Software · head to head
Elastic APM vs Elasticsearch Service
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; Elasticsearch Service the 99.95 percent monthly uptime SLA applies only to the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers
- They diverge on capability: Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Elasticsearch Service covers Full-text search.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Elastic APM and Elasticsearch Service actually diverge.
| Attribute | Elastic APM | Elasticsearch Service |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | open-source | usage-based |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown), founded (2011).
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 Elasticsearch Service
- Full-text search
- Scalability
- High availability
- Security
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 Elasticsearch Service
- Auto-instrumenting Java, .NET, Python, Go, Node.js, Ruby, PHP and C++ servicesnot Elasticsearch Service
- OpenTelemetry-native collection through the Elastic distributionsnot Elasticsearch Service
- Correlating latency and errors with machine learningnot Elasticsearch Service
- Monitoring LLM calls alongside application tracesnot Elasticsearch Service
Elasticsearch Service
- Managed Elasticsearch without running the clusternot Elastic APM
- Log and observability data storage and searchnot Elastic APM
- Full-text search behind an applicationnot Elastic APM
- Deployments needing a specific cloud region across AWS, Azure or GCPnot 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
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
Elastic APM
Free- FreeFree
- Performance monitoring
- Error tracking
- Transaction tracing
Elasticsearch Service
Free- FreeFree
- Full-text search
- Scalability
- High availability
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.
Choose Elasticsearch Service if
- You need full-text search.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want scalability.
Questions people ask
- Is Elastic APM or Elasticsearch Service better?
- Neither clearly leads. Elastic APM 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, Elastic APM or Elasticsearch Service?
- Elastic APM starts at Free and Elasticsearch Service at Free.
- Does Elastic APM or Elasticsearch Service 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 Elasticsearch Service is typically brought in for.
- What can Elastic APM do that Elasticsearch Service cannot?
- Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Elasticsearch Service covers Full-text search, Scalability, High availability, Security. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.
Related pages
More on Elastic APM
More on Elasticsearch Service
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