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Datadog vs ELK Stack

Datadog logo

Datadog

Software

Modern monitoring & security

From
$15/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
ELK Stack logo

ELK Stack

Software

Open Source Search and Log Analytics

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only ELK Stack has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Datadog consumption-based pricing model makes costs hard to predict and can scale quickly; 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: Datadog covers Infrastructure monitoring, ELK Stack covers Full-text search.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Datadog and ELK Stack actually diverge.

Attributes where Datadog and ELK Stack differ
AttributeDatadogELK Stack
Starting price$15/monthFree
Pricing modelUnknownopen-source
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Windows, macOSWeb, Api
Founded20102011

Identical on both: 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 Datadog

  • Infrastructure monitoring
  • Application performance monitoring
  • Log management
  • Real user monitoring
  • Synthetic monitoring
  • Security monitoring
  • Network monitoring
  • Serverless monitoring

Only in ELK Stack

  • Full-text search
  • Data visualization
  • Log aggregation
  • Time-series analytics
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Datadog

  • Infrastructure monitoringnot ELK Stack
  • Application performancenot ELK Stack
  • Security monitoringnot ELK Stack
  • Log analysisnot ELK Stack
  • Cloud monitoringnot ELK Stack

ELK Stack

  • Centralised log search and analytics over Elasticsearchnot Datadog
  • Dashboards and visualisation of machine data in Kibananot Datadog
  • Self managing a search and observability cluster on your own hardwarenot Datadog

Where each one falls short

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

Datadog

  • Consumption-based pricing model makes costs hard to predict and can scale quickly
  • Add-on modules significantly increase costs: custom metrics, indexed spans, extended retention
  • No free tier for production monitoring
  • High costs for organizations with large amounts of log data or high-cardinality metrics

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

Datadog

$15/month
  • Infrastructure Monitoring$15/month
    • Host monitoring
    • Basic dashboards
  • APM$31/month
    • Application performance monitoring
    • Trace collection
  • Log Management$0.1/gb
    • Log indexing
    • Search and filter

ELK Stack

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Full-text search
    • Data visualization
    • Log aggregation

Which should you pick?

Choose Datadog if

  • You need infrastructure monitoring.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want application performance monitoring.
Datadog review

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.
ELK Stack review

Questions people ask

Is Datadog or ELK Stack better?
Neither clearly leads. Datadog starts at $15/month and ELK Stack at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Datadog or ELK Stack?
ELK Stack has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $15/month for Datadog and Free for ELK Stack.
Does Datadog or ELK Stack run on more platforms?
Datadog runs on Web, Linux, Windows, macOS. ELK Stack runs on Web, Api.
Can I use ELK Stack for free?
Yes. ELK Stack has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Datadog starts at $15/month.
What is Datadog best used for?
Datadog is most often used for infrastructure monitoring, application performance, security monitoring, log analysis. Of those, infrastructure monitoring and application performance are not what ELK Stack is typically brought in for.
What can Datadog do that ELK Stack cannot?
Datadog covers Infrastructure monitoring, Application performance monitoring, Log management, Real user monitoring. ELK Stack covers Full-text search, Data visualization, Log aggregation, Time-series analytics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Datadog: How is Datadog pricing structured?

Datadog uses consumption-based pricing tied to data volume ingested, hosts monitored, and products enabled. Infrastructure Monitoring starts at $15/host/month, APM at $31/host/month, and Log Management at $0.10/GB for indexed logs.

Source
Datadog: Does Datadog offer a free tier?

Datadog offers a free trial but not a permanent free tier for production monitoring. Pricing begins with paid plans only.

Source
Datadog: What integrations does Datadog support?

Datadog offers 1000+ built-in integrations including AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, Azure, GCP, and most major cloud platforms and services.

Source
Datadog: Can Datadog monitor Kubernetes clusters?

Yes. The Datadog Agent runs as a DaemonSet to provide real-time visibility into pods, nodes, deployments, and control-plane health across major Kubernetes distributions including EKS, AKS, GKE, OpenShift, and others.

Source
Datadog: How can I reduce Datadog costs?

Datadog bills based on indexed logs, custom metrics, and high-cardinality tags. Costs can be unpredictable and may run 2-3x estimates. Prepaying annually can secure 5-15% discounts.

Source
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