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Software · head to head

Consul vs Elasticsearch Service

Consul logo

Consul

Software

Service discovery, networking, and security

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elasticsearch Service logo

Elasticsearch Service

Software

Managed Elasticsearch Cloud Service

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Consul namespaces, admin partitions and other multi tenancy controls are Consul Enterprise only; Elasticsearch Service the 99.95 percent monthly uptime SLA applies only to the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers
  • They diverge on capability: Consul covers Service discovery, Elasticsearch Service covers Full-text search.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Consul and Elasticsearch Service differ
AttributeConsulElasticsearch Service
Pricing modelopen-sourceusage-based
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, CloudWeb, Api
Founded20142011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Consul

  • Service discovery
  • Health checking
  • Key/value store
  • Multi-datacenter
  • DNS interface
  • Service mesh
  • Load balancing
  • Configuration management

Only in Elasticsearch Service

  • Full-text search
  • Scalability
  • High availability
  • Security
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Consul

  • Service discovery and health checking across dynamic infrastructurenot Elasticsearch Service
  • Running a service mesh with mutual TLS between servicesnot Elasticsearch Service
  • Distributed key value configuration storage for applicationsnot Elasticsearch Service

Elasticsearch Service

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

Where each one falls short

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

Consul

  • Namespaces, admin partitions and other multi tenancy controls are Consul Enterprise only
  • Audit logging, OIDC authentication and FIPS 140-2 builds require Consul Enterprise, so compliance driven deployments cannot use the free edition
  • Automated backups, redundancy zones, read replicas and automated server upgrades are Enterprise only
  • Long Term Support releases are Enterprise only, so community users must upgrade to stay supported
  • Service mesh and advanced traffic management sit in the Premium Enterprise tier above Standard Enterprise
  • HashiCorp does not publish a Consul rate on its pricing page, which lists per resource prices for Terraform instead

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

Consul

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Service discovery
    • Health checking
    • KV store

Elasticsearch Service

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Consul if

  • You need service discovery.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
  • You also want health checking.
Consul 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 Consul or Elasticsearch Service better?
Neither clearly leads. Consul 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, Consul or Elasticsearch Service?
Consul starts at Free and Elasticsearch Service at Free.
Does Consul or Elasticsearch Service run on more platforms?
Consul runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud. Elasticsearch Service runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Consul for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Consul best used for?
Consul is most often used for service discovery and health checking across dynamic infrastructure, running a service mesh with mutual tls between services, distributed key value configuration storage for applications. Of those, service discovery and health checking across dynamic infrastructure and running a service mesh with mutual tls between services are not what Elasticsearch Service is typically brought in for.
What can Consul do that Elasticsearch Service cannot?
Consul covers Service discovery, Health checking, Key/value store, Multi-datacenter. Elasticsearch Service covers Full-text search, Scalability, High availability, Security.
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