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Cribl vs VMware Aria Operations for Logs comparison

Cribl and VMware are both solutions in the Log Management category. Cribl is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.3, while VMware is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.2. Cribl holds a 2.2% mindshare in Log Management, compared to VMware’s 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Cribl users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of VMware users who would recommend it.
Cribl
Read 15 Cribl reviews
  • 3,951 Views
  • 2,371 Comparison Views
93% willing to recommend
VMware Aria Operations for ...
Read 28 VMware Aria Operations for Logs reviews
  • 2,105 Views
  • 2,084 Comparison Views
92% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

VMware Aria Operations for Logs and Cribl compete in log management and data processing. Cribl has an edge in data transformation and flexibility, while VMware excels in VMware ecosystem integration.

Features: VMware Aria Operations for Logs is recognized for seamless VMware environment integration, server virtualization, and interactive log analysis. It effectively centralizes logs and provides a comprehensive infrastructure overview. Cribl specializes in real-time data transformation and reduction. It seamlessly connects multiple data sources, excels in data routing, and offers real-time pipeline processing without external data destinations.

Room for Improvement: VMware Aria Operations for Logs needs better integration with third-party tools and clearer documentation. It faces scalability issues and requires a more intuitive interface. Cribl should improve logging capabilities, offer easier enterprise integration, and provide better support for legacy systems. Both products could enhance licensing flexibility and documentation quality.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware Aria Operations for Logs is usually deployed on-premises, appreciated in fully virtualized environments, but its deployment process is complex. Technical support varies, with some reports of slow responses. Cribl offers flexible deployment options, including on-premises, public cloud, and hybrid cloud. It receives positive feedback for its straightforward support style, with fewer users needing assistance.

Pricing and ROI: VMware has high pricing but offers a well-integrated package within VMware environments, yielding substantial ROI in virtualized settings. Cribl is competitively priced compared to alternatives like Splunk, offering scalability and cost savings through reduced licensing expenses. It is a popular choice for mid-sized organizations seeking budget-friendly solutions.

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Buyer's Guide
Cribl vs. VMware Aria Operations for Logs
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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
3.0
Cribl is cost-effective compared to Splunk, but not all users see clear returns in time and cost savings.
Sentiment score
5.0
VMware Aria Operations for Logs boosts ROI with cost savings and efficiency, especially in virtualization-focused environments, within two years.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.0
Cribl's customer support is effective and prompt, with high satisfaction despite some noted areas needing improved understanding of customer needs.
Sentiment score
4.1
VMware Aria Operations for Logs users experience mixed support quality, with slow but effective escalation to skilled experts.
The community, including the engineering and sales teams, is available on Slack and is very supportive.
For more quotes and insights, download the Cribl report
Customer service and support have declined.
While support staff is knowledgeable, getting access to specialists can be challenging when dealing with the limits of a product.
I did not need technical support because I am a professional with VMware.
For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Aria Operations for Logs report
Carlos Moreno Buitrago - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2668767 - PeerSpot reviewerLarsChristensen - PeerSpot reviewer
İÇ
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.3
Cribl is highly scalable, enabling efficient workload distribution and quick deployment, appealing to businesses of all sizes.
Sentiment score
8.5
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is highly scalable and integrates well, though licensing and space management affect scalability.
I don't need to talk to a Cribl engineer to connect a new log source.
It is pretty scalable, just in terms of cost.
For more quotes and insights, download the Cribl report
Since payment is based on hardware, scalability impacts are managed more effectively than with other tools paid by data volume.
It's relatively easy to find individuals with the skills to work with VMware because it is a widely spread tool.
For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Aria Operations for Logs report
Joe Cicero - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2744961 - PeerSpot reviewerLarsChristensen - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2668767 - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
5.6
Cribl is stable and reliable, with quick bug resolution and improvements over time despite occasional connectivity issues.
Sentiment score
7.1
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is stable, integrates with Microsoft, and is reliable, with minor issues resolved swiftly.
If the pipeline is down and we receive an alert that it's not sending information to the log collection platform for more than one or two hours, if we receive an alert, it would be great.
For more quotes and insights, download the Cribl report
VMware as a whole provides very stable tools.
Its stability is rated one hundred percent according to best practices.
It has been very stable, and every time I needed it, it was available and working.
For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Aria Operations for Logs report
Kumbesh Rajagopal - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2668767 - PeerSpot reviewer
İÇ
reviewer1944615 - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Room For Improvement

Cribl faces compatibility issues, UI limitations, and documentation inconsistencies, requiring enhancements in integration, customization, and data handling.
VMware Aria Operations for Logs needs better usability, integration, documentation, cost efficiency, stability, and enhanced filtering and dashboard features.
Perhaps more flexibility in terms of metrics would be helpful.
For more quotes and insights, download the Cribl report
There is also dissatisfaction with Broadcom's broader attitude, which is prompting me to search for alternatives.
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is not a cost-effective tool.
It would be beneficial to have a roadmap for these dashboards to ensure consistent functionality.
For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Aria Operations for Logs report
Carlos Moreno Buitrago - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2668767 - PeerSpot reviewer
İÇ
LarsChristensen - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Setup Cost

Cribl offers competitive pricing valued for cost-effectiveness and scalability, though its complex credit system can cause confusion.
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is cost-effective within bundles but pricey without, leading to mixed enterprise buyer opinions.
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the Cribl report
Splunk, often paid by the terabytes, becomes expensive quickly if not managed carefully.
The price has risen significantly, and for smaller customers, the cost can be up to ten times more than before.
The cost of using VMware Aria Operations for Logs was very high, around two to three million dollars, although the exact figure is uncertain.
For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Aria Operations for Logs report
LarsChristensen - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2668767 - PeerSpot reviewer
İÇ
 

Valuable Features

Cribl provides efficient, real-time data transformation and routing, supporting scalability, cost reduction, and rapid integration for enhanced operational efficiency.
VMware Aria Operations for Logs optimizes infrastructure with dashboards, real-time notifications, and scalability, enhancing troubleshooting and cost efficiency.
The community on Slack is excellent for solving questions and getting ideas.
For more quotes and insights, download the Cribl report
This tool also provides greater insight when integrated with VMware infrastructure, making it more precise than other tools.
The most valuable features are log centralization and long-term retention for logs.
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is a very stable product.
For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Aria Operations for Logs report
Carlos Moreno Buitrago - PeerSpot reviewerLarsChristensen - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer1944615 - PeerSpot reviewer
İÇ
 

Categories and Ranking

Cribl
Ranking in Log Management
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (14th), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (12th), Observability Pipeline Software (1st)
VMware Aria Operations for ...
Ranking in Log Management
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Cribl is 2.2%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Operations for Logs is 1.3%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Joe Cicero - PeerSpot reviewer
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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LarsChristensen - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient troubleshooting with precise log filtering and an easy setup
The tool could benefit from improved filter settings and dashboarding. While there are dashboards available, they are often created by community members and may not work after updates. It would be beneficial to have a roadmap for these dashboards to ensure consistent functionality. It would also be advantageous if the tool could process even large amounts of data faster, though this may be more related to data movement challenges rather than the software itself.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 vRealize Log Insight?
The events are notably more descriptive, aiding in security and event analysis. We've also integrated Sky Collector, providing valuable insights and solutions for troubleshooting.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vRealize Log Insight?
The cost of using VMware Aria Operations for Logs was very high, around two to three million dollars, although the exact figure is uncertain. The price was proving to be too much, especially with t...
See all answers
What needs improvement with vRealize Log Insight?
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is not a cost-effective tool. Changing any telemetry requires creating a new template, such as changes to the VM disk size. Always having to create a new template ma...
See all answers
 

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cribl
August 2025
Cribl reportDownload Cribl product report
Buyer's Guide
VMware Aria Operations for Logs
July 2025
VMware Aria Operations for Logs reportDownload VMware Aria Operations for Logs product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
vRealize Log Insight
 

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
Manage data at scale with centralized log management, deep operational visibility and intelligent analytics for troubleshooting and auditing across private, hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
VMware
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Wildlands Adventure Zoo, Medic Mobile, IBM, Seventy Seven Energy, Baystate Health, Osis, Oxford University, Columbia University, Siemens, Cardinal Health, Ashdod Port, Vasakronan, Sydney Adventist Hospital, University of Derby
Buyer's Guide
Cribl vs. VMware Aria Operations for Logs
July 2025
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