Middleware

What is Middleware?

Middleware is a unified observability platform that combines infrastructure monitoring, application performance monitoring, log management, real user monitoring, synthetic checks and LLM observability in one tool. It is built natively on OpenTelemetry, so there is no proprietary agent lock-in, and it also ingests data from the OTel Collector, Logstash and Fluentd. Auto-instrumentation covers Python, Node.js, Java, .NET and Go without code changes, and the platform supports Kubernetes, containers, VMs, AWS Lambda and Windows IIS. OpsAI, its AI SRE agent, detects issues, performs root cause analysis and can generate pull requests with fixes. Pricing is based on data volume rather than hosts or seats: the free tier covers up to 100GB of data with unlimited users, and pay-as-you-go charges $0.3 per GB for logs, $1 per 1K RUM sessions and $1 per 5K synthetic checks. A 14-day trial with unlimited ingestion and custom contracts with bring-your-own-cloud are also offered. Note that Middleware is an observability tool, not a message broker or integration layer.

Use cases

• Monitor servers, containers and Kubernetes
• Trace requests across services with APM
• Search and analyze logs
• Track real user sessions and web performance
• Run synthetic checks on endpoints
• Find root causes of production errors with AI
• Control ingestion volume and cost

Who it's for

• DevOps engineers
• Site reliability engineers
• Backend developers
• Engineering teams

Why use Middleware

• One tool covers metrics, traces, logs, RUM and synthetic checks, so teams switch between fewer products.
• OpenTelemetry-native collection avoids lock-in to a proprietary agent.
• Pricing by data volume makes costs predictable, and dropped data is not billed.
• OpsAI shortens the path from alert to root cause and suggested fix.
• Small teams get started in minutes with an installation script that has the API key filled in.

Middleware features

• Infrastructure monitoring, APM, logs, RUM and synthetic monitoring in one platform
• LLM observability
• OpenTelemetry-native collection with auto-instrumentation
• OpsAI for root cause analysis, issue detection and automatic PR generation
• Log search with regex, fuzzy matching, patterns and anomaly detection
• Ingestion control and data pipeline to drop or mask data
• Sensitive data masking and custom log attributes
• Data-volume pricing instead of per-host or per-seat fees
• SSO and role-based access control on larger plans
• Bring your own cloud option for data residency

Middleware integrations

• OpenTelemetry
• Logstash
• Fluentd
• Kubernetes
• AWS Lambda
• Slack

How to get started with Middleware

1. Sign up for the 14-day free trial or the free tier on middleware.io.
2. Run the installation script, which comes with your API key pre-filled, on your hosts or cluster.
3. Enable OpenTelemetry auto-instrumentation for your language, or add the SDK manually.
4. Build dashboards and alerts, and use the pipeline to drop or mask data you do not need.
5. Let OpsAI investigate errors, then review suggested fixes and generated pull requests.

Middleware limitations

• The free tier is limited to 100GB of data and 14-day retention
• OpsAI tokens on the free tier are a one-time grant of 2 million
• After the trial a payment method is required to continue ingesting data above free limits
• Bring your own cloud and 24x7 support require a custom contract

Middleware pricing

Yes, Middleware has a free plan. Paid plans start at $0.3 usage-based, according to the official pricing page on 24 Oct 2026.

Middleware plans

• Free

  $0

  monthly limits

  • Up to 100GB data
  • Up to 1k RUM sessions
  • Up to 20k synthetic checks
  • Unlimited users
  • 14 day retention

• Pay as you go

  $0.3 per GB logs

  pay for what you use

  • $1 per 1K RUM sessions
  • $1 per 5K synthetic checks
  • $10 per 1K browser test runs
  • Ingestion control and data pipeline
  • 30 day default retention

• Custom Pricing

  Custom

  • Dedicated account team
  • Multi-year contract discounts
  • Custom data retention
  • Bring your own cloud
  • 24x7 support

Plans as listed on the official pricing page on 24 Oct 2026. Prices can change and may vary by country or exclude tax. Check the official pricing page.

Middleware alternatives

The main Middleware alternatives listed on Debuly are New Relic, Logmind, Helicone, Opik, Arize AX and Contextual AI. The table compares pricing and platforms; order is A–Z.

1. 

   Arize AX

   Observability and evaluation platform for AI agents and LLM apps, with tracing, issue detection and experiments on a free plan.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agentsCoding
   FreemiumVisit Arize AX (official site)
2. 

   Contextual AI

   Platform for building document-grounded AI agents, plus parse, rerank, generate and evaluation APIs for RAG pipelines.

   Developer platformsResearch and searchAutomation and agents
   FreemiumVisit Contextual AI (official site)
3. 

   Helicone

   Open-source LLM observability and AI gateway that logs requests, tracks cost and latency, and routes to 100+ models through one API.

   Developer platformsCoding
   FreemiumVisit Helicone (official site)
4. 

   Logmind

   Logmind is an AIOps platform that reads logs and events to detect IT issues early and recommend fixes.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agents
   Free trialVisit Logmind (official site)
5. 

   New Relic

   Observability platform for application, infrastructure and digital experience monitoring with AI-assisted troubleshooting and usage-based pricing.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agentsCoding
   FreemiumVisit New Relic (official site)
6. 

   Opik

   Comet's open-source platform for tracing, evaluating and monitoring LLM applications and agents, self-hosted or in the cloud.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agentsCoding
   FreemiumVisit Opik (official site)

Middleware FAQ

Sources & verification

Facts on this page come from the official sources below, each with the date we read it. Written by Debuly; the vendor did not review this page.

Image credits

• Logo: from middleware.io · fetched 24 Oct 2026 · Vendor trademark, used only to identify the product; removed on request
• Cover: none collected yet, so a generated tile is shown.

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