Datadog Agent Observability review

Datadog now sells its LLM tracing product as Agent Observability, and it makes the most sense for teams already paying for Datadog. The product page says it runs the same Datadog tracer from development through production and correlates agent behavior with backend performance and end-user impact, which standalone tools cannot do on their own. Billing counts only LLM spans, so tool, workflow and retrieval spans are free. The free tier allows up to 40K LLM spans a month with 15-day retention and unlimited evaluations. Pro covers 100K LLM spans for $160 a month on an annual commitment, $200 month-to-month or $240 on-demand, with extra spans from $3.50 per 10K. Sensitive Data Scanner is included to redact personal, financial and health data. Value scores lowest here because longer retention costs $6.50 to $9 per 10K spans, and teams new to Datadog face a larger platform to learn.

Who it is for

companies that already run Datadog APM and logs

Price

Free tier up to 40K LLM spans a month; Pro from $160 a month on an annual commitment.

The Pro tier starts at $240 per month on-demand for the first 100K LLM spans, with lower rates at $200 per month month-to-month and $160 per month on an annual commitment.
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 12, 2026.

Key features

• Billing only on LLM spans, not tool, workflow or retrieval spans
• SDKs for Python and Node.js, the Java tracer, the HTTP API and OpenTelemetry
• Auto-captured traces for LangChain, CrewAI, LiteLLM, OpenAI, Anthropic and Bedrock
• Sensitive Data Scanner included, with 1 GB per 10K LLM spans
• Agent behavior correlated with backend performance and end-user impact

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Free tier includes up to 40K LLM spans with unlimited evaluations
• Strength: Traces connect to the rest of an existing Datadog stack
• Strength: HIPAA compliance and role-based access control are listed features
• Weakness: Pro costs $240 a month on-demand, dropping to $160 only with an annual commitment
• Weakness: Free tier keeps traces for 15 days
• Weakness: Longer retention costs $6.50 to $9 per 10K LLM spans a month

Key facts

• Free tier: Up to 40K LLM spans a month, 15-day retention
• Pro: $160 a month annual, $200 monthly, $240 on-demand for 100K LLM spans
• Extra spans: $3.50 per 10K annual, $5 on-demand
• Languages: Python, Node.js, Java, plus HTTP API

Where it ranks

Datadog Agent Observability is No. 6 in our Best LLM Observability Tools verdict.