DigitalOcean Monitoring vs Stackdriver: What are the differences?

# Introduction

Key differences between DigitalOcean Monitoring and Stackdriver are outlined below.

1. **Data Collection Methods**: DigitalOcean Monitoring collects data primarily from the Droplets on the DigitalOcean cloud platform. In contrast, Stackdriver can collect data from a wide range of sources including Google Cloud Platform, AWS, and on-premises resources, providing a comprehensive monitoring solution.
2. **Integration with Other Services**: DigitalOcean Monitoring is specifically designed to work seamlessly with DigitalOcean Droplets and may have limitations in integrating with other external services. On the other hand, Stackdriver offers extensive integrations with various cloud providers and services, allowing for a more holistic view of the infrastructure.
3. **Feature Set**: DigitalOcean Monitoring provides basic monitoring capabilities focused on resource utilization metrics such as CPU, memory, and disk usage. In contrast, Stackdriver offers a wider range of features including logging, error reporting, tracing, and profiling, making it a more robust monitoring solution for complex environments.
4. **Alerting and Notification**: DigitalOcean Monitoring has limited alerting and notification options compared to Stackdriver, which offers customizable alerting policies based on multiple conditions and notification channels such as email, SMS, and PagerDuty.
5. **Scalability**: DigitalOcean Monitoring may have limitations in scalability for large-scale environments due to its focus on a specific cloud provider. Stackdriver, being a more comprehensive solution, is designed to scale with the infrastructure and can handle monitoring requirements of complex cloud deployments efficiently.
6. **Cost**: DigitalOcean Monitoring is typically included in the pricing of DigitalOcean Droplets, making it a cost-effective choice for users solely on the DigitalOcean platform. In contrast, Stackdriver may incur additional costs based on the volume of data monitored and additional features utilized, which can be a consideration for budget-conscious users leveraging multiple cloud platforms.

In Summary, DigitalOcean Monitoring and Stackdriver differ in data collection methods, integration capabilities, features, alerting options, scalability, and cost considerations.