Log Management · head to head
ELK Stack vs Airbrake
The short version
- Each has a real cost: 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; Airbrake data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier
- They diverge on capability: ELK Stack covers Full-text search, Airbrake covers Error tracking.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which ELK Stack and Airbrake actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated).
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 ELK Stack
- Full-text search
- Data visualization
- Log aggregation
- Time-series analytics
Only in Airbrake
- Error tracking
- Performance monitoring
- Deploy tracking
- Custom notifications
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.
ELK Stack
- Centralised log search and analytics over Elasticsearchnot Airbrake
- Dashboards and visualisation of machine data in Kibananot Airbrake
- Self managing a search and observability cluster on your own hardwarenot Airbrake
Airbrake
- Error and exception monitoring for web applicationsnot ELK Stack
- Performance monitoring alongside error trackingnot ELK Stack
- Alerting a team when a deploy introduces a spike in errorsnot ELK Stack
- Tracking errors across multiple projects in one accountnot ELK Stack
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
Airbrake
- Data retention is 30 days on every plan, including the $799 a month Business tier
- The entry plan at $19 a month covers 25,000 errors and 7,500 events
- Errors beyond the plan quota are billed on demand
- Audit logs and spike forgiveness require the Pro tier
- The lowest tier is limited to 1 user and 1 team
Pricing, plan by plan
ELK Stack
Free- FreeFree
- Full-text search
- Data visualization
- Log aggregation
Airbrake
Free- FreeFree
- Error tracking
- Performance monitoring
- Deploy tracking
Which should you pick?
Choose ELK Stack if
- You need full-text search.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want data visualization.
Choose Airbrake if
- You need error tracking.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want performance monitoring.
Questions people ask
- Is ELK Stack or Airbrake better?
- Neither clearly leads. ELK Stack starts at Free and Airbrake at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, ELK Stack or Airbrake?
- ELK Stack starts at Free and Airbrake at Free.
- Does ELK Stack or Airbrake run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use ELK Stack for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is ELK Stack best used for?
- ELK Stack is most often used for centralised log search and analytics over elasticsearch, dashboards and visualisation of machine data in kibana, self managing a search and observability cluster on your own hardware. Of those, centralised log search and analytics over elasticsearch and dashboards and visualisation of machine data in kibana are not what Airbrake is typically brought in for.
- What can ELK Stack do that Airbrake cannot?
- ELK Stack covers Full-text search, Data visualization, Log aggregation, Time-series analytics. Airbrake covers Error tracking, Performance monitoring, Deploy tracking, Custom notifications. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.