Graylog vs Elastic Security

Elastic Security and Graylog are both open source siem solutions. Elastic Security open-source SIEM and security analytics built on the ELK Stack, while Graylog open-source log management and SIEM platform with intuitive analytics. The best choice depends on your organization's size, technical requirements, and budget.

Updated Feb 2026
How we compare:This comparison is based on official documentation, public pricing, community discussions, and aggregated user feedback, not hands-on testing by our team. We organize what real users and practitioners are saying across the web.

The Bottom Line

Choose Elastic Security if open-source core with no ingest-based pricing is your priority and teams wanting open-source flexibility with enterprise SIEM capabilities and no per-GB ingest pricing. Choose Graylog if open-source core with generous free tier matters most and teams needing cost-effective log management with SIEM capabilities and an intuitive user experience.

Choose Graylog if:

  • You value open-source core with no ingest-based pricing
  • You value scales massively with Elasticsearch
  • You value unified SIEM, EDR, and cloud security
  • You want to avoid smaller community and ecosystem than Splunk or Elastic
  • You want to avoid security features less mature than dedicated SIEMs

Choose Elastic Security if:

  • You value open-source core with generous free tier
  • You value intuitive UI with lower learning curve than Splunk
  • You value efficient resource utilization and storage
  • You want to avoid complex cluster management at scale
  • You want to avoid advanced features require paid subscription

Feature Comparison

FeatureGraylogElastic Security
PricingFree (basic) / From $95/month (Cloud) / Enterprise customFree (Open) / From $1,250/month (Operations) / Security custom
Pricing ModelResource-based (nodes/capacity)Per-node licensing (Operations and Security tiers)
Open SourceYesYes
DeploymentCloud, Self-HostedCloud, Self-Hosted
Best ForTeams wanting open-source flexibility with enterprise SIEM capabilities and no per-GB ingest pricingTeams needing cost-effective log management with SIEM capabilities and an intuitive user experience
SIEM with detection engine and rulesSupportedNot available
Endpoint detection and response (EDR)SupportedNot available
Cloud security posture managementSupportedNot available

Sources

Related

Graylog AlternativesElastic Security AlternativesGraylog OverviewElastic Security Overview