Sentry is $26/mo (Team). Seismograph is a self-hosted alternative at $0.99/mo. Here's when each makes sense.
| Seismograph | Sentry | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-hosted, your infra | Self-hosted option exists but requires Docker, Postgres, Redis, Kafka, Clickhouse |
| Data location | Your server, your disk | Your server (if self-hosted) |
| Free tier | 5,000 errors/mo | Paid only |
| Pro pricing | $0.99/mo | $26/mo (Team) |
| Dependencies | None (single binary + SQLite) | Docker, Postgres, etc. |
| Setup time | ~30 seconds | 15-30 minutes (self-host) |
| Dashboard | Built-in at /ui | Web UI |
| License | BSL 1.1 | Open source |
Seismograph is a single Go binary with embedded SQLite. Install it with one command, and you are running in under a minute. Your data stays on your server.
curl -fsSL https://stockyard.dev/seismograph/install.sh | sh
The decision between Seismograph and Sentry usually comes down to one question: do you need the breadth of features that Sentry offers, or would a focused tool that stays out of your way be a better fit? Sentry has spent years building an ecosystem around error tracker. Seismograph does one thing well and gives you complete control of the underlying data.
Architecturally, Seismograph and Sentry could not be more different. Sentry runs on distributed cloud infrastructure with load balancers, managed databases, CDNs, and redundancy across availability zones. Seismograph is a single process writing to a single file on a single disk. That sounds fragile until you realize that SQLite handles more concurrent readers than most web applications will ever need, and WAL mode means reads never block writes.
Both Seismograph and Sentry offer self-hosted options, but the operational requirements differ. Self-hosted option exists but requires Docker, Postgres, Redis, Kafka, Clickhouse Seismograph is a single binary with embedded SQLite — no containers, no external databases, no orchestration. The practical difference: Seismograph runs on a $5 VPS with no configuration. Self-hosting Sentry typically requires a more substantial infrastructure investment.
If you are currently using Sentry and considering Seismograph, start by running both in parallel. Install Seismograph on a test server, point your workflow at it for a week, and compare the experience. Seismograph's data directory is isolated — running a trial costs nothing beyond the compute. If Seismograph does not fit, delete the binary and the data directory. There is nothing else to clean up.
Single binary. Free to start. $0.99/mo for Pro.