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Software · head to head

Elastic vs Grafana Loki

E

Elastic

Software

Search AI powered by Elasticsearch

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Grafana Loki logo

Grafana Loki

Software

Log Aggregation for Grafana Stack

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Grafana Loki has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Elastic the 99.95% monthly uptime SLA is only offered on the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers of Hosted deployments, not on lower tiers, per elastic.co, August 2026; Grafana Loki grafana Cloud Logs Pro plan includes only 30-day retention; retention beyond 30 days requires Enterprise plan with minimum $25,000 annual commitment

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Elastic and Grafana Loki actually diverge.

Attributes where Elastic and Grafana Loki differ
AttributeElasticGrafana Loki
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelUnknownfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebSelf-hosted (open source), Managed (Grafana Cloud Logs), Enterprise (self-managed with support)
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: 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

Nothing recorded that Grafana Loki does not also cover.

Only in Grafana Loki

  • Log aggregation
  • Label-based indexing
  • LogQL language
  • Cost-effective
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Elastic

No use cases recorded yet. See the Elastic review.

Grafana Loki

  • Cost-sensitive organisations deploying Kubernetes and Prometheus ecosystemsnot Elastic
  • Teams needing index-free log aggregation for high-volume environmentsnot Elastic

Where each one falls short

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

Elastic

  • The 99.95% monthly uptime SLA is only offered on the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers of Hosted deployments, not on lower tiers, per elastic.co, August 2026

Grafana Loki

  • Grafana Cloud Logs Pro plan includes only 30-day retention; retention beyond 30 days requires Enterprise plan with minimum $25,000 annual commitment
  • Open-source version requires self-hosting all infrastructure including storage and scaling

Pricing, plan by plan

Elastic

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Elastic review.

Grafana Loki

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Grafana Loki review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Elastic if

Nothing in the data separates Elastic from Grafana Loki on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Elastic review

Choose Grafana Loki if

  • You need log aggregation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Self-hosted (open source), Managed (Grafana Cloud Logs), Enterprise (self-managed with support).
  • You also want label-based indexing.
Grafana Loki review

Questions people ask

Is Elastic or Grafana Loki better?
Neither clearly leads. Elastic starts at On request and Grafana Loki at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Elastic or Grafana Loki?
Grafana Loki has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Elastic and Free for Grafana Loki.
Does Elastic or Grafana Loki run on more platforms?
Elastic runs on Web. Grafana Loki runs on Self-hosted (open source), Managed (Grafana Cloud Logs), Enterprise (self-managed with support).
Can I use Grafana Loki for free?
Yes. Grafana Loki has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Elastic starts at On request.
What can Elastic do that Grafana Loki cannot?
Grafana Loki covers Log aggregation, Label-based indexing, LogQL language, Cost-effective.
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