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Software · head to head

Dynatrace vs Filebeat

Dynatrace logo

Dynatrace

Software

Application Performance Management and Observability

From
Free
Rated
-
Filebeat logo

Filebeat

Software

Lightweight Shipper for Logs

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Dynatrace pricing is commitment based: rates require an annual platform level commitment rather than month to month purchase; 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: Dynatrace covers AI-powered analytics, Filebeat covers File tailing.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dynatrace and Filebeat actually diverge.

Attributes where Dynatrace and Filebeat differ
AttributeDynatraceFilebeat
Pricing modelsubscriptionopen-source
Founded20052011

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 Dynatrace

  • AI-powered analytics
  • APM
  • Infrastructure monitoring
  • Log analysis

Only in Filebeat

  • File tailing
  • Log forwarding
  • Event parsing
  • Input harvesting

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.

Dynatrace

  • Full stack application performance monitoring with automatic dependency discoverynot Filebeat
  • Kubernetes and container platform observability priced per podnot Filebeat
  • Log ingest, processing and query analyticsnot Filebeat
  • Real user monitoring and session replay for web applicationsnot Filebeat

Filebeat

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

Where each one falls short

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

Dynatrace

  • Pricing is commitment based: rates require an annual platform level commitment rather than month to month purchase
  • Full-Stack Monitoring is priced at $58 per month per 8 GiB of host memory, so a 64 GiB host counts as eight units
  • Infrastructure Monitoring at $29 per host per month excludes code level tracing, which requires Full-Stack
  • Session Replay doubles Real User Monitoring cost from $2.25 to $4.50 per 1,000 sessions
  • Runtime Vulnerability Analytics and Runtime Application Protection are each charged separately at $13 per month per 8 GiB host on top of monitoring

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

Dynatrace

Free
  • FreeFree
    • AI-powered analytics
    • APM
    • Infrastructure monitoring

Filebeat

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Dynatrace if

  • You need ai-powered analytics.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want apm.

Choose Filebeat if

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

Questions people ask

Is Dynatrace or Filebeat better?
Neither clearly leads. Dynatrace 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, Dynatrace or Filebeat?
Dynatrace starts at Free and Filebeat at Free.
Does Dynatrace or Filebeat run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Dynatrace for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Dynatrace best used for?
Dynatrace is most often used for full stack application performance monitoring with automatic dependency discovery, kubernetes and container platform observability priced per pod, log ingest, processing and query analytics, real user monitoring and session replay for web applications. Of those, full stack application performance monitoring with automatic dependency discovery and kubernetes and container platform observability priced per pod are not what Filebeat is typically brought in for.
What can Dynatrace do that Filebeat cannot?
Dynatrace covers AI-powered analytics, APM, Infrastructure monitoring, Log analysis. Filebeat covers File tailing, Log forwarding, Event parsing, Input harvesting. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.

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