Updated October 25, 2026
· ~2 min read
CloudWatch is where AWS services already send their metrics and logs, and for many teams it is enough. Kubernetes teams usually reach for Prometheus and Grafana instead, because the ecosystem (exporters, dashboards, alert rules) assumes them. AWS offers both halves as managed services, Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus and Amazon Managed Grafana, so the choice is less "AWS or open source" than "which query language and which operational load".
All three accept OpenTelemetry, which is the decision that matters most: instrument with OpenTelemetry and the backend becomes replaceable.
The most common surprise is logs: debug logging left on, or every request logged in full, multiplies ingestion costs quietly. The second is metric cardinality — a label with user IDs or request paths turns one metric into millions, in CloudWatch and Prometheus alike. Sample and filter at the collector, set retention per log group, and review the top ten log groups and metric namespaces by cost every month.
Question 1 of 2
Do you run Kubernetes?
Use CloudWatch for AWS service metrics, logs from Lambda and ECS, and alarms that drive autoscaling and deployments — it is already there and needs nothing. On Kubernetes, use Prometheus-compatible metrics with Grafana dashboards, and prefer Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus over running Prometheus yourself once you need long retention or high availability. Instrument everything with OpenTelemetry. Watch CloudWatch Logs ingestion and custom-metric costs; they are where observability bills grow unnoticed.
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As of October 25, 2026. Provided as is, for general information, and accurate to the best of our knowledge on the date shown. Not legal, compliance, tax, financial or other professional advice. Prices, limits and vendor services change; check current vendor documentation before relying on anything here. Terms of use.