I Stopped Paying $30/Month for Error Tracking — GlitchTip on a Free VM Catches Everything Sentry Did

Description and use

Migrating from Sentry to free GlitchTip on an Oracle VM saved $30/month with no code changes and full data control.

Problem

High cost of Sentry team plan for low‑volume error tracking

Outcome

$0/month cost, ~1,100 events/month captured, minimal setup time, no code changes, full data residency control

Workflow

• 1. Deploy GlitchTip on Oracle Always Free ARM VM using Docker Compose
• 2. Configure Nginx reverse proxy for HTTPS
• 3. Update application DSN to point to GlitchTip endpoint
• 4. Run docker compose pull && up -d monthly for updates
• 5. Monitor alerts via Slack, email, Telegram, webhook

Evidence

GlitchTip speaks the Sentry protocol. Migration is literally changing a DSN: No code changes. No new SDK.

Source

$0 (Oracle Always Free) vs $26/mo (Sentry team plan)

Source