Better Stack
betterstack.com
What it is
Better Stack combines incident management, on-call, uptime monitoring, status pages, telemetry, error tracking, and real user monitoring. Its Slack-native AI SRE agent investigates incidents using logs, metrics, traces, errors, and web events. Logs and traces can be transformed with VRL and queried through drag-and-drop controls, PromQL, or SQL. Uptime checks cover HTTP(S) keywords, TCP/UDP ports, SSL, and DNS, and can run as often as every 30 seconds. Integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Datadog, New Relic, Grafana, Prometheus, PagerDuty, Jira, Zapier, and Google Calendar; iOS and Android apps can receive notifications. The free plan includes 10 monitors and heartbeats, one status page, 100,000 exceptions per month, 5,000 session replays, 3 GB of logs and traces retained for three days, and 30 GB of metrics. Responder costs $29 a month per license when billed annually. Better Stack says it is SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR compliant, but not HIPAA compliant. It also describes encryption at rest and in transit, automated backups, and redundant storage where appropriate.
Spec sheet
- Product
- Better Stack describes its platform as covering AI SRE, incident management, on-call, uptime monitoring, status pages, telemetry, error tracking, and real user monitoring.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Free plan
- YesRead 23 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Paid from
- 29Read 23 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Integrations
- Listed integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Datadog, New Relic, Grafana, Prometheus, PagerDuty, Jira, Zapier, and Google Calendar.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Mobile apps
- The integrations page lists iOS and Android apps for receiving notifications on mobile devices.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- AI incident investigation
- Its Slack-native AI SRE agent investigates incidents using logs, metrics, traces, errors, and web events.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Data locations
- Custom data locations are available for enterprise accounts.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Encryption and backups
- The security page says relevant data is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with HTTPS/TLS, with regular automated backups and redundant storage where appropriate.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Error tracking
- Error tracking is Sentry SDK-compatible, includes 100,000 exceptions, and retains errors for 90 days.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- HIPAA
- Better Stack states that it is currently not HIPAA compliant.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Penetration testing
- Better Stack says it conducts regular third-party penetration testing and frequent code reviews, static analysis, and dependency vulnerability scans.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Security certifications
- Better Stack says it is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and GDPR compliant, and that EU data is stored in GDPR-compliant DIN ISO/IEC 27001-certified data centers by default.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Status pages
- The free plan includes one status page, and the pricing page lists 1,000 subscribers included.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Telemetry
- Logs and traces can be transformed with VRL and queried using drag-and-drop, PromQL, or SQL.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
- Uptime checks
- Uptime monitoring includes HTTP(S) keyword checks, TCP/UDP port monitoring, SSL monitoring, DNS monitoring, and checks as frequently as every 30 seconds.Read 28 Sep 2026 · betterstack.com
Plans and prices
Strong points and limits
Strong points
- Free plan includes 10 monitors and heartbeats.
- Uptime checks cover HTTP(S), ports, SSL, and DNS.
- Logs and traces support PromQL and SQL queries.
- iOS and Android apps receive notifications.
- SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR compliant.
Limits
- Free plan retains logs and traces for three days.
- Responder is $29.00 USD monthly per license, billed annually.
- Better Stack is not HIPAA compliant.
- Custom data locations are for enterprise accounts.
Who it suits
It suits teams coordinating incident response, on-call coverage, uptime checks, and telemetry. Mobile notification apps are available for teams using iOS or Android.
Verdict
Better Stack lists a wide set of incident and observability functions alongside concrete free-plan limits. Its stated lack of HIPAA compliance is an important consideration for teams with that requirement.
Where Specifiction places it
- Website Monitoring Software#7 of 558.7
- Internet Performance Monitoring Software#4 of 308.7
- Monitoring Observability#5 of 308.7
- Proactive Notification Software#4 of 218.6
- Log Analysis Software#5 of 248.7
- IT Alerting Software#5 of 238.6
- Error Tracking#7 of 258.6
- Log Monitoring Tools#9 of 288.7
- IT Incident Management Software#10 of 318.7
- Log Management Software#61 of 1118.0