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Sematext vs Elastic APM

Sematext logo

Sematext

Software

Full Stack Observability Platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Software

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Sematext the $5 Basic plan caps ingestion at 500 MB a day and retains logs for 7 days; Elastic APM pricing is not published on the product page; cost follows the underlying Elastic deployment rather than being quoted per host or per service
  • They diverge on capability: Sematext covers Log aggregation, Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sematext and Elastic APM actually diverge.

Attributes where Sematext and Elastic APM differ
AttributeSematextElastic APM
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
Founded20072011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Sematext

  • Log aggregation
  • APM
  • Metrics monitoring
  • Anomaly detection

Only in Elastic APM

  • Performance monitoring
  • Error tracking
  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics

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.

Sematext

  • Centralised log management and search across servicesnot Elastic APM
  • Infrastructure and application monitoring alongside logsnot Elastic APM

Elastic APM

  • Distributed tracing across microservicesnot Sematext
  • Auto-instrumenting Java, .NET, Python, Go, Node.js, Ruby, PHP and C++ servicesnot Sematext
  • OpenTelemetry-native collection through the Elastic distributionsnot Sematext
  • Correlating latency and errors with machine learningnot Sematext
  • Monitoring LLM calls alongside application tracesnot Sematext

Where each one falls short

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

Sematext

  • The $5 Basic plan caps ingestion at 500 MB a day and retains logs for 7 days
  • Ingestion and storage are billed on separate meters, at $0.10 per GB received and $0.15 per GB stored
  • Retention is a plan property rather than a setting, so keeping logs longer means moving tier
  • The published pricing page renders Standard and Pro figures from unresolved template placeholders, so only the Basic numbers are actually readable

Elastic APM

  • Pricing is not published on the product page; cost follows the underlying Elastic deployment rather than being quoted per host or per service
  • Self-managed deployment means running and scaling Elasticsearch yourself
  • Serverless does not carry every capability the hosted option does

Pricing, plan by plan

Sematext

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Log aggregation
    • APM
    • Metrics monitoring

Elastic APM

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Performance monitoring
    • Error tracking
    • Transaction tracing

Which should you pick?

Choose Sematext if

  • You need log aggregation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want apm.
Sematext review

Choose Elastic APM if

  • You need performance monitoring.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want error tracking.
Elastic APM review

Questions people ask

Is Sematext or Elastic APM better?
Neither clearly leads. Sematext starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sematext or Elastic APM?
Sematext starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free.
Does Sematext or Elastic APM run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Sematext for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Sematext best used for?
Sematext is most often used for centralised log management and search across services, infrastructure and application monitoring alongside logs. Of those, centralised log management and search across services and infrastructure and application monitoring alongside logs are not what Elastic APM is typically brought in for.
What can Sematext do that Elastic APM cannot?
Sematext covers Log aggregation, APM, Metrics monitoring, Anomaly detection. Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics. Both handle API, Webhooks, REST, Web support.
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