APM for pet projects
by Afanasy Barbarov
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) is essential for understanding how your applications behave in production. It provides visibility into request traces, system metrics, error rates, and service dependencies - the foundation for maintaining reliable software.
Modern distributed systems make troubleshooting complex. When a user reports slow response times, you need to trace requests across multiple services, identify bottlenecks, and correlate metrics with logs. Without proper observability, you're debugging blindfolded.
I chose SigNoz over alternatives like Datadog or New Relic for several reasons:
Full control and privacy: All telemetry data stays on my infrastructure. No vendor lock-in, no data limits, no surprise billing.
Complete observability stack: SigNoz combines traces, metrics, and logs in one platform. Built on OpenTelemetry standards, it supports any language or framework.
Cost efficiency: Self-hosting eliminates per-GB ingestion fees. No monthly bills for data retention or user seats.
Real-time performance: ClickHouse backend handles massive data volumes with sub-second query performance.
Open source transparency: I can inspect, modify, and contribute to the codebase. No black box vendor solutions.
For teams prioritizing data sovereignty and cost control, SigNoz delivers enterprise-grade APM without vendor dependencies.