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Filebeat vs Elastic APM

Filebeat logo

Filebeat

Software

Lightweight Shipper for Logs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Software

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Filebeat filebeat ships only as part of the Elastic Stack and has no standalone commercial license; using it in production requires deploying Elasticsearch and typically Kibana alongside it.; 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
  • They diverge on capability: Filebeat covers File tailing, Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Filebeat and Elastic APM differ
AttributeFilebeatElastic APM

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (open-source), 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 Filebeat

  • File tailing
  • Log forwarding
  • Event parsing
  • Input harvesting

Only in Elastic APM

  • Performance monitoring
  • Error tracking
  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics

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.

Filebeat

  • Log monitoringnot Elastic APM
  • Application performancenot Elastic APM
  • Security analyticsnot Elastic APM
  • Troubleshootingnot Elastic APM

Elastic APM

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

Where each one falls short

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

Filebeat

  • Filebeat ships only as part of the Elastic Stack and has no standalone commercial license; using it in production requires deploying Elasticsearch and typically Kibana alongside it.

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

Pricing, plan by plan

Filebeat

Free
  • FreeFree
    • File tailing
    • Log forwarding
    • Event parsing

Elastic APM

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Filebeat if

  • You need file tailing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want log forwarding.
Filebeat review

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

Questions people ask

Is Filebeat or Elastic APM better?
Neither clearly leads. Filebeat starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Filebeat or Elastic APM?
Filebeat starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free.
Does Filebeat or Elastic APM run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Filebeat for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Filebeat best used for?
Filebeat is most often used for log monitoring, application performance, security analytics, troubleshooting. Of those, log monitoring and application performance are not what Elastic APM is typically brought in for.
What can Filebeat do that Elastic APM cannot?
Filebeat covers File tailing, Log forwarding, Event parsing, Input harvesting. Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.
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