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10 Best Serverless Monitoring Tools 2024

Discover the top 10 serverless monitoring tools for 2024, including AWS CloudWatch, Google Cloud Monitoring, and Azure Monitor. Learn about their features, pricing, and use cases.

Zan Faruqui
September 18, 2024

Monitoring serverless applications is crucial for ensuring smooth performance, reliability, and security. This article covers the top 10 serverless monitoring tools to help you choose the right one for your needs:

  1. AWS CloudWatch
  2. Google Cloud Monitoring
  3. Azure Monitor
  4. Datadog
  5. New Relic
  6. Prometheus
  7. Grafana
  8. Lumigo
  9. Epsagon
  10. Sumo Logic

Quick Comparison

Tool Features Pricing Integration
AWS CloudWatch Log collection, metrics, tracing Free (basic), $0.005 per metric (standard) AWS services, third-party
Google Cloud Monitoring Log collection, metrics, tracing Free (basic), $0.006 per metric (standard) Google Cloud services, third-party
Azure Monitor Log collection, metrics, tracing Free (basic), $0.005 per metric (standard) Azure services, third-party
Datadog Log collection, metrics, tracing $15 per host (basic), $25 per host (standard) Multi-cloud, third-party
New Relic Log collection, metrics, tracing $25 per month (basic), $75 per month (standard) Multi-cloud, third-party
Prometheus Metrics, tracing Open-source, free Multi-cloud, third-party
Grafana Visualization, dashboards Open-source, free Multi-data sources, third-party
Lumigo Log collection, metrics, tracing $25 per month (basic), $50 per month (standard) AWS Lambda, third-party
Epsagon Log collection, metrics, tracing $25 per month (basic), $50 per month (standard) AWS Lambda, third-party
Sumo Logic Log collection, metrics, tracing $90 per month (basic), $150 per month (standard) Multi-cloud, third-party

When choosing a serverless monitoring tool, consider your cloud environment, monitoring needs, and budget. This article provides an overview of each tool's features, pros and cons, and use cases to help you make an informed decision.

What is Serverless Monitoring?

Serverless monitoring tracks and analyzes the performance, availability, and behavior of serverless applications and functions. In a serverless setup, apps are made up of functions that run in response to events like database changes, HTTP requests, or scheduled tasks. Monitoring involves collecting metrics, logs, and other data from these functions to ensure they work as expected and to find and fix any issues.

The main goals of serverless monitoring are to:

  • Optimize performance and reliability
  • Improve resource use
  • Provide insights for ongoing improvement

Serverless monitoring tools help identify performance issues, track resource usage, and spot security risks. This helps developers keep their serverless applications running smoothly and securely.

In serverless environments, monitoring is essential because there is no visibility into the underlying infrastructure. Without proper monitoring, it can be hard to find and fix issues, leading to poor performance, increased latency, and security problems. Serverless monitoring tools give developers the visibility and insights they need to ensure their applications meet performance, security, and reliability standards.

1. AWS CloudWatch

AWS CloudWatch

Key Features

AWS CloudWatch is a monitoring service for AWS resources, applications, and services. It collects metrics, logs, and events to help you manage resources, fix issues, and improve performance. Key features include:

  • AWS Integration: Works with AWS services like EC2, S3, and Lambda.
  • Dashboards: Create custom dashboards to view metrics, logs, and events.
  • Alarms: Set alarms to alert you of potential issues.
  • Automated Actions: Trigger actions like restarting instances or sending notifications.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Works well with AWS services Steep learning curve
Wide range of monitoring features Expensive for large setups
Customizable dashboards Limited customization options
Automated actions and alarms Can be overwhelming for beginners

Use Cases

AWS CloudWatch is useful for:

  • Monitoring AWS Lambda functions: Provides detailed metrics and logs.
  • Tracking API Gateway performance: Offers metrics and logs for API performance.
  • Optimizing EC2 instance use: Helps monitor performance and identify resource issues.

2. Google Cloud Monitoring

Google Cloud Monitoring

Key Features

Google Cloud Monitoring is a tool for tracking Google Cloud services. It offers automatic dashboards, real-time metrics, and alerts. Key features include:

  • SLO Monitoring: Set service-level objectives (SLOs) and get alerts for violations.
  • Metrics Collection: Use Managed Service for Prometheus with Kubernetes or the Ops Agent for VMs.
  • Google Cloud Integration: Monitor all Google Cloud resources directly in the console.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Supports multi-cloud and hybrid setups Lacks some advanced features
Automatic dashboards for Google Cloud services User interface issues reported
Rich query language for trends and issues False positives in alerts reported

Use Cases

Google Cloud Monitoring is useful for:

  • Scaling monitoring with Prometheus
  • Tracking API usage
  • Monitoring Compute Engine VMs
  • Implementing SRE practices

3. Azure Monitor

Azure Monitor

Key Features

Azure Monitor is a tool for tracking Azure resources and applications. Key features include:

  • Distributed tracing: Monitor Azure Functions and other cloud services.
  • Remote services insight: View databases, queues, and other services.
  • Unified logging: See logs alongside your traces and workloads.
  • Metrics analysis: Identify cloud-service bottlenecks with metrics.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Complete monitoring for Azure resources and apps Data bandwidth charges for sending data
Consistent experience across Azure, AWS, and GCP Limited search and filtering
Real-time custom event creation and monitoring Integration issues with non-AWS vendors

Use Cases

Azure Monitor is useful for:

  • Monitoring application performance: Gain visibility into serverless app performance.
  • Optimizing resource usage: Identify and fix cloud-service bottlenecks.
  • Troubleshooting issues: Use distributed tracing to resolve problems quickly.
  • Monitoring hybrid environments: Track resources and apps across Azure, AWS, and GCP.

4. Datadog

Datadog

Key Features

Datadog is a monitoring platform that provides visibility into serverless applications. Key features include:

  • End-to-end visibility: Monitor serverless apps with metrics, traces, and logs for every invocation.
  • Real-time alerting: Get notifications when issues arise, reducing detection and response times.
  • Custom metrics: Create metrics from traces or logs, and submit them directly from Lambda functions.
  • Distributed tracing: Connect traces from serverless apps to metrics for a detailed view of performance.
  • Unified logging: Collect logs alongside traces and workloads for efficient troubleshooting.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Provides full visibility into serverless apps Can be complex to set up
Offers real-time alerting and anomaly detection May require extra infrastructure costs
Supports custom metrics and distributed tracing Steeper learning curve for new users

Use Cases

Datadog is useful for:

  • Monitoring performance: Gain visibility into serverless app performance and identify bottlenecks.
  • Troubleshooting issues: Use distributed tracing and unified logging to resolve problems quickly.
  • Optimizing resource usage: Identify and fix cloud-service bottlenecks, reducing costs and improving efficiency.
  • Monitoring hybrid environments: Track resources and apps across multiple cloud providers and on-premises infrastructure.

5. New Relic

New Relic

Key Features

New Relic is an observability platform that provides detailed code-level analysis of serverless architectures. It offers intuitive dashboards, real-time alerts, and efficient log management. New Relic supports over 100 built-in integrations and covers languages like Java, Node.js, Python, Go, .NET, PHP, Ruby, and C/C++.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Easy to install and use Steep learning curve
Dynamic alerts and detailed monitoring Full subscription can be expensive
Supports many languages and integrations

Use Cases

New Relic is useful for:

  • Monitoring performance and availability
  • AWS Lambda monitoring
  • Observing cloud-managed functions
  • Viewing serverless services' performance in a unified interface
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6. Prometheus

Prometheus

Prometheus is an open-source tool for monitoring and alerting, ideal for cloud-native environments. It excels in tracking serverless applications and infrastructure with its time-series data collection, query language, and visualization features.

Key Features

  • Open-Source: Free and maintained by a community.
  • Time-Series Data: Collects metrics over time for analysis.
  • PromQL: A powerful query language for real-time data analysis.
  • Visualization: Built-in web interface and integration with Grafana.
  • Scalability: Handles large data volumes from distributed systems.
  • Service Discovery: Automatically finds monitoring targets.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Free and open-source Steep learning curve for complex setups
Highly customizable Limited built-in visualization
Powerful query language Needs extra tools for log management
Scalable and efficient Complex monitoring setup
Supports multiple data sources

Use Cases

Prometheus is useful for:

  1. Monitoring Serverless Functions: Tracks metrics from AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions, and Azure Functions.
  2. Monitoring Infrastructure: Monitors containers, Kubernetes clusters, and cloud services.
  3. Alerting: Sets up alerts based on custom rules.
  4. Multi-Cloud Monitoring: Works across multiple cloud providers.
  5. Integrations: Works with serverless frameworks like Serverless Framework and AWS SAM.

7. Grafana

Grafana

Key Features

Grafana is an open-source tool for data visualization and monitoring. It works with various data sources like Prometheus, Elasticsearch, and InfluxDB. It offers customizable dashboards, alerting, and plugin support.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Free and open-source Steep learning curve for complex setups
Integrates with many data sources Limited built-in log management
Customizable dashboards Needs extra tools for advanced alerting
Supports alerting and notifications Resource-intensive for large deployments
Large community and good documentation

Use Cases

Grafana is useful for:

  • Serverless Monitoring: Visualize metrics from AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions, and Azure Functions.
  • Infrastructure Monitoring: Monitor containers, Kubernetes clusters, and cloud services.
  • Data Visualization: Create custom dashboards for real-time data analysis.
  • Alerting and Notification: Set up alerts based on custom rules.
  • Multi-Cloud Monitoring: Works across AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure.

8. Lumigo

Lumigo

Key Features

Lumigo is a serverless monitoring tool designed for quick troubleshooting. It offers real-time monitoring and interactive visual maps to analyze system behavior. Lumigo helps identify critical paths and bottlenecks to improve performance and reduce latency. It also tracks various scenarios and generates detailed reports.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Supports various log and metric types Limited free tier (150k invocations)
Customizable dashboards No audit trail support
Manages analytics for capacity and demand Monitors one cloud platform at a time
Transparent cost structure

Use Cases

Lumigo is useful for:

  • Monitoring and debugging third-party APIs and managed services
  • Investigating performance and cost-related issues
  • Conducting end-to-end transaction path analysis
  • Performing root cause analysis
  • Identifying and removing performance bottlenecks
  • Receiving smart alerts

9. Epsagon

Epsagon

Key Features

Epsagon is a tool for monitoring serverless environments. It provides end-to-end visibility, integrates with many services, and uses AI for predictions and alerts. Epsagon helps you see and optimize your microservices without manual setup.

  • End-to-End Visibility: See everything from containers to serverless systems.
  • Integrations: Works with many cloud services.
  • AI-Based Alerts: Get predictions and alerts based on AI.
  • No Manual Setup: No need for manual coding or maintenance.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Easy to use with instant alarms and request tracing Alerting not as advanced as CloudWatch
Automatically tracks network and database connections Requires instrumentation, which can slow new trace analysis
AI-based predictions and alerts Limited support for multiple AWS accounts
Supports many cloud environments Slight increase in code execution time

Use Cases

Epsagon is useful for:

  • Tracing Cloud Microservices: Automatically trace your cloud services.
  • Monitoring Containers: Keep an eye on CPU and memory usage.
  • Root Cause Analysis: Quickly find and fix issues.
  • Instant Observability: Get immediate visibility into your payloads.
  • Debugging Serverless Apps: Troubleshoot serverless applications.
  • Cost Monitoring: Track and forecast AWS Lambda costs.

10. Sumo Logic

Sumo Logic

Key Features

Sumo Logic is a cloud-native platform for monitoring and analyzing logs, metrics, and traces. It provides real-time insights and advanced analytics to help you manage your applications and infrastructure.

  • Real-time Insights: Instant visibility into performance.
  • Advanced Analytics: Uses AI to detect issues.
  • Data Collection: Gathers logs, metrics, and traces from various sources.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Complete visibility into performance Complex setup and configuration
Advanced analytics and AI capabilities Steeper learning curve for non-technical users
Supports multiple cloud providers Higher pricing compared to other solutions
Scalable and flexible Limited support for on-premise environments

Use Cases

Sumo Logic is useful for:

  • Monitoring Serverless Applications: Get real-time insights and troubleshoot quickly.
  • Securing Cloud Infrastructures: Detect and respond to security threats.
  • Optimizing Cloud Costs: Analyze and reduce resource usage.
  • Improving Application Performance: Identify and fix performance bottlenecks.

Comparing Serverless Monitoring Tools

When choosing a serverless monitoring tool, consider features, pricing, and integration capabilities. Here's a side-by-side comparison of the featured tools:

Tool Features Pricing Integration
AWS CloudWatch Log collection, metrics, and tracing Free (basic), $0.005 per metric (standard) AWS services, third-party integrations
Google Cloud Monitoring Log collection, metrics, and tracing Free (basic), $0.006 per metric (standard) Google Cloud services, third-party integrations
Azure Monitor Log collection, metrics, and tracing Free (basic), $0.005 per metric (standard) Azure services, third-party integrations
Datadog Log collection, metrics, and tracing $15 per host (basic), $25 per host (standard) Multiple cloud providers, third-party integrations
New Relic Log collection, metrics, and tracing $25 per month (basic), $75 per month (standard) Multiple cloud providers, third-party integrations
Prometheus Metrics and tracing Open-source, free Multiple cloud providers, third-party integrations
Grafana Visualization and dashboards Open-source, free Multiple data sources, third-party integrations
Lumigo Log collection, metrics, and tracing $25 per month (basic), $50 per month (standard) AWS Lambda, third-party integrations
Epsagon Log collection, metrics, and tracing $25 per month (basic), $50 per month (standard) AWS Lambda, third-party integrations
Sumo Logic Log collection, metrics, and tracing $90 per month (basic), $150 per month (standard) Multiple cloud providers, third-party integrations

When evaluating these tools, consider your specific needs and requirements. Look for features that align with your serverless architecture, pricing that fits your budget, and integration capabilities that support your existing infrastructure.

Choosing the Right Tool

When selecting a serverless monitoring tool, consider your specific needs. Here are some recommendations to help you choose the best tool:

Cloud Environment

Environment Recommended Tools
Multi-cloud Datadog, New Relic, Sumo Logic
AWS-specific AWS CloudWatch, Lumigo, Epsagon
Google Cloud Google Cloud Monitoring

Monitoring Needs

Need Recommended Tools
Detailed tracing and profiling Datadog, New Relic, Lumigo
Log collection and analysis AWS CloudWatch, Google Cloud Monitoring, Sumo Logic
Customizable dashboards and visualization Grafana

Budget and Pricing

Evaluate the pricing models of each tool and consider your budget constraints. Some tools, like AWS CloudWatch, offer a free tier, while others, like Datadog, charge per host or month.

Tool Pricing
AWS CloudWatch Free (basic), $0.005 per metric (standard)
Google Cloud Monitoring Free (basic), $0.006 per metric (standard)
Azure Monitor Free (basic), $0.005 per metric (standard)
Datadog $15 per host (basic), $25 per host (standard)
New Relic $25 per month (basic), $75 per month (standard)
Prometheus Open-source, free
Grafana Open-source, free
Lumigo $25 per month (basic), $50 per month (standard)
Epsagon $25 per month (basic), $50 per month (standard)
Sumo Logic $90 per month (basic), $150 per month (standard)

Consider your specific needs, budget, and the cloud environment you are using to choose the best serverless monitoring tool for your requirements.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right serverless monitoring tool is key to improving performance, ensuring reliability, and scaling efficiently. With many options available, consider your specific needs, cloud environment, and budget. By integrating these tools into your cloud management processes, you can enhance scalability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

Consideration Recommended Tools
Cloud Environment
Multi-cloud Datadog, New Relic, Sumo Logic
AWS-specific AWS CloudWatch, Lumigo, Epsagon
Google Cloud Google Cloud Monitoring
Monitoring Needs
Detailed tracing and profiling Datadog, New Relic, Lumigo
Log collection and analysis AWS CloudWatch, Google Cloud Monitoring, Sumo Logic
Customizable dashboards and visualization Grafana
Budget and Pricing
AWS CloudWatch Free (basic), $0.005 per metric (standard)
Google Cloud Monitoring Free (basic), $0.006 per metric (standard)
Azure Monitor Free (basic), $0.005 per metric (standard)
Datadog $15 per host (basic), $25 per host (standard)
New Relic $25 per month (basic), $75 per month (standard)
Prometheus Open-source, free
Grafana Open-source, free
Lumigo $25 per month (basic), $50 per month (standard)
Epsagon $25 per month (basic), $50 per month (standard)
Sumo Logic $90 per month (basic), $150 per month (standard)

Consider your specific needs, budget, and the cloud environment you are using to choose the best serverless monitoring tool for your requirements.

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