Announcements

#mackerelio

In November 2024, Mackerel will officially support the observability standard OpenTelemetry metrics, and update pricing

*This English translation is for reference purposes only (original text).

We will officially begin support for OpenTelemetry, currently offered in public beta, on November 1, 2024. We will also revise our pricing structure to align with the features (includes price increases).

About OpenTelemetry support and the future development policy of Mackerel

As we move forward with cloud-native development, it can be challenging to predict and monitor system behavior. In such environments, it becomes crucial to improve observability by providing a comprehensive view of the system's internal state. To accommodate such environments, Mackerel will officially launch support for OpenTelemetry, which allows handling metrics in multiple dimensions, on November 1, 2024.

Features of the OpenTelemetry support include:

  • Posting and exploring multidimensional metrics with metadata. This enhances observability in complex systems and provides opportunities to identify root causes.
  • Metrics that are not confined to the unit of "hosts." Provides flexibility not tied to traditional hosts in a cloud-native structure.
  • Adheres to the OpenTelemetry standard, allowing metrics to be collected from a variety of systems, not limited to Mackerel plugins.

For more on the development background and philosophy, please see this article here (in Japanese).

Changes to the pricing structure

Along with the official launch of OpenTelemetry support, we will change Mackerel's pricing structure for usage from November 1, 2024 onward (billed on December 1, 2024).

New pricing unit: "Metric"

In addition to the existing "Standard Host" and "Micro Host," we are introducing a new billing unit called "Metric."

  • Metric price: 11 JPY/Metric per month (tax included)

At the same time, we will change the method of billing that previously converted exceeded host metric limits into the number of hosts, to billing based on the "Metric" unit.

Revision of the "Standard Host" pricing (price increases)

In response to the recent rapid exchange rate fluctuations (depreciation of the yen) and the resulting increase in server costs, we will revise the pricing for Standard Hosts.

  • Old: 1,833 JPY/Host per month (tax included)
  • New: 2,180 JPY/Host per month (tax included)

There will be no changes to the pricing of Micro Hosts (660 JPY/Host per month, tax included).

Introduction of a "Minimum Usage Fee"

Previously, Mackerel service metrics and external monitors were provided free of charge up to a certain limit when using Standard Hosts. With the change in the pricing structure, we are discontinuing this method and introducing a new "Minimum Usage Fee" to make it easier for users.

If you use Mackerel's billable features such as host or metric posting and external monitors, you will be billed at least 2,180 JPY (tax included) even if the usage fee does not reach that amount. If no billable features are used, no billing will occur.

External monitors will continue to be available for free for up to 20 URLs (the minimum usage fee applies). Although this is a price revision that will lower or have no impact on most customers, it will result in an increase in monthly usage fees for users who only use Micro Hosts, up to three hosts per month, without using Standard Hosts.

Example 1

  • One Amazon EC2 server. Monitored by mackerel-agent. 30 metrics.
  • External monitor 1 URL
Setting Amount
Old structure 1 Standard Host 1,833 JPY (tax included)
New structure 1 Standard Host 2,180 JPY (tax included)

Example 2

  • One Amazon EC2 server. Monitored by mackerel-agent. 30 metrics.
  • AWS Integration RDS for MySQL 1 host. 19 metrics.
  • AWS Integration Application Load Balancer 1 host. 44 metrics.
Setting Amount
Old structure 1 Standard Host
3 Micro Hosts
3,813 JPY (tax included)
New structure 1 Standard Host
2 Micro Hosts
14 Metrics
3,654 JPY (tax included)

Comparison of changes in products and features

Price Table

Product Name Usage until October 31, 2024 Usage from November 1, 2024
Standard Host 1,833 JPY (tax included)
per Standard Host/month
2,180 JPY (tax included)
per Standard Host/month
Micro Host (no change) 660 JPY (tax included)
per Micro Host/month
660 JPY (tax included)
per Micro Host/month
Metric (newly introduced) 11 JPY (tax included)
per Metric/month

Price conversions for each feature

Item Usage until October 31, 2024 Usage from November 1, 2024
Standard Host Metric Count If exceeded 200 metrics included in a Standard Host, cost of one Standard Host per every additional 200 metrics applies. If exceeded 200 metrics included in a Standard Host, cost of 11 JPY (tax included)/metric applies.
Micro Host Metric Count If exceeded 30 metrics included in a Micro Host, cost of one Micro Host per every additional 30 metrics applies. If exceeded 30 metrics included in a Micro Host, cost of 11 JPY (tax included)/metric applies.
Service Metric Count If there is at least one Standard Host registered, up to 200 metrics per organization are free.
Cost of one Standard Host per every additional 200 metrics applies.
Metric count conversion for service metrics discontinued, 11 JPY (tax included)/metric applies.
External URL Monitors Count Up to 20 URLs free per organization if at least one Standard Host is registered.
Cost of one Standard Host per every additional 20 URLs applies.
Up to 20 URLs included in the minimum fee per organization.
Cost of one Standard Host per every additional 20 URLs applies.
Machine Learning Anomaly Detection
(no change)
Cost of one Standard Host for every five hosts included in a role with Anomaly Detection for rolls applies. Cost of one Standard Host for every five hosts included in a role with Anomaly Detection for rolls applies.

We offer reasonable pricing for posting metrics that exceed the host limit in order to enhance system observability.

We hope you will take full advantage of this offer.

For a detailed explanation of the pricing system, please refer to How usage fees are calculated (starting November 1st, 2024).

Transition to the new pricing system

For current users, no special procedures are required. The new terms will be automatically applied from the usage starting November 1, 2024.

For companies that have signed up for Mackerel's Partner Program and corporate users who have applied separately, our representatives will contact you individually.

Thank you for your continued use of Mackerel.