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Elastic APM vs Dynatrace Logs

Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Software

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Dynatrace Logs logo

Dynatrace Logs

Software

Intelligent Log Analytics and Management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Elastic APM pricing is not published on the product page; cost follows the underlying Elastic deployment rather than being quoted per host or per service; Dynatrace Logs log ingest and processing is billed at $0.20 per GiB, separately from retention and from query
  • They diverge on capability: Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Dynatrace Logs covers Log analysis.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Elastic APM and Dynatrace Logs actually diverge.

Attributes where Elastic APM and Dynatrace Logs differ
AttributeElastic APMDynatrace Logs
Pricing modelopen-sourcesubscription
Founded20112005

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 Elastic APM

  • Performance monitoring
  • Error tracking
  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics

Only in Dynatrace Logs

  • Log analysis
  • AI-powered insights
  • Metrics integration
  • Automated root cause

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.

Elastic APM

  • Distributed tracing across microservicesnot Dynatrace Logs
  • Auto-instrumenting Java, .NET, Python, Go, Node.js, Ruby, PHP and C++ servicesnot Dynatrace Logs
  • OpenTelemetry-native collection through the Elastic distributionsnot Dynatrace Logs
  • Correlating latency and errors with machine learningnot Dynatrace Logs
  • Monitoring LLM calls alongside application tracesnot Dynatrace Logs

Dynatrace Logs

  • Ingesting and processing application and infrastructure logsnot Elastic APM
  • Querying logs alongside traces and metrics in one platformnot Elastic APM
  • Log driven alerting within an existing Dynatrace deploymentnot Elastic APM

Where each one falls short

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

Elastic APM

  • Pricing is not published on the product page; cost follows the underlying Elastic deployment rather than being quoted per host or per service
  • Self-managed deployment means running and scaling Elasticsearch yourself
  • Serverless does not carry every capability the hosted option does

Dynatrace Logs

  • Log ingest and processing is billed at $0.20 per GiB, separately from retention and from query
  • Querying logs is charged in addition to ingest, either pay per query or as bundled queries
  • Log analytics requires the same annual platform commitment as the rest of the Dynatrace platform

Pricing, plan by plan

Elastic APM

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Performance monitoring
    • Error tracking
    • Transaction tracing

Dynatrace Logs

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Log analysis
    • AI-powered insights
    • Metrics integration

Which should you pick?

Choose Elastic APM if

  • You need performance monitoring.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want error tracking.
Elastic APM review

Choose Dynatrace Logs if

  • You need log analysis.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want ai-powered insights.
Dynatrace Logs review

Questions people ask

Is Elastic APM or Dynatrace Logs better?
Neither clearly leads. Elastic APM starts at Free and Dynatrace Logs at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Elastic APM or Dynatrace Logs?
Elastic APM starts at Free and Dynatrace Logs at Free.
Does Elastic APM or Dynatrace Logs run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Elastic APM for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Elastic APM best used for?
Elastic APM is most often used for distributed tracing across microservices, auto-instrumenting java, .net, python, go, node.js, ruby, php and c++ services, opentelemetry-native collection through the elastic distributions, correlating latency and errors with machine learning. Of those, distributed tracing across microservices and auto-instrumenting java, .net, python, go, node.js, ruby, php and c++ services are not what Dynatrace Logs is typically brought in for.
What can Elastic APM do that Dynatrace Logs cannot?
Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Dynatrace Logs covers Log analysis, AI-powered insights, Metrics integration, Automated root cause. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.
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