Your data in your environment —
and who runs it.
groundcover and Ultraviolet agree on the big things: no code changes, and no telemetry in a vendor's cloud. The difference is who operates the backend, and what it costs when the answer has to be "only us".
The short version
Choose groundcover if
- You want the data in your cloud account but would rather not operate the backend yourself — on its standard plans, groundcover runs it for you.
- You want to start on a free tier.
Choose Ultraviolet if
- Everything has to run in your environment, operated by you — on every plan, at $25 a node rather than groundcover's $50 On-Premise plan.
- The network is disconnected, and sign-in can't depend on an outside service.
- You want SSO, roles and unlimited retention without moving up a tier.
Side by side
| Ultraviolet | groundcover | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your telemetry is stored | UltravioletYour cluster, on your disks | groundcoverYour cloud account (the standard plans), or your premises (the On-Premise plan) |
| Who runs the backend | UltravioletYou — one Helm install | groundcovergroundcover, in your cloud account — or you, on-premise |
| Fully self-hosted | UltravioletEvery plan | groundcoverOn-Premise plan only |
| Runs with no outside connection | UltravioletYes — sign-in through your own identity provider or a local admin | groundcoverOn-Premise plan; its docs list Auth0 for sign-in |
| Seeing services without code changes | UltravioletYes | groundcoverYes |
| Real user monitoring and session replay | UltravioletYes | groundcoverYes |
| Synthetic monitoring | UltravioletYes | groundcoverYes |
| Price per node or host, per month | Ultraviolet$25, everything included | groundcoverFree (12-hour retention); $30 Pro; $35 Enterprise; $50 On-Premise |
| Retention | UltravioletAs long as you set | groundcoverBy plan — unlimited on Enterprise and On-Premise |
| SSO and role-based access | UltravioletIncluded | groundcoverSSO from Pro; role-based access from Enterprise |
What they share
Both see your services from the node, with no code changes: requests, errors, latency and traces appear as soon as they're installed. Both include real user monitoring with session replay and synthetic checks, and both price per node rather than by data volume. If you've ruled out sending telemetry to a vendor's cloud, both are on the list.
Who runs the backend
groundcover's standard plans use what it calls bring-your-own-cloud: the backend runs in your cloud account, and groundcover manages it — and the UI — for you. That's real convenience: the data stays in your account and you don't operate the storage. It also means a vendor operates infrastructure inside your account.
Its On-Premise plan moves the backend and the UI onto your premises, operated by you. groundcover's pricing page lists isolated authentication for that plan; its on-premise documentation names Auth0 as the one outbound connection, for sign-in. If your network is fully disconnected, confirm that point with groundcover.
Ultraviolet only works one way: everything — collection, storage, UI, sign-in through your own identity provider or a local admin, alerting, AI investigation — runs in your environment, operated by you, on every plan. That's more for you to run. It's also the whole point when nothing may depend on an outside service.
What it costs
For a fully self-hosted deployment, groundcover's On-Premise plan is $50 per host per month; Ultraviolet is $25 per node, with SSO, roles and unlimited retention included. On a 50-node cluster that's $2,500 a month against $1,250. groundcover's managed plans are $30 (Pro) and $35 (Enterprise) per host, and it has a free tier with 12 hours of retention. Either way you also pay for the infrastructure the backend runs on, in your own account.
Trying both
Both install with Helm and can run side by side while you compare. Ultraviolet's live demo runs on a real cluster with real traffic, no sales call needed.
Claims about groundcover were checked against its public documentation and pricing on October 15, 2026. Products and prices change — we're happy to walk through a current, specific comparison on a call.
- groundcover pricing and deployment options
- groundcover on-premise deployment
- groundcover real user monitoring
- groundcover synthetic monitoring
groundcover is a trademark of its owner. Ultraviolet Observability is not affiliated with groundcover.
Run it in your own cluster this week.
A 30-minute call, then an evaluation core on your infrastructure. You will see your own services, traces and logs — from your own traffic — before you decide anything.
- No data leaves your environment, including during the trial
- Helm install, works fully air-gapped
- You talk to the engineers who built it