Software · head to head
Sematext vs ELK Stack
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; ELK Stack the free Basic self managed subscription excludes machine learning, alerting, single sign on via SAML or OpenID Connect, LDAP and Active Directory authentication, field and document level security, searchable snapshots and cross cluster replication
- They diverge on capability: Sematext covers APM, ELK Stack covers Full-text search.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Sematext and ELK Stack actually diverge.
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
- APM
- Metrics monitoring
- Anomaly detection
Only in ELK Stack
- Full-text search
- Data visualization
- Time-series analytics
Both cover
- Log aggregation
- 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 ELK Stack
- Infrastructure and application monitoring alongside logsnot ELK Stack
ELK Stack
- Centralised log search and analytics over Elasticsearchnot Sematext
- Dashboards and visualisation of machine data in Kibananot Sematext
- Self managing a search and observability cluster on your own hardwarenot 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
ELK Stack
- The free Basic self managed subscription excludes machine learning, alerting, single sign on via SAML or OpenID Connect, LDAP and Active Directory authentication, field and document level security, searchable snapshots and cross cluster replication
- Cross cluster operations require the same subscription tier on every cluster involved
- The 99.95 percent monthly uptime SLA applies only to the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers
- Three deployment models are priced on three different bases: resource based for Cloud Hosted, usage based for Serverless and licence based on nodes and RAM for self managed
- Elastic Cloud Serverless does not yet support traffic filtering, cross project search or bring your own key
- The pricing page publishes no rate for any tier
Pricing, plan by plan
Sematext
Free- FreeFree
- Log aggregation
- APM
- Metrics monitoring
ELK Stack
Free- FreeFree
- Full-text search
- Data visualization
- Log aggregation
Which should you pick?
Choose Sematext if
- You need apm.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want metrics monitoring.
Choose ELK Stack if
- You need full-text search.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want data visualization.
Questions people ask
- Is Sematext or ELK Stack better?
- Neither clearly leads. Sematext starts at Free and ELK Stack at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Sematext or ELK Stack?
- Sematext starts at Free and ELK Stack at Free.
- Does Sematext or ELK Stack 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 ELK Stack is typically brought in for.
- What can Sematext do that ELK Stack cannot?
- Sematext covers APM, Metrics monitoring, Anomaly detection. ELK Stack covers Full-text search, Data visualization, Time-series analytics. Both handle Log aggregation, API, Webhooks, REST.