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Elastic Stack vs ELK Stack

Elastic Stack logo

Elastic Stack

Software

Search, Observability, and Security Solutions

From
On request
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: Elastic Stack self-managed deployment requires licensing based on node count and RAM usage; 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: Elastic Stack covers Log analytics, ELK Stack covers Data visualization.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Elastic Stack and ELK Stack differ
AttributeElastic StackELK Stack
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionopen-source
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsCloud-hosted, Self-managed, Docker, Kubernetes (ECK)Web, Api

Identical on both: 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 Stack

  • Log analytics
  • Security monitoring
  • Alerting

Only in ELK Stack

  • Data visualization
  • Log aggregation
  • Time-series analytics

Both cover

  • Full-text search
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support
  • Api support

What people use each for

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

Elastic Stack

  • Distributed search and analytics engine for production-scale workloadsnot ELK Stack
  • Full-text search and vector search with approximate nearest neighbour supportnot ELK Stack
  • Security event tracking with field-level and document-level access controlnot ELK Stack
  • Machine learning capabilities including anomaly detection and forecastingnot ELK Stack

ELK Stack

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

Where each one falls short

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

Elastic Stack

  • Self-managed deployment requires licensing based on node count and RAM usage
  • Serverless option has pending features including traffic filtering and bring-your-own-key encryption
  • Hosted deployment requires custom resource configuration for cluster management
  • Pricing models differ significantly across Hosted, Serverless, and Self-managed options

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

Elastic Stack

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Elastic Stack review.

ELK Stack

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Elastic Stack if

  • You need log analytics.
  • You work on Cloud-hosted, Self-managed, Docker, Kubernetes (ECK).
  • You also want security monitoring.
Elastic Stack review

Choose ELK Stack if

  • You need data visualization.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want log aggregation.
ELK Stack review

Questions people ask

Is Elastic Stack or ELK Stack better?
Neither clearly leads. Elastic Stack starts at On request and ELK Stack at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Elastic Stack or ELK Stack?
ELK Stack has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Elastic Stack and Free for ELK Stack.
Does Elastic Stack or ELK Stack run on more platforms?
Elastic Stack runs on Cloud-hosted, Self-managed, Docker, Kubernetes (ECK). 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. Elastic Stack starts at On request.
What is Elastic Stack best used for?
Elastic Stack is most often used for distributed search and analytics engine for production-scale workloads, full-text search and vector search with approximate nearest neighbour support, security event tracking with field-level and document-level access control, machine learning capabilities including anomaly detection and forecasting. Of those, distributed search and analytics engine for production-scale workloads and full-text search and vector search with approximate nearest neighbour support are not what ELK Stack is typically brought in for.
What can Elastic Stack do that ELK Stack cannot?
Elastic Stack covers Log analytics, Security monitoring, Alerting. ELK Stack covers Data visualization, Log aggregation, Time-series analytics. Both handle Full-text search, API, Webhooks, REST.
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