---
title: "Find the slow queries behind problems | Grafana Labs"
description: "Query-level performance monitoring for your databases."
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

## Query-level visibility with Data Observability

Your application hits the MySQL or PostgreSQL database thousands of times a day. [Database Observability](/docs/grafana-cloud/monitor-applications/database-observability/) watches all of those hits. Then it gives your engineers the context to understand why, without needing a DBA to interpret it.

- **See every query across all your databases**: execution times, wait events, and error rates, aggregated or broken down by instance, schema, or table.
- **Find the root cause faster**: correlate database queries directly with application traces and infrastructure metrics without bouncing between tools.
- **Drill into deep diagnostics**: execution plans, table schemas, and index usage via visual explain plans, without needing DBA expertise.
- **Get actionable optimization**: AI Helper provides specific recommendations (composite indexes, query rewrites) with the exact SQL to implement them.

[Try it out in Grafana Play](https://play.grafana.org/a/grafana-dbo11y-app/overview?waitEvents=durationOfEvents&var-engine=mysql&var-engine=postgres&sortingRule=wait_events&var-filters=)

## What keeps you up at night?

Role / WorriesWhat you get with the app

**Developer**

- I follow the trace and it points to the database, then the trail stops
- I know something in the database is the problem, but I can’t tell which query, why it’s slow, or what changed

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- Query-level visibility shows exactly which queries are slow, how often they run, and what they’re waiting on
- Visual explain plans take you from “slow query” to “here’s what to fix” without needing DBA expertise

**SRE, On-Call Engineer**

- During an incident in the early morning hours, infrastructure metrics look fine, traces point to the database, and the DBA is asleep
- No way to investigate the database layer myself

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- Query samples, wait events, and execution plans are available to any engineer, not just DBAs
- Correlate database queries directly with application traces so you get the full picture in one place

**DBA, Platform Engineer**

- Every slow endpoint becomes a ticket for me
- Developers can’t self-serve through database problems, so I spend my time answering “which query is slow” instead of doing actual database work

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- Developers and SREs can investigate database performance independently
- AI Helper surfaces specific optimization recommendations (composite indexes, query rewrites) with the exact SQL to implement them

**Engineering Manager, VP Engineering**

- Paying per host for database monitoring and the bill compounds every time we add an instance
- Still getting escalations because nobody can answer why a specific query is slow

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- Usage-based pricing: you only pay for active host hours and associated telemetry, not per host or container, so cost tracks usage, not fleet size
- Database performance in the same Grafana Cloud instance you already use, without a separate tool or contract