49.2k
We wanted something similar to Datadog, so that it's easy for engineers to ramp up to this new system with no steep learning curve. With ClickHouse, we see a compression ratio of 10x and a 200x increase in indexed logs. These logs are easily accessible to all engineers... And all of this came at a 0% increase in cost.
- Comparisons
- Observability
ClickStack + Datadog
Retain more. Investigate deeper. Extend your observability stack.
Modern observability should not force every workload into a single platform. ClickStack combines ClickHouse performance with an open, OpenTelemetry-native platform that can run alongside Datadog, helping you retain complete telemetry, investigate without limits, and power AI agents.
- Retain everything. Keep months of logs, traces, and metrics without sacrificing performance or ballooning costs.
- Investigate without limits. Run thousands of human and AI-powered investigations with predictable resource-based pricing, without per-investigation charges or API rate limits.
- Built on open standards. OpenTelemetry-native with SQL, open APIs, and the freedom to use any model, agent, or workflow.
Why teams extend Datadog with ClickStack
As telemetry volumes and AI workloads grow, organizations increasingly complement Datadog with a platform that offers more predictable economics, greater openness, and the flexibility to support new workloads.
Keep every signal
Retain high-cardinality telemetry for longer without sampling or rollups, preserving the context engineers and agents need to diagnose issues.
Simple resource-based pricing
Pay only for the storage and compute used by your ClickStack workloads, without additional host licensing, feature-based SKUs, or unpredictable charges as volumes grow.
Built on open standards
OpenTelemetry-native, with SQL, open APIs, and the freedom to integrate with Datadog, your existing data platform, and established workflows.
Query anything with SQL
Explore telemetry with full SQL and advanced analytics, joining it with business data without proprietary query-language constraints.
Built for AI, not just dashboards
Power thousands of investigations with predictable resource-based pricing, and build with any model, agent, or MCP server.
Up to 100x lower costs
Reduce costs by up to 100x for workloads running on ClickStack, while retaining complete telemetry for longer.
Economics at scale
ClickStack can fundamentally change the economics of high-volume observability workloads. By running it alongside Datadog, teams can place retention-heavy and query-intensive workloads on simple resource-based pricing, reducing the need for shorter retention, sampling, or additional product SKUs.
Cost per TB logs per month
DatadogClickStack
Volume157 TB / month
Lower costs. More flexibility.
Datadog · monthly (est.)
~$604k
~$3.85 / GB
ClickStack · monthly (est.)
—
Annual savings
—
saved annually by running this workload on ClickStack
— more cost efficient
at 157 TB / month
Assuming one month retention for the workload compared across ClickStack and Datadog. ClickStack estimate based on ClickHouse Cloud on AWS in us-east-1.
See our full pricing ->->
Retain everything
Keep months or years of logs, traces, and metrics for the workloads that require complete historical context.
Sample nothing
Investigate production using complete telemetry instead of approximations and roll-ups.
Query without API limits
Run thousands of human and AI-powered investigations using predictable resource-based pricing instead of worrying about every query, feature, or API limit.
Grow without surprises
As telemetry volumes, engineering teams, and AI workloads increase, ClickStack costs remain simple and predictable.
Run ClickStack alongside Datadog
Adopting ClickStack does not have to be all or nothing.
With the Datadog receiver in the OpenTelemetry Collector, telemetry can continue flowing to Datadog while the same data is mirrored into ClickStack. Teams can compare results side by side, validate queries and dashboards, build AI-powered investigation workflows, and move selected workloads when it makes sense, while keeping Datadog where it remains the best fit.
Evaluate and extend side by side
- Validate dashboards
- Extend retention
- Run AI investigations
- Compare query performance
- Evaluate cost efficiency
- Move workloads when ready
An open stack for modern observability
ClickStack is an open foundation for observability that can extend the platforms and workflows teams already use.
Open by design, it lets you choose the best tools for each part of your stack, from telemetry collection and dashboards to AI agents, notebooks, and custom workflows, while continuing to integrate with Datadog and the wider observability ecosystem.
Collaborate
AI Notebooks
Query
SQL & Lucene
Visualize
Grafana
Data Lake
S3, Iceberg, Delta
Connect
MCP servers
Integrate
External tools
Alerts
incident.io, Slack, PagerDuty
OpenTelemetry
Logs, Traces, Metrics
AI Agents
Claude, Codex, OpenCode
ClickStack
Built for AI-powered investigations
AI is changing how engineers investigate production systems. Instead of manually navigating dashboards and correlating telemetry, they increasingly use agents to gather evidence, test hypotheses, and identify root causes with complete operational context.
ClickStack provides an open foundation for these workflows that can run alongside existing observability platforms, combining complete telemetry, purpose-built tools, and open standards so teams can build and evolve AI investigations without vendor lock-in.
claude-code — ~/incident-1247
Observability data is business data
- Investigate with SQL.
Explore telemetry using familiar SQL and advanced analytical functions, without proprietary query-language constraints. - Correlate operational and business signals.
Join logs, traces, metrics, and business data to quantify incident impact and prove observability's value. - Use a broader data ecosystem.
Analyse observability data with BI tools, Python notebooks, and data science frameworks.
SELECT
failures.ContainerId as ContainerId,
failures.Timestamp AS FailureTime,
recoveries.Timestamp AS RecoveryTime,
dateDiff(second, failures.Timestamp, recoveries.Timestamp) AS RecoverySeconds
FROM
events AS failures
ASOF LEFT JOIN
kube_events AS recoveries
ON failures.ContainerId = recoveries.ContainerId
AND failures.Timestamp < recoveries.Timestamp
WHERE
failures.Message LIKE 'exited abnormally%'
AND recoveries.EventType = 'ContainerReady'
ORDER BY
failures.ContainerId,
failures.Timestamp;How ClickStack complements Datadog
Modern observability can span more than one platform. As telemetry volumes grow and AI becomes central to investigations, teams can retain established Datadog workflows while adding ClickStack for complete retention, open analytics, and high-concurrency query workloads.
Simple resource-based pricing
Native
Months or years at low cost
No sampling required
Full SQL
Bring your own models, agents and MCP servers
Complete logs, metrics, and traces
Open APIs and ecosystem
Petabyte scale with sub-second queries
Usage and product-based pricing
Supported
Retention varies by product and plan
Sampling can be used to manage volume and cost
Datadog query languages
Integrated Datadog AI experience
Integrated logs, metrics, and traces
Managed proprietary platform
Managed scale across Datadog services
Extend your Datadog environment with ClickStack
Keep the Datadog workflows that work for your team while adding open, cost-efficient observability for long-term retention, deeper analysis, and AI at scale.
FAQs
We're here to make observability simple, fast, and open. Explore our FAQs to learn more about ClickStack, and if you don't see what you need, we're always happy to chat.
01
ClickStack is an open observability platform built on ClickHouse for storing and analysing logs, metrics, traces, and events at petabyte scale. It can run alongside Datadog as an open, scalable data and investigation layer, giving teams additional flexibility through OpenTelemetry, SQL, open APIs, and support for their preferred AI models and workflows.
02
Teams commonly add ClickStack as telemetry volumes, retention requirements, and investigation workloads grow. Its resource-based pricing and efficient storage engine make it practical to retain more data, reduce sampling, and support high-volume analytical or AI workloads while continuing to use Datadog for established dashboards, monitoring, and operational workflows.
03
Savings vary by workload, but some organizations have reduced observability costs by 100x to 200x after moving high-volume workloads from Datadog to ClickHouse while simultaneously increasing retention and searchable telemetry. For example, Clever increased searchable log volume by 200x while keeping costs flat after moving its logging workload to ClickHouse Cloud.
04
Yes. The Datadog receiver for the OpenTelemetry Collector allows telemetry to be mirrored into ClickStack while continuing to flow to Datadog. Teams can validate dashboards, compare queries, extend retention, and build AI-powered investigation workflows before deciding whether individual workloads should remain in Datadog or move to ClickStack.
05
Yes. ClickStack is OpenTelemetry-native, supporting logs, metrics, and traces through standard OpenTelemetry collectors, protocols, and semantic conventions. Teams can introduce ClickStack alongside their existing observability environment without replacing their instrumentation.
06
In most cases, yes. Existing OpenTelemetry instrumentation continues to work without modification. Teams using Datadog agents can mirror telemetry through the Datadog receiver, allowing ClickStack to be introduced without immediately replacing existing agents or pipelines.
07
Yes. ClickStack is designed as an open foundation for agentic observability. Connect any model or agent framework through MCP, SQL, and open APIs, allowing teams to extend existing observability workflows with AI systems built around their own operational knowledge and engineering practices.
08
ClickStack combines complete telemetry, predictable resource-based pricing, and semantically rich observability tools to give AI agents the context they need to investigate production systems accurately. It can complement existing Datadog workflows by providing agents with longer retention, unrestricted query access, and complete operational history.
AI Notebooks provide a collaborative workspace where engineers and agents can share investigations created using their preferred AI tools, inspect queries and evidence, build on previous findings, and create a persistent body of operational knowledge.
09
Yes. ClickStack stores logs, metrics, traces, and events within ClickHouse, allowing teams to correlate signals using SQL and OpenTelemetry. This supports both standalone ClickStack workflows and analysis that complements existing Datadog monitoring.
10
Yes. ClickStack is built on open-source technologies including ClickHouse, HyperDX, OpenTelemetry, and Vector. Teams can deploy and customize the stack themselves or use Managed ClickStack.
11
Yes. Managed ClickStack is a fully managed observability platform built on ClickHouse Cloud. It provides automated scaling, upgrades, backups, security, and telemetry ingestion, allowing teams to add ClickStack capabilities without operating the underlying infrastructure.
12
Yes. ClickStack can be deployed on your own infrastructure, in any major cloud, or consumed as Managed ClickStack. This gives organizations flexibility over where specific observability workloads and data are operated.
