A lightweight, self-hosted Sentry alternative without a subscription

What is it?

Telebugs is a refreshingly simple, installable error tracking system that collects, groups, and notifies you about errors in your applications. Fix bugs faster, keep your data secure and under your control. Since you own the code and host it yourself, you have complete freedom to customize it to fit your needs.

Still confused? Here's a quick explanation in simple terms.

But we already have Sentry

Sentry’s biggest bug? The never-ending recurring charges. Why pay tens, hundreds, or even thousands of dollars every month — forever — just to track errors? It’s outrageous. And it only gets worse as you grow. Besides, do you really need all those features?

Just compare the pricing for yourself

But Sentry can be self-hosted too

Sure — if you have a DevOps team willing to babysit it. Hosting Sentry yourself is a mess: bloated, sluggish, and absurdly complicated. Running 20+ services just to track errors? No thanks. Telebugs is different. Lightweight. Simple. Fast. Easy to maintain.

I don’t want to manage my data

Sentry can handle it for you, but it comes at a cost. Using it means your data — with your permission — helps train their AI models.

With Telebugs, there’s no complexity to manage. It just works. Any developer can install the SDK and start tracking errors from day one — no AI training, no onboarding, no learning curve. It’s that simple.

Here’s how it works

Create a project, give it a name, error reporting timezone, and choose a platform (JavaScript, Rails, React, etc).

Hop over to the Sentry documentation, find the correct SDK, and install it. Copy the DSN key.

Paste the DSN key into your application, and you’re done. Telebugs will start tracking errors in your app.

Errors are grouped together and sorted by frequency. Click any error to view more details about it.

Error reports include everything you need to fix bugs: backtrace, breadcrumbs, HTTP request, context, and more. You can even attach custom data.

Get notified about errors via email, or PWA push notifications.

Bring your whole team on board by sharing an invite link.

Add as many projects as you like. Monitor your entire stack from a helicopter view.

Okay, but Sentry offers APM. And you?

Sentry tracks errors, performance, code coverage — and everything but the kitchen sink. We track errors. That’s it. Telebugs is designed for one job — catching errors. No bloat, no upsells, no distractions. Pure, simple, error tracking — done right.

It’s appropriate for many areas

• As your primary error tracker. Had enough of bloated, subscription-based tools? Telebugs is here to help. Pay once, host it yourself, and track errors without the headaches.
• As a backup for Sentry. Keep Telebugs on standby for when Sentry goes down or hits its quota. Telebugs has no event limits, so you can track everything.
• For development and staging environments. Deploy Telebugs on your staging servers and save Sentry’s expensive event quotas for production.
• For regulated industries. Industries like healthcare, finance, or government often have strict data compliance requirements. Telebugs supports compliance with regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and PECR by allowing you to keep your error data on-premise, ensuring it never leaves your infrastructure and eliminating third-party data processing.
• For bootstrapped companies. Eliminate a monthly expense that grows with your success. Error tracking shouldn’t eat into your margins as you scale.
• For agencies and consultancies. Set up Telebugs once for your client, hand over the keys, and they’re set for life. No recurring costs to explain, no subscription renewals to manage.
• As a learning tool. Own the code, study it, and customize it to fit your exact needs. Let Telebugs’ simplicity and efficiency inspire your team.

System requirements & installation

Prerequisites

Because Telebugs is self-hosted software, you’ll need a few things to get started:

• A domain name. You’ll need to configure your DNS to point to the IP address of the server where Telebugs will run.
• A web server with internet access. This can be your own machine or a cloud service like AWS or DigitalOcean. The minimum specs are 1GB of RAM and 1 CPU core.
• Some basic technical skills. We’ll give you a single terminal command to run on your server, and it’ll handle everything from setup to generating an SSL certificate.

We’ve created a straightforward Telebugs manual to guide you through the setup, which should only take about 10 minutes.

Also, here’s a video showing how simple it is to install Telebugs.

Hardware requirements

Telebugs is delivered as a Docker container image. It can run on your local hardware, in the cloud (e.g., AWS), or on a VPS like DigitalOcean.

The following table estimates performance across different hardware configurations, assuming linear scaling with CPU cores (though actual performance may vary):

CPU	Est. max errors/second	Est. max errors/day
2	30	2,592,000
4	60	5,184,000
8	120	10,368,000
16	240	20,736,000

When you set up Telebugs using our telebugs command, we automatically configure an SSL certificate for your selected domain or subdomain. For those with strong technical expertise, you also have the option to deploy Telebugs directly using Docker on your internal network.

Frequently asked questions

Just $299, once, really? No error quota fees?

Yes, Telebugs is just $299, once. No hidden fees, no subscriptions, no quotas — ever. You’re not renting it; you’re buying it for good, like adding a reliable tool to your toolbox. It’s yours to keep.

I’ve never used Sentry. Can I still use Telebugs?

Absolutely! Telebugs is a standalone error tracker that works with any application capable of sending errors to a server. While we’re fully compatible with Sentry SDKs for easy integration, you can also write your own custom integration if you prefer. No Sentry experience required — just start tracking errors your way.

Does everyone need to purchase or install it?

Not at all. Only one person — whether it’s you, your IT admin, or someone else — needs to buy Telebugs, download it, and set it up on a server (yours or a shared one). Once it’s installed, your entire team can access it through their browsers or phones, just like any other collaborative tool. No extra purchases or downloads required.

Can one Telebugs installation track multiple company apps?

Yes, one Telebugs installation can track errors from all your company’s apps. Just send errors to the same instance on your licensed domain — no extra licenses needed. One setup, all apps covered.

How do updates work? Do they cost extra?

Each Telebugs installation checks in with our server once a day to see if any updates are available. If there are, it will download and install them automatically. You can disable this and update manually if you prefer. As for cost — updates within the same major version (like 1.0 to 1.1) are free. Upgrading to a new major version (like from 1.x to 2.x) might come with a cost, but it’s entirely up to you whether you want to make that upgrade.

Are native iOS and Android apps available?

Telebugs supports Progressive Web App (PWA) mode, so you can install it on your phone and use it like a native app. It also supports push notifications (if enabled), so you’ll get error alerts even when the app isn’t open.

Is customer support included?

Yes, basic support is included. We’re happy to help occasionally with simple issues, but we can’t troubleshoot complex setups or problems caused by custom code changes. For feature requests, please email us.

Can we run Telebugs on a shared server like DigitalOcean?

Yes, if you can host something like WordPress, you can host Telebugs. For specific details, check the system requirements section.

Can we reuse any of the code in another product?

No, you cannot reuse or repurpose Telebugs’ code for other products. While you’re welcome to review and modify the code for your own use within Telebugs, using it outside of this scope isn’t allowed. Please check the license agreement for more details.

Can we modify Telebugs for our own purposes?

Feel free to tweak the Telebugs Rails code however you like! Just keep in mind that once you make changes, you’re on your own with those modifications. Also, future updates might overwrite your custom tweaks.

Can we run Telebugs without internet access?

Absolutely, you can tweak the Rails code in Telebugs however you like! Just keep in mind that once you modify the code, you’re responsible for managing those changes. Be aware that future updates may overwrite your customizations.

Can we buy one copy of Telebugs and run it in multiple places?

Each Telebugs license covers a single domain. If you want to run it on multiple servers with different domain names, you’ll need to purchase a separate license for each one.

Can I import my Sentry data?

First, good luck finding a way to export your data from Sentry — it’s not exactly user-friendly. At the moment, Telebugs doesn’t support importing data from Sentry directly. However, if you’re up for it, you can write a custom migration script to move your data over. Just know it’s not something we officially support (yet).

Do you offer refunds?

Since Telebugs is a downloadable product, we’re unable to offer refunds. Once you download the source code, it’s yours to keep, and we can’t retrieve it. We appreciate your understanding!

Is Telebugs a GlitchTip alternative?

Absolutely! Telebugs is not just an alternative — it’s a better one. Here’s why it might be the right choice for you.