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Networking · head to head

Splunk vs ThousandEyes

Splunk logo

Splunk

Networking

Turn Data Into Doing

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
ThousandEyes logo

ThousandEyes

Networking

Internet and network path monitoring, owned by Cisco but still sold as a standalone product on its own annual contracts

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Splunk no prices are published on any plan; every model requires contacting sales for an estimate; ThousandEyes cisco does not publish a current definitive rate card, so any price a buyer finds online is likely outdated and should be confirmed directly with sales before budgeting
  • They diverge on capability: Splunk covers Log aggregation, ThousandEyes covers Path visualisation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Splunk and ThousandEyes actually diverge.

Attributes where Splunk and ThousandEyes differ
AttributeSplunkThousandEyes
Pricing modelquotequote, unit-based consumption on annual or prepaid contracts
Founded2003Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Networking).

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 Splunk

  • Log aggregation
  • Real-time monitoring
  • Data visualization
  • Full-text search
  • Custom dashboards
  • Alert management
  • Anomaly detection
  • Log parsing

Only in ThousandEyes

  • Path visualisation
  • Cloud, enterprise and endpoint agents
  • Internet Insights
  • Cisco ecosystem integration
  • Unit-based consumption billing

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Splunk

  • Log search and analysis across infrastructurenot ThousandEyes
  • SIEM, SOAR and UEBA for a security operations teamnot ThousandEyes
  • Application performance and infrastructure monitoringnot ThousandEyes
  • Cloud, private cloud or on-premises deploymentnot ThousandEyes

ThousandEyes

  • A network operations team at a large enterprise needing to diagnose whether a performance problem sits inside their network, with an ISP, or at the destinationnot Splunk
  • An organisation already standardised on Cisco networking wanting internet path monitoring that integrates with existing Cisco toolingnot Splunk
  • A company needing endpoint agent testing from real employee devices to reproduce user-reported performance issuesnot Splunk
  • An SRE team wanting aggregated internet outage and BGP visibility across a wide customer base rather than building that dataset themselvesnot Splunk

Where each one falls short

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

Splunk

  • No prices are published on any plan; every model requires contacting sales for an estimate
  • Three separate pricing models, workload, ingest and entity, so the same deployment costs different amounts depending on which was signed
  • Ingest pricing bills on data volume, so cost tracks how much you log rather than how much value you get from it
  • Security, observability and platform are priced separately

ThousandEyes

  • Cisco does not publish a current definitive rate card, so any price a buyer finds online is likely outdated and should be confirmed directly with sales before budgeting
  • A 12-month minimum contract removes the option to trial the platform under real production load on a shorter commitment
  • Unit-based consumption billing across different test types is not always intuitive to forecast, and usage can grow unpredictably as more tests and agents are added
  • Since the Cisco acquisition, purchasing now runs through Cisco's broader enterprise sales and licensing process, which can be slower and less transparent than dealing with a smaller standalone vendor
  • Deep Cisco ecosystem integration is a real advantage only for organisations already standardised on Cisco; it offers less differentiated value for a non-Cisco shop
  • Endpoint agent pricing tiers (Essentials versus Advantage) gate meaningfully different capability, and choosing the wrong tier at signup can mean a contract renegotiation to get needed features

Pricing, plan by plan

Splunk

On request
  • Observability Cloud - Infrastructure$15/month
    • Infrastructure monitoring for per host/month pricing
    • Unlimited users and ability to scale to petabytes of data
  • Observability Cloud - App & Infra$60/month
    • App and infrastructure monitoring for per host/month pricing billed annually
  • Observability Cloud - End-to-End$75/month
    • End-to-end observability for per host/month pricing billed annually
  • On-Call$5/month
    • On-call management for per user per month pricing billed annually
    • Covers up to 10 seats

ThousandEyes

On request
  • ThousandEyes$undefined/year
    • Cloud and enterprise agent testing
    • Endpoint agents
    • Internet Insights

Which should you pick?

Choose Splunk if

  • You need log aggregation.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want real-time monitoring.
Splunk review

Choose ThousandEyes if

  • You need path visualisation.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want cloud, enterprise and endpoint agents.
ThousandEyes review

Questions people ask

Is Splunk or ThousandEyes better?
Neither clearly leads. Splunk starts at On request and ThousandEyes at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Splunk or ThousandEyes?
Splunk starts at On request and ThousandEyes at On request.
Does Splunk or ThousandEyes run on more platforms?
Splunk runs on Web, Api. ThousandEyes runs on Web, API.
What is Splunk best used for?
Splunk is most often used for log search and analysis across infrastructure, siem, soar and ueba for a security operations team, application performance and infrastructure monitoring, cloud, private cloud or on-premises deployment. Of those, log search and analysis across infrastructure and siem, soar and ueba for a security operations team are not what ThousandEyes is typically brought in for.
What can Splunk do that ThousandEyes cannot?
Splunk covers Log aggregation, Real-time monitoring, Data visualization, Full-text search. ThousandEyes covers Path visualisation, Cloud, enterprise and endpoint agents, Internet Insights, Cisco ecosystem integration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Splunk: What is Splunk's pricing model?

Splunk offers activity-based, ingest, or workload pricing options depending on the product. Splunk Observability Cloud and AppDynamics use per-host or per-vCPU monthly pricing billed annually. Splunk Cloud Platform and Splunk Enterprise require custom quotes from sales.

Source
ThousandEyes: Is ThousandEyes still sold as a standalone product after the Cisco acquisition?

Yes, it remains a distinct, purchasable product line rather than being merged into another Cisco offering.

Splunk: How much does Splunk Enterprise cost?

Splunk Enterprise pricing requires contact with sales. The vendor offers data-ingest or workload pricing options, supports unlimited users, and can scale to petabytes of data, but specific rates are not published online.

Source
ThousandEyes: Is there a published, current price list?

No, Cisco does not publish a definitive current rate card; historical unit prices exist online but should not be treated as confirmed 2026 pricing.

Splunk: What are the differences between Splunk's pricing options?

Splunk offers multiple pricing models: ingest-based pricing charges according to data volume brought into the system; workload-based pricing charges based on computing resources consumed by workloads. Both models apply to Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud Platform. Standard support is included with product purchases; premium support is available as an add-on.

Source
ThousandEyes: What is the minimum contract length?

12 months.

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