Cribl vs ServiceNow Cloud Observability comparison

Cribl and ServiceNow are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Cribl is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.3, while ServiceNow is ranked #39 with an average rating of 7.5. Cribl holds a 0.9% mindshare in APM, compared to ServiceNow’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Cribl users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of ServiceNow users who would recommend it.

Cribl

Read 15 Cribl reviews

3,951 Views
988 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

ServiceNow Cloud Observability

Read 4 ServiceNow Cloud Observability reviews

780 Views
757 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cribl

ServiceNow Cloud Observability

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

ServiceNow Cloud Observability and Cribl compete in observability and data routing. ServiceNow Cloud Observability has the upper hand with its strong customer support and comprehensive feature set, whereas Cribl stands out for its flexibility and customizable platform.

Features: ServiceNow Cloud Observability provides integrated dashboards, event management for a unified view across infrastructures, and enhanced monitoring features. Cribl offers robust data management, flexible data processing, and delivery. Cribl's customizable data workflows enhance adaptability, making it a versatile choice.

Room for Improvement: ServiceNow could improve by expanding customization options, optimizing pricing for budget-conscious businesses, and streamlining data processing. Cribl might benefit from simplifying deployment processes, enhancing user interface design for easier use, and bolstering support for less experienced users to facilitate onboarding.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ServiceNow Cloud Observability integrates seamlessly with existing systems, simplifying deployment, and provides robust customer support for smooth transitions. Cribl offers flexible deployment, but its customizable nature may require more time for configuration. ServiceNow holds a slight advantage in straightforward deployment and strong support mechanisms.

Pricing and ROI: ServiceNow Cloud Observability typically involves a higher initial investment due to its comprehensive offerings, yet its ROI is supported by thorough support and integration capabilities. Cribl provides competitive pricing appealing to budget-conscious buyers seeking a solution without significant upfront costs. Cribl’s ROI can be advantageous due to its scalable and customized approach.

To learn more, read our detailed Cribl vs. ServiceNow Cloud Observability Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cribl vs. ServiceNow Cloud Observability

July 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cribl

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

14th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Log Management (8th), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (12th), Observability Pipeline Software (1st)

ServiceNow Cloud Observability

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

39th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Cribl is 0.9%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow Cloud Observability is 0.4%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Joe Cicero

Director of Strategic Alliances at security risk advisors

Facilitates seamless log integration and reduces data costs with efficient compression

My favorite feature is Cribl Stream. That's probably the only Cribl product I have a lot of experience with, and Cribl Stream makes it very easy to identify where all the customer's log sources are and to quickly connect them to a destination source such as Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Azure Data Storage. Cribl Stream does two things: not only does it make it easy to connect one log source or one dataset to multiple storage locations, but it also has compression features, which greatly reduce the storage cost for that data. It strips out and compresses data so that only the absolute information remains and not any duplicates. Dual destination and compression are the two top features.

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Prashant-Sharma

Senior Software Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

Provides effective observability and offers robust alerting and monitoring capabilities

We use some SDK to integrate like tips in our code, in our Java code or whatever code, rightly, Skylight or whatever. So, the SDK that we use is not very easy to get a hold of. So, a person who is more experienced is able to write proper code so that an operation can have an operation name to set. So, SDK would be improved for developers so that the integration and code will get easier. The support team could be better. Because of the different versions of different tactics of integrating reactive code base, the documentation is not very clear if someone has to be onboard. I would rate the documentation of Lightstep a five out of ten. It could need improvement. Currently, what happens is, suppose in a stream, we have lots of spans. So if there is something I can filter, for example, in a single trace, there are ten calls with it. And if I have to filter, I have to go inside the individual trace to get the call. In future releases, I want to see if it is possible to filter them at a very high stream level. So, for example, I want to filter the calls only from service A, ten calls, and I want to filter only two calls out of ten. So, instead of doing that filter at the trace level, can I do it at a stream level.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Cribl offers easy plugin configurations and source collection settings, allowing us to collect logs from any source."

"Cribl definitely helps with the complexity because you don't have to push for deployment—they provide the interface where you can mimic what the output will look like, and you can see that in real time when setting up the Cribl configuration, which definitely helps considerably."

"Cribl offers other valuable features. For instance, you can replay data from an edge device, store your daily data in a stream, and replay specific event data into Splunk if a security incident occurs"

"The capability to reduce logs in a user-friendly manner is a standout feature. Cribl allows us to view logs live as they are being processed, giving us quick feedback on the changes made."

"Features such as Cribl Stream, Cribl LogStream, and Cribl Edge have been the most beneficial. The Cribl LogStream, in particular, is valuable for routing data, creating firewalls on pipelines, and putting security measures in place to ensure data reaches its destination without issues."

"My favorite option in Cribl is the Stream product."

"When it comes to the product's installation phase, it is not tough for people who have good knowledge...The tool is worth the investment."

"I'd rate the solution ten out of ten."

More Cribl pros

"The UI is very intuitive."

"The solution Lightstep/ServiceNow has a couple of pretty advanced functionalities to help us investigate a deviation and help the development teams have better observability in the environment using distributed and complex services."

"To a certain extent, it is possible to save on the costs of the product."

"The ability to create a stream based on different parameters, operation name, service name, URL, tags, and URI part, is one valuable feature."

Cons

"Cribl doesn't have as many packs available"

"The sys logging could be enhanced to make it easier to identify errors, especially when dealing with multiple functions."

"Cribl could improve by offering easier integrations with enterprise products, similar to what Splunk provides."

"There is no alerting mechanism for the leader/worker nodes status."

"There is room for improvement in the documentation and knowledge base, particularly regarding configurations like sources where logs are being ingested"

"Perhaps more flexibility in terms of metrics would be helpful."

"Cribl could have developed some version that can give backward compatibility."

"There have been several administrative issues. Another point is that the browsing functions aren't very intuitive."

More Cribl cons

"The support team could be better. Because of the different versions of different tactics of integrating reactive code base, the documentation is not very clear if someone has to be onboard. I would rate the documentation of Lightstep a five out of ten. It could need improvement."

"The dashboard and graphics must be improved."

"The design of this solution is not very intuitive and probably could come with more friendly tips for beginners."

"In terms of licensing, users would want the product to offer them the ability to tailor the tasks offered in the solution to suit their needs."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product pricing is reasonable compared to other solutions."

"I would not say it is a cheaply priced tool as it has been doing wonders in the market. The tool has been budget-friendly for organizations."

"The product is expensive. I rate the tool's pricing model an eight out of ten."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

Healthcare Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

11%

Retailer

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cribl?

The current pricing is a little bit above average.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cribl?

Something that Cribl could do better is processing time. There is not enough customization to improve performance. An example would be with AWS Lambda functions, the way we were doing it before. Th...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cribl?

Our use cases that we are exploring Cribl for right now are for data parsing and data manipulation.

See all answers

What do you like most about LightStep?

The UI is very intuitive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with LightStep?

There are a lot of workflows and connectors. In terms of licensing, users would want the product to offer them the ability to tailor the tasks offered in the solution to suit their needs.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for LightStep?

I use the solution in my company since it has multiple tenants available. Basically, what happens in business is that you have a hybrid setup model, and for that, you extensively use a cloud platfo...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cribl

August 2025

Download Cribl product report

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow Cloud Observability

July 2025

Download ServiceNow Cloud Observability product report

Also Known As

No data available

LightStep

Overview

Cribl optimizes log collection, data processing, and migration to Splunk Cloud, ensuring efficient data ingestion and management for improved operational efficiency.

Cribl offers seamless log collection directly from cloud sources, allowing users to visually extract necessary data and replay specific events for in-depth analysis. It provides robust management of events, parsing, and enrichment of data, along with effective log size reduction. Cribl is particularly beneficial for migrating enterprise logs, optimizing usage, and reducing costs while streamlining the transition between different log management tools.

What are Cribl's most important features?

Real-Time Data Transformation: Enables immediate data processing for accurate insights.
Simplified Log Collection: Gathers data from diverse sources effortlessly.
Powerful Data Reduction: Reduces log size without losing critical information.
Inbuilt Packs: Ready-to-use functions simplify complex tasks.
Live Testing: Allows testing before production deployment for reliability.
Master Node Updates: Manages worker groups efficiently for consistent performance.
Advanced Data Processing: Offers robust data serialization and coding perspectives.
Easy Plugin Configurations: Facilitates direct integration with reduced setup time.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Optimized Usage: Ensures effective resource management and cost reduction.
Streamlined Migration: Simplifies the transition between log management tools.
Enhanced Data Management: Improves data quality and processing efficiency.
Reduced Time and Effort: Direct-to-production capabilities save operational time.

Cribl is widely implemented in industries requiring extensive data management, such as technology and finance. Users leverage Cribl to handle log collection, processing, and migration efficiently, ensuring smooth operation and effective data analysis. It aids in managing temporary data storage during downtimes and better handling historical data, preventing data loss and allowing extended periods for viewing statistics and monitoring trends.

Cribl

ServiceNow Cloud Observability is a comprehensive platform designed to enhance visibility, control, and performance monitoring of your IT infrastructure and applications. It seamlessly integrates log management, trace management, metrics monitoring, and infrastructure monitoring in real-time, leveraging AI and machine learning for automated tasks and actionable insights. With benefits including improved visibility, faster incident resolution, enhanced application performance, simplified IT operations, and reduced costs, this cloud-native solution is ideal for businesses of all sizes with complex IT infrastructures. It integrates seamlessly with ServiceNow IT Operations Management (ITOM), supports OpenTelemetry standards, and provides AI-powered insights along with pre-built dashboards and reports.

ServiceNow

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

InVision, Twilio, Lyft, Yext, DigitalOcean,

Buyer's Guide

Cribl vs. ServiceNow Cloud Observability

July 2025

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