Software · head to head
Azure Monitor vs ELK Stack
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; ELK Stack the free Basic self managed subscription excludes machine learning, alerting, single sign on via SAML or OpenID Connect, LDAP and Active Directory authentication, field and document level security, searchable snapshots and cross cluster replication
- They diverge on capability: Azure Monitor covers Log collection, ELK Stack covers Full-text search.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Azure Monitor and ELK Stack actually diverge.
| Attribute | Azure Monitor | ELK Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | usage-based | open-source |
| Founded | 2010 | 2011 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), 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 Azure Monitor
- Log collection
- Metrics collection
- Alerts and notifications
- Custom dashboards
Only in ELK Stack
- Full-text search
- Data visualization
- Log aggregation
- Time-series analytics
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 ELK Stack
- Alerting on metric thresholds and log queriesnot ELK Stack
- Application performance monitoring through Application Insightsnot ELK Stack
- Long-term log retention for compliancenot ELK Stack
- Querying operational data with KQLnot ELK Stack
ELK Stack
- Centralised log search and analytics over Elasticsearchnot Azure Monitor
- Dashboards and visualisation of machine data in Kibananot Azure Monitor
- Self managing a search and observability cluster on your own hardwarenot 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
ELK Stack
- The free Basic self managed subscription excludes machine learning, alerting, single sign on via SAML or OpenID Connect, LDAP and Active Directory authentication, field and document level security, searchable snapshots and cross cluster replication
- Cross cluster operations require the same subscription tier on every cluster involved
- The 99.95 percent monthly uptime SLA applies only to the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers
- Three deployment models are priced on three different bases: resource based for Cloud Hosted, usage based for Serverless and licence based on nodes and RAM for self managed
- Elastic Cloud Serverless does not yet support traffic filtering, cross project search or bring your own key
- The pricing page publishes no rate for any tier
Pricing, plan by plan
Azure Monitor
Free- FreeFree
- Log collection
- Metrics collection
- Alerts and notifications
ELK Stack
Free- FreeFree
- Full-text search
- Data visualization
- Log aggregation
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.
Choose ELK Stack if
- You need full-text search.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want data visualization.
Questions people ask
- Is Azure Monitor or ELK Stack better?
- Neither clearly leads. Azure Monitor starts at Free and ELK Stack at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Azure Monitor or ELK Stack?
- Azure Monitor starts at Free and ELK Stack at Free.
- Does Azure Monitor or ELK Stack 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 ELK Stack is typically brought in for.
- What can Azure Monitor do that ELK Stack cannot?
- Azure Monitor covers Log collection, Metrics collection, Alerts and notifications, Custom dashboards. ELK Stack covers Full-text search, Data visualization, Log aggregation, Time-series analytics. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.