.js, Nuxt 3, and Vite.

Will my Datadog dashboards transfer?

Dashboards don't transfer (different query languages), but most popular charts have one-click equivalents in SecureNow. We include a Datadog-style starter dashboard so the muscle memory carries over.

Is there a free trial?

Yes - every new account starts with a 14-day full-product free trial and no credit card. During the trial, firewall, telemetry, alerting, forensics chat, AI investigations, and human-approved response are enabled. When the trial ends, those workflows pause until you pick a plan - the basic firewall stays free.

What about logs and metrics retention?

Pro keeps 7 days of traces, logs, and security context per app; Team keeps 30 days across up to 5 apps. Scale plans run on a dedicated isolated telemetry instance with custom retention. The free tier is firewall and IP intelligence only, with no hosted telemetry retention.

Related comparisons & guides

Stop budgeting around your APM bill.

Start with the full SecureNow experience for 14 days - no credit card - then keep the free firewall or upgrade to Pro for full production security.

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