Software · head to head
Sumo Logic vs Azure Monitor
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Sumo Logic neither the Essentials nor the Enterprise Suite package lists a price on the pricing page; both link to Contact Sales; Azure Monitor billed per GB ingested across three separate log plans, Auxiliary, Basic and Analytics, so the plan chosen changes the rate as much as the volume does
- They diverge on capability: Sumo Logic covers Log aggregation, Azure Monitor covers Log collection.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Sumo Logic and Azure Monitor actually diverge.
| Attribute | Sumo Logic | Azure Monitor |
|---|
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown), founded (2010).
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 Sumo Logic
- Log aggregation
- Real-time analytics
Only in Azure Monitor
- Log collection
- Alerts and notifications
Both cover
- Metrics collection
- Custom dashboards
- API
- Webhooks
- REST
- Web support
- Api support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Sumo Logic
- Cloud-native log analytics across applications and infrastructurenot Azure Monitor
- Running a SIEM with MITRE ATT&CK mapped detections and UEBAnot Azure Monitor
- Compliance and audit readiness reporting from log datanot Azure Monitor
Azure Monitor
- Collecting logs and metrics from Azure resourcesnot Sumo Logic
- Alerting on metric thresholds and log queriesnot Sumo Logic
- Application performance monitoring through Application Insightsnot Sumo Logic
- Long-term log retention for compliancenot Sumo Logic
- Querying operational data with KQLnot Sumo Logic
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Sumo Logic
- Neither the Essentials nor the Enterprise Suite package lists a price on the pricing page; both link to Contact Sales
- Quoted per GB figures assume an annual commitment, an average of 1 GB of log ingest per day and a US deployment region
- Pricing varies by the AWS deployment region chosen, so the same volume costs differently in Dublin, Frankfurt, Sydney or Tokyo
- Flex pricing bills per TB scanned rather than per GB ingested, so query activity drives the bill
- Feature activation is subject to minimum volume, minimum user counts and service requirements confirmed at the time of the transaction
- The API is limited to four calls per section, ten concurrent in-flight requests, and query processing times out after two minutes
- Self-serve credit card purchase is capped at $25,000; larger purchases must go through sales or a reseller
Azure Monitor
- Billed per GB ingested across three separate log plans, Auxiliary, Basic and Analytics, so the plan chosen changes the rate as much as the volume does
- Only the first 5 GB a month of Analytics logs is free per billing account
- Retention beyond the base period is charged per GB per month, up to 2 years interactive and 12 years long term
- Log queries and search jobs are billed per GB scanned, so investigating an incident costs money
- Alert rules are billed per time series for metrics and by execution frequency for logs
- The pricing page shows placeholders rather than rates until a region and currency are chosen
Pricing, plan by plan
Sumo Logic
Free- FreeFree
- Log aggregation
- Metrics collection
- Real-time analytics
Azure Monitor
Free- FreeFree
- Log collection
- Metrics collection
- Alerts and notifications
Which should you pick?
Choose Sumo Logic if
- You need log aggregation.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want real-time analytics.
Choose Azure Monitor if
- You need log collection.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want alerts and notifications.
Questions people ask
- Is Sumo Logic or Azure Monitor better?
- Neither clearly leads. Sumo Logic starts at Free and Azure Monitor at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Sumo Logic or Azure Monitor?
- Sumo Logic starts at Free and Azure Monitor at Free.
- Does Sumo Logic or Azure Monitor run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Sumo Logic for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Sumo Logic best used for?
- Sumo Logic is most often used for cloud-native log analytics across applications and infrastructure, running a siem with mitre att&ck mapped detections and ueba, compliance and audit readiness reporting from log data. Of those, cloud-native log analytics across applications and infrastructure and running a siem with mitre att&ck mapped detections and ueba are not what Azure Monitor is typically brought in for.
- What can Sumo Logic do that Azure Monitor cannot?
- Sumo Logic covers Log aggregation, Real-time analytics. Azure Monitor covers Log collection, Alerts and notifications. Both handle Metrics collection, Custom dashboards, API, Webhooks.