Lightrun
Lightrun is a dynamic observability platform that allows developers to add logs, snapshots, and metrics to live applications in real-time without stopping, redeploying, or restarting their code.
New Relic
New Relic is a cloud-based observability platform that helps you monitor, debug, and optimize your entire technology stack through real-time data visualization and full-stack performance analysis.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Lightrun | New Relic |
|---|---|---|
| Website | lightrun.com | newrelic.com |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting Price | Free | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✓ 30 days free trial | ✘ No free trial |
| Free Plan | ✓ Has free plan | ✓ Has free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2019 | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Tel Aviv, Israel | San Francisco, USA |
Overview
Lightrun
Lightrun is a developer-centric observability platform that lets you debug and monitor your applications while they are running in production. Instead of waiting for a full CI/CD cycle to add a single log line, you can insert virtual 'action points' like logs, snapshots, and metrics directly into your live code. This approach helps you identify the root cause of production issues instantly without affecting the end-user experience or requiring a service restart.
You can use the platform across various environments, including Kubernetes, serverless, and on-premise setups. It integrates directly into your existing IDE, allowing you to troubleshoot complex distributed systems from the comfort of your local development environment. By providing real-time visibility into code execution, it eliminates the guesswork often associated with intermittent bugs and performance bottlenecks in high-scale environments.
New Relic
New Relic gives you a unified view of your entire software ecosystem, from infrastructure and applications to end-user experiences. Instead of jumping between disconnected tools, you can ingest data from any source and visualize it in a single dashboard to pinpoint performance bottlenecks. You can track every transaction, identify slow database queries, and resolve errors before they impact your customers.
The platform is built for engineers who need deep visibility into complex distributed systems and microservices. It offers a generous free tier that includes 100 GB of data ingestion per month and full access to over 30 capabilities. Whether you are a solo developer or part of a global enterprise, you can scale your monitoring as your infrastructure grows without losing granular detail.
Overview
Lightrun Features
- Dynamic Logging Add log lines to your live application instantly to capture specific variable values without redeploying your code.
- Virtual Snapshots Capture the full call stack and local variables at specific code lines without pausing the execution of your program.
- Real-time Metrics Insert custom counters and timers into your production environment to measure performance and track specific code paths.
- IDE Integration Debug your remote applications directly from IntelliJ, VS Code, or PyCharm using a familiar interface and workflow.
- Conditional Breakpoints Set specific conditions for your logs and snapshots so you only capture data when specific error criteria are met.
- Security Governance Control exactly who can add actions to your code and redact sensitive data automatically to maintain strict compliance.
New Relic Features
- Application Performance Monitoring. Monitor your application health in real-time and trace distributed requests across complex microservices to find the root cause of latency.
- Infrastructure Monitoring. Connect your hosts, containers, and cloud resources to see how infrastructure health impacts your application performance and user experience.
- Log Management. Search through billions of log messages instantly and correlate them with specific application errors to troubleshoot issues faster than ever.
- Browser Monitoring. Measure actual user load times and frontend performance across different devices and geographies to ensure a smooth customer experience.
- Error Tracking. Group similar errors automatically and get alerted the moment new bugs appear in your production environment so you can fix them quickly.
- Vulnerability Management. Identify security risks within your software dependencies and prioritize fixes based on the actual impact they have on your live applications.
Pricing Comparison
Lightrun Pricing
- 1 user included
- Up to 3 concurrent agents
- Standard IDE plugins
- Community support
- Basic dynamic logs and snapshots
- Everything in Community, plus:
- Unlimited concurrent agents
- Advanced security controls
- Role-based access control
- Priority email support
- Extended data retention
New Relic Pricing
- 100 GB/month free data ingest
- 1 Full Platform User
- Unlimited Basic Users
- Unlimited Core Users
- Standard support access
- Full stack observability access
- Everything in Free, plus:
- Up to 5 Full Platform Users
- Pay-as-you-go for extra data
- Data ingest at $0.30/GB
- Ticket-based support
- Add-on security features
Pros & Cons
Lightrun
Pros
- Reduces mean time to resolution for production bugs
- Eliminates the need for frequent hotfixes and redeploys
- Deep integration with popular IDEs simplifies the workflow
- Minimal performance overhead on the running application
Cons
- Initial configuration of agents can be complex
- Learning curve for setting up secure governance
- Pricing can be high for very small teams
New Relic
Pros
- Extremely deep visibility into application code and database queries
- Generous free tier provides full access to most features
- Unified dashboard reduces the need for multiple monitoring tools
- Powerful querying language for creating highly customized data visualizations
Cons
- Pricing model can be difficult to predict as data grows
- Initial setup and configuration requires significant technical expertise
- Interface can feel overwhelming due to the massive feature set