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Software · head to head

Airbrake vs Elastic

Airbrake logo

Airbrake

Software

Error Tracking and Performance Monitoring

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
E

Elastic

Software

Search AI powered by Elasticsearch

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Airbrake has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Airbrake data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier; Elastic the 99.95% monthly uptime SLA is only offered on the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers of Hosted deployments, not on lower tiers, per elastic.co, August 2026

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbrake and Elastic actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbrake and Elastic differ
AttributeAirbrakeElastic
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb
Founded2008Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Airbrake

  • Error tracking
  • Performance monitoring
  • Deploy tracking
  • Custom notifications
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

Only in Elastic

Nothing recorded that Airbrake does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Airbrake

  • Error and exception monitoring for web applicationsnot Elastic
  • Performance monitoring alongside error trackingnot Elastic
  • Alerting a team when a deploy introduces a spike in errorsnot Elastic
  • Tracking errors across multiple projects in one accountnot Elastic

Elastic

No use cases recorded yet. See the Elastic review.

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Airbrake

  • Data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier
  • The entry plan at $19 a month covers 25,000 errors and 7,500 events
  • Errors beyond the plan quota are billed on demand
  • Audit logs and spike forgiveness require the Pro tier
  • The lowest tier is limited to 1 user and 1 team

Elastic

  • The 99.95% monthly uptime SLA is only offered on the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers of Hosted deployments, not on lower tiers, per elastic.co, August 2026

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbrake

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Error tracking
    • Performance monitoring
    • Deploy tracking

Elastic

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Elastic review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbrake if

  • You need error tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want performance monitoring.
Airbrake review

Choose Elastic if

Nothing in the data separates Elastic from Airbrake on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Elastic review

Questions people ask

Is Airbrake or Elastic better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbrake starts at Free and Elastic at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbrake or Elastic?
Airbrake has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Airbrake and On request for Elastic.
Does Airbrake or Elastic run on more platforms?
Airbrake runs on Web, Api. Elastic runs on Web.
Can I use Airbrake for free?
Yes. Airbrake has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Elastic starts at On request.
What is Airbrake best used for?
Airbrake is most often used for error and exception monitoring for web applications, performance monitoring alongside error tracking, alerting a team when a deploy introduces a spike in errors, tracking errors across multiple projects in one account. Of those, error and exception monitoring for web applications and performance monitoring alongside error tracking are not what Elastic is typically brought in for.
What can Airbrake do that Elastic cannot?
Airbrake covers Error tracking, Performance monitoring, Deploy tracking, Custom notifications.
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