For AI agents: A markdown version of this page is available at https://docs.datadoghq.com/account_management/billing/usage_metrics.md. A documentation index is available at /llms.txt.

Estimated Usage Metrics

Overview

Datadog calculates your current estimated usage in near real-time. Estimated usage metrics enable you to:

  • Graph your estimated usage
  • Create monitors around your estimated usage based on thresholds of your choosing
  • Get monitor alerts of spikes or drops in your usage
  • Assess the potential impact of code changes on your usage in near real-time

Note: These usage metrics are estimates that are not always matched to billable usage given their real-time nature. There is a 10-20% difference between estimated usage and billable usage on average. Due to the nature of the estimations, the margin of error is larger for small usage.

Dashboard Example

Types of usage

Estimated usage metrics are generally available for the following usage types:

Usage TypeMetricDescription
Infrastructure Hostsdatadog.estimated_usage.hosts, datadog.estimated_usage.hosts.by_tagUnique hosts seen in the last hour.
Containersdatadog.estimated_usage.containers, datadog.estimated_usage.containers.by_tagUnique containers seen in the last hour.
Fargate Tasksdatadog.estimated_usage.fargate_tasks, datadog.estimated_usage.fargate_tasks.by_tagUnique Fargate Tasks seen in the last 5 minutes.

Note: This metric tracks both ECS Fargate and EKS Fargate usage.
Indexed Custom Metricsdatadog.estimated_usage.metrics.custom, datadog.estimated_usage.metrics.custom.by_metric, datadog.estimated_usage.metrics.custom.by_tagUnique indexed Custom Metrics seen in the last hour.
Ingested Custom Metricsdatadog.estimated_usage.metrics.custom.ingested, datadog.estimated_usage.metrics.custom.ingested.by_metric, datadog.estimated_usage.metrics.custom.ingested.by_tagUnique ingested Custom Metrics seen in the last hour.
(Preview) Indexed Custom Metric Pointsdatadog.estimated_usage.metrics.points.indexed, datadog.estimated_usage.metrics.points.indexed.by_tag, datadog.estimated_usage.metrics.points.indexed.hourlyEstimated indexed points for custom metrics.
(Preview) Ingested Custom Metric Pointsdatadog.estimated_usage.metrics.points.ingested, datadog.estimated_usage.metrics.points.ingested.hourlyEstimated ingested points for custom metrics.
(Preview) Billable Metric Namesdatadog.estimated_usage.billable.metricsCount of metric names with more than 100 indexed points, month-to-date. Applies to organizations on Metric Name Pricing.
(Preview) Billable Indexed Pointsdatadog.estimated_usage.billable.pointsSum of indexed points above the included 10M points per metric name, month-to-date. Applies to organizations on Metric Name Pricing.
(Preview) Ingested-to-Indexed Points Ratiodatadog.estimated_usage.metrics.points.ratioComparison of total ingested points to total indexed points. Applies to organizations on Metric Name Pricing.
Logs Ingested Bytesdatadog.estimated_usage.logs.ingested_bytesTotal ingestion of logs in bytes.
Logs Ingested Eventsdatadog.estimated_usage.logs.ingested_eventsTotal number of ingested events, including excluded logs.
Logs Pipelines Bytesdatadog.estimated_usage.logs.ingested_bytesNumber of logs matched by pipelines in bytes.
Logs Pipelines Eventsdatadog.estimated_usage.logs.ingested_eventsNumber of events matched by pipelines in bytes, including excluded logs.
Logs Drop Countdatadog.estimated_usage.logs.drop_countTotal number of events dropped during ingestion.
Logs Truncated Countdatadog.estimated_usage.logs.truncated_countTotal number of events truncated at ingestion.
Logs Truncated Bytesdatadog.estimated_usage.logs.truncated_bytesVolume of truncated events in bytes.
Error Tracking Logs Eventsdatadog.estimated_usage.error_tracking.logs.eventsVolume of error logs ingested into Error Tracking.
Analyzed Logs (security)datadog.estimated_usage.security_monitoring.analyzed_bytesTotal ingestion of Cloud SIEM logs in bytes.
APM Hostsdatadog.estimated_usage.apm_hosts, datadog.estimated_usage.apm_hosts.by_tagUnique APM hosts seen in last hour. Does not include Azure App Services hosts.
APM Indexed Spansdatadog.estimated_usage.apm.indexed_spansTotal number of spans indexed by tag-based retention filters.
APM Ingested Bytesdatadog.estimated_usage.apm.ingested_bytesVolume of ingested spans in bytes.
APM Ingested Spansdatadog.estimated_usage.apm.ingested_spansTotal number of ingested spans.
APM Fargate Tasksdatadog.estimated_usage.apm.fargate_tasks, datadog.estimated_usage.apm.fargate_tasks.by_tagUnique APM Fargate Tasks seen in last 5 minutes.
RUM Sessionsdatadog.estimated_usage.rum.sessionsTotal number of RUM sessions.
RUM Ingested Sessionsdatadog.estimated_usage.rum.ingested_sessionsTotal number of ingested RUM sessions.

Note: Applies to RUM without Limits.
RUM Indexed Sessionsdatadog.estimated_usage.rum.indexed_sessionsTotal number of RUM sessions indexed by retention filters.

Note: Applies to RUM without Limits.
Serverless Lambda Functionsdatadog.estimated_usage.serverless.aws_lambda_functions, datadog.estimated_usage.serverless.aws_lambda_functions.by_tagUnique serverless functions seen in the last hour.
Serverless Invocationsdatadog.estimated_usage.serverless.invocationsSum of serverless invocations in the last hour.
API test runsdatadog.estimated_usage.synthetics.api_test_runsEstimated usage for API tests.
Browser test runsdatadog.estimated_usage.synthetics.browser_test_runsEstimated usage for browser tests.
Parallel Testing Slotsdatadog.estimated_usage.synthetics.parallel_testing_slotsEstimated usage for parallel testing slots.
Network Hostsdatadog.estimated_usage.network.hosts, datadog.estimated_usage.network.hosts.by_tagUnique CNM hosts seen in the last hour.
Network Devicesdatadog.estimated_usage.network.devices, datadog.estimated_usage.network.devices.by_tagUnique NDM devices seen in the last hour.
Profiled Hostsdatadog.estimated_usage.profiling.hosts, datadog.estimated_usage.profiling.hosts.by_tagUnique profiling hosts seen in the last hour.
Profiled Containersdatadog.estimated_usage.profiling.containers, datadog.estimated_usage.profiling.containers.by_tagUnique profiling containers seen in last 5 minutes.
Profiler Fargate Tasksdatadog.estimated_usage.profiling.fargate_tasks, datadog.estimated_usage.profiling.fargate_tasks.by_tagUnique profiling Fargate Tasks seen in the last 5 minutes.
CSPM Hostsdatadog.estimated_usage.cspm.hosts, datadog.estimated_usage.cspm.hosts.by_tagUnique CSPM hosts seen in the last hour.
CSPM Containersdatadog.estimated_usage.cspm.containers, datadog.estimated_usage.cspm.containers.by_tagUnique CSPM containers seen in the last 5 minutes.
CWS Hostsdatadog.estimated_usage.cws.hosts, datadog.estimated_usage.cws.hosts.by_tagUnique CWS hosts seen in the last hour.
CWS Containersdatadog.estimated_usage.cws.containers, datadog.estimated_usage.cws.containers.by_tagUnique CWS containers seen in the last 5 minutes.
Database Hostsdatadog.estimated_usage.dbm.hosts, datadog.estimated_usage.dbm.hosts.by_tagUnique DBM hosts seen in the last hour.
AAP Hostsdatadog.estimated_usage.asm.hosts, datadog.estimated_usage.asm.hosts.by_tagUnique AAP hosts seen in the last hour.
AAP Tasksdatadog.estimated_usage.asm.tasks, datadog.estimated_usage.asm.tasks.by_tagUnique AAP Fargate Tasks seen in the last 5 minutes.
CI Visibility Pipeline Committersdatadog.estimated_usage.ci_visibility.pipeline.committersPipeline committers seen from (calendar) month-to-date.
CI Visibility Test Committersdatadog.estimated_usage.ci_visibility.test.committersTest committers seen from (calendar) month-to-date.
Code Coverage Committersdatadog.estimated_usage.code_coverage.committersCode coverage committers seen from (calendar) month-to-date.
IOT devicesdatadog.estimated_usage.iot.devices, datadog.estimated_usage.iot.devices.by_tagUnique IoT devices seen in the last hour.
Observability Pipelines Ingested Bytesdatadog.estimated_usage.observability_pipelines.ingested_bytesVolume of data ingested by Observability Pipelines.
Custom Eventsdatadog.estimated_usage.events.custom_eventsVolume of custom events submitted.
Events Ingesteddatadog.estimated_usage.events.ingested_eventsVolume of data ingested by Events.
Code Security SAST Committersdatadog.estimated_usage.code_security.sast.committersSAST committers seen from (calendar) month-to-date.
Code Security SCA Committersdatadog.estimated_usage.code_security.sca.committersSCA committers seen from (calendar) month-to-date.
Code Security SCA Hostsdatadog.estimated_usage.asm.vulnerability_oss_host, datadog.estimated_usage.asm.vulnerability_oss_host.by_tagUnique SCA hosts seen in the last hour.
Code Security Secret Scanning Committersdatadog.estimated_usage.code_security.secrets.committersSecret Scanning committers seen from (calendar) month-to-date.
Code Security IaC Committersdatadog.estimated_usage.code_security.iac.committersInfrastructure as Code (IaC) committers seen from (calendar) month-to-date.
Incident Management Seatsdatadog.estimated_usage.incident_management.seatsUser seats for standalone Incident Management.
Incident Management Monthly Active Usersdatadog.estimated_usage.incident_management.monthly_active_usersIncident Management unique active users seen from (calendar) month-to-date (legacy billing).
Metric Names

Setting tags for your by_tag Estimated Usage Metrics

To set tag breakdowns in your by_tag Estimated Usage Metrics, configure your desired tags—such as team or env—on the Usage Attribution page (If you’re on a PRO plan, you can request access to this feature through your Customer Success Manager). Changes take effect at the next 00:00 UTC.

Setting by_tag EUM tags in Usage Attribution

Dashboards

Out-of-the-box estimated usage dashboards are available, offering useful queries with these metrics. You can clone these dashboards to help you get started with usage metrics. To find these dashboards, navigate to Dashboards preset lists and search for “Estimated Usage.”

Multi-Org usage

For accounts with multiple organizations, you can roll up estimated usage from child organizations using the from field to monitor usage across your entire account.

Multi-Org Usage

Troubleshooting

For technical questions, contact Datadog support.

For billing questions, contact your Customer Success Manager.

Further reading

Additional helpful documentation, links, and articles:

Optimizing Datadog at scale: Cost-efficient observability at ZendeskBLOG more more