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Elastic Observability vs Splunk Enterprise Security comparison

Elastic and Splunk are both solutions in the Log Management category. Elastic is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.5, while Splunk is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3. Elastic holds a 1.3% mindshare in Log Management, compared to Splunk’s 7.7% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Elastic users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Splunk users who would recommend it.
Elastic Observability
Read 29 Elastic Observability reviews
  • 8,986 Views
  • 2,157 Comparison Views
88% willing to recommend
Splunk Enterprise Security
Read 369 Splunk Enterprise Security reviews
  • 23,960 Views
  • 13,418 Comparison Views
93% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 19, 2025

Splunk Enterprise Security and Elastic Observability are both prominent platforms in data analysis and security operations. Splunk Enterprise Security seems to have the upper hand with its comprehensive threat detection and analytics capabilities, making it a preferred choice for large organizations. Elastic Observability stands out for its real-time log data collection and integration flexibility, particularly excelling in hybrid cloud environments.

Features: Splunk Enterprise Security offers advanced threat detection, operational intelligence, and machine learning tools, providing seamless third-party integrations and robust incident management systems ideal for large-scale operations. Elastic Observability is noted for its real-time log analytics, integration flexibility, and open-source foundation, which supports real-time monitoring and performance tracking in hybrid environments.

Room for Improvement: Splunk Enterprise Security users face challenges with setup complexity, GUI limitations, high training costs, and integration capabilities. Elastic Observability needs enhancements in asset discovery, machine learning functionalities, and simplification of its complex licensing model.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Splunk Enterprise Security provides flexible deployment options and strong customer support, though response times can vary. Elastic Observability ensures easier deployment, especially in hybrid environments, but requires more comprehensive support engagement.

Pricing and ROI: Splunk Enterprise Security represents a significant investment, offering substantial ROI with its robust capabilities. Elastic Observability is more cost-effective with competitive pricing, appealing to budget-conscious enterprises. Both solutions provide significant value based on organizational scale and specific needs.

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To learn more, read our detailed Elastic Observability vs. Splunk Enterprise Security Report (Updated: September 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Elastic Observability vs. Splunk Enterprise Security
September 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
6.5
Elastic Observability enhances cost-effectiveness by reducing incidents, automating fixes, and visualizing cloud operations, saving time and resources.
Sentiment score
6.4
Splunk Enterprise Security boosts efficiency, reduces costs, and enhances visibility, providing significant ROI and improving security posture.
Elastic Observability has saved us time as it's much easier to find relevant pieces across the system in one screen compared to our own software, and it has saved resources too since the same resources can use less time.
For more quotes and insights, download the Elastic Observability report
The documentation for Splunk Enterprise Security is outstanding. It is well-organized and easy to access.
We couldn't calculate what would have been the cost if they had actually gotten compromised; however, they were in the process, so every investment was returned immediately.
On average, my SecOps team takes probably at least a quarter of the time, if not more, to remediate security incidents with Splunk Enterprise Security compared to our previous solution.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk Enterprise Security report
Stefan Decuypere - PeerSpot reviewer
AA
Dennis Mohn - PeerSpot reviewerMichael Waite - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.6
Elastic Observability customers appreciate their helpful support, quick responses, and valuable documentation, despite some challenges in complex issue resolution.
Sentiment score
6.3
Splunk Enterprise Security offers expert support, though response speed varies; the online community and documentation enhance user experience.
Elastic support really struggles in complex situations to resolve issues.
Their excellent documentation typically helps me solve any issues I encounter.
For more quotes and insights, download the Elastic Observability report
We have paid for Splunk support, and we’re not on the free tier hoping for assistance; we are a significant customer and invest a lot in this service.
I have had nothing but good experiences with Splunk support, receiving timely and helpful replies.
We've had great customer success managers who have helped us navigate scaling from 600 gigs to 30 terabytes.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk Enterprise Security report
MA
Stefan Decuypere - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2746377 - PeerSpot reviewerAdam Santilli - PeerSpot reviewerMatthewSnyder - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Elastic Observability is praised for scalability and ease of deployment, despite potential complexities and internal process limitations.
Sentiment score
7.4
Splunk Enterprise Security is praised for effortless scalability, effectively managing increased data demands for both cloud and on-prem environments.
I rate the scalability of Elastic Observability as a ten, as we have never seen issues even with a lot of data coming in from more customers, provided we have the appropriate configuration.
Elastic Observability seems to have a good scale-out capability.
Elastic Observability is easy in deployment in general for small scale, but when you deploy it at a really large scale, the complexity comes with the customizations.
For more quotes and insights, download the Elastic Observability report
We currently rely on disaster recovery and backup recovery, which takes time to recover, during which you're basically blind, so I'm pushing my leadership team to switch over to a clustering environment for constant availability.
They struggle a bit with pure virtual environments, but in terms of how much they can handle, it is pretty good.
It is easy to scale.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk Enterprise Security report
Stefan Decuypere - PeerSpot reviewer
SU
MA
David-Alfonso - PeerSpot reviewerROBERT-CHRISTIAN - PeerSpot reviewerGautamKar - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Elastic Observability is stable and reliable, with high user ratings, efficiently handling large data volumes with proper configuration.
Sentiment score
7.5
Splunk Enterprise Security is stable and reliable, with occasional performance issues linked to configuration or resource constraints.
There are some bugs that come with each release, but they are keen always to build major versions and minor versions on time, including the CVE vulnerabilities to fix it.
It is very stable, and I would rate it ten out of ten based on my interaction with it.
I would rate the stability of Elastic Observability as a ten, as we don't experience any issues.
For more quotes and insights, download the Elastic Observability report
They test it very thoroughly before release, and our customers have Splunk running for months without issues.
Splunk has been very reliable and very consistent.
It provides a stable environment but needs to integrate with ITSM platforms to achieve better visibility.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk Enterprise Security report
MA
Adelina Craciun - PeerSpot reviewerStefan Decuypere - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2701950 - PeerSpot reviewerMatthewSnyder - PeerSpot reviewer
PS
 

Room For Improvement

Elastic Observability needs automation, AI, and customization improvements, addressing complex deployment, market presence, metrics, licensing, and usability issues.
Splunk Enterprise Security needs enhanced UI, simpler setup, better training, flexible pricing, improved integration, permissions, AI, and dashboards.
For instance, if you have many error logs and want to create a rule with a custom query, such as triggering an alert for five errors in the last hour, all you need to do is open the AI bot, type this question, and it generates an Elastic query for you to use in your alert rules.
It lacked some capabilities when handling on-prem devices, like network observability, package flow analysis, and device performance data on the infrastructure side.
Some areas such as AI Ops still require data scientists to understand machine learning and AI, and it doesn't have a quick win with no-brainer use cases.
For more quotes and insights, download the Elastic Observability report
Improving the infrastructure behind Splunk Enterprise Security is vital—enhanced cores, CPUs, and memory should be prioritized to support better processing power.
Splunk Enterprise Security is not something that automatically picks things; you have to set up use cases, update data models, and link the right use cases to the right data models for those detections to happen.
For any future enhancements or features, such as MLTK and SOAR platform integration, we need more visibility, training, and certification for the skilled professionals who are working.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk Enterprise Security report
LB
reviewer708360 - PeerSpot reviewer
MA
MA
reviewer2704098 - PeerSpot reviewer
MG
 

Setup Cost

Elastic Observability provides competitive pricing, benefiting large enterprises with comprehensive licensing, but may be costly for smaller users.
Splunk Enterprise Security is costly yet valued for robust features; best for larger firms despite complex cost management.
The license is reasonably priced, however, the VMs where we host the solution are extremely expensive, making the overall cost in the public cloud high.
Elastic Observability is cost-efficient and provides all features in the enterprise license without asset-based licensing.
Observability is actually cheaper compared to logs because you're not indexing huge blobs of text and trying to parse those.
For more quotes and insights, download the Elastic Observability report
I saw clients spend two million dollars a year just feeding data into the Splunk solution.
The platform requires significant financial investment and resources, making it expensive despite its comprehensive features.
I find it to be affordable, which is why every industry uses it.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk Enterprise Security report
Adelina Craciun - PeerSpot reviewer
SU
LB
ROBERT-CHRISTIAN - PeerSpot reviewerHamada Elewa - PeerSpot reviewer
SS
 

Valuable Features

Elastic Observability excels with flexible integration, powerful search, scalability, real-time insights, affordability, and robust support, enhancing efficiency.
Splunk Enterprise Security offers robust log management, analytics, and integration, enhancing threat detection, monitoring, and operational efficiency.
The most valuable feature is the integrated platform that allows customers to start from observability and expand into other areas like security, EDR solutions, etc.
the most valued feature of Elastic is its log analytics capabilities.
All the features that we use, such as monitoring, dashboarding, reporting, the possibility of alerting, and the way we index the data, are important.
For more quotes and insights, download the Elastic Observability report
This capability is useful for performance monitoring and issue identification.
I assess Splunk Enterprise Security's insider threat detection capabilities for helping to find unknown threats and anomalous user behavior as great.
Splunk Enterprise Security provides the foundation for unified threat detection, investigation, and response, enabling fast identification of critical issues.
For more quotes and insights, download the Splunk Enterprise Security report
SU
reviewer708360 - PeerSpot reviewerAdelina Craciun - PeerSpot reviewerGautamKar - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2701950 - PeerSpot reviewerAshiq Ashraf - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Categories and Ranking

Elastic Observability
Ranking in Log Management
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (7th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (10th), Container Monitoring (4th), Cloud Monitoring Software (6th)
Splunk Enterprise Security
Ranking in Log Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
369
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (1st), IT Operations Analytics (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Elastic Observability is 1.3%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk Enterprise Security is 7.7%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Splunk Enterprise Security7.7%
Elastic Observability1.3%
Other91.0%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Stefan Decuypere - PeerSpot reviewer
Real-time dashboards and visual insights have streamlined issue analysis and monitoring
After careful consideration about areas for improvement in Elastic Observability, aspects such as pricing, customization, implementation, and scalability could be improved. As a user of the system, I know what it costs but am not directly involved in cost-benefit evaluations or maintenance, which is handled by another team. I develop the visual representation of the data and frankly, I don't see major gaps in my application or anything I would really miss; I appreciate the fast pace of the developments that have occurred in the last couple of years. Regarding room for improvement in Elastic Observability, I would have preferred built-in tools to manage the indexes on deployment for better visual representation, as the initial feedback regarding system performance and data storage was fairly primitive and lacking.
Read full review
Kyle Vernham - PeerSpot reviewer
Built-in searches and unified data access streamline alert investigation and boosts analyst efficiency
The two features I appreciate the most in Splunk Enterprise Security are the built-in searches, which have been very easy for us to get started with right out of the box, and the fact that it accesses all of our other systems. You can access it as a pane of glass rather than having to search individually. We also have the option to compare our analysts from our service to service. Splunk Enterprise Security helps our SOC team prioritize and investigate high-fidelity alerts more effectively by providing a more in-depth look and the ability to access a lot more of our data. Instead of jumping from several segmented systems, it allows us to have everything brought together in one place. For example, you have to move from our purview to our build system and to Splunk Enterprise Security, and it enables us to streamline that process. The built-in features of Splunk Enterprise Security, which we recently procured, have given us a good starting point and demonstrated the value of the product, providing an easy way to sell it to our company. The ease of getting everything into our purview helps us, and it serves as a good start for the investigation part in one location rather than what we usually have, which is jumping from system to system to system. Splunk Enterprise Security plays a role in our company's strategy to combat insider threats and advanced persistent threats by currently being in its technical test phase. We are still rolling it out, and it should help us find any insider threats based on information that our policy states should not be present in our system. Splunk Enterprise Security's risk-based alerting (RBA) has impacted our alert volume and analyst productivity because we've got many different systems feeding into it. However, it has helped to make it easier for our analysts to go through a set of events rather than 100 alerts. RBA allows us to streamline the process and customize it for our analysts. When it comes to leveraging Splunk Enterprise Security's dashboards and visualizations to communicate security posture to executives, it's pretty straightforward for any type of information. The visualization is easy to understand, but I haven't had any direct conversations with our executives.
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Comparison Review

VS
Feb 26, 2015
HP ArcSight vs. IBM QRadar vs. ​McAfee Nitro vs. Splunk vs. RSA Security vs. LogRhythm
We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…
Read full review
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business110
Midsize Enterprise50
Large Enterprise257
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Elastic Observability?
Elastic Observability significantly improves incident response time by providing quick access to logs and data across various sources. For instance, searching for specific keywords in logs spanning...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Elastic Observability?
The problem is their licensing model, which is a bit confusing. Many customers struggle to understand their total cost of ownership because Elastic licensing is not dependent on easy, quantifiable ...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Elastic Observability?
Out-of-the-box use cases have room for improvement in Elastic Observability. They don't invest a lot in building out-of-the-box observable use cases, and they are more focusing on giving a very fle...
See all answers
What SOC product do you recommend?
For tools I’d recommend: -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is asking to miss details that are critical, and ending up a statistic. Also, rememb...
See all answers
What is a better choice, Splunk or Azure Sentinel?
It would really depend on (1) which logs you need to ingest and (2) what are your use cases Splunk is easy for ingestion of anything, but the charge per GB/Day Indexed and it gets expensive as log ...
See all answers
How does Splunk compare with Azure Monitor?
Splunk handles a high amount of data very well. We use Splunk to capture information and as an aggregator for monitoring information from different sources. Splunk is very good at alerting us if we...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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New Relic vs Elastic Observability
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Dynatrace vs Elastic Observability Logo
Dynatrace vs Elastic Observability
Compared 10% of the time
Grafana vs Elastic Observability Logo
Grafana vs Elastic Observability
Compared 8% of the time
Zabbix vs Elastic Observability Logo
Zabbix vs Elastic Observability
Compared 7% of the time
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IBM Security QRadar vs Splunk Enterprise Security Logo
IBM Security QRadar vs Splunk Enterprise Security
Compared 8% of the time
Wazuh vs Splunk Enterprise Security Logo
Wazuh vs Splunk Enterprise Security
Compared 6% of the time
Dynatrace vs Splunk Enterprise Security Logo
Dynatrace vs Splunk Enterprise Security
Compared 6% of the time
Datadog vs Splunk Enterprise Security Logo
Datadog vs Splunk Enterprise Security
Compared 4% of the time
Security Onion vs Splunk Enterprise Security Logo
Security Onion vs Splunk Enterprise Security
Compared 4% of the time
More Splunk Enterprise Security Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Elastic Observability
October 2025
Elastic Observability reportDownload Elastic Observability product report
Buyer's Guide
Splunk Enterprise Security
October 2025
Splunk Enterprise Security reportDownload Splunk Enterprise Security product report
 

Overview

Elastic Observability offers a comprehensive suite for log analytics, application performance monitoring, and machine learning. It integrates seamlessly with platforms like Teams and Slack, enhancing data visualization and scalability for real-time insights.

Elastic Observability is designed to support production environments with features like logging, data collection, and infrastructure tracking. Centralized logging and powerful search functionalities make incident response and performance tracking efficient. Elastic APM and Kibana facilitate detailed data visualization, promoting rapid troubleshooting and effective system performance analysis. Integrated services and extensive connectivity options enhance its role in business and technical decision-making by providing actionable data insights.

What are the most important features of Elastic Observability?
  • Centralized Logging: Streamlines the collection, analysis, and storage of log data.
  • Powerful Search: Provides robust search capabilities for quick access to relevant information.
  • Scalability: Supports growing data needs across diverse environments.
  • Real-time Telemetry: Ensures up-to-date insights and monitoring.
  • Platform Integration: Seamlessly connects with services like Teams and Slack.
  • Data Visualization: Enhances visibility with Elastic APM and Kibana.
What benefits and ROI should users explore in reviews?
  • Cost-effectiveness: Offers significant savings through efficient data management.
  • Rapid Incident Response: Minimizes downtime with quick troubleshooting tools.
  • Comprehensive Insights: Supports better business decisions with detailed data analysis.
  • Performance Tracking: Enables assessment of system effectiveness and improvements.

Elastic Observability is employed across industries for critical operations, such as in finance for transaction monitoring, in healthcare for secure data management, and in technology for optimizing application performance. Its data-driven approach aids efficient event tracing, supporting diverse industry requirements.

Elastic

Splunk Enterprise Security delivers powerful log management, rapid searches, and intuitive dashboards, enhancing real-time analytics and security measures. Its advanced machine learning and wide system compatibility streamline threat detection and incident response across diverse IT environments.

Splunk Enterprise Security stands out in security operations with robust features like comprehensive threat intelligence and seamless data integration. Its real-time analytics and customizable queries enable proactive threat analysis and efficient incident response. Integration with multiple third-party feeds allows detailed threat correlation and streamlined data visualization. Users find the intuitive UI and broad compatibility support efficient threat detection while reducing false positives. Despite its strengths, areas such as visualization capabilities and integration processes with cloud environments need enhancement. Users face a high learning curve, and improvements in automation, AI, documentation, and training are desired to maximize its potential.

What Are the Key Features of Splunk Enterprise Security?
  • Log Management: Efficiently manages and organizes a vast amount of logs for better data handling.
  • Rapid Data Search: Quickly retrieves relevant data for fast decision-making.
  • Flexible Dashboards: Customizable dashboards provide clear data visualization.
  • Comprehensive Threat Intelligence: Offers detailed insights to preemptively defend against threats.
  • Real-Time Analytics: Analyzes data in real-time to enhance response times.
  • Integration with Third-Party Feeds: Streamlines information flow from multiple sources.
What Benefits Should Users Investigate in Reviews?
  • Efficient Incident Response: Enhances the ability to respond promptly to threats.
  • False Positive Reduction: Minimizes incorrect threat alarms, making monitoring more efficient.
  • Threat Detection Speed: Accelerates the identification and evaluation of security threats.
  • Cost-Effectiveness: Potential savings through better licensing options and operational efficiency.
  • User Adaptability: Enhancements in documentation and training resources aid in overcoming the learning curve.

In specific industries like finance and healthcare, Splunk Enterprise Security is instrumental for log aggregation, SIEM functionalities, and compliance monitoring. Companies leverage its capabilities for proactive threat analysis and response, ensuring comprehensive security monitoring and integration with various tools for heightened operational intelligence.

Splunk
 

Sample Customers

PSCU, Entel, VITAS, Mimecast, Barrett Steel, Butterfield Bank
Splunk has more than 7,000 customers spread across over 90 countries. These customers include Telenor, UniCredit, ideeli, McKenney's, Tesco, and SurveyMonkey.
Buyer's Guide
Elastic Observability vs. Splunk Enterprise Security
September 2025
Free Report: Elastic Observability vs. Splunk Enterprise Security
Find out what your peers are saying about Elastic Observability vs. Splunk Enterprise Security and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
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