GrafanaFull-stack observability for the agentic era
vs
TempoOpen-source, high-scale distributed tracing backend
Comparison · Observability · weekly run Nov 3
Grafana vs Tempo
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
Grafana is the stronger AI pick in Observability: it has a visibility score of 47.8 versus 7.1 for Tempo, and ranks ahead in 100% of the answers that name both.
Choose Grafana if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (47.8 vs 7.1)
- AI answers describe it more positively (46% vs 6% positive)
- You need FedRAMP or NATSEC100 or PCI DSS or SOC 2 Type II or ISO 27001 coverage
- Permanent free tier
Choose Tempo if…
- You need a self-hosted or on-premises option
- You need SOC 2 or ISO/IEC 27001 or ISO 22301 or PCI DSS v4.0.1 or FedRAMP High or TISAX or TX-RAMP Level 2 coverage
- Open-source and cost-effective
- Mature Prometheus, Loki and Grafana ecosystem
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 3
| Metric | Grafana | Tempo |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 47.8% | 7.1% |
| Change vs last week | New | New |
| Rank in Observability | #2 | #12 |
| Share of voice | 9.8% | 3.1% |
| Mentions this run | 58 | 18 |
| Positive in AI answers | 46% | 6% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
Grafana 0pp · Tempo 0pp over 0 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Grafana leads on 3 of 3 engines
ChatGPT
AI Mode
Perplexity
GrafanaTempo
Head to head in AI answers
18 engine answers name both brands
18Grafana ranked higher
0Tempo ranked higher
| Prompt | Engine | Grafana | Tempo |
|---|---|---|---|
| How do I choose an observability platform for a mid-market team? | AI Mode | #5 | #7 |
| What are the best observability tools in 2026? | ChatGPT | #3 | #6 |
| What are the best observability tools in 2026? | AI Mode | #6 | #9 |
| Top observability platform options for B2B SaaS companies | ChatGPT | #2 | #9 |
| Best observability platform for startups | ChatGPT | #1 | #7 |
| Best observability platform for startups | AI Mode | #5 | #8 |
| Best observability platform for enterprise | ChatGPT | #3 | #6 |
| Which observability platform has the best reviews? | AI Mode | #2 | #5 |
| Compare the leading observability platforms | ChatGPT | #5 | #10 |
| Compare the leading observability platforms | AI Mode | #3 | #6 |
| Compare the leading observability platforms | Perplexity | #3 | #9 |
| Alternatives to the most popular observability platform | ChatGPT | #3 | #6 |
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | Grafana | Tempo |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Usage-based | — |
| Entry price | Free; paid from $19 / mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Deployment | Fully managed Grafana Cloud on Public Cloud, Federal Cloud or Bring Your Own Cloud, plus self-managed Grafana Enterprise | Managed as Grafana Cloud or self-hosted on Kubernetes via Helm |
| Compliance | FedRAMP, NATSEC100, PCI DSS, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, ISO 27001, CSA STAR | SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 22301, PCI DSS v4.0.1, GDPR, FedRAMP High, TISAX, CSA STAR, TX-RAMP Level 2 |
| Support | Community support (Free plan), 8x5 email support (Pro plan), Premium support (Enterprise plan) | — |
| Founded | 2014 | — |
| Headquarters | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Employees | 1,001–5,000 | 1,001–5,000 |
| Funding | Series E · $1100M raised | Series E · $1100M raised |
| Best for | Teams that want open-standard observability without lock-in, from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises | — |
Plans side by side
Tempo
Pricing not available.
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
Grafana
- Permanent free tier
- Open, composable, flexible platform
- Strong open-source, Prometheus and OpenTelemetry support
- Cost-effective, good value
- Managed hosting
- Complex multi-dimensional usage-based billing
- Self-hosting demands significant engineering maintenance
- Capped free-tier limits
Tempo
- Open-source and cost-effective
- Mature Prometheus, Loki and Grafana ecosystem
- Distributed tracing for traces
- Integrates smoothly with OpenTelemetry
- Managed option with a permanent free tier
- Demands significant internal engineering time to maintain and scale
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 100%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “Grafana vs Tempo”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/grafana-vs-tempo, data of Nov 3, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.