Is Filebeat or Graylog Plus better?

Neither clearly leads. Filebeat starts at Free and Graylog Plus at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Filebeat or Graylog Plus?

Filebeat has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Filebeat and On request for Graylog Plus.

Does Filebeat or Graylog Plus 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?

Yes. Filebeat has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Graylog Plus starts at On request.

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 Graylog Plus is typically brought in for.

What can Filebeat do that Graylog Plus cannot?

Filebeat covers File tailing, Log forwarding, Event parsing, Input harvesting. Graylog Plus covers Log aggregation, SIEM capabilities, Advanced parsing, Compliance. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.

Software · head to head

Filebeat vs Graylog Plus

Filebeat

Software

Lightweight Shipper for Logs

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Graylog Plus

Software

Enterprise Log Aggregation and SIEM

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Filebeat has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
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.; Graylog Plus pricing is not published on the product pages
They diverge on capability: Filebeat covers File tailing, Graylog Plus covers Log aggregation.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Filebeat and Graylog Plus actually diverge.

Attributes where Filebeat and Graylog Plus differ
Attribute	Filebeat	Graylog Plus
Starting price	Free	On request
Pricing model	open-source	subscription
Free tier	Yes	No

Identical on both: 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 Graylog Plus

Log aggregation
SIEM capabilities
Advanced parsing
Compliance

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 Graylog Plus
Application performancenot Graylog Plus
Security analyticsnot Graylog Plus
Troubleshootingnot Graylog Plus

Graylog Plus

Centralised log collection, search and analysisnot Filebeat
SIEM and threat detection through Graylog Securitynot Filebeat
Self-hosting log management on your own infrastructurenot Filebeat
API security monitoringnot Filebeat
Compliance reporting from retained log datanot 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.

Graylog Plus

Pricing is not published on the product pages
Split across several editions, Graylog Open, Enterprise, Security and API Security, so log management and SIEM are separate purchases
The open edition is source-available rather than fully open source, and the guided setup, prebuilt content and AI assistance are Enterprise features

Pricing, plan by plan

Filebeat

Free

FreeFree
- File tailing
- Log forwarding
- Event parsing

Graylog Plus

On request

Starter$undefined/month
- Log aggregation
- SIEM capabilities
- Advanced 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.

Filebeat review

Choose Graylog Plus if

You need log aggregation.
You work on Web, Api.
You also want siem capabilities.

Graylog Plus review

Questions people ask

Is Filebeat or Graylog Plus better?: Neither clearly leads. Filebeat starts at Free and Graylog Plus at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Filebeat or Graylog Plus?: Filebeat has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Filebeat and On request for Graylog Plus.
Does Filebeat or Graylog Plus 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?: Yes. Filebeat has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Graylog Plus starts at On request.
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 Graylog Plus is typically brought in for.
What can Filebeat do that Graylog Plus cannot?: Filebeat covers File tailing, Log forwarding, Event parsing, Input harvesting. Graylog Plus covers Log aggregation, SIEM capabilities, Advanced parsing, Compliance. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.

Filebeat vs Graylog Plus

Filebeat

Graylog Plus

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Filebeat

Only in Graylog Plus

Both cover

What people use each for

Filebeat

Graylog Plus

Where each one falls short

Filebeat

Graylog Plus

Pricing, plan by plan

Filebeat

Graylog Plus

Which should you pick?

Choose Filebeat if

Choose Graylog Plus if

Questions people ask

Related pages

More on Filebeat

More on Graylog Plus

Keep looking

Other head to heads