BoxWatch vs New Relic
New Relic is a broad observability platform covering APM, distributed tracing, log management, and infrastructure monitoring, billed by the gigabyte of data ingested rather than by host count. BoxWatch is a focused Linux server monitoring SaaS that tracks host health, uptime, and cron jobs with a flat monthly subscription. The two tools overlap on host metrics, process monitoring, and synthetic uptime checks, but New Relic goes far deeper into application-layer observability while BoxWatch stays deliberately narrower and simpler to operate.
Quick verdict
New Relic is the right choice when you need APM, distributed tracing, log aggregation, or enterprise-grade compliance features like FedRAMP and HIPAA eligibility alongside your infrastructure metrics. Its free tier is generous (100 GB/mo, 500 synthetics) but pricing scales quickly with data volume and full-platform users, making it hard to predict costs at scale. BoxWatch is the better pick when you only need Linux server health, cron/heartbeat monitoring, uptime checks against private endpoints, and public status pages at a known flat monthly cost with no per-host or per-metric surprises.
Pricing
| Plan | New Relic | BoxWatch |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 100 GB/mo ingest, 1 full-platform user, 500 synthetics | $0 (5 servers, 20 cron checks) |
| Entry paid | $0.40/GB beyond free + $99/mo per additional full-platform user (Standard) | $13/mo (25 servers, 100 uptime checks) |
| Team scale | $349/user/mo full-platform (Pro, annual) + $0.40/GB | $29/mo (100 servers, unlimited users) |
| Large scale | Custom (Enterprise) | $79/mo (unlimited servers) |
| Pricing model | Per-GB ingest + per-user (metered, unpredictable) | Flat per plan, not per host or metric |
| Self-hosting | No (SaaS only) | No (SaaS only) |
Feature comparison
When New Relic is the better choice
New Relic is clearly superior for teams that need application performance monitoring (APM), distributed tracing, and error tracking across microservices. Its log management brings infrastructure metrics and application logs into one queryable interface, which is valuable for debugging production incidents. Organizations that need SAML SSO on a standard plan, SCIM provisioning, FedRAMP compliance, or deep Kubernetes/cloud integration will find New Relic far better equipped than BoxWatch.
When BoxWatch is the better choice
- Your monitoring needs are Linux server health (CPU, memory, disk, network, load) without APM or log aggregation, and you want a flat predictable bill.
- You need cron/heartbeat dead-man-switch monitoring where a missed job fires an alert, without building NRQL loss-of-signal queries.
- You want synthetic uptime checks that reach private or firewalled endpoints from your own agents, plus public-facing status pages and embeddable uptime badges, all included in the base plan.
- You are running 25 or more servers and want to know the exact monthly cost without estimating gigabytes of ingest or counting full-platform user seats.
FAQ
Does New Relic charge per server?
No. New Relic dropped per-host pricing in favor of data ingest (per GB) plus user-type charges. This can be cheaper than per-host tools for large fleets that send little data, but costs rise quickly if you enable log forwarding or high-cardinality metrics. BoxWatch uses flat per-plan pricing with no per-host or per-metric component.
Can New Relic monitor private or internal HTTP endpoints?
Yes, through private locations. You deploy a synthetics job manager (Docker or Kubernetes) inside your network and New Relic routes synthetic checks through it to reach firewalled services. BoxWatch achieves the same result more simply: the installed agent itself runs the HTTP/TCP/TLS checks, so any endpoint reachable from the server is automatically reachable.
Does New Relic have public status pages?
Not natively. New Relic integrates with third-party tools like Atlassian Statuspage to publish status pages, but it does not provide a built-in hosted status page that customers can share publicly. BoxWatch includes public status pages, incident management, and embeddable uptime badges as built-in features on all paid plans.