Software · head to head
Filebeat vs Fluent Bit
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.; Fluent Bit fluent Bit ships over 100 built in plugins against more than 1,000 external plugins available for Fluentd, so fewer integrations exist out of the box
- They diverge on capability: Filebeat covers File tailing, Fluent Bit covers Log collection.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Filebeat and Fluent Bit actually diverge.
| Attribute | Filebeat | Fluent Bit |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 | 2015 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (open-source), 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 Filebeat
- File tailing
- Log forwarding
- Event parsing
- Input harvesting
Only in Fluent Bit
- Log collection
- Lightweight processing
- Data parsing
- Event filtering
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 Fluent Bit
- Application performancenot Fluent Bit
- Security analyticsnot Fluent Bit
- Troubleshootingnot Fluent Bit
Fluent Bit
- Lightweight log and metric forwarding from containers and edge devicesnot Filebeat
- Kubernetes node level log collection with a small memory footprintnot Filebeat
- Filtering and enriching telemetry before shipping it to a backendnot 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.
Fluent Bit
- Fluent Bit ships over 100 built in plugins against more than 1,000 external plugins available for Fluentd, so fewer integrations exist out of the box
- It is written in C, so extending it beyond the built in plugins means writing C rather than Ruby
- Dependencies are zero only until a plugin requires one
Pricing, plan by plan
Filebeat
Free- FreeFree
- File tailing
- Log forwarding
- Event parsing
Fluent Bit
Free- FreeFree
- Log collection
- Lightweight processing
- Data parsing
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.
Choose Fluent Bit if
- You need log collection.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want lightweight processing.
Questions people ask
- Is Filebeat or Fluent Bit better?
- Neither clearly leads. Filebeat starts at Free and Fluent Bit at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Filebeat or Fluent Bit?
- Filebeat starts at Free and Fluent Bit at Free.
- Does Filebeat or Fluent Bit 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 Fluent Bit is typically brought in for.
- What can Filebeat do that Fluent Bit cannot?
- Filebeat covers File tailing, Log forwarding, Event parsing, Input harvesting. Fluent Bit covers Log collection, Lightweight processing, Data parsing, Event filtering. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.