Bugsnag vs New Relic: Error Tracking Compared

Introduction

Bugsnag and New Relic both report application errors, but they are built for different jobs. Bugsnag is a stability monitoring platform focused on application stability scores and release health tracking. New Relic is a full-stack observability platform offering APM, infrastructure monitoring and error tracking in one solution.

Feature Comparison

Bugsnag vs New Relic for error tracking

The Bugsnag vs New Relic choice comes down to how much of your stack you want in one tool. Bugsnag concentrates on the error: stability scores per release, mobile crash reporting, breadcrumbs and a release-focused workflow, with limited APM.

New Relic treats errors as one signal among traces, infrastructure metrics and logs, all queryable with NRQL. That breadth helps when errors come from slow dependencies or overloaded hosts, but pricing is usage-based above the free tier and can get expensive at scale. Pick Bugsnag for focused release stability; pick New Relic if you want one observability platform and are ready to manage its pricing model.

Bugsnag Overview

Bugsnag stands out for stability scores, release-focused workflow, mobile crash reporting and breadcrumbs. Pricing: Free tier (7,500 events/mo), Team at $59/mo, Business at $249/mo.

The main limitations include: limited APM features, pricier than some alternatives, fewer integrations.

New Relic Overview

New Relic focuses on full-stack observability, the NRQL query language, broad integrations and a generous free tier. Pricing: Free tier (100GB/mo), Standard at $0.30/GB ingested, Pro at $0.50/GB.

Trade-offs to consider: can get expensive at scale, complex pricing model, occasional data lag.

Pricing Comparison

Recommendation

Choose Bugsnag if your primary need is release stability for mobile and web apps. Choose New Relic if you want error tracking inside a full-stack observability platform.

If you want focused error tracking with AI root-cause analysis on every plan, Bugsly's Team plan is $19/mo with unlimited events and unlimited users. See Bugsly vs New Relic for a side-by-side.