When you’re managing a modern, distributed system, every second counts. Debugging often feels like searching for a needle in a haystack — logs are in one tool, metrics in another, and traces hidden somewhere else. By the time you stitch it all together, the incident has already cost time and money.

That’s exactly why dash0 exists. Built around OpenTelemetry, dash0 brings all telemetry data—logs, metrics, and traces—into a single, powerful platform. The result? Faster insights, easier debugging, and observability without the headaches.

What is Dash0?

Dash0 is an OpenTelemetry-native observability platform designed to give developers, SREs, and platform engineers a unified view of their systems. Unlike legacy solutions that lock you into proprietary formats, dash0 respects open standards, ensuring your telemetry remains flexible and portable.

With dash0, you get a complete, connected observability solution — without bloated features or unpredictable pricing.

Why Dash0 Stands Out

Native OpenTelemetry Integration

Some platforms claim OTel support but twist the data into proprietary formats. Dash0 fully embraces OTel, making integration seamless and future-proof.

Fair and Transparent Pricing

Instead of billing by hosts, users, or queries, dash0 charges only for the telemetry volume you send. Clear, predictable, and easy to manage.

Engineer-Centric Design

Everything in dash0 — from dashboards to service maps — is built for speed and simplicity. No unnecessary clutter, just the insights you need.

Key Features of Dash0

Metrics

Monitor SLIs and system performance with long-term retention and fast queries.

Distributed Tracing

Track requests across microservices to quickly identify bottlenecks.

Logs with Context

No more isolated log files. In dash0, logs connect directly to related traces and metrics.

Dashboards and Service Maps

Visualize system relationships instantly, making complex architectures easier to understand.

Proactive Alerts

Set up smart alerts and synthetic checks to catch issues before they reach customers.

Configuration as Code

Manage dashboards and alerts alongside your infrastructure for consistency and version control.

Who Benefits from Dash0?

  • Developers: Speed up debugging by jumping between metrics, logs, and traces in seconds.

  • SREs: Reduce mean time to resolution (MTTR) during incidents.

  • Platform Engineers: Get deep visibility into Kubernetes clusters and workloads.

  • Growing Companies: Scale observability affordably without vendor lock-in.

How Dash0 Works Under the Hood

The engine behind dash0 is ClickHouse, a high-performance database designed for big data analytics. This makes queries lightning-fast, even when handling millions of spans, metrics, or log entries. Unlike traditional tools, dash0 handles high-cardinality data effortlessly.

Dash0 Pricing Model

One of the biggest advantages of dash0 is cost transparency. Instead of surprise invoices, you get clear, usage-based billing. With built-in dashboards that track spending by service or namespace, dash0 makes it easy to cut waste and optimize costs.

Dash0 vs Other Observability Tools

Dash0 vs Datadog

Datadog offers broad features but can be costly and proprietary. Dash0 is lean, open, and cost-efficient.

Dash0 vs New Relic

New Relic processes data in its own format. Dash0 sticks with OpenTelemetry end to end.

Dash0 vs Prometheus & Grafana

Prometheus and Grafana are flexible but require significant setup. Dash0 delivers similar value out of the box.

Use Cases for Dash0

  • Monitoring Kubernetes workloads with real-time insights.

  • Debugging microservices during outages.

  • Linking alerts directly to root causes.

  • Managing observability costs at scale.

Best Practices with Dash0

  • Keep consistent naming across telemetry.

  • Use trace sampling for high-volume applications.

  • Review cost dashboards regularly to eliminate noise.

  • Rely on service maps for architecture clarity.

Dash0 in Action: A Real Example

Imagine your checkout process slows down during peak hours. With dash0, you spot latency spikes in your metrics dashboard. A quick trace search shows the delay comes from a specific API call. Logs tied to that trace confirm a slow database query. Within minutes, you’ve found and fixed the issue — all in one tool.

The Future of Observability with Dash0

As more teams adopt OpenTelemetry, dash0 is paving the way for open, fast, and affordable observability. It’s not just a tool — it’s a smarter approach to building reliable systems.

Conclusion

Dash0 makes observability simple. With unified logs, metrics, and traces, true OpenTelemetry support, and transparent pricing, dash0 empowers teams to focus on delivering reliable systems instead of wrestling with monitoring tools.

FAQs

Q1: What is dash0 best known for?
Dash0 is known for being an OpenTelemetry-native platform that unifies observability data.

Q2: How does dash0 pricing work?
It’s volume-based, so you pay only for the telemetry you send.

Q3: Is dash0 good for Kubernetes?
Yes, dash0 provides built-in insights for pods, namespaces, and workloads.

Q4: How does dash0 compare to Datadog?
Dash0 is leaner, more affordable, and fully OTel-native, while Datadog can be costly and proprietary.

Q5: Who should use dash0?
Developers, SREs, and platform engineers looking for a simple, open, and cost-effective observability platform.