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Logging · head to head

Cronitor vs Filebeat

Cronitor logo

Cronitor

Logging

Monitoring for cron jobs, websites, and background tasks

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Filebeat logo

Filebeat

Logging

Lightweight Shipper for Logs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cronitor free tier limited to 5 monitors, limiting viability for small teams; Filebeat filebeat ships only as part of the Elastic Stack and has no standalone commercial license; using it in production requires deploying Elasticsearch and typically Kibana alongside it.
  • They diverge on capability: Cronitor covers Cron job monitoring, Filebeat covers File tailing.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cronitor and Filebeat actually diverge.

Attributes where Cronitor and Filebeat differ
AttributeCronitorFilebeat
Pricing modelPay-per-monitor plus user seatsopen-source
Founded20142011

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 Cronitor

  • Cron job monitoring
  • Uptime and performance checks
  • Heartbeat monitoring
  • Status pages
  • Real-user monitoring
  • Alert integrations
  • Email reports

Only in Filebeat

  • File tailing
  • Log forwarding
  • Event parsing
  • Input harvesting
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Cronitor

  • Monitoring scheduled cron jobs and background tasksnot Filebeat
  • Tracking website and API uptime with global checksnot Filebeat
  • Alerting teams when critical jobs fail to executenot Filebeat
  • Communicating service status to customersnot Filebeat

Filebeat

  • Log monitoringnot Cronitor
  • Application performancenot Cronitor
  • Security analyticsnot Cronitor
  • Troubleshootingnot Cronitor

Where each one falls short

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

Cronitor

  • Free tier limited to 5 monitors, limiting viability for small teams
  • Pay-per-monitor pricing scales quickly with infrastructure size
  • Requires integrating ping calls into existing jobs
  • Limited to monitoring jobs that can send pings
  • No built-in workflow orchestration or task scheduling

Filebeat

  • Filebeat ships only as part of the Elastic Stack and has no standalone commercial license; using it in production requires deploying Elasticsearch and typically Kibana alongside it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cronitor

Free
  • HackerFree
    • 5 monitors
    • Email and Slack alerts
    • Basic status page
  • Business$2/monitor/month
    • Unlimited monitors
    • 30-second check frequency
    • 10 alert integrations
  • Enterprise$6000/year
    • Custom features and integrations
    • 5-second check frequency
    • Dedicated engineer

Filebeat

Free
  • FreeFree
    • File tailing
    • Log forwarding
    • Event parsing

Which should you pick?

Choose Cronitor if

  • You need cron job monitoring.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want uptime and performance checks.
Cronitor review

Choose Filebeat if

  • You need file tailing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want log forwarding.
Filebeat review

Questions people ask

Is Cronitor or Filebeat better?
Neither clearly leads. Cronitor starts at Free and Filebeat at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cronitor or Filebeat?
Cronitor starts at Free and Filebeat at Free.
Does Cronitor or Filebeat run on more platforms?
Cronitor runs on Web, API. Filebeat runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Cronitor for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Cronitor best used for?
Cronitor is most often used for monitoring scheduled cron jobs and background tasks, tracking website and api uptime with global checks, alerting teams when critical jobs fail to execute, communicating service status to customers. Of those, monitoring scheduled cron jobs and background tasks and tracking website and api uptime with global checks are not what Filebeat is typically brought in for.
What can Cronitor do that Filebeat cannot?
Cronitor covers Cron job monitoring, Uptime and performance checks, Heartbeat monitoring, Status pages. Filebeat covers File tailing, Log forwarding, Event parsing, Input harvesting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cronitor: How does Cronitor billing work for the Business plan?

Business plan costs $2 per monitor per month plus $5 per user per month, billed monthly based on actual usage.

Source
Filebeat: What does Filebeat cost?

Filebeat is free and open source. There are no licensing fees for the software itself.

Source
Cronitor: What is the difference between Hacker and Business plans?

Hacker plan ($0/month) includes 5 monitors and basic Slack/email alerts. Business plan ($2/monitor/month) offers unlimited monitors, 30-second checks, 10 integrations, 12-month retention, and email reports.

Source
Filebeat: Is Filebeat free for commercial use?

Yes. Filebeat is open and free to use for any purpose, including commercial applications.

Source
Cronitor: Does Cronitor offer a free trial?

Yes, Cronitor provides a 14-day free trial on the Business plan without requiring a credit card.

Source
Filebeat: Do I need to pay for Elastic Cloud to use Filebeat?

No. Filebeat works independently without any Elastic Cloud subscription, though Elastic Cloud is offered as an optional paid deployment option.

Source
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