Scout APM Review, Pricing & Features

Explore Scout APM (Scout Monitoring) pricing tiers, transaction-based plans, and features for Ruby, Python, PHP, Node.js, and Elixir performance monitoring.

Category
Developer Tools
Pricing
Freemium with usage-based (transaction volume) paid tiers, from Free plan available (300K monthly transactions); paid plans from $19/month
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 19, 2026
Founded
2008
Headquarters
Denver, Colorado, United States
Web AppFree TrialAI

Overview

Scout APM, now branded Scout Monitoring, is an application performance monitoring tool founded in 2008 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It began with a strong focus on Ruby on Rails monitoring and has since expanded to support Python, PHP, Node.js, and Elixir applications.

The company is privately held with an estimated 11 to 50 employees, and its customers have historically included SaaS companies such as Expedia, Chargify, Liftopia, and MindBody. In June 2021, Scout added integrated error monitoring alongside its core performance tracing.

Key Features

Scout Monitoring tracks application traces, errors, and logs in a single dashboard, with particular strength in isolating N+1 database queries and memory bloat issues common in Rails and other web frameworks.

All plans, including the free tier, include unlimited users and unlimited monitored applications, with cost scaling purely by transaction volume, error count, and log storage rather than per-seat licensing.

Pricing

Scout offers a free plan with 300,000 monthly transactions, 5,000 errors, and 1 GB of logs, and a 'Production Ready' plan at $59/month (billed annually) or $98/month (billed monthly) with 1.2 million transactions and 30 GB of log storage.

Additional build-your-own tiers range from Startup at $19/month up to Large at $299/month based on transaction volume, with add-ons available for extra errors and log storage, plus a custom-priced Enterprise tier with SSO and SLA reporting.

Key Features

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Unlimited users and applications on every plan, including free
  • Transaction-based pricing avoids per-seat cost scaling
  • Specialized, mature support for Ruby on Rails plus other major languages
  • Combines APM, error monitoring, and logs in a single product
  • Free tier available with a meaningful transaction allowance

Cons

  • Log retention on paid non-enterprise plans is limited to 14 days
  • Errors are capped at 5,000 on most tiers unless purchasing add-ons
  • Smaller feature breadth than large APM platforms like Datadog or New Relic
  • Enterprise-grade features such as SSO and SLA reporting require custom Enterprise pricing

Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Scout APM used for

Scout APM (Scout Monitoring) is used to monitor application performance, errors, and logs for Ruby, Python, PHP, Node.js, and Elixir applications.

Is Scout APM free

Yes, Scout offers a free plan with 300,000 monthly transactions, 5,000 errors, and 1 GB of log storage.

How is Scout APM priced

Scout is priced based on monthly transaction volume rather than per user, with plans ranging from $19/month to $299/month plus a custom Enterprise tier.

When was Scout APM founded

Scout APM was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Does Scout APM support Rails specifically

Yes, Scout has specialized in Ruby on Rails performance monitoring since its founding, including detecting N+1 queries and memory bloat.

Does Scout APM include error monitoring

Yes, Scout added integrated error monitoring alongside performance tracing in June 2021.

Is there a limit on users with Scout APM plans

No, all Scout plans, including the free tier, include unlimited users and unlimited applications.

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