Quick Answer
Last verified:
High confidence

Datadog Security costs Free to $41 per month as of July 2026, with 5 plans available including a free tier. Plans: Free (free), Pro at $18/month, Enterprise at $27/month, DevSecOps Pro at $27/month, and DevSecOps Enterprise at $41/month. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: Yes

Datadog Security offers 5 pricing tiers: Free, Pro, Enterprise, DevSecOps Pro, DevSecOps Enterprise. A free plan is available. Paid plans include Pro at $18/Per host, per month, Enterprise at $27/Per host, per month, DevSecOps Pro at $27/Per host, per month.

Datadog Security lists $0-$41/month, but hidden costs like implementation and support add to the total as of July 2026. Key hidden costs: security tax on log analysis, double charge for log management, custom metrics overages. Verified from 1 sources by CostBench.

Hidden Costs Breakdown

1

Security Tax on Log Analysis

medium addon

Datadog charges an additional fee, often referred to as a 'Security Tax,' to analyze logs that have already been ingested and indexed.

industry

Subsequently, indexing logs for searchability costs approximately $1.70 per million log events for 15-day retention, and $2.50 per million events for 30-day retention.

2

Double Charge for Log Management

high overage

Customers pay twice for log management: first to ingest logs at $0.10 per GB, and then again to index them for searchability at approximately $1.70 per million log events for 15-day retention or $2.50 per million events for 30-day retention.

industry

Subsequently, indexing logs for searchability costs approximately $1.70 per million log events for 15-day retention, and $2.50 per million events for 30-day retention.

3

Custom Metrics Overages

critical overage

Datadog charges a premium for custom metrics not from native integrations, with overages billed at $5.00 per 100 custom metrics per month, potentially reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars monthly due to high-cardinality tags.

industry

Custom Metrics Overages: Datadog charges a premium for "custom metrics," which include any metrics not originating from a native Datadog integration, such as those sent via OpenTelemetry.

4

Per-Host Billing in Dynamic Environments

high overage

Datadog's per-host billing for Infrastructure Monitoring and APM can lead to unpredictable and inflated bills in dynamic environments with containerized microservices and auto-scaling Kubernetes clusters due to a broad and fluid definition of a 'host.'

industry

In environments with containerized microservices and auto-scaling Kubernetes clusters, the definition of a "host" can be broad and fluid, leading to unpredictable and inflated bills as the host count dynamically increases.

5

On-Demand Surcharges

high overage

Usage exceeding committed volumes is billed at an on-demand rate approximately 50% higher than the annual committed price.

industry

On-Demand Surcharges: Datadog products carry an on-demand rate that is approximately 50% higher than the annual committed price.

6

Rehydration Costs

medium addon

When archived logs are pulled back for analysis, a rehydration charge of $0.10 per compressed GB scanned applies, even if only a few lines are retrieved.

industry

Rehydration Costs: When archived logs are pulled back into Datadog for analysis, there's a rehydration charge of $0.10 per compressed GB scanned, meaning users pay for the full scan even if only a few lines are retrieved.

7

LLM Observability Premium

medium addon

Datadog's LLM Observability for AI-powered applications introduces specialized billing for token ingestion at approximately $0.10 per 1,000 tokens and session billing at around $1.50 per 1,000 sessions.

industry

Log ingestion costs around $0.10 per GB.

Frequently Asked Questions

01 What hidden costs should I budget for with Datadog Security?

Beyond the license fee, budget for: Security Tax on Log Analysis ($0.10 to $0.20 per million events); Double Charge for Log Management ($0.10 per GB (ingestion), $1.70 per million log events for 15-day retention, $2.50 per million events for 30-day retention (indexing)); Custom Metrics Overages ($5.00 per 100 custom metrics per month); On-Demand Surcharges (50% higher than the annual committed price); Rehydration Costs ($0.10 per compressed GB scanned); LLM Observability Premium ($0.10 per 1,000 tokens, $1.50 per 1,000 sessions). Exact totals depend on your deployment size and negotiated terms.

02 Does Datadog Security charge for implementation?

Implementation costs for Datadog Security vary by deployment size and customization. Contact the vendor or check our sourced hidden-cost breakdown above for verified figures.

03 How much does Datadog Security support cost?

Premium support pricing for Datadog Security depends on your tier and contract terms. See the sourced cost breakdown above for any verified figures we have.

04 Are there overage or storage costs with Datadog Security?

Customers pay twice for log management: first to ingest logs at $0.10 per GB, and then again to index them for searchability at approximately $1. Estimated impact: $0.10 per GB (ingestion), $1.70 per million log events for 15-day retention, $2.50 per million events for 30-day retention (indexing).

05 What add-ons cost extra with Datadog Security?

Add-on pricing for Datadog Security varies by feature. The sourced cost breakdown above lists any verified add-on costs we have.

Check current Datadog Security pricing

Prices and terms change; verify against the live pricing page.

See Datadog Security Pricing