Log Management · head to head
Kibana vs Dynatrace
Dynatrace
Log Management
Application Performance Management and Observability
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Kibana requires Elasticsearch; it is a front end for data held there rather than a standalone analytics tool; Dynatrace pricing is commitment based: rates require an annual platform level commitment rather than month to month purchase
- They diverge on capability: Kibana covers Data visualization, Dynatrace covers AI-powered analytics.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Kibana and Dynatrace actually diverge.
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 Kibana
- Data visualization
- Dashboard creation
- Log discovery
- Alerting
Only in Dynatrace
- AI-powered analytics
- APM
- Infrastructure monitoring
- Log analysis
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.
Kibana
- Querying and visualising data held in Elasticsearchnot Dynatrace
- Dashboards over log and metric datanot Dynatrace
- Anomaly detection with machine learning jobsnot Dynatrace
- Geospatial analysis on indexed location datanot Dynatrace
- Alerting on query thresholdsnot Dynatrace
Dynatrace
- Full stack application performance monitoring with automatic dependency discoverynot Kibana
- Kubernetes and container platform observability priced per podnot Kibana
- Log ingest, processing and query analyticsnot Kibana
- Real user monitoring and session replay for web applicationsnot Kibana
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Kibana
- Requires Elasticsearch; it is a front end for data held there rather than a standalone analytics tool
- Self-managed means running and scaling the Elastic stack yourself
- Cost is not Kibana's own; it follows whichever Elastic deployment sits underneath
Dynatrace
- Pricing is commitment based: rates require an annual platform level commitment rather than month to month purchase
- Full-Stack Monitoring is priced at $58 per month per 8 GiB of host memory, so a 64 GiB host counts as eight units
- Infrastructure Monitoring at $29 per host per month excludes code level tracing, which requires Full-Stack
- Session Replay doubles Real User Monitoring cost from $2.25 to $4.50 per 1,000 sessions
- Runtime Vulnerability Analytics and Runtime Application Protection are each charged separately at $13 per month per 8 GiB host on top of monitoring
Pricing, plan by plan
Kibana
Free- FreeFree
- Data visualization
- Dashboard creation
- Log discovery
Dynatrace
Free- FreeFree
- AI-powered analytics
- APM
- Infrastructure monitoring
Which should you pick?
Choose Kibana if
- You need data visualization.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want dashboard creation.
Choose Dynatrace if
- You need ai-powered analytics.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want apm.
Questions people ask
- Is Kibana or Dynatrace better?
- Neither clearly leads. Kibana starts at Free and Dynatrace at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Kibana or Dynatrace?
- Kibana starts at Free and Dynatrace at Free.
- Does Kibana or Dynatrace run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Kibana for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Kibana best used for?
- Kibana is most often used for querying and visualising data held in elasticsearch, dashboards over log and metric data, anomaly detection with machine learning jobs, geospatial analysis on indexed location data. Of those, querying and visualising data held in elasticsearch and dashboards over log and metric data are not what Dynatrace is typically brought in for.
- What can Kibana do that Dynatrace cannot?
- Kibana covers Data visualization, Dashboard creation, Log discovery, Alerting. Dynatrace covers AI-powered analytics, APM, Infrastructure monitoring, Log analysis. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.