# Google Cloud Trace vs Skylight

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Skylight

| Attribute | Google Cloud Trace | Skylight |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 45.5 (41% (low)) | 59 (49% (low)) |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | - | Skylight visualizes performance data to help identify and fix bottlenecks in Ruby and Rails apps. It includes endpoint analysis, SQL profiling, deploy tracking, and background job monitoring. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"cloud","languages":"Node.js, Go, Java, Python","otel_support":"native","distributed_tracing":true}` | `{"rum":false,"hosting":"cloud","languages":"Ruby, Rails, Sinatra, Grape","db_monitoring":true,"code_profiling":true,"error_analytics":true,"anomaly_detection":true,"auto_instrumentation":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 7 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Sidekiq"},{"name":"DelayedJob"},{"name":"ActiveJob"},{"name":"Sinatra"},{"name":"Grape"},{"name":"GraphQL"},{"name":"MCP"}]` |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","summary":"Free tier with $300 in free credit; pay-as-you-go usage-based pricing","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://cloud.google.com/php/docs/reference/cloud-sql-admin/0.4.1/V1beta4.SqlPricingPlan","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T18:16:29.557Z"}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"100,000 traces per month","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"traces":"100k/month"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pay-as-you-go","summary":"Starting at $20/month","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Automatic tier adjustment based on monthly traces","contactSales":false}],"summary":"Free tier with 100,000 monthly traces; paid tiers starting at $20/month","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.skylight.io/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T20:48:14.422Z","freeTrialDays":30,"startingPrice":{"amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | mid |
| pricing.transparent | no | yes |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |

## Capabilities (APM Tools)

| Capability | Google Cloud Trace | Skylight |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Instrumentation** |  |  |
| Auto-instrumentation | - | ✓ |
| Distributed tracing | ✓ | - |
| **Insight** |  |  |
| Service map | - | - |
| Code / continuous profiling | - | ✓ |
| Database monitoring | - | ✓ |
| Error analytics | - | ✓ |
| Real-user monitoring | - | ✗ |
| SLO / error-budget tracking | - | - |
| **Intelligence** |  |  |
| Anomaly / root-cause AI | - | ✓ |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| OpenTelemetry support | OTel-native | - |
| **Core** |  |  |
| Language agents | Node.js, Go, Java, Python | Ruby, Rails, Sinatra, Grape |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud only | Cloud only |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:41:51.268Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*