Is Loki or Telegraf better?

Neither clearly leads. Loki starts at Free and Telegraf at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Loki or Telegraf?

Loki starts at Free and Telegraf at Free.

Does Loki or Telegraf run on more platforms?

Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

Can I use Loki for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Loki best used for?

Loki is most often used for aggregating application and infrastructure logs with label based indexing, querying logs alongside metrics in grafana. Of those, aggregating application and infrastructure logs with label based indexing and querying logs alongside metrics in grafana are not what Telegraf is typically brought in for.

What can Loki do that Telegraf cannot?

Loki covers Log aggregation, Label-based indexing, Real-time log streaming, LogQL query language. Telegraf covers Metrics collection, System monitoring, Application monitoring, Plugin architecture. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.

Logging · head to head

Loki vs Telegraf

Loki

Logging

Like Prometheus but for Logs

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Telegraf

Logging

The Plugin-Driven Server Agent for Collecting and Reporting Metrics

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Loki the Grafana Cloud free tier caps log ingestion at 50 GB a month with 14 day retention; Telegraf telegraf's core is open source and free, and InfluxData names a separate Telegraf Enterprise tier for teams running it at scale with no price published
They diverge on capability: Loki covers Log aggregation, Telegraf covers Metrics collection.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Loki and Telegraf actually diverge.

Attributes where Loki and Telegraf differ
Attribute	Loki	Telegraf
Founded	2014	2013

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (open-source), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Logging).

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 Loki

Log aggregation
Label-based indexing
Real-time log streaming
LogQL query language

Only in Telegraf

Metrics collection
System monitoring
Application monitoring
Plugin architecture

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.

Loki

Aggregating application and infrastructure logs with label based indexingnot Telegraf
Querying logs alongside metrics in Grafananot Telegraf

Telegraf

Log monitoringnot Loki
Application performancenot Loki
Security analyticsnot Loki
Troubleshootingnot Loki

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Loki

The Grafana Cloud free tier caps log ingestion at 50 GB a month with 14 day retention
Paid log pricing is split across three separate meters, at $0.050 per GB processed, $0.400 per GB written and $0.100 per GB retained
Retaining logs is billed separately from ingesting them, so keeping data costs on an ongoing basis rather than once
The Pro plan carries a $19 a month platform fee before any usage charges

Telegraf

Telegraf's core is open source and free, and InfluxData names a separate Telegraf Enterprise tier for teams running it at scale with no price published

Pricing, plan by plan

Loki

Free

FreeFree
- Log aggregation
- Label-based indexing
- Real-time log streaming

Telegraf

Free

FreeFree
- Metrics collection
- System monitoring
- Application monitoring

Which should you pick?

Choose Loki if

You need log aggregation.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Api.
You also want label-based indexing.

Loki review

Choose Telegraf if

You need metrics collection.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Api.
You also want system monitoring.

Telegraf review

Questions people ask

Is Loki or Telegraf better?: Neither clearly leads. Loki starts at Free and Telegraf at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Loki or Telegraf?: Loki starts at Free and Telegraf at Free.
Does Loki or Telegraf run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Loki for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Loki best used for?: Loki is most often used for aggregating application and infrastructure logs with label based indexing, querying logs alongside metrics in grafana. Of those, aggregating application and infrastructure logs with label based indexing and querying logs alongside metrics in grafana are not what Telegraf is typically brought in for.
What can Loki do that Telegraf cannot?: Loki covers Log aggregation, Label-based indexing, Real-time log streaming, LogQL query language. Telegraf covers Metrics collection, System monitoring, Application monitoring, Plugin architecture. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Loki: What does it cost to use Grafana Loki?

Loki is open source and free under the AGPLv3 license for self-hosted deployments. Grafana's managed Cloud Logs service includes a free tier up to 50GB of logs at no cost.

Source

Telegraf: Is Telegraf free to use?

Yes, Telegraf OSS is free and open source. It can be downloaded and used at no cost for collecting metrics from infrastructure, applications, and devices using over 400 community-tested plugins.

Source

Loki: Are there paid options for Loki beyond the free tier?

Yes. Grafana Cloud Logs offers paid tiers for teams and enterprises, and Enterprise Logs provides self-managed options with expert support for organizations with data localization or privacy requirements.

Source

Telegraf: What is Telegraf Enterprise and how much does it cost?

Telegraf Enterprise is a commercial offering for managing Telegraf at scale. It is licensed annually with entry-level packages starting at $18,000 per year, and pricing scales based on the total number of Telegraf agents under management.

Source

Loki: What license does open source Loki use?

Loki is released under the AGPLv3 license, which requires you to share modifications and publish your source code if you deploy modifications publicly.

Source

Telegraf: Can I try Telegraf Enterprise before purchasing?

Yes, a free tier of Telegraf Controller is available for evaluation. It allows you to store up to 20 configurations and manage up to 100 reporting agents.

Source

Telegraf: Can Telegraf OSS be used for commercial purposes?

Telegraf OSS is free and available as open source software, suitable for commercial deployments without licensing fees. For large-scale enterprise needs, Telegraf Enterprise is the commercial offering.

Source

Telegraf: How many plugins does Telegraf support?

Telegraf includes over 400 community-tested plugins that can connect to various data sources and destinations including Kubernetes, Docker, AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Kafka, and many databases.

Source

Loki vs Telegraf

Loki

Telegraf

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Loki

Only in Telegraf

Both cover

What people use each for

Loki

Telegraf

Where each one falls short

Loki

Telegraf

Pricing, plan by plan

Loki

Telegraf

Which should you pick?

Choose Loki if

Choose Telegraf if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Loki

More on Telegraf

Keep looking

Other head to heads