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Papertrail vs Elasticsearch Service

Papertrail logo

Papertrail

Software

Cloud-Hosted Log Management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elasticsearch Service logo

Elasticsearch Service

Software

Managed Elasticsearch Cloud Service

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Papertrail log Observability starts at $5.00 per GB per month; Elasticsearch Service the 99.95 percent monthly uptime SLA applies only to the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers
  • They diverge on capability: Papertrail covers Log aggregation, Elasticsearch Service covers Full-text search.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Papertrail and Elasticsearch Service actually diverge.

Attributes where Papertrail and Elasticsearch Service differ
AttributePapertrailElasticsearch Service
Pricing modelsubscriptionusage-based

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Papertrail

  • Log aggregation
  • Real-time tail
  • Saved searches
  • System alerts

Only in Elasticsearch Service

  • Full-text search
  • Scalability
  • High availability
  • Security

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.

Papertrail

  • Aggregating syslog and application logs from many hosts into one searchable streamnot Elasticsearch Service
  • Tail-and-search style troubleshooting during incidentsnot Elasticsearch Service
  • Long-term log archiving to Amazon S3 for later analysisnot Elasticsearch Service

Elasticsearch Service

  • Managed Elasticsearch without running the clusternot Papertrail
  • Log and observability data storage and searchnot Papertrail
  • Full-text search behind an applicationnot Papertrail
  • Deployments needing a specific cloud region across AWS, Azure or GCPnot Papertrail

Where each one falls short

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

Papertrail

  • Log Observability starts at $5.00 per GB per month
  • Usage beyond the plan volume is billed at a 30% higher price per GB and is capped at 200% extra
  • Transferred volume is measured as message length plus 50 bytes of metadata per message, so metadata counts against the quota

Elasticsearch Service

  • The 99.95 percent monthly uptime SLA applies only to the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers
  • Serverless does not yet support traffic filtering, cross-project search or bring-your-own-key encryption
  • Serverless runs on AWS, GCP and Azure only, against 60 regions for the hosted option
  • Per-unit prices are not published; hosted is resource-based and serverless usage-based

Pricing, plan by plan

Papertrail

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Log aggregation
    • Real-time tail
    • Saved searches

Elasticsearch Service

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Full-text search
    • Scalability
    • High availability

Which should you pick?

Choose Papertrail if

  • You need log aggregation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want real-time tail.
Papertrail review

Choose Elasticsearch Service if

  • You need full-text search.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want scalability.
Elasticsearch Service review

Questions people ask

Is Papertrail or Elasticsearch Service better?
Neither clearly leads. Papertrail starts at Free and Elasticsearch Service at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Papertrail or Elasticsearch Service?
Papertrail starts at Free and Elasticsearch Service at Free.
Does Papertrail or Elasticsearch Service run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Papertrail for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Papertrail best used for?
Papertrail is most often used for aggregating syslog and application logs from many hosts into one searchable stream, tail-and-search style troubleshooting during incidents, long-term log archiving to amazon s3 for later analysis. Of those, aggregating syslog and application logs from many hosts into one searchable stream and tail-and-search style troubleshooting during incidents are not what Elasticsearch Service is typically brought in for.
What can Papertrail do that Elasticsearch Service cannot?
Papertrail covers Log aggregation, Real-time tail, Saved searches, System alerts. Elasticsearch Service covers Full-text search, Scalability, High availability, Security. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.
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Related pages

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