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Grafana Labs Logo
2,840 views|2,462 comparisons
91% willing to recommend
Graylog Logo
10,317 views|8,658 comparisons
94% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 6, 2024

We compared Graylog and Grafana Loki based on our user's reviews in several parameters.

Graylog and Grafana Loki both offer efficient log management solutions with positive feedback on customer support and reasonable pricing. Graylog focuses on powerful search functionality, ease of use, and extensive customization options, while Grafana Loki excels in log storage and searching capabilities. Graylog users praise its scalability and efficient data handling, while Grafana Loki users appreciate its integration with Grafana tools and ease of setup. Graylog users report improvements in log management, troubleshooting, and security, while Grafana Loki users highlight its cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Both platforms have areas for improvement, with Graylog users suggesting enhancements in search functionality and speed, user interface, scalability, stability, and documentation, while Grafana Loki users recommend improved query capabilities, documentation, scalability, alerting, and integration with external tools for better log aggregation and visualization.

Features: Graylog stands out for its powerful search functionality, extensive customization options, and robust alerting capabilities. Users also appreciate its scalability and efficient handling of large data volumes. On the other hand, Grafana Loki is highly regarded for its efficient and scalable log storage and searching capabilities. Users also appreciate its seamless integration with other Grafana tools and easy setup process.

Pricing and ROI: The setup cost for Graylog is praised for its ease and straightforwardness, allowing for a smooth installation process. Users also express satisfaction with its licensing options. Similarly, Grafana Loki is deemed reasonably priced, with a straightforward and hassle-free setup cost, and fair and accommodating licensing options., Graylog has been praised for its positive contributions to ROI, including improved log management, enhanced troubleshooting, and cost savings. On the other hand, Grafana Loki is favored for its cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and seamless integration with Grafana, proving its worth in optimizing operational processes.

Room for Improvement: Graylog: Users recommend improvements to search functionality and speed, a more intuitive user interface, enhanced scalability and stability, better documentation, and comprehensive tutorials. Grafana Loki: Users seek enhanced query capabilities, better documentation, improved scalability and performance, enhanced alerting capabilities, and integration with external monitoring tools. Continuous development is emphasized.

Deployment and customer support: Based on user reviews, implementing Graylog generally takes 3 months for deployment and an additional week for setup. On the other hand, Grafana Loki's deployment and setup phases can also take around 3 months, but some users were able to accomplish both in just a week., Graylog has received positive feedback for its prompt and knowledgeable customer service. Users appreciate the effective solutions provided by the helpful and responsive team. In comparison, Grafana Loki's customer service offers extensive guidance and satisfactory assistance, valued by users for its responsiveness.

The summary above is based on 18 interviews we conducted recently with Graylog and Grafana Loki users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.

To learn more, read our detailed Grafana Loki vs. Graylog Report (Updated: April 2024).
768,886 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The most valuable feature of Grafana Loki is the dashboards which are really simple to create.""The solution's stability has never been a problem. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine to ten out of ten.""The most valuable feature of the solution is the tool's GUI. The solution's GUI is very user-friendly.""The best feature of Grafana Loki is that it integrates well with our other tool.""The log collection feature is good and the solution is easily understandable. v""I appreciate the capability to process logs from microservices and seamlessly integrate them into Grafana.""The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that it is an open-source tool that is stable and flexible.""The most valuable feature is the capability to set up alerts, which becomes necessary when we need to receive notifications for specific events."

More Grafana Loki Pros →

"We're using the Community edition, but I know that it has really good dashboarding and alerts.""Graylog's search functionality, alerting functionality, user management, and dashboards are useful.""UDP is a fast and lightweight protocol, perfect for sending large volumes of logs with minimal overhead.""This had increased productivity for the dev and support teams, because we are directly notifying them.""We run a containerized microservices environment. Being able to set up streams and search for errors and anomalies across hundreds of containers is why a log aggregation platform like Graylog is valuable to us.""What I like about Graylog is that it's real-time and you have access to the raw data. So, you ingest it, and you have access to every message and every data item you ingest. You can then build analytics on top of that. You can look at the raw data, and you can do some volumetric estimations, such as how big traffic you have, how many messages of data of a type you have, etc.""It is used as a log manager/SIEM. It provides visibility into the infrastructure and security related events.""Allowing us to set up alerts and integrate with platforms we already use, such as Slack and OpsGenie to alert users of these errors proactively, is also a very useful feature."

More Graylog Pros →

Cons
"In Grafana Loki, the creation of metrics is not so easy, making it an area that could be made easier.""Enhancing speed could be a game-changer, and while it might vary depending on the application, it's a factor worth exploring.""There is a need for some change in the alerting types of the product. In short, a few changes in the alert area are needed due to minor shortcomings.""The Docker container partition feature needs improvement as they do not reuse the space and goes into a pending state.""The solution's scalability depends on the team managing the Grafana instance.""We had a well-structured dashboard with a functional query. However, an issue arose when the Kubernetes pod restarted. The statistics from our Grafana query would reset, dropping to zero and starting anew. This was particularly noticeable with linear graphs, which are expected to show consistent growth.""We encountered certain limitations when it came to alerting, particularly when dealing with specific data sources.""The product must improve its UI."

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"Graylog could improve the process of creating rules. We have to create them manually by doing parses and applying them. Other SIEM solutions have basic rules and you can create and get more events of interest.""It would be great if Graylog could provide a better Python package in order to make it easier to use for the Python community.""Elasticsearch recommendations for tuning could be better. Graylog doesn't have direct support for running the system inside of Kubernetes, so it can be challenging to fill in the gaps and set up containers in a way that is both performant and stable.""With technical support, you are on your own without an enterprise license.""More customization is always useful.""Over six months, I had two similar issues where searches were performed on field "messages". It exhausted all the memory of the ES node causing an ES crash and a Graylog halt.""Lacks sufficient documentation.""The infrastructure cost is the main issue. I like the rest. If the infrastructure costs could be lower, it would be fantastic."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "You can use the free version of Grafana Loki on-premises."
  • "My company doesn't need to pay for the licensing cost of the solution."
  • "We use a free version."
  • "The pricing structure varies based on the number of users; there might be specific taxes to pay for it."
  • "The solution is open source."
  • "I use the solution's open-source version. Grafana Loki is a completely free solution for me."
  • "I use the open-source version of the product."
  • "Grafana Loki is a free, open-source solution."
  • More Grafana Loki Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Having paid official support is wise for projects."
  • "I am using a community edition. I have not looked at the enterprise offering from Graylog."
  • "If you want something that works and do not have the money for Splunk or QRadar, take Graylog.​​"
  • "​You get a lot out-of-the-box with the non-enterprise version, so give it a try first."
  • "Consider Enterprise support if you have atypical needs or setup requirements.​"
  • "I use the free version of Graylog."
  • "It's an open-source solution that can be used free of charge."
  • "We're using the Community edition."
  • More Graylog Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:We are using Grafana Loki as a database for real-time metrics.
    Top Answer:Since we are using the open-source version of Grafana Loki, we are not paying anything for the solution.
    Top Answer:There are a few features in the solution's enterprise version that are not given in the normal basic version. Visualization-wise, Grafana Loki's dashboard looks a little outdated compared to other… more »
    Top Answer:The product is scalable. The solution is stable.
    Top Answer:We are using the free version of the product. However, the paid version is expensive.
    Top Answer:Since it's a free tool, I don't have much to say. Troubleshooting is important to me. The initial setup is complex. I hope to see improvements in Graylog for more interactivity, user-friendliness, and… more »
    Ranking
    14th
    out of 95 in Log Management
    Views
    2,840
    Comparisons
    2,462
    Reviews
    12
    Average Words per Review
    518
    Rating
    8.1
    11th
    out of 95 in Log Management
    Views
    10,317
    Comparisons
    8,658
    Reviews
    6
    Average Words per Review
    802
    Rating
    7.3
    Comparisons
    Wazuh logo
    Compared 25% of the time.
    syslog-ng logo
    Compared 10% of the time.
    Fortinet FortiAnalyzer logo
    Compared 4% of the time.
    Elastic Security logo
    Compared 4% of the time.
    Also Known As
    Graylog2
    Learn More
    Overview

    Grafana Loki is a powerful log aggregation and analysis tool designed for cloud-native environments. Its primary use case is to collect, store, and search logs efficiently, enabling organizations to gain valuable insights from their log data.

    The most valuable functionality of Loki is its ability to scale horizontally, making it suitable for high-volume log data. It achieves this by utilizing a unique indexing approach called "Promtail," which efficiently indexes logs and allows for fast searching and filtering. Loki also supports log streaming in real-time, ensuring that organizations can monitor and analyze logs as they are generated.

    By centralizing logs in a single location, Loki simplifies log management and troubleshooting processes. It provides a unified view of logs from various sources, making it easier to identify and resolve issues quickly. With its powerful query language, organizations can extract meaningful information from logs, enabling them to gain insights into system performance, identify anomalies, and detect potential security threats.

    Loki's integration with Grafana, a popular open-source visualization tool, allows users to create rich dashboards and visualizations based on log data. This combination enhances the observability of systems and applications, enabling organizations to make data-driven decisions and improve overall operational efficiency.

    Graylog is purpose-built to deliver the best log collection, storage, enrichment, and analysis. Graylog is:

    • Considerably faster analysis speeds.
    • More robust and easier-to-use analysis platform.
    • Simpler administration and infrastructure management.
    • Lower cost than alternatives.
    • Full-scale customer service.
    • No expensive training or tool experts required.
    Sample Customers
    Information Not Available
    Blue Cross Blue Shield, eBay, Cisco, LinkedIn, SAP, King.com, Twilio, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company20%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Government8%
    Educational Organization7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise58%
    Large Enterprise17%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise51%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business50%
    Midsize Enterprise7%
    Large Enterprise43%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business32%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise50%
    Buyer's Guide
    Grafana Loki vs. Graylog
    April 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Grafana Loki vs. Graylog and other solutions. Updated: April 2024.
    768,886 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Grafana Loki is ranked 14th in Log Management with 12 reviews while Graylog is ranked 11th in Log Management with 18 reviews. Grafana Loki is rated 8.0, while Graylog is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Grafana Loki writes "Effective for Logging, recovery from node failures is fast and single UI supports metrics, logs, and even tracing". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Graylog writes "Great detailed search features and easy Java integration, but needs improvement in integration with Python". Grafana Loki is most compared with Wazuh, syslog-ng, Splunk Enterprise Security, Fortinet FortiAnalyzer and Datadog, whereas Graylog is most compared with Wazuh, syslog-ng, Splunk Enterprise Security, Fortinet FortiAnalyzer and Elastic Security. See our Grafana Loki vs. Graylog report.

    See our list of best Log Management vendors.

    We monitor all Log Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.