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Elastic APM vs Loggly

Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Software

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Loggly logo

Loggly

Software

Cloud-Based Log Management and Analytics

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; Loggly the free Lite plan caps ingest at 200 MB per day with 7 day retention
  • They diverge on capability: Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Loggly covers Log aggregation.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Elastic APM and Loggly actually diverge.

Attributes where Elastic APM and Loggly differ
AttributeElastic APMLoggly
Pricing modelopen-sourceusage-based
Founded20112009

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 Loggly

  • Log aggregation
  • Real-time search
  • Custom dashboards
  • Alert management

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

Loggly

  • Cloud-hosted log aggregation for small and mid-sized engineering teamsnot Elastic APM
  • Alerting on log patterns via email, webhook, PagerDuty or Slacknot Elastic APM
  • Log analysis alongside SolarWinds infrastructure and application monitoringnot 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

Loggly

  • The free Lite plan caps ingest at 200 MB per day with 7 day retention
  • API access and archiving to Amazon S3 start on the Pro plan at $159 per month billed annually
  • Federated identity management is an Enterprise feature, starting at $279 per month billed annually
  • The Standard plan at $79 per month is limited to 1 GB per day and 3 source groups
  • Maximum retention is 90 days and only on Enterprise; Standard is fixed at 15 days

Pricing, plan by plan

Elastic APM

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

Loggly

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Log aggregation
    • Real-time search
    • Custom dashboards

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 Loggly if

  • You need log aggregation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want real-time search.
Loggly review

Questions people ask

Is Elastic APM or Loggly better?
Neither clearly leads. Elastic APM starts at Free and Loggly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Elastic APM or Loggly?
Elastic APM starts at Free and Loggly at Free.
Does Elastic APM or Loggly 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 Loggly is typically brought in for.
What can Elastic APM do that Loggly cannot?
Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Loggly covers Log aggregation, Real-time search, Custom dashboards, Alert management. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.
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