At a glance
| Database engines | Dashboards: any supported data source, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server; Database Observability: MySQL 8.0+, PostgreSQL 14+ |
| Deployment | Self-hosted Grafana OSS or Enterprise, or Grafana Cloud SaaS |
| Collection/agents | None in Grafana itself; Grafana Alloy for Grafana Cloud Database Observability |
| Alerting | Built-in Grafana Alerting |
| Query monitoring | Database Observability (Grafana Cloud): query samples, explain plans, wait events |
| Metrics retention | Grafana Cloud: 14 days on Free, 13 months for metrics on Pro |
| Licensing | AGPL-3.0-only OSS; Grafana Cloud usage-based; Enterprise from $25,000 a year |
Grafana is the default dashboard layer for open source database monitoring: it sits on top of Prometheus, pgwatch or PMM, or queries databases directly with SQL. On its own it collects nothing. Grafana Cloud's Database Observability adds query samples, explain plans and wait events for MySQL 8.0+ and PostgreSQL 14+, priced per host hour.
Overview
Grafana, from Grafana Labs, is a visualisation and alerting application released under AGPL-3.0-only, with some parts under Apache 2.0. It queries data sources rather than storing metrics itself: Prometheus and other time-series stores, and relational databases such as PostgreSQL, MySQL and SQL Server through SQL. Grafana Labs also sells Grafana Enterprise and the hosted Grafana Cloud. Grafana 13.3.0 was released on 27 October 2026.
Database Observability is a Grafana Cloud feature for MySQL and PostgreSQL, self-managed or on AWS RDS and Aurora, Azure Database and Google Cloud SQL. Grafana Alloy collects metrics and logs and forwards them to Grafana Cloud, adding explain plans, query samples, wait events and table schemas to exporter metrics. It requires MySQL 8.0 or later with Performance Schema, or PostgreSQL 14 or later with pg_stat_statements; MariaDB is not supported.
Key features
- Dashboards over Prometheus and other time-series stores, and direct SQL queries to PostgreSQL, MySQL and SQL Server
- Built-in alerting on dashboard data sources
- Database Observability in Grafana Cloud with query samples, explain plans, wait events and table schemas
- Grafana Alloy collector that can monitor several MySQL and PostgreSQL databases from one instance
- Grafana Cloud Free tier with 14-day retention and three database hosts of Database Observability
- Self-hosted OSS under AGPL-3.0-only, or hosted Grafana Cloud
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free open source edition with wide data source support
- Works with the stacks most teams already have, such as Prometheus, PMM and pgwatch
- Grafana Cloud Free tier includes Database Observability for three hosts
- Public per-unit prices for Grafana Cloud Pro
Cons
- Grafana OSS collects nothing by itself; it needs a data source holding the metrics
- Database Observability covers only MySQL 8.0+ and PostgreSQL 14+, not MariaDB, and is a Grafana Cloud feature
- Grafana Cloud bills telemetry separately from Database Observability host hours, so costs need modelling
- AGPLv3 obligations apply if you modify Grafana and offer it to others over a network
Pricing
Grafana OSS is free under AGPL-3.0-only. As listed on the Grafana pricing page on 7 November 2026 (prices shown in dollars): the Grafana Cloud Free tier includes 10k active metric series, 50 GB each of logs, traces and profiles a month with 14-day retention, three active visualization users and Database Observability for up to 2,232 host hours (three database hosts). Pro has a $19 monthly platform fee, then usage pricing from $6.50 per 1k series, $8 per active visualization user and $0.07 per Database Observability host hour (about $51 per host a month). Enterprise starts at a $25,000 annual commitment.
Pricing checked on the vendor's official page on 7 November 2026. Prices change; confirm before buying.
Who it is best for
Teams that want dashboards and alerts over Prometheus or their databases, and MySQL or PostgreSQL users who want hosted query analysis through Grafana Cloud.
Who should look elsewhere
- Business reporting on SQL data: see Metabase vs Grafana and Grafana vs Power BI.
- SQL Server or Oracle query analysis: see SQL Server monitoring tools.
Verdict
Grafana is the common visual layer of open source monitoring and a sound choice wherever metrics already exist in Prometheus or a database. Grafana Cloud's Database Observability turns it into a query analysis tool for MySQL and PostgreSQL, but its engine and version limits and usage-based billing need checking first.
Frequently asked questions
Is Grafana free?
Grafana OSS is free under AGPL-3.0-only. Grafana Cloud has a Free tier and a usage-based Pro tier with a $19 monthly platform fee, as listed on 7 November 2026.
What is Grafana Database Observability?
A Grafana Cloud feature for MySQL 8.0+ and PostgreSQL 14+ that uses Grafana Alloy to collect query samples, explain plans, wait events and table schemas alongside exporter metrics.
Can Grafana query SQL Server directly?
Yes. Grafana can use PostgreSQL, MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server as data sources and chart the results of SQL queries.
Sources
- Grafana repository (AGPL-3.0-only)
- Grafana releases
- Grafana pricing
- Grafana Cloud Database Observability
- Database Observability requirements and overhead
Checked November 2026.
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