Axiom
Ingest bounded logs, search them, and retain a compact local event store
The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Axiom, ingest bounded logs, search them, and retain a compact local event store. The hard boundary is high-performance cloud storage, query engine, integrations, and managed operations, plus independent infrastructure and reliable alerting.
Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability
What you give up
- high-performance cloud storage, query engine, integrations, and managed operations
- global probe network
- phone and SMS delivery
- massive retention
- advanced incident response and support
Why people still pay
People still pay for Axiom because monitoring must continue working during the exact outage it reports, which makes independent infrastructure and alert delivery the real product. The recurring cost buys probe geography, clocks, retries, deduplication, sampling, storage, paging, notification delivery, on-call rules, and its own uptime, not just the visible interface.
Your build guide
The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.
Before you start
- A supported Node release, PostgreSQL, HTTPS for a shared deployment, and a backup destination. Begin with one workspace and explicit owner/member permissions.
- Implementation components: Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations. PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace.
- Scope boundary: Large-scale analytics infrastructure, APL compatibility and managed retention guarantees are outside scope.
Use these project rules and optional skill references alongside the prompt. Review each skill before adding it to your agent; the AGENTS.md export includes the same guidance.
Optional external skill: vercel-react-best-practices — Improve React and Next.js data fetching, rendering, bundle size and server performance. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: supabase-postgres-best-practices — Review PostgreSQL schemas, queries, indexes, pooling, concurrency and row-level security. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: web-design-guidelines — Review web interfaces for accessibility, keyboard focus, forms, navigation and interaction quality. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Project rule — data model: datasets, authenticated ingest keys, bounded JSON log events, parsed fields, saved queries and alert evaluations
Project rule — preserve this invariant: Event time and receive time remain separate; arbitrary SQL and secrets in payloads are rejected or redacted before storage.
Project rule — acceptance evidence: Replay an event ID without duplicating the log; a late event appears at its event time and an exceeded alert cooldown suppresses repeated notifications.
Implementation plan
Phase 1
Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Ingest structured logs for one service, search by time and selected fields, show a live tail and save threshold alerts. Use PostgreSQL JSONB and indexes for the initial bounded volume instead of inventing an APL-compatible engine. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: Large-scale analytics infrastructure, APL compatibility and managed retention guarantees are outside scope.
Phase 2
Durable model. Model datasets, authenticated ingest keys, bounded JSON log events, parsed fields, saved queries and alert evaluations Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: Event time and receive time remain separate; arbitrary SQL and secrets in payloads are rejected or redacted before storage.
Phase 3
Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record.
Phase 4
Permissions and integration failure. Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results.
Phase 5
Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README.
Phase 6
Acceptance scenarios. Replay an event ID without duplicating the log; a late event appears at its event time and an exceeded alert cooldown suppresses repeated notifications. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder.
WORKING SLICE Ingest structured logs for one service, search by time and selected fields, show a live tail and save threshold alerts. Use PostgreSQL JSONB and indexes for the initial bounded volume instead of inventing an APL-compatible engine. Build this scoped Axiom-inspired workflow with a documented data model and visible failure states. Architecture - Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations. - PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace. Prerequisites and limits A supported Node release, PostgreSQL, HTTPS for a shared deployment, and a backup destination. Begin with one workspace and explicit owner/member permissions. Outside this release: Large-scale analytics infrastructure, APL compatibility and managed retention guarantees are outside scope. Data model and correctness datasets, authenticated ingest keys, bounded JSON log events, parsed fields, saved queries and alert evaluations Invariant: Event time and receive time remain separate; arbitrary SQL and secrets in payloads are rejected or redacted before storage. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record. Security and privacy Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Recovery and export Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Implementation order 1. Phase 1 — Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Ingest structured logs for one service, search by time and selected fields, show a live tail and save threshold alerts. Use PostgreSQL JSONB and indexes for the initial bounded volume instead of inventing an APL-compatible engine. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: Large-scale analytics infrastructure, APL compatibility and managed retention guarantees are outside scope. 2. Phase 2 — Durable model. Model datasets, authenticated ingest keys, bounded JSON log events, parsed fields, saved queries and alert evaluations Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: Event time and receive time remain separate; arbitrary SQL and secrets in payloads are rejected or redacted before storage. 3. Phase 3 — Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record. 4. Phase 4 — Permissions and integration failure. Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results. 5. Phase 5 — Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README. 6. Phase 6 — Acceptance scenarios. Replay an event ID without duplicating the log; a late event appears at its event time and an exceeded alert cooldown suppresses repeated notifications. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder. Acceptance Replay an event ID without duplicating the log; a late event appears at its event time and an exceeded alert cooldown suppresses repeated notifications. Use real source data or clearly labeled fixtures. Explain unsupported input and provider failures; do not fabricate analytics, delivery receipts, accuracy claims or security guarantees. Optional agent guidance Optional external skill: [vercel-react-best-practices](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/react-best-practices/SKILL.md) — Improve React and Next.js data fetching, rendering, bundle size and server performance. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Optional external skill: [supabase-postgres-best-practices](https://github.com/supabase/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/supabase-postgres-best-practices/SKILL.md) — Review PostgreSQL schemas, queries, indexes, pooling, concurrency and row-level security. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Optional external skill: [web-design-guidelines](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/web-design-guidelines/SKILL.md) — Review web interfaces for accessibility, keyboard focus, forms, navigation and interaction quality. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Project rule — data model: datasets, authenticated ingest keys, bounded JSON log events, parsed fields, saved queries and alert evaluations Project rule — preserve this invariant: Event time and receive time remain separate; arbitrary SQL and secrets in payloads are rejected or redacted before storage. Project rule — acceptance evidence: Replay an event ID without duplicating the log; a late event appears at its event time and an exceeded alert cooldown suppresses repeated notifications.
$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md
prompt copied. want to know what dies next week?
new verdicts + top votes, weekly. free. one-click out.
Alternatives to building your own
all 3 free alternatives to Axiom →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
Axiom pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| personal | $0/workspace | — | 500 GB/month loading; 10 GB-hours/month querying; 25 GB stored; 30-day retention; unlimited users and integrationsPermanent free plan; no credit card required. |
| cloud | $25/workspace | — | 1 TB/month loading allowance; 100 GB-hours/month querying; 100 GB stored; configurable retention$25 is the platform fee; telemetry loading, querying and storage above allowances are usage-billed. |
| enterprise | — | — | Custom volume, support, security and compliance termsContact sales. |
free tier500 GB telemetry loading/month; 10 GB-hours querying/month; 25 GB stored; 30-day retention; unlimited users and integrations
billingmonthly usage billing; no public annual plan shown; prepaid credits can discount usage and do not expire
hidden costsCloud is $25/month before metered telemetry usage; optional enterprise controls are separately priced, including SSO ($100/month), directory sync ($100/month), RBAC ($50/month) and audit log access ($50/month)
pricing sources checked 2026-08-14 · pricing source ↗
Questions about Axiom
Can you build your own Axiom with AI?
Partly. The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Axiom, ingest bounded logs, search them, and retain a compact local event store. The hard boundary is high-performance cloud storage, query engine, integrations, and managed operations, plus independent infrastructure and reliable alerting.
What does the Axiom build prompt cover?
The prompt starts with this scope: Ingest structured logs for one service, search by time and selected fields, show a live tail and save threshold alerts. Use PostgreSQL JSONB and indexes for the initial bounded volume instead of inventing an APL-compatible engine. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: high-performance cloud storage, query engine, integrations, and managed operations; global probe network; phone and SMS delivery. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.
How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?
Start with the Axiom prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.
How long will this Axiom project take?
The catalogue estimate is multi-day for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.
What would I give up by replacing Axiom?
high-performance cloud storage, query engine, integrations, and managed operations; global probe network; phone and SMS delivery; massive retention; advanced incident response and support. People still pay for Axiom because monitoring must continue working during the exact outage it reports, which makes independent infrastructure and alert delivery the real product. The recurring cost buys probe geography, clocks, retries, deduplication, sampling, storage, paging, notification delivery, on-call rules, and its own uptime, not just the visible interface.
What price is this guide comparing against?
The recorded Personal plan is $25/mo (monthly), checked 2026-07-31. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.
What can I use instead of building Axiom?
OpenObserve: Logs, traces and metrics in one binary; your disk gets the invoice. HyperDX: A searchable event store with traces and dashboards attached; ClickHouse does the lifting. VictoriaLogs: A fast log store and query UI; metrics and traces are somebody else's problem. Compare all listed options at https://howtovibecodeit.dev/axiom/alternatives. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.