Error Tracking Tools That Actually Help You Ship Faster
Sentry catches 90% of crashes for free but lacks session replay. Eight error trackers rated on speed, context and cost.
Sentry is our default choice at MG Software for most projects due to its source map depth and free tier. For clients where session replay is essential, we combine Sentry with Highlight.io. We recommend LogRocket when UX bugs are the primary concern.
Every minute a bug goes unnoticed generates an average of 3.2 support tickets and a measurable drop in conversion. Yet most teams only pick an error tracker after their first production incident escalates. We tested eight tools on detection speed, context depth, and cost at 50k events per day.
How did we select these tools?
Each tool was tested in a Next.js 16 production environment with deliberately injected errors (API failures, unhandled promises, render crashes). We measured detection speed, stack trace quality with source maps, alerting latency to Slack, and the usefulness of error context for debugging.
How do we evaluate these tools?
- Error detection and alerting speed after deployment
- Stack trace quality and source map support
- Session replay and breadcrumb context for crashes
- Integrations with Slack, Jira, Linear and deployment tools
- Cost at 50k to 500k events per month
1. Sentry
The most widely used open-source error tracker with SDKs for 100+ platforms. The free tier processes 5,000 errors per month. Performance monitoring and profiling available from the Team plan at $26/month.
Pros
- +Deepest source map integration with automatic upload via CI
- +ML-powered issue grouping prevents duplicate alerts
- +Breadcrumbs show exactly what the user did before the crash
- +Self-hosted option available for teams with compliance requirements
Cons
- -Session replay only available on paid plans
- -UI can overwhelm new users due to feature density
- -Performance monitoring adds complexity to pricing
2. Bugsnag
Error monitoring focused on per-release stability scores. Bugsnag calculates a stability rating that directly shows whether a deploy is safe. Free tier supports 7,500 events per month for small teams.
Pros
- +Release-based stability scores provide direct deploy feedback
- +Automatic grouping with manual override capability
- +Strong React Native and mobile SDK support
- +Lightweight SDK with minimal bundle size impact
Cons
- -Less deep performance monitoring than Sentry
- -Smaller integration ecosystem for DevOps toolchains
- -Pricing jumps significantly when exceeding event limits
3. Rollbar
Real-time error tracking with AI-assisted grouping and predictive alerting. Rollbar detects patterns in errors before they trend. Free tier includes 5,000 events per month.
Pros
- +Predictive alerting warns about exponentially growing errors
- +AI grouping reduces noise by merging related errors
- +Strong support for server-side languages like Python, Ruby and PHP
- +Deploy tracking automatically links errors to specific releases
Cons
- -Frontend SDK less refined than Sentry or LogRocket
- -UI feels dated compared to newer tools
- -Session replay completely absent
4. LogRocket
Combines session replay with error tracking so you see exactly what the user did at the moment of the crash. The platform reconstructs the DOM pixel-perfectly. Pricing starts at $99/month for 10,000 sessions.
Pros
- +Pixel-perfect session replay shows the exact user experience
- +Network request logging with full request/response bodies
- +Redux, Vuex and MobX state tracking for frontend errors
- +Funnel analysis shows where users drop off due to bugs
Cons
- -Significantly higher price than pure error trackers
- -Replay recording adds approximately 50KB to client bundle
- -Less suited for backend-only error tracking
5. Highlight.io
Open-source session replay and error monitoring in one platform. Highlight captures errors, sessions and logs in a unified timeline. Self-hosting available; cloud pricing starts free for 500 sessions per month.
Pros
- +Open-source with self-hosted option for full data control
- +Unified timeline of errors, sessions and log lines
- +Lower price than LogRocket for comparable session replay
- +Good Next.js and Vercel integration out-of-the-box
Cons
- -Younger product with less mature SDK ecosystem
- -Backend tracing still in early development
- -Smaller community than Sentry for troubleshooting
6. Datadog APM
Error tracking as part of the Datadog observability platform. Errors are automatically correlated with traces, logs and infrastructure metrics. Pricing is usage-based per host at $31/month per host for APM.
Pros
- +Full correlation between errors, traces and infrastructure
- +Powerful query language for filtering error patterns
- +Automatic anomaly detection on error rates
- +Once integrated, covers monitoring, logging and error tracking
Cons
- -Per-host pricing makes it expensive for microservice architectures
- -Overkill if you only need error tracking
- -SDK configuration more complex than dedicated error trackers
7. Raygun
Error tracking and real user monitoring in a combined dashboard. Raygun provides deployment tracking and affected-user counts per error. Pricing starts at $49/month for 10,000 errors.
Pros
- +Affected-user count directly shows the impact of each bug
- +Deployment markers link errors to specific releases
- +Quick setup with under 5 minutes integration for most stacks
- +Real User Monitoring included without a separate product
Cons
- -Smaller market position than Sentry with fewer community resources
- -Session replay not available
- -Less advanced grouping than AI-driven alternatives
8. Airbrake
Lightweight error tracker focused on quick integration and clean dashboards. Supports 20+ languages and frameworks. Pricing starts at $19/month for 2 users and 10,000 errors.
Pros
- +Simple, clean interface without unnecessary complexity
- +Performance monitoring included on all plans
- +Good support for legacy stacks (PHP, Ruby, .NET)
- +Fast onboarding: first errors visible within 5 minutes
Cons
- -Less advanced AI grouping than Sentry or Rollbar
- -Limited session context for frontend errors
- -Smaller integration ecosystem than market leaders
Which tool does MG Software recommend?
Sentry is our default choice at MG Software for most projects due to its source map depth and free tier. For clients where session replay is essential, we combine Sentry with Highlight.io. We recommend LogRocket when UX bugs are the primary concern.
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