Side by side

groundcover vs Radar

Both stand on kubernetes monitoring. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

groundcover

Free plan LinuxSelf-hostedWeb

groundcover combines eBPF-based telemetry collection with cloud and on-premises deployment options. Compare the retention, support, and per-host plan details with your monitoring needs.

Visit groundcover

Radar combines Kubernetes topology, events, and operational views, with a free OSS option and Cloud plans for hosted investigations and alerting. Check cluster limits and event retention against your needs before choosing a Cloud tier.

Visit Radar

The facts

	groundcover	Radar
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Linux, Self-hosted, Web	API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows
Lowest paid plan	Pro: $30 per host a month	Team: $149 a month
Plans published	4	5
Maker	groundcover	Not published
Website	groundcover.com	radarhq.io
On kubernetes monitoring	#14 of 54	#18 of 54

groundcover: what it does well

Collects metrics, logs, and traces without instrumentation.
Ingests data in real time without sampling.
Offers Bring Your Own Cloud and Fully On-Prem.
Includes a free plan with 12-hour retention.
Supports listed integrations including Kubernetes and Prometheus.

What to know first

Free plan has 12-hour data retention.
Free plan support is via Slack Community.
Pro costs $30 a month per host.
Pricing is based on monitored hosts, not telemetry volume.

Radar: what it does well

Live topology includes traffic and TLS health.
OSS supports unlimited clusters and nodes.
Cloud Free includes 100 investigations monthly.
Alerts route to Slack or webhooks.
Desktop apps cover macOS, Linux, and Windows.

What to know first

Cloud Free is limited to three clusters.
Free event timeline retention is 24 hours.
Kubernetes logs are not supported.
Team starts at $149 per cluster monthly.

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