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SigNoz vs Lightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability)(2026)

SigNoz is better for teams that need open source (mit). Lightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability) is the stronger choice if excellent deployment/change tracking. SigNoz is open-source (from $0) and Lightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability) is paid (from $100/mo).

Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.

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SigNoz logo

SigNoz

open-source

SigNoz is an open-source observability platform that unifies distributed tracing, metrics, and logs in a single UI — built on ClickHouse for performance, compatible with OpenTelemetry.

Starting at $0

Visit SigNoz
Lightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability) logo

Lightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability)

paid

Lightstep (now ServiceNow Cloud Observability) provides distributed tracing and change intelligence — correlating deployments and incidents with performance degradation in real time.

Starting at $100/mo

Visit Lightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability)

How Do SigNoz and Lightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability) Compare on Features?

FeatureSigNozLightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability)
Pricing modelopen-sourcepaid
Starting price$0$100/mo
Distributed tracing
Metrics monitoring
Log management
OpenTelemetry native
ClickHouse backend
Alerts
Service maps
Change intelligence
Deployment correlation
Service health snapshots
OpenTelemetry support
Metrics + traces unified

SigNoz Pros and Cons vs Lightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability)

S

SigNoz

+Open source (MIT)
+Three pillars unified
+OTel native
+Free self-hosted
Self-hosting complexity
Cloud pricing less competitive
Less mature than Datadog/Dynatrace
L

Lightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability)

+Excellent deployment/change tracking
+OpenTelemetry founding member
+Service health snapshots
+Good UI
Expensive
ServiceNow acquisition raised concerns
Less active development

Should You Use SigNoz or Lightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability)?

Choose SigNoz if…

  • Open source (MIT)
  • Three pillars unified
  • OTel native

Choose Lightstep (ServiceNow Cloud Observability) if…

  • Excellent deployment/change tracking
  • OpenTelemetry founding member
  • Service health snapshots

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