Bugsnag has an actual $0 free tier and SmartBear-backed MCP fix suggestions, but its paid tiers are listed as "starting at $0" with usage-based scaling that…
Best for Bugsnag: Teams wanting a genuinely free starting tier and SmartBear-backed AI fix suggestions inside the IDE, comfortable with usage-based paid-tier pricing that isn't fully fixed upfront.
Best for Raygun: Teams needing documented HIPAA/GDPR/CCPA/PCI compliance and predictable published tier prices ($60/$120/$600 per month), willing to use the 14-day trial since there's no free plan.
At a Glance
Bugsnag
Raygun
Primary category
Developer Tools
Developer Tools
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
Freemium
Usage-based subscription tiers sold per product (Crash Reporting, APM, Real User Monitoring), with an annual billing discount
Starting price
Free (paid plans from $20/month)
From $40/month (billed annually) for the Crash Reporting Basic plan, covering up to 100,000 errors per month
Free plan
Yes
Not documented
Free trial
Not documented
Yes
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android
Web
Team collaboration
Not documented
Not documented
AI features
Yes
Yes
Public API
Yes
Yes
Key Differences
Free plan vs. trial-only access
Bugsnag: Free plan available at $0/month for 1 user, 7.5K events/month, 1M spans, and 7-day retention.
Raygun: No free plan; access starts with a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Bugsnag can be adopted for ongoing use at no cost, while Raygun requires paid commitment once the trial ends.
Pricing structure and predictability
Bugsnag: Select and Preferred tiers are listed as "starting at $0/month, scales with usage," making true cost unclear without a quote.
Raygun: Crash Reporting Basic ($60/month), Team ($120/month), and Business ($600/month) are published fixed prices, though Crash Reporting, RUM, and APM are billed as separate products.
Teams can budget more precisely against Raygun's published tiers, while Bugsnag's usage-based scaling makes forecasting harder.
AI feature mechanism
Bugsnag: Integrates with SmartBear's MCP server to provide AI-powered fix suggestions directly inside developers' IDEs.
Raygun: AI Error Resolution prepares LLM-ready stack trace context for LLM-assisted debugging outside the product.
Bugsnag's AI assistance is delivered in-IDE via MCP, while Raygun's is about packaging context for use in an external LLM workflow — different integration points for developers.
Compliance documentation
Bugsnag: Headquarters, founding year, and compliance certifications are not disclosed on the site.
Raygun: States HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, and PCI compliance explicitly.
Teams in regulated industries have documented compliance assurance with Raygun that isn't stated for Bugsnag.
Feature-by-Feature
Core Features
Feature
Bugsnag
Raygun
Crash / error reporting
Available
Available
Real user monitoring
Available
Available
APM / performance monitoring
Available
Available
Distributed tracing
Available
Not documented
Deployment tracking
Not documented
Available
Pricing & Plans
Feature
Bugsnag
Raygun
Free plan
Available
Unavailable
Published fixed-tier pricing
Limited
Available
Compliance & AI
Feature
Bugsnag
Raygun
HIPAA / GDPR / CCPA / PCI compliance stated
Not documented
Available
AI-assisted fix suggestions
Available
Available
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Crash Reporting Team — $80/month (billed annually), 200,000 errors/month annual (monthly at $120/month)
Crash Reporting Business — $400/month (billed annually), 1,000,000 errors/month annual (monthly at $600/month)
APM and RUM Basic — $80/month (billed annually), 100,000 traces or sessions/month annual (monthly at $120/month)
Enterprise — Custom pricing annual contract
Pros & Cons
Bugsnag
Pros
Generous free tier (7,500 events, 1M spans per month)
Strong mobile SDK coverage across 50+ platforms
Stability score approach helps teams gate risky releases
Backed by SmartBear's broader QA and testing ecosystem
Cons
Rebranded to SmartBear Insight Hub in 2025, causing some naming confusion
Stability score feature is gated to higher-priced tiers
Usage-based pricing on events and spans can scale up quickly
Less standalone brand recognition post-rebrand versus Sentry or Datadog
Raygun
Pros
Combines crash reporting, APM, and real user monitoring in one connected platform
Prioritizes errors by number of affected users, helping teams focus on high-impact issues
Supports a broad range of languages and frameworks via lightweight SDKs
All plans include unlimited apps and team members regardless of tier
Straightforward usage-based pricing with a meaningful annual billing discount
Cons
Crash Reporting, APM, and RUM are priced and purchased as separate products
Usage overages beyond a plan's included volume add to monthly cost
Enterprise-level features like SAML SSO require the highest paid tier
Company financial and headcount details are not publicly disclosed
Use Cases
Choose Bugsnag: Teams wanting a genuinely free starting tier and SmartBear-backed AI fix suggestions inside the IDE, comfortable with usage-based paid-tier pricing that isn't fully fixed upfront.
Choose Raygun: Teams needing documented HIPAA/GDPR/CCPA/PCI compliance and predictable published tier prices ($60/$120/$600 per month), willing to use the 14-day trial since there's no free plan.
Need both: Organizations that use Bugsnag's free tier as an entry point for smaller internal projects while running Raygun for regulated, customer-facing products that require its published compliance certifications.
Bugsnag
Mobile release quality gating — Use the stability score to decide whether to expand a release rollout.
Web and backend error tracking — Detect and diagnose unhandled exceptions across web and server-side applications.
Enterprise QA consolidation — Combine error monitoring with SmartBear's broader testing and quality tools.
Raygun
Production error monitoring — Development teams use Raygun Crash Reporting to detect and prioritize application errors by user impact across web and mobile apps.
Backend performance diagnostics — Engineering teams use Raygun APM's flame charts to identify slow functions and backend bottlenecks in production.
Front-end user experience monitoring — Product and engineering teams use Raygun RUM to track real user session performance and correlate issues with deployments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does BugSnag have a free plan?
Yes, the Free plan supports 1 user, 7.5K events and 1M spans per month, with 7 days of data retention.
Is BugSnag part of another company?
Yes, BugSnag is part of SmartBear Software.
Does BugSnag offer AI features?
Yes, it integrates with SmartBear's MCP server to provide AI-powered fix suggestions inside developers' IDEs.
Does Raygun offer a free trial?
Yes, a 14-day free trial is available with no credit card required.
Does Raygun have AI features?
Yes, its AI Error Resolution feature prepares stack trace context for LLM-assisted debugging.
Is Raygun compliant with data regulations?
Yes, Raygun states it is HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, and PCI compliant.