Log Management · head to head
Filebeat vs Stackdriver
Stackdriver
Log Management
Google Cloud Operations - Monitoring and Logging
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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.; Stackdriver stackdriver is now branded Google Cloud Observability and cloud.google.com/stackdriver redirects to the Observability product page
- They diverge on capability: Filebeat covers File tailing, Stackdriver covers Log management.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Filebeat and Stackdriver actually diverge.
| Attribute | Filebeat | Stackdriver |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | open-source | usage-based |
| Founded | 2011 | 2006 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Log Management).
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 Stackdriver
- Log management
- Metrics collection
- Real-time monitoring
- Error reporting
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 Stackdriver
- Application performancenot Stackdriver
- Security analyticsnot Stackdriver
- Troubleshootingnot Stackdriver
Stackdriver
- Centralised logging, metrics and traces for workloads running on Google Cloudnot Filebeat
- Alerting and uptime checks on cloud servicesnot Filebeat
- Running managed Prometheus-compatible monitoring at scalenot 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.
Stackdriver
- Stackdriver is now branded Google Cloud Observability and cloud.google.com/stackdriver redirects to the Observability product page
- Cloud Logging charges $0.50 per GiB ingested, with only the first 50 GiB per project per month free
- Logs kept beyond 30 days cost an extra $0.01 per GiB per month on top of the ingestion charge
- Monitoring metric ingestion starts at $0.2580 per MiB, with only the first 150 MiB per billing account free
- Alerting policies are billed at $0.35 per month for each metric reference in the policy
- Uptime checks cost $0.30 per 1,000 executions and synthetic monitors $1.20 per 1,000 executions, with only 100 synthetic executions per billing account free
- Monitoring read API calls cost $0.50 per million time series returned beyond the first million per billing account
- Log volume is measured before indexing on the actual size of log entries, so verbose logging directly drives cost
Pricing, plan by plan
Filebeat
Free- FreeFree
- File tailing
- Log forwarding
- Event parsing
Stackdriver
Free- FreeFree
- Log management
- Metrics collection
- Real-time monitoring
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 Stackdriver if
- You need log management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want metrics collection.
Questions people ask
- Is Filebeat or Stackdriver better?
- Neither clearly leads. Filebeat starts at Free and Stackdriver at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Filebeat or Stackdriver?
- Filebeat starts at Free and Stackdriver at Free.
- Does Filebeat or Stackdriver 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 Stackdriver is typically brought in for.
- What can Filebeat do that Stackdriver cannot?
- Filebeat covers File tailing, Log forwarding, Event parsing, Input harvesting. Stackdriver covers Log management, Metrics collection, Real-time monitoring, Error reporting. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.