Softwr

Log Management · head to head

Airbrake vs Fluent Bit

Airbrake logo

Airbrake

Log Management

Error Tracking and Performance Monitoring

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fluent Bit logo

Fluent Bit

Log Management

Fast and Lightweight Log Processor

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; Fluent Bit fluent Bit ships over 100 built in plugins against more than 1,000 external plugins available for Fluentd, so fewer integrations exist out of the box
  • They diverge on capability: Airbrake covers Error tracking, Fluent Bit covers Log collection.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbrake and Fluent Bit actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbrake and Fluent Bit differ
AttributeAirbrakeFluent Bit
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
Founded20082015

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

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 Fluent Bit

  • Log collection
  • Lightweight processing
  • Data parsing
  • Event filtering

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 Fluent Bit
  • Performance monitoring alongside error trackingnot Fluent Bit
  • Alerting a team when a deploy introduces a spike in errorsnot Fluent Bit
  • Tracking errors across multiple projects in one accountnot Fluent Bit

Fluent Bit

  • Lightweight log and metric forwarding from containers and edge devicesnot Airbrake
  • Kubernetes node level log collection with a small memory footprintnot Airbrake
  • Filtering and enriching telemetry before shipping it to a backendnot 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

Fluent Bit

  • Fluent Bit ships over 100 built in plugins against more than 1,000 external plugins available for Fluentd, so fewer integrations exist out of the box
  • It is written in C, so extending it beyond the built in plugins means writing C rather than Ruby
  • Dependencies are zero only until a plugin requires one

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbrake

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

Fluent Bit

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Log collection
    • Lightweight processing
    • Data parsing

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 Fluent Bit if

  • You need log collection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want lightweight processing.
Fluent Bit review

Questions people ask

Is Airbrake or Fluent Bit better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbrake starts at Free and Fluent Bit at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbrake or Fluent Bit?
Airbrake starts at Free and Fluent Bit at Free.
Does Airbrake or Fluent Bit 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 Fluent Bit is typically brought in for.
What can Airbrake do that Fluent Bit cannot?
Airbrake covers Error tracking, Performance monitoring, Deploy tracking, Custom notifications. Fluent Bit covers Log collection, Lightweight processing, Data parsing, Event filtering. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.
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