Opportunities › Observability data storage without vendor lock-in › Proposed app
Tarn
Keep logs, metrics and traces in your own bucket, in open tables you can query
- Score
- 38
- confidence 44
- Evidence
- 5
- items on the page
- Rivals
- 1
- named in sources
- First version
- 60 d
- estimate
- Type
- Desktop app
- PWA: runs in the browser, installs on Mac and Windows
- Market since
- 2010
- Mature market · AI estimate
ScreensConcept
Desktop app: Engineering teams spend long stretches querying observability data, setting alert rules, and reviewing cost analysis—dense analytical work done from a desk. Sample screens on a computer, in the proposed brand. Their numbers are sample data.
Storage overview
All tables readable2.4 TB
About this appAI proposal
Tarn is a control panel and managed query layer for teams that want observability data in their own object storage. Logs, metrics and traces land as open Iceberg tables in a bucket you own, so you pay your storage provider rather than a per-GB ingestion fee.
Search, dashboards and alert rules run on top of those tables. Because the data stays in an open format, any standard query tool can read it too. If you stop using Tarn, your data stays exactly where it is and stays readable.
Built for engineering teams who find per-GB pricing hard to predict and proprietary formats hard to leave. Tarn is a proposal: the material shows interest in this idea, not proven demand.
- Tagline
- Your telemetry, in your bucket, in open tables.
- Voice
- PlainCalmPrecise
- Why this name
- A tarn is a small mountain lake you can see to the bottom of: still, clear, and owned by the land around it. It suggests data kept in plain sight.
In the first version
Members say which features they would use. It tells PWAS what people want; it changes no score.
Your bucket, your tables
Logs, metrics and traces are written as open Iceberg tables to object storage in your own cloud account.
No member yet
No per-GB ingestion fee
Pricing is by team and query capacity, not by gigabytes ingested. Storage is billed by your cloud provider.
No member yet
Query with any tool
Point other engines and notebooks at the same tables. Nothing is readable only inside Tarn's own interface.
No member yet
Search and trace views
Find log lines, follow a trace across services and chart metrics from one web app that installs as a PWA.
No member yet
Brand identityAI proposal
Check the name against trademark registers before using it.
Palette
#12363FDeep Tarn · primary#F3F6F5Mist · surface#1B2A2ESlate Ink · text#6FB58ALichen · accent#E0A030Amber Flag · data and warnings
Typography
Aa
Tarn
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789
Your telemetry, in your bucket, in open tables.
PricingAI proposal
The material gives no competitor prices, only that vendors charge per GB ingested. These tiers are a starting point to test, priced by seats and capacity instead.
Starter
Free
- One bucket connected
- Seven-day query history
- Exit check
- Community support
Team
$199 a month
- Up to 15 users
- Alert rules with email and webhooks
- Cost preview
- Email support
Business
$799 a month
- Unlimited users
- Multiple buckets and regions
- Priority support
- Single sign-on
Would you pay Team · $199 a month?
Your answer tells PWAS which prices people accept. It changes no score.
No answers yet.
What it could be worthEstimate
What a software business making this much sells for today, from real deals. Pick a monthly revenue.
If it makes
Worth about
$190,000
Sale range $132,000 to $263,000
$120,000 a year in revenue
From 87 software businesses listed and sold on Empire Flippers in the last year, revenue vetted by the broker: they sell for about 19× their monthly revenue, most between 13× and 26×.
Measured on profit, the middle deal is 32× monthly net profit: about 2.7 years of profit.
An estimate, not an offer or financial advice. A real price depends on profit, growth, churn, how much of the work is the owner's, and the buyer.
How it would growAI proposal
How the product would reach new customers through its own use, and how the first ones would be found. A plan to test, not a result.
- Built-in loop
- No loop in the product. Tarn is bought by engineering teams after they evaluate it. Its own use produces little that outsiders see, so growth would come from content, open-source interest and direct outreach.
- Do they become customers?
- Readers of shared dashboards are usually colleagues, not buyers. Test whether engineering leads who try the free cost preview go on to connect a bucket and pay.
- First customers
- Platform or infrastructure leads at software companies with 20 to 100 engineers who complain about observability bills.
- Where to reach them
- Hacker News and engineering forums: Publish a worked cost comparison and the Iceberg schema, then invite readers to try the cost preview.
- OpenTelemetry community: Share collector configs and examples in community channels and meetups.
- Direct outreach: Message platform leads who have written about observability costs and offer a free migration trial.
- First milestone
- Five teams each send real telemetry for 30 days, and two pay for the Team tier.
Why people already pay for this
- VerifiedHacker News post received 15 points and 5 comments
- Public claimObservability platform customers face high per-GB ingestion costs.
- Public claimVendor lock-in through proprietary data formats prevents teams from using observability data independently.
- Public claimMarket exists for observability solutions that avoid vendor lock-in and per-GB pricing.
- Public claim
Tech stack
Every proposal builds on the same PWA base, installable from the browser on any phone or computer. Dashed boxes are what this app adds.
- AppNext.js and TypeScript
- PWAManifest and service worker
- UITailwind CSS
- Data and authSupabase Postgres
- PaymentsStripe
- EmailResend
- HostingVercel
- This app · Table format and catalogApache Iceberg with a REST catalogOpen tables on customer object storage are the core promise and keep data portable.
- This app · Query engineEmbedded columnar SQL engine over IcebergRuns search, dashboards and alerts directly on the tables without copying data.
RisksAI inference
- TechnicalQuery speed on object storage may trail purpose-built vendor stores for fast log search, especially with small files and high write rates.
- CommercialEvidence is one Hacker News post with 15 points and 5 comments. Teams may complain about cost yet not switch.
- CommercialAn open-source engine may be free to run, so paying customers must value the hosted control panel and support.
- DataTelemetry can hold personal or secret data. Teams must trust Tarn's access to their buckets and credentials.
- PlatformAlerting and dashboards require reliable background jobs and cloud permissions that differ across cloud providers.
Everything marked AI proposal or AI inference was written by a model from the evidence on the opportunity page. The proposed name must be checked against trademark registers before it is used.