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Airbrake vs Elasticsearch Service

Airbrake logo

Airbrake

Logging

Error Tracking and Performance Monitoring

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elasticsearch Service logo

Elasticsearch Service

Logging

Managed Elasticsearch Cloud Service

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Airbrake data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier; Elasticsearch Service the 99.95 percent monthly uptime SLA applies only to the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers
  • They diverge on capability: Airbrake covers Error tracking, Elasticsearch Service covers Full-text search.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbrake and Elasticsearch Service actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbrake and Elasticsearch Service differ
AttributeAirbrakeElasticsearch Service
Pricing modelsubscriptionusage-based
Founded20082011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Logging).

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

Only in Elasticsearch Service

  • Full-text search
  • Scalability
  • High availability
  • Security

Both cover

  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support
  • Api support

What people use each for

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

Airbrake

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

Elasticsearch Service

  • Managed Elasticsearch without running the clusternot Airbrake
  • Log and observability data storage and searchnot Airbrake
  • Full-text search behind an applicationnot Airbrake
  • Deployments needing a specific cloud region across AWS, Azure or GCPnot Airbrake

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

Elasticsearch Service

  • The 99.95 percent monthly uptime SLA applies only to the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers
  • Serverless does not yet support traffic filtering, cross-project search or bring-your-own-key encryption
  • Serverless runs on AWS, GCP and Azure only, against 60 regions for the hosted option
  • Per-unit prices are not published; hosted is resource-based and serverless usage-based

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbrake

Free
  • Tier 1 (Dev + errors)$19/month
    • 25,000 errors per month
    • 1 user
    • 1 team
  • Tier 2 (Basic + errors)$38/month
    • 100,000 errors per month
    • Unlimited users
    • 3 teams
  • Pro$76/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited teams
    • Unlimited projects
  • Tier 5 (Growth)$299/month
    • 1 million errors per month

Elasticsearch Service

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Full-text search
    • Scalability
    • High availability

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 Elasticsearch Service if

  • You need full-text search.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want scalability.
Elasticsearch Service review

Questions people ask

Is Airbrake or Elasticsearch Service better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbrake starts at Free and Elasticsearch Service at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbrake or Elasticsearch Service?
Airbrake starts at Free and Elasticsearch Service at Free.
Does Airbrake or Elasticsearch Service run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Airbrake for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Elasticsearch Service is typically brought in for.
What can Airbrake do that Elasticsearch Service cannot?
Airbrake covers Error tracking, Performance monitoring, Deploy tracking, Custom notifications. Elasticsearch Service covers Full-text search, Scalability, High availability, Security. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Airbrake: What is the lowest-cost Airbrake plan and what does it include?

Tier 1 costs $19 per month and includes 25,000 errors per month, 1 user seat, 1 team, and unlimited projects. This plan targets individual developers. A 10% discount applies when paying annually ($17.10 per month).

Source
Elasticsearch Service: What pricing models does Elasticsearch Service offer?

Elasticsearch Service offers Hosted pricing based on resources (monthly or prepaid options) and Serverless pricing based on usage (monthly or prepaid options). Specific rates are not published on this page.

Source
Airbrake: Which Airbrake plan is marked as the best value?

The Pro plan at $76 per month is marked as Best Value. It includes unlimited users, unlimited teams, unlimited projects, audit logs, and spike forgiveness. Annual billing provides a 10% discount ($68 per month).

Source
Elasticsearch Service: Is a free trial available for Elasticsearch Service?

Yes, Elasticsearch Service offers a free trial. Users can start a trial by registering at cloud.elastic.co/registration, though the specific trial duration is not published on the landing page.

Source
Airbrake: How many errors per month does each Airbrake tier allow?

Tier 1 allows 25,000 errors per month at $19/month. Tier 2 allows 100,000 errors at $38/month. Tier 4 allows 300,000 errors at $129/month. Tier 5 allows 1 million errors at $299/month. Tier 6 allows 5 million errors at $799/month.

Source
Elasticsearch Service: Does Elasticsearch Service support automatic scaling and cost management?

Yes. Elasticsearch Service includes searchable snapshots to reduce cold data costs, data tiering to keep hot data fast while reducing storage costs, and autoscaling to optimize resource utilization.

Source
Elasticsearch Service: What encryption options does Elasticsearch Service provide?

Elasticsearch Service supports Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) encryption and PrivateLink for secure data routing, though explicit data ownership terms are not specified on this page.

Source
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