Softwr

AI · head to head

Arize AI vs Elastic Stack

Arize AI logo

Arize AI

AI

AI engineering platform for observability and evaluation of agents and LLM apps

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elastic Stack logo

Elastic Stack

Logging

Search, Observability, and Security Solutions

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Arize AI has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Arize AI the free plan caps trace spans at 25,000 per month with only 15 days of retention.; Elastic Stack self-managed deployment requires licensing based on node count and RAM usage
  • They diverge on capability: Arize AI covers End-to-end tracing, Elastic Stack covers Full-text search.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Arize AI and Elastic Stack actually diverge.

Attributes where Arize AI and Elastic Stack differ
AttributeArize AIElastic Stack
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumsubscription
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, apiCloud-hosted, Self-managed, Docker, Kubernetes (ECK)
CategoryAILogging
FoundedUnknown2011

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

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 Arize AI

  • End-to-end tracing
  • Evaluation framework
  • Prompt testing and improvement
  • Alyx AI engineering agent
  • Custom dashboards
  • Data warehouse integrations

Only in Elastic Stack

  • Full-text search
  • Log analytics
  • Security monitoring
  • Alerting
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Arize AI

  • Tracing and debugging production AI agentsnot Elastic Stack
  • Running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessionsnot Elastic Stack
  • Improving prompts before production rolloutnot Elastic Stack
  • Storing and querying GenAI traces alongside a data warehousenot Elastic Stack

Elastic Stack

  • Distributed search and analytics engine for production-scale workloadsnot Arize AI
  • Full-text search and vector search with approximate nearest neighbour supportnot Arize AI
  • Security event tracking with field-level and document-level access controlnot Arize AI
  • Machine learning capabilities including anomaly detection and forecastingnot Arize AI

Where each one falls short

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

Arize AI

  • The free plan caps trace spans at 25,000 per month with only 15 days of retention.
  • Self-hosted deployment and Data Fabric integration are restricted to the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
  • Pricing beyond the $50/month Pro plan requires a custom quote, making cost planning less transparent at scale.
  • Advanced compliance features like HIPAA are only available on Enterprise.

Elastic Stack

  • Self-managed deployment requires licensing based on node count and RAM usage
  • Serverless option has pending features including traffic filtering and bring-your-own-key encryption
  • Hosted deployment requires custom resource configuration for cluster management
  • Pricing models differ significantly across Hosted, Serverless, and Self-managed options

Pricing, plan by plan

Arize AI

Free
  • AX FreeFree
    • 25k trace spans/month
    • 1 GB storage/month
    • 15-day retention
  • AX Pro$50/month
    • 50k trace spans/month
    • 10 GB storage/month
    • 30-day retention
  • AX Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Custom trace spans, storage, and retention
    • SaaS or self-hosted deployment
    • Managed agents and Data Fabric

Elastic Stack

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Elastic Stack review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Arize AI if

  • You need end-to-end tracing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want evaluation framework.
Arize AI review

Choose Elastic Stack if

  • You need full-text search.
  • You work on Cloud-hosted, Self-managed, Docker, Kubernetes (ECK).
  • You also want log analytics.
Elastic Stack review

Questions people ask

Is Arize AI or Elastic Stack better?
Neither clearly leads. Arize AI starts at Free and Elastic Stack at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Arize AI or Elastic Stack?
Arize AI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Arize AI and On request for Elastic Stack.
Does Arize AI or Elastic Stack run on more platforms?
Arize AI runs on web, api. Elastic Stack runs on Cloud-hosted, Self-managed, Docker, Kubernetes (ECK).
Can I use Arize AI for free?
Yes. Arize AI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Elastic Stack starts at On request.
What is Arize AI best used for?
Arize AI is most often used for tracing and debugging production ai agents, running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessions, improving prompts before production rollout, storing and querying genai traces alongside a data warehouse. Of those, tracing and debugging production ai agents and running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessions are not what Elastic Stack is typically brought in for.
What can Arize AI do that Elastic Stack cannot?
Arize AI covers End-to-end tracing, Evaluation framework, Prompt testing and improvement, Alyx AI engineering agent. Elastic Stack covers Full-text search, Log analytics, Security monitoring, Alerting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Arize AI: What does Arize AX cost?

Arize AX offers a free plan, a Pro plan at $50/month, and a custom-priced Enterprise plan, with pricing based on trace spans, storage, and retention needs.

Source
Elastic Stack: How much does Elastic Stack cost?

Elastic does not publish specific pricing on the Elastic Stack product page. Users can start a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, but ongoing subscription pricing requires contacting their sales team.

Source
Arize AI: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

The AX Free plan includes 25,000 trace spans and 1 GB of storage per month with 15-day retention, plus unlimited users, evaluations, and experiments.

Source
Elastic Stack: What deployment options are available for Elastic Stack?

Users can deploy Elastic Stack on Elastic Cloud (hosted on AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure) or download it for self-managed deployment. Pricing for managed cloud hosting must be obtained by starting a trial or contacting sales.

Source
Arize AI: What deployment options are available?

Free and Pro plans are SaaS-only, while Enterprise customers can choose SaaS or self-hosted deployment with custom SLAs.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Arize AI

More on Elastic Stack

Keep looking

Other head to heads