Comparison · Datadog
Perimattic AI Suite vs Datadog LLM Observability
Datadog’s LLM monitoring, now sold as Agent Observability, is a strong choice if your infrastructure already lives in Datadog. Perimattic AI Suite is designed to run alongside it, adding evidence mapped to the regulations you answer to.
Last reviewed by the Perimattic AI Suite team
In short
Should you replace Datadog or run Perimattic AI Suite alongside it?
For most teams already on Datadog, alongside. Datadog Agent Observability gives you LLM and agent traces, evaluators and cost next to your infrastructure data, and it natively accepts OpenTelemetry GenAI spans. Perimattic AI Suite adds what regulated teams need on top: evidence records mapped to HIPAA, SOC 2, the EU AI Act and DORA. One OpenTelemetry Collector can send the same spans to both.
One instrumentation, two destinations
Instrument once with OpenTelemetry. The collector fans out to Datadog for operations and to Perimattic AI Suite for evidence, so neither team has to give up its tool.
An accurate picture of Datadog
Datadog is not an "APM add-on with basic evals". It ships built-in evaluators and supports the OpenTelemetry GenAI conventions natively. The differences are in focus and evidence, not in tracing.
Comparison
Datadog and Perimattic AI Suite side by side
Datadog cells come from Datadog’s own product page and blog. Perimattic AI Suite details agreed per customer during early access are marked that way.
| Dimension | Datadog Agent Observability | Perimattic AI Suite |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | LLM and agent monitoring inside the Datadog platform | AI observability focused on regulated production systems |
| OpenTelemetry | Native support for OTel GenAI semantic conventions (v1.37+), plus Datadog SDKs | Built on the OpenTelemetry GenAI semantic conventions |
| Evaluations | Built-in and custom evaluators, including hallucination, prompt injection and PII | Faithfulness, hallucination and RAG metrics scored on live traffic |
| Infrastructure context | Same platform as your APM, logs and infrastructure metrics | AI telemetry only. Runs alongside your existing APM. |
| Regulation mapping | General-purpose monitoring data; mapping it to a regulation is up to your team | Evidence records mapped to HIPAA, SOC 2, EU AI Act and DORA obligations |
| Deployment | Datadog SaaS | Hosting model and region agreed with each team during early access |
| Pricing | Published: free up to 40K LLM spans; Pro $160 per month with 100K spans, then per 10K spans | Not published yet; discussed with each early-access team |
| Best for | Teams whose whole observability estate already lives in Datadog | Regulated teams that need audit evidence, usually alongside an existing APM |
Datadog details last verified on 1 October 2026 from Datadog’s own pages. Datadog prices by plan and commitment, so confirm current rates for your contract.
Which one fits your team
- Choose Datadog Agent Observability if you want LLM traces next to infrastructure data in a tool your team already runs.
- Add Perimattic AI Suite if a compliance team needs records mapped to HIPAA, SOC 2, the EU AI Act or DORA from the same production traffic.
- Send the same OpenTelemetry spans to both. Your collector configuration is the only change.
Running both
How Perimattic AI Suite runs alongside Datadog
You don’t need to choose one tool for every audience. Operations engineers stay in Datadog; risk and compliance teams get evidence from Perimattic AI Suite. Both see the same spans.
Instrument with OpenTelemetry
Use the OpenTelemetry SDKs and GenAI conventions in your LLM and agent code.
Run one collector
Your OpenTelemetry Collector receives the spans from every service.
Export to both
Add two exporters: Datadog for operations, Perimattic AI Suite for evaluation and evidence.
Split the work
On-call engineers alert in Datadog. Compliance exports evidence from Perimattic AI Suite.
FAQ
Common questions
Short answers to the questions teams ask when they compare these tools.
What is Datadog LLM Observability called now?
Datadog markets it as Agent Observability. It covers LLM and agent traces, built-in and custom evaluators, cost and latency. Datadog LLM Observability became generally available in June 2024.
Does Datadog support OpenTelemetry for LLM traces?
Yes. Datadog announced native support for the OpenTelemetry GenAI semantic conventions (v1.37 and later) in December 2025, so you can send OTel GenAI spans to Datadog without rewriting your instrumentation.
How is Datadog Agent Observability priced?
Datadog lists a free tier for up to 40K LLM spans with 15-day retention and a Pro tier at $160 per month that includes 100K LLM spans, with additional usage billed per 10K spans. Annual and monthly commitments are priced differently, so confirm the rate for your contract.
When should a Datadog customer add Perimattic AI Suite?
When someone outside engineering has to prove how an AI system behaved: a compliance lead preparing a SOC 2 audit, a privacy officer under HIPAA, or a bank responding to DORA or EU AI Act requirements. Perimattic AI Suite organises the same telemetry into evidence for those audiences.
Is Perimattic AI Suite cheaper than Datadog?
We can’t say yet. Perimattic AI Suite pricing is discussed with each early-access team, based on the use case and deployment. You can model Datadog, Langfuse and LangSmith costs for your own volumes with the LLM observability cost calculator.
Go further
Related tools, guides and services
- Free toolLLM observability cost calculatorEstimate monthly cost for Datadog, Langfuse and LangSmith from your span volume and seats.Open
- ServiceAI model monitoring servicesPerimattic sets up drift, accuracy and alerting for models in production.Open
- ServiceDevOps and platform engineeringCollector pipelines, Kubernetes platforms and observability stacks run by Perimattic engineers.Open
See what your AI systems are doing, with evidence to back it up
Perimattic AI Suite is in early access. Tell us what you are building and a Perimattic engineer will follow up to scope your first instrumented system.
Prefer email? sales@perimattic.com