Best free error tracking: hosted quota vs $0 self-host
Free splits two ways. SaaS free tiers cap events on a hosted cluster. Self-host $0 licenses leave you paying the VPS. Mix those and PostHog wins on volume while OSI clones disappear. Sentry Developer is 5k errors and one user. Epure Cloud at $24 is paid and not live.
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One SERP query, two products. Rank inside a column. Do not average them. Hosted free means someone else runs the cluster and you get a monthly quota. License free means you clone the code, the fee is $0 if the license fits, and you pay VPS, disk, and backups.
Public pricing as of 2026-09. Re-check vendor pages before you buy. Roster with more than free: Sentry alternatives.
Hosted free tiers
- PostHog Errors: 100k exceptions/mo on the free errors product, then paid PostHog plans. Own SDK. The volume play on this list.
- Sentry Developer: 5k errors/mo, one user. Team is about $26 for 50k, then PAYG. Native SDK. A trial quota, not a team plan.
- Honeybadger Developer: 5k errors/mo, one user, then Team from $26. Own SDK. No self-host. Their docs throttle, then stop, after quota.
- GlitchTip Cloud: about 1k events free, then paid. The $0 story for GlitchTip is the MIT self-host, not this sample.
- Bugsink hosted eval: about 15k events, one user, then paid hosted from about $16 / 75k.
$0 self-host licenses
GlitchTip: MIT, about four containers, 256 MB min / 512 MB recommended. Bugsink: Polyform Shield, one container, SQLite-first; Shield is not OSI. Epure: Apache 2.0, two containers (Rust + PostgreSQL 16), idle ~82 MiB measured 2026-09-12 on Docker Desktop. Hardware still costs money. PostHog self-host is a full analytics compose, not the small-box job. Sentry self-host is FSL and a 20+ container flotilla. Honeybadger has no self-host. Telebugs is $299 once.
What happens after free
Hosted free tiers throttle, drop, or push a paid plan. Self-host has no vendor overage meter. Spikes still cost CPU and disk on your box. When Epure Cloud ships, Pro is $24 for 200k with zero overages. That is paid. Until then the $0 path is GitHub plus compose. Pricing.
Scoreboard
Free SaaS quota
- PostHog
- 100k exceptions/mo
- Sentry
- 5k errors/mo · 1 user
- GlitchTip
- ~1k events, then paid
- Honeybadger
- 5k errors/mo · 1 user
- Bugsink
- ~15k eval · 1 user
- Epure
- None (Cloud not a free tier)
Self-host license
- PostHog
- MIT (large stack)
- Sentry
- FSL
- GlitchTip
- MIT · $0
- Honeybadger
- No self-host
- Bugsink
- Polyform Shield · $0
- Epure
- Apache 2.0 · $0
After quota
- PostHog
- Upgrade to paid PostHog
- Sentry
- Upgrade / PAYG on paid
- GlitchTip
- Paid Cloud plans
- Honeybadger
- Throttle, then stop (docs)
- Bugsink
- Paid hosted from $16
- Epure
- Self-host: your hardware. Cloud: $24 flat (coming)
SDK
- PostHog
- Own SDK
- Sentry
- Native
- GlitchTip
- DSN swap
- Honeybadger
- Own SDK
- Bugsink
- DSN swap
- Epure
- DSN swap
Self-host
- PostHog
- Yes, heavy
- Sentry
- Yes, 20+ containers
- GlitchTip
- Yes
- Honeybadger
- No
- Bugsink
- Yes
- Epure
- Yes
| Dimension | PostHog | Sentry | GlitchTip | Honeybadger | Bugsink | Epure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free SaaS quota | 100k exceptions/mo | 5k errors/mo · 1 user | ~1k events, then paid | 5k errors/mo · 1 user | ~15k eval · 1 user | None (Cloud not a free tier) |
| Self-host license | MIT (large stack) | FSL | MIT · $0 | No self-host | Polyform Shield · $0 | Apache 2.0 · $0 |
| After quota | Upgrade to paid PostHog | Upgrade / PAYG on paid | Paid Cloud plans | Throttle, then stop (docs) | Paid hosted from $16 | Self-host: your hardware. Cloud: $24 flat (coming) |
| SDK | Own SDK | Native | DSN swap | Own SDK | DSN swap | DSN swap |
| Self-host | Yes, heavy | Yes, 20+ containers | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Public pricing as of 2026-09. Telebugs omitted from the grid: $299, not free.
Pick the free that matches the invoice you refuse
Pick Epure if
- Counsel wants OSI (Apache 2.0), not Shield or a proprietary SaaS.
- You will run a VPS and treat volume as hardware-bound.
- You already ship Sentry SDKs and can swap the DSN.
- You want Pro $24 / Plus $79 later, with no per-event overage story.
Pick another tool if
- 100k hosted exceptions this month: PostHog.
- MIT and a Django ops crew you already know: GlitchTip.
- One container and Shield is acceptable: Bugsink.
- 5k hosted errors to trial Sentry Cloud: Sentry Developer.
Footprint notes: self-host under 512 MB. Clone: GitHub.