Is Kibana or Raygun better?

Neither clearly leads. Kibana starts at Free and Raygun at $40/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Kibana or Raygun?

Kibana has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Kibana and $40/month for Raygun.

Does Kibana or Raygun 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?

Yes. Kibana has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Raygun starts at $40/month.

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 Raygun is typically brought in for.

What can Kibana do that Raygun cannot?

Kibana covers Data visualization, Dashboard creation, Log discovery, Alerting. Raygun covers Crash reporting, Real user monitoring, Performance tracking, Source maps. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.

Logging · head to head

Kibana vs Raygun

Kibana

Logging

Visualize Your Elasticsearch Data

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Raygun

Logging

Real User Monitoring and Crash Reporting

From: $40/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Kibana has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Kibana requires Elasticsearch; it is a front end for data held there rather than a standalone analytics tool; Raygun crash Reporting error data is retained for 180 days and Real User Monitoring sessions for only 60 days; longer retention is Enterprise only
They diverge on capability: Kibana covers Data visualization, Raygun covers Crash reporting.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Kibana and Raygun actually diverge.

Attributes where Kibana and Raygun differ
Attribute	Kibana	Raygun
Starting price	Free	$40/month
Pricing model	open-source	usage-based
Free tier	Yes	No

Identical on both: platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Logging), 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 Kibana

Data visualization
Dashboard creation
Log discovery
Alerting

Only in Raygun

Crash reporting
Real user monitoring
Performance tracking
Source maps

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 Raygun
Dashboards over log and metric datanot Raygun
Anomaly detection with machine learning jobsnot Raygun
Geospatial analysis on indexed location datanot Raygun
Alerting on query thresholdsnot Raygun

Raygun

Crash and error reporting for web, mobile and backend applicationsnot Kibana
Real user monitoring of front end page load and session performancenot Kibana
Application performance monitoring with request level tracesnot 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

Raygun

Crash Reporting error data is retained for 180 days and Real User Monitoring sessions for only 60 days; longer retention is Enterprise only
Crash Reporting, Real User Monitoring and APM are billed as three separate products, each metered on its own unit of errors, sessions or traces
A Real User Monitoring session ends after 30 minutes of inactivity, so a single visit spanning breaks is billed as several sessions
Usage beyond the plan allowance is billed on demand at $0.001 per error and $0.002 per session or trace
Enterprise plan pricing is custom with no published rate

Pricing, plan by plan

Kibana

Free

FreeFree
- Data visualization
- Dashboard creation
- Log discovery

Raygun

$40/month

Basic$40/month
- Core monitoring, unlimited apps and members
- Basic alerts, deployment tracking
- Annual billing saves 33%
Team$80/month
- Inbound filters and third-party integrations
- Unlimited dashboards and user roles
- Marked as MOST POPULAR plan
Business$400/month
- SAML SSO and dedicated account manager
- Priority support and quarterly reviews
- Annual billing saves 33%
Enterprise$undefined/mo
- Custom pricing and compliance requirements
- Unlimited reports and SLA agreements
- Private Slack support

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.

Kibana review

Choose Raygun if

You need crash reporting.
You work on Web, Api.
You also want real user monitoring.

Raygun review

Questions people ask

Is Kibana or Raygun better?: Neither clearly leads. Kibana starts at Free and Raygun at $40/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kibana or Raygun?: Kibana has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Kibana and $40/month for Raygun.
Does Kibana or Raygun 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?: Yes. Kibana has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Raygun starts at $40/month.
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 Raygun is typically brought in for.
What can Kibana do that Raygun cannot?: Kibana covers Data visualization, Dashboard creation, Log discovery, Alerting. Raygun covers Crash reporting, Real user monitoring, Performance tracking, Source maps. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Kibana: Is Kibana available for free?

Kibana is offered with a free trial across all deployment models (Elastic Cloud Serverless, Hosted, and self-managed). Kibana is a component of the Elastic product suite and is not priced separately.

Source

Raygun: Does Raygun offer a free trial?

Yes. Raygun offers a free 14-day trial with no credit card required. The trial includes feature access across all products.

Source

Kibana: How is Kibana priced?

Kibana pricing is bundled with Elasticsearch or other Elastic products. Pricing varies by deployment model: Elastic Cloud Serverless uses usage-based pricing, Hosted uses resource-based pricing, and self-managed is free to download.

Source

Raygun: What is Raygun's pricing model?

Raygun uses a usage-based pricing model with tiered plans starting at $40/month for Basic tier, plus per-event charges ($0.001 to $0.002 per event). Annual billing saves 33% compared to monthly rates.

Source

Raygun: What features are included in the Team plan?

Team plan at $80/month includes inbound filters, third-party integrations, unlimited dashboards, user roles, and is marked as the most popular option. It's positioned between Basic and Business tiers.

Source

Kibana vs Raygun

Kibana

Raygun

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Kibana

Only in Raygun

Both cover

What people use each for

Kibana

Raygun

Where each one falls short

Kibana

Raygun

Pricing, plan by plan

Kibana

Raygun

Which should you pick?

Choose Kibana if

Choose Raygun if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Kibana

More on Raygun

Keep looking

Other head to heads