# GlitchTip vs BugSnag: A Hands-On Error Tracking Comparison for 2026
When a coupon bug I'd marked fixed came back in my test app's next release, BugSnag logged the reopen in the error's activity feed and named 1.1.0 as the version that brought it back. GlitchTip reopened the same bug too, and left no note anywhere saying why. Yet on that same error, GlitchTip showed me the exact line of server code that failed, which BugSnag never did.
That's the trade in one screen. **BugSnag is a stability monitor built around releases,** scoring each app version by its crash-free sessions and keeping a history of every state change. It comes from SmartBear and leaves tracing to OpenTelemetry.
GlitchTip is the open-source option. It accepts Sentry's SDKs, adds basic performance, logs and uptime checks, and costs $15 a month hosted, or nothing if you run it yourself.
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The coverage in this comparison isn't equal, so here it is up front. GlitchTip watched both the API and the storefront across all three versions. BugSnag watched only the API, across the first two versions, on an older build of the app. Sections that only one tool reached are labelled, and their verdicts stay out of the scoring.
You'll find them compared on setup, error capture, debugging, grouping, browser errors, releases and regressions, performance, logs, uptime and alerts, AI and pricing.
## GlitchTip vs BugSnag: Results at a glance
These verdicts come from a Node.js Express app. BugSnag's browser SDK and OpenTelemetry performance weren't part of my test, so some rows only describe one tool.
| Area | Better in my test | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | **BugSnag**, narrowly | A guided integration; GlitchTip needs a plan and a team first |
| Error capture | Tie | Both caught every server failure, the unhandled rejection included |
| Debugging an error | Mixed | GlitchTip showed server source lines; BugSnag kept breadcrumbs per request and linked related events |
| Error grouping | **BugSnag** | Six groups for six server bugs; GlitchTip split by message values |
| Browser errors | GlitchTip only | BugSnag's browser SDK wasn't tested |
| Releases and regressions | **BugSnag** | Stability per release and a recorded reopen; GlitchTip's release page lists files |
| Performance | Not compared | BugSnag needs OpenTelemetry, which I didn't set up |
| Logs | **GlitchTip** | It stores logs; BugSnag has no logs product |
| Uptime and alerts | Not compared | No channels connected; uptime untested |
| AI-assisted debugging | Not compared | Both hand errors to outside assistants; neither was tried |
| Price | **GlitchTip** | $15 a month with published prices, and free to self-host |
## How I tested GlitchTip and BugSnag
My test app is a bookstore that fails in planned ways. An Express API on SQLite serves a Vite storefront, with a pretend pricing API next door and a timed report task. Scripted shoppers drove the failures so each tool saw the same bugs.
The failures on the server, which both tools received:
- **Crashes in request handlers:** a coupon lookup that reads from an undefined object, and a book lookup that does the same for a missing book.
- **A handled business error:** `OutOfStockError` when a book runs out.
- **A flaky dependency:** the price service returning 503.
- **Async failures:** a recommendations promise rejected with no handler, and a sales report job that throws.
GlitchTip also received the storefront's errors: a wishlist crash and `ApiError` reports for failed API calls.
### Releases and coverage
| Release | What it tested | GlitchTip | BugSnag |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0 | Setup, first errors, error pages | ✔: server and browser | ✔: server |
| 1.1.0 | A bug marked fixed, shipped again unchanged | ✔: tested | ✔: tested |
| 1.2.0 | Slow checkout and a new payment error | ✔: tested | ✘: not run |
Version 1.1.0 is the shared ground. It asks the question every team has after a release: did that fix really stick?
### SDKs and test limitations
| Platform | GlitchTip | BugSnag |
|---|---|---|
| Server | `@sentry/node` 11.8.0 with a GlitchTip DSN | `@bugsnag/js` with `@bugsnag/plugin-express` |
| Browser | `@sentry/browser` 11.8.0 | Not tested |
| Plan | Hosted Free plan, GlitchTip 7.0.0rc2 | 14-day trial |
- **Different builds:** BugSnag ran on October 21 against an earlier server-only build, and GlitchTip on October 27 against the full app. Line numbers in BugSnag's screenshots differ for that reason.
- **Counts:** event totals come from separate runs, so they don't compare one to one.
- **BugSnag performance and AI:** both need extra setup, OpenTelemetry and the SmartBear MCP Server, which I didn't do.
- **No alert channels:** I connected no notifier to either tool.
### Terms in each tool
| Concept | GlitchTip | BugSnag |
|---|---|---|
| An error group | Issue | Error |
| A release | Release | Release, from `appVersion` |
| A fixed error | Resolved | Fixed |
| Silenced | Ignored | Snoozed or Ignored |
| Issue history | Comments only | Comments & Activity |
| Release health | Not offered | Session stability |
## Setup and onboarding
GlitchTip borrows Sentry's SDKs and setup snippets, so the code is familiar if you've used Sentry. BugSnag has its own SDK and a guided integration that starts by asking where your app runs.
### GlitchTip: A plan, a team, then Sentry's snippet
GlitchTip asks for a plan before your first project:
Free covers 1,000 events a month. The project form then needs a team, which I created inline:
The connect page shows Sentry's Node.js snippet with your DSN in place, plus `autoSessionTracking: false`, because GlitchTip doesn't support sessions. With Sentry SDK 11, performance data also needs `traceLifecycle: 'static'`, which the page doesn't mention. The performance section covers that trap.
### BugSnag: A guided path to Express
BugSnag's onboarding asks where your app runs, then which platform:
For Express, the integration page lists the npm package, `Bugsnag.start` with your API key, the request handler first and the error handler after your routes. It also says server performance works with OpenTelemetry SDKs, which the BugSnag SDK doesn't include.
> **Worth turning on in GlitchTip:** if you use Sentry SDK 11, add `traceLifecycle: 'static'` to `Sentry.init` on day one, or the Performance page stays empty.
### Setup comparison
| Capability | GlitchTip | BugSnag |
|---|---|---|
| SDK | Sentry's SDKs | BugSnag's own |
| Prerequisites | A plan and a team | A project |
| Guided integration | Snippet with the DSN | ✔: per platform |
| Express support | ✔: Sentry's handler | ✔: request and error handlers |
| Performance setup | ✘: SDK 11 trap, undocumented | Needs OpenTelemetry |
| Self-hosting | ✔: open source | ✘: not offered |
**Verdict: BugSnag, narrowly.** Its integration guided me straight to a working Express setup. GlitchTip's errors worked at once, but its plan and team steps come first, and its snippet leaves out a setting that SDK 11 needs.
## Error capture
Both tools hook unhandled exceptions and rejections in Node.js. On the server, they caught the same set.
### GlitchTip: All six server failures
GlitchTip's first run listed every planted failure:
The coupon and book crashes, the 503s, the out-of-stock error, the unhandled rejection and the report job are all there, next to the storefront's errors. The list holds 24 issues, for reasons the grouping section covers.
### BugSnag: Six errors for six bugs
BugSnag's inbox showed the same six server failures:
A colored dot and a badge mark each one as handled or unhandled. The rejection arrived too, marked unhandled with a single frame:
The frame points at the recommendations function, with no request attached, since the rejection happened outside one.
### Capture comparison
| Capability | GlitchTip | BugSnag |
|---|---|---|
| Request crashes | ✔: reported | ✔: reported |
| Handled errors | ✔: reported | ✔: reported, marked handled |
| Unhandled rejection | ✔: reported | ✔: reported, one frame |
| Background job | ✔: reported | ✔: reported |
| Handled versus unhandled | Shown per event | ✔: badge on every row |
**Verdict: Tie.** Neither missed a server failure. BugSnag's handled badge in the list is a small help when you triage.
## Debugging an error
On a server error, you want two things: the code that broke and what the request did first. Each tool delivered one of them.
### GlitchTip: The failing line, and a noisy trail
GlitchTip showed the server code around the crash:
Lines 145 to 155 appear, with no repository connected, because the Sentry SDK sends context lines with each event. The breadcrumbs were less tidy:
Just two of the 13 entries came from this checkout. The others were boot messages and report-task output captured earlier. The request body and headers sit below them.
### BugSnag: No code, but more context
BugSnag listed frames with no source lines:
Its other tabs make up for much of that. Breadcrumbs stayed with the request:
A separate tab holds the user, and **Correlated events** gathers that person's other events from the same session:
Here, the same shopper's out-of-stock errors sit next to the coupon crash, which hints at what they were doing.
### Debugging comparison
| Capability | GlitchTip | BugSnag |
|---|---|---|
| Server source lines | ✔: from the SDK | ✘: frames only |
| Breadcrumbs | Mixed: other requests leak in | ✔: per request |
| Request details | ✔: body and headers | ✔: Request tab |
| User | Tags | ✔: own tab |
| Related events | ✘: not offered | ✔: Correlated events |
| Handled error metadata | Extra data | ✔: Details tab |
**Verdict: Mixed.** GlitchTip gets you to the failing line faster. BugSnag gives you a cleaner story of the request and the user around it, so pick by which of those you reach for first.
## Error grouping
Grouping turns events into a list you can work through. GlitchTip groups by message, like the Sentry SDK's events it receives. BugSnag groups by error and location, with settings to group by class or context instead.
### GlitchTip: A new issue for each value
Any value in a message became a separate issue. The sales report job split by run number:
Stock errors got one issue per book and quantity combination as well. On 1.2.0, which only GlitchTip ran, the new payment error became seven issues, one per charge amount:
The old bugs did hold together through the 1.2.0 code change.
### BugSnag: One error per bug
BugSnag kept each server bug in one error through both releases. The six rows after 1.1.0 match the six bugs:
Each carries a "Default grouping" label, and the project's grouping settings offer to group by error class or by context.
### Grouping comparison
| Capability | GlitchTip | BugSnag |
|---|---|---|
| Grouping key | Message text | Error and location |
| Out-of-stock error | ✘: split by book and quantity | ✔: 1 error |
| Report job | ✘: split by run number | ✔: 1 error |
| Old bugs on a new release | ✔: grew in place on 1.2.0 | ✔: grew in place on 1.1.0 |
| Grouping controls | Merge, not tested | Group by class or context |
**Verdict: BugSnag.** It kept every server bug in one row. BugSnag never ran the 1.2.0 release, so I can't say how it handles a bug whose message changes every time.
[summary]
GlitchTip filed the new payment bug as seven separate issues, and BugSnag's test ended a release before that bug shipped. Better Stack ingests the same Sentry SDK events GlitchTip does, and in my test it kept all 10 payment exceptions from 1.2.0 in one group:
The amount changes in every message, the group stays whole, and the code around line 173 sits on the page. You get GlitchTip's SDK compatibility with one row per bug.
**[Track errors from your Sentry SDK](https://betterstack.com/error-tracking)**
[/summary]
## Browser errors and source maps
Only GlitchTip ran in the browser in my test, so this section describes it without a verdict.
GlitchTip took browser source maps through `sentry-cli`, pointed at its own URL:
The wishlist crash resolves to line 122 of `pages.js`. Each browser event also carries the user, browser and OS, with "raw JSON" and "copy for AI" links. GlitchTip recorded no page-load data from the storefront, and it doesn't support session replay.
BugSnag sells browser error monitoring and real user monitoring, which I didn't test.
**Verdict: Not compared.** GlitchTip's browser side worked, and BugSnag's wasn't part of the test.
## Release tracking and regressions
Release tracking should tell you how a release is doing and flag a fixed bug that returns. BugSnag builds both around app versions and sessions. GlitchTip records releases but says little about them.
The rules that move an error between states show the difference:
Both reopened the coupon bug when 1.1.0 shipped it again. Only BugSnag kept a record of why.
### GlitchTip: Resolve in next release, and a quiet reopen
GlitchTip's status menu includes the option teams usually want:
When 1.1.0 brought the coupon bug back, it reopened to **Unresolved** with the new release tag. Nothing else on the page changed. The release page didn't help either:
It lists 12 uploaded files, and no errors, new issues or regressions.
### BugSnag: Stability per release, and a written reopen
BugSnag scores each release by the share of sessions without a crash:
Both releases sat at "Critical stability", 83.103% and then 83.893%, against a 99% target. That's my test app failing on purpose, but the number gives each release a health score you can track. A release page then lists which errors it saw and which it introduced:
"No errors matching your filters" was correct, since 1.1.0 introduced nothing new.
### The returning bug in both tools
Both tools' pages for the coupon error after it came back, trimmed to the evidence:
GlitchTip shows **Unresolved** at ①, and its only history is the **Comments** tab at ②, which was empty. BugSnag's activity says at ① that it reopened in 1.1.0, and ② shows the rule I set when I marked it fixed.
> **Worth turning on in GlitchTip:** use **Resolve in next release**, and add a comment when you resolve, since comments are the only history an issue keeps.
>
> **Worth turning on in BugSnag:** set stability targets that fit your app, and consider "Mark errors as fixed after each release", which is off by default.
### Release comparison
| Capability | GlitchTip | BugSnag |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed until a new version | ✔: Resolve in next release | ✔: Mark as fixed |
| Reopen recorded | ✘: no history | ✔: "Reopened by BugSnag" |
| Release health | ✘: not offered | ✔: session stability |
| Errors per release | ✘: files only | ✔: seen and introduced |
| Reopen in the list | ✘: no label | ✘: no label |
| Deploy step needed | ✘: SDK release value | ✘: SDK appVersion |
**Verdict: BugSnag.** It scored each release, listed what it introduced and recorded why the bug reopened. GlitchTip reopened the bug just as reliably and then left you to work out why.
[summary]
Both tools reopened the returning bug, and both left its row in the list looking like any other. In my Better Stack test, the identical 1.1.0 traffic turned that error's row red, with the label "Reoccurred":
You spot the regression from the list, and its activity feed records the reopen next to the resolve. Better Stack has no session stability score like BugSnag's, but nobody has to open each error to find what came back.
**[See returning bugs in the error list](https://betterstack.com/error-tracking)**
[/summary]
## Performance monitoring
BugSnag measures performance only through OpenTelemetry, which I didn't install, so its Performance page stayed empty:
GlitchTip recorded performance after one fix. With Sentry SDK 11, it showed nothing at first:
SDK 11 streams spans, and GlitchTip reads only the older transaction events. Setting `traceLifecycle: 'static'` brought data in. On 1.2.0, checkout's average rose:
It went from 3.27 ms to 752.27 ms, averaged across all releases. There's no trace view and no release filter, so you can't open a slow checkout or isolate 1.2.0.
**Verdict: Not compared.** GlitchTip gives you averages per route, and BugSnag gives you nothing until you add OpenTelemetry.
[summary]
GlitchTip blended the slow release into one average with no trace to open, and BugSnag needs OpenTelemetry before it shows anything. Better Stack took the same Sentry SDK data in my test, and the failing checkout opened as a full list of spans:
The book query used 1.53 s of the request's 2.19 s, and charging the card used 660 ms. That's the cause of the slowdown, on the request that failed.
**[Open the trace behind a slow request](https://betterstack.com/tracing)**
[/summary]
## Logs and events
GlitchTip stores logs sent through the Sentry SDK:
The first run left 233 entries you can search or filter by level and service, though an entry doesn't expand when clicked. BugSnag has no logs product.
**Verdict: GlitchTip.** It's the only one of the two that keeps your logs, even if the view is basic.
[summary]
GlitchTip's log lines don't open or link to the error they explain, and BugSnag has no logs at all. In my Better Stack test, the failed checkout's error opened Live tail filtered to that one request:
The error and the slow-query warning from the same request appear together. The log you need is one click from the error.
**[Read the logs behind each error](https://betterstack.com/log-management)**
[/summary]
## Uptime and alerts
GlitchTip includes uptime monitors, counted in its event usage, and alert rules. BugSnag's integrations cover email, chat, issue trackers, PagerDuty and data forwarding. I couldn't run uptime checks against a localhost app, and I connected no channel to either tool.
**Verdict: Not compared.**
## AI-assisted debugging
Both tools leave diagnosis to an AI assistant outside the product. I didn't try either handoff.
- **GlitchTip:** a "copy for AI" link on every event copies it for pasting into a chat.
- **BugSnag:** **Fix with MCP** on each error leads to installing the SmartBear MCP Server, which lets a coding assistant read your errors.
I cancelled at this step, so I can't say how well either works.
**Verdict: Not compared.**
[summary]
Both tools hand the analysis to an outside assistant, one error at a time. Better Stack's AI SRE took a whole-release question from me about 1.2.0, without access to my code:
It spotted a single statement that had slowed while the rest stayed fast, so the database server wasn't at fault, and it traced 10 of 48 failed charges to 1.2.0. It took about four minutes and $0.49, and both causes were right.
**[Ask AI SRE about a bad release](https://betterstack.com/ai-sre)**
[/summary]
## Pricing
GlitchTip counts every event the same, errors, transactions and logs, and publishes each price. BugSnag prices error events and spans on volume sliders.
These figures come from both pricing pages on November 9, 2026. Check them before you buy.
### Free plans and trials
| Item | GlitchTip Free | BugSnag Free |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $0 |
| Users | Unlimited team members | 1 |
| Volume | 1,000 events a month | 7,500 events and 1M spans a month |
| Retention | 30 days | 7 days |
| Over the limit | Throttles, blocks at twice the limit | Not stated |
| Trial | Not applicable | 14 days |
GlitchTip kept accepting events past its free limit in my test, with a warning:
At 1,097 events, the banner asked me to upgrade before throttling began, and data kept arriving.
### Entry-level paid plans
| Item | GlitchTip Small | BugSnag Select |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $15 a month | Price not listed, "Starting at $0" on the slider |
| Volume | 100,000 events | 50,000 to 3M events, 1M to 150M spans |
| Retention | 90 days | 60 days |
| Users | Unlimited | Unlimited |
GlitchTip's Medium plan costs $50 a month for 500,000 events, and Large costs $250 for 3 million. BugSnag's Preferred plan also reads "Starting at $0", with no published figure.
### What costs extra
| Need | GlitchTip | BugSnag |
|---|---|---|
| More volume | On-demand from $0.17 per 1,000 events | A higher slider tier |
| Spending control | A monthly cap you set | Not stated |
| Performance | Included as events | Spans on the slider, plus OpenTelemetry work |
| Logs | Included as events | ✘: not offered |
| Self-hosting | ✔: open source | ✘: not offered |
### Comparing the actual cost
GlitchTip is cheaper and easier to price. Small runs $15 a month for 100,000 events, and the open-source edition costs nothing beyond your own hosting.
BugSnag's free plan is more generous in volume, at 7,500 events, but it allows one user and seven days of history. Its paid prices only appear once you choose a volume, so get a quote before comparing. If you're weighing GlitchTip against the platform whose SDK it uses, our [Sentry vs GlitchTip comparison](https://betterstack.com/community/comparisons/sentry-vs-glitchtip/) covers that.
**Verdict: GlitchTip.** Its prices are published, low and predictable. BugSnag may come close once quoted, but you can't check that from its page.
## Full feature comparison
| Feature | GlitchTip | BugSnag |
|---|---|---|
| SDK | Sentry's SDKs | BugSnag's own |
| Server capture | ✔: all six failures | ✔: all six failures |
| Handled badge | Per event | ✔: in the list |
| Server source lines | ✔: from the SDK | ✘: frames only |
| Per-request breadcrumbs | ✘: other requests leak in | ✔: yes |
| Correlated events | ✘: not offered | ✔: offered |
| Grouping | Message text | Error and location |
| Resolve until a new version | ✔: Resolve in next release | ✔: Mark as fixed |
| Reopen history | ✘: none | ✔: Activity |
| Release health | ✘: not offered | ✔: session stability |
| Performance | Averages per route | Needs OpenTelemetry, not tested |
| Logs | ✔: basic | ✘: not offered |
| Uptime monitors | Included, not tested | ✘: not observed |
| AI | "copy for AI", not tested | MCP server, not tested |
| Self-hosting | ✔: open source | ✘: not offered |
| Free plan | ✔: 1,000 events | ✔: 7,500 events, 1 user |
## Which should you choose?
Decide whether you need cheap, Sentry-compatible error tracking or a tool that judges each release for you.
### Choose GlitchTip if budget and Sentry compatibility matter most
GlitchTip caught every failure, showed the failing server line, and stores logs and basic performance in the same bill. Hosting starts at $15 a month, or you host it yourself. Sharing Sentry's SDKs also keeps a later switch in either direction small.
Expect to merge issues by hand, since every value in a message makes a new one. Its release pages are thin, and a reopened bug carries no record of why. For a broader view of where GlitchTip fits, see our [AppSignal vs GlitchTip comparison](https://betterstack.com/community/comparisons/appsignal-vs-glitchtip/).
### Choose BugSnag if you manage stability release by release
BugSnag kept each server bug in one error, recorded why a fixed bug reopened, and scored every release by crash-free sessions. Its correlated events and per-request breadcrumbs make a server error easier to read, even without source lines.
You'll pay more, though how much depends on a quote, and performance needs OpenTelemetry. It has no logs product. For BugSnag against the larger Sentry platform, read our [Sentry vs BugSnag comparison](https://betterstack.com/community/comparisons/sentry-vs-bugsnag/).
## FAQ
### Does GlitchTip work with BugSnag's SDK?
No. GlitchTip accepts Sentry's SDKs. Moving from BugSnag to GlitchTip means switching SDKs in your app.
### Does BugSnag show the source code of a server error?
Not in my Node.js test. It listed file, line and function for each frame, with no code around them. GlitchTip showed the surrounding lines.
### Which one tracks release health?
BugSnag. It counts sessions per app version and scores each one by crash-free sessions. GlitchTip doesn't support sessions.
### Can I self-host either one?
GlitchTip, yes. It's open source and free to run on your own servers. BugSnag is a hosted service.
## Final thoughts
The real choice is between a cheap tracker that shows you code and a release tool that shows you history. GlitchTip gets you to the broken line quickly and costs very little. BugSnag tells you which release is unstable and why a bug came back, and it won't show a price until you pick a volume.
If your team ships often and someone owns release quality, BugSnag's history earns its price. If nobody reads release pages, **GlitchTip at $15 a month buys you the part you'd use.**