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Azure Monitor vs Elastic APM

Azure Monitor logo

Azure Monitor

Logging

Azure's Monitoring and Diagnostics Service

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Logging

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Azure Monitor billed per GB ingested across three separate log plans, Auxiliary, Basic and Analytics, so the plan chosen changes the rate as much as the volume does; Elastic APM pricing is not published on the product page; cost follows the underlying Elastic deployment rather than being quoted per host or per service
  • They diverge on capability: Azure Monitor covers Log collection, Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Azure Monitor and Elastic APM actually diverge.

Attributes where Azure Monitor and Elastic APM differ
AttributeAzure MonitorElastic APM
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
Founded20102011

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 Azure Monitor

  • Log collection
  • Metrics collection
  • Alerts and notifications
  • Custom dashboards

Only in Elastic APM

  • Performance monitoring
  • Error tracking
  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics

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.

Azure Monitor

  • Collecting logs and metrics from Azure resourcesnot Elastic APM
  • Alerting on metric thresholds and log queriesnot Elastic APM
  • Application performance monitoring through Application Insightsnot Elastic APM
  • Long-term log retention for compliancenot Elastic APM
  • Querying operational data with KQLnot Elastic APM

Elastic APM

  • Distributed tracing across microservicesnot Azure Monitor
  • Auto-instrumenting Java, .NET, Python, Go, Node.js, Ruby, PHP and C++ servicesnot Azure Monitor
  • OpenTelemetry-native collection through the Elastic distributionsnot Azure Monitor
  • Correlating latency and errors with machine learningnot Azure Monitor
  • Monitoring LLM calls alongside application tracesnot Azure Monitor

Where each one falls short

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

Azure Monitor

  • Billed per GB ingested across three separate log plans, Auxiliary, Basic and Analytics, so the plan chosen changes the rate as much as the volume does
  • Only the first 5 GB a month of Analytics logs is free per billing account
  • Retention beyond the base period is charged per GB per month, up to 2 years interactive and 12 years long term
  • Log queries and search jobs are billed per GB scanned, so investigating an incident costs money
  • Alert rules are billed per time series for metrics and by execution frequency for logs
  • The pricing page shows placeholders rather than rates until a region and currency are chosen

Elastic APM

  • Pricing is not published on the product page; cost follows the underlying Elastic deployment rather than being quoted per host or per service
  • Self-managed deployment means running and scaling Elasticsearch yourself
  • Serverless does not carry every capability the hosted option does

Pricing, plan by plan

Azure Monitor

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Log collection
    • Metrics collection
    • Alerts and notifications

Elastic APM

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Performance monitoring
    • Error tracking
    • Transaction tracing

Which should you pick?

Choose Azure Monitor if

  • You need log collection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want metrics collection.
Azure Monitor review

Choose Elastic APM if

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

Questions people ask

Is Azure Monitor or Elastic APM better?
Neither clearly leads. Azure Monitor starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Azure Monitor or Elastic APM?
Azure Monitor starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free.
Does Azure Monitor or Elastic APM run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Azure Monitor for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Azure Monitor best used for?
Azure Monitor is most often used for collecting logs and metrics from azure resources, alerting on metric thresholds and log queries, application performance monitoring through application insights, long-term log retention for compliance. Of those, collecting logs and metrics from azure resources and alerting on metric thresholds and log queries are not what Elastic APM is typically brought in for.
What can Azure Monitor do that Elastic APM cannot?
Azure Monitor covers Log collection, Metrics collection, Alerts and notifications, Custom dashboards. Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Azure Monitor: How does Azure Monitor billing work?

Billing is based on data volume ingested into Azure Monitor. Additional charges apply separately for alerts, notifications, web tests, and data export. Activity log and platform metrics are automatically collected with an Azure subscription.

Source
Elastic APM: Is Elastic APM pricing published?

Elastic APM pricing is not published on the product page. Pricing is available through the main Elastic pricing page or by contacting Elastic sales directly.

Source
Azure Monitor: What savings are available with Azure Monitor?

Capacity reservations offer up to 36% savings compared to standard pay-as-you-go pricing when you commit to reserved capacity upfront.

Source
Elastic APM: Does Elastic APM offer a free trial?

Yes. Elastic APM offers a free trial through Elastic Cloud Serverless registration. A guided demo is also available in the Elastic demo gallery.

Source
Azure Monitor: Is there a free tier for Azure Monitor?

No dedicated free tier exists. Activity log and platform metrics are automatically collected with an Azure subscription, but detailed monitoring requires additional configuration and associated costs.

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

Elastic APM can be deployed on Elastic Cloud Serverless (zero operational overhead), Elastic Cloud Hosted (deploy on any cloud), or self-managed Elasticsearch.

Source
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