MCP or Not?

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Comparison · Updated

Datadog vs Grafana: MCP servers compared

Which one works better with Claude, ChatGPT and other AI assistants? Here is what each vendor publishes, side by side, from our dated verdicts.

The short answer

  • Both Datadog and Grafana publish an official MCP server.
  • Datadog is listed as a Claude connector; the other is not.
  • Datadog's server is hosted, so there is nothing to install. The other runs differently.
  • Safety flags to review: Datadog 1, Grafana 1. See each verdict for details.

Side by side

Datadog and Grafana MCP servers compared
DetailDatadogGrafana
VerdictOfficialOfficial
Claude connectorYesNot confirmed
ServerDatadog MCP Server (Datadog)Grafana MCP server (mcp-grafana) (Grafana Labs)
How it runsHosted (remote URL)Runs on your machine
Sign-inOAuth sign-inAPI key or token
StageUnknownUnknown
Plan neededNot stated in the docs. Org admin must enable MCP Access (and MCP Write Access for write tools). Not supported on ddog-gov.com sites.Grafana 9.0+ for full functionality; works with Grafana OSS and Grafana Cloud. Open source, Apache-2.0.
Documented tools8 (6 read, 2 write)8 (6 read, 2 write)
Can delete dataNo documented delete toolsNo documented delete tools
Safety flagsWrite tools exist (notebooks, dashboards, monitors, cases, feature flags, APM rules, delete_datadog_dashboard is permanent). They need the mcp_write permission and the org's MCP Write Access setting, and can be limited via toolsets/omit_tools, but there is no single read-only switch.Uses a Grafana service account token (GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN) set in the client env; this is a long-lived credential whose breadth is set by its Grafana role (README suggests Editor as a shortcut). No OAuth for the local server.
Setup guidesClaude, Claude Code, Cursor, VS CodeClaude, Cursor
Last checkedOctober 18, 2026October 18, 2026

Datadog verdict

As of October 2026, Datadog publishes an official remote MCP server, hosted by Datadog and documented on docs.datadoghq.com. It connects to Claude, Cursor and VS Code, signs in with OAuth, and covers logs, metrics, traces, monitors and incidents. Write tools exist but require a separate org-level MCP Write Access setting.

Setup, tools and safety check for Datadog →

Grafana verdict

As of October 2026, Grafana Labs publishes an official open-source MCP server, grafana/mcp-grafana, that you run yourself over stdio, SSE or streamable HTTP. It uses a service account token and covers dashboards, Prometheus, Loki, alerting, incidents and more. A --disable-write flag provides read-only mode.

Setup, tools and safety check for Grafana →