Graylog vs Checkly
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Graylog and Checkly.
Quick Verdict
3.4/5
Graylog
0 reviews
4.1/5
Checkly
0 reviews
Checkly is rated higher (4.1 vs 3.4). Graylog is an open source log management platform. Centralized log collection, search, and alerting. Used by enterprises self-hosting their logging infrastructure. Commercial cloud option available. Checkly enables monitoring as code using Playwright for E2E browser checks and HTTP API checks. Define checks alongside your code in TypeScript. Global check locations.
Graylog Centralized log management and analysis for infrastructure teams | Checkly Monitoring as code with Playwright and API checks | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.4 (0 reviews) | 4.1 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best for | Ops-capable infrastructure and security teams wanting centralized log analysis and SIEM without per-GB licensing | Engineering teams who want to define synthetic and API monitoring tests as code in their repository and run them from global locations |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ||
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourceself hostableapi access | free tieropen sourceapi access |
| Visit Graylog → | Visit Checkly → | |
Graylog
Pros
- + Graylog Open is free with no volume restrictions — self-hosted logging without per-GB billing
- + Full data ownership and residency control; runs on your own hardware or private cloud
- + Long track record (project since 2009) with active community and solid documentation
- + Commercial editions let you stay on the same deployment as you grow into SIEM use cases
Cons
- - SSPL license is source-available, not OSI open source — restricts offering it as a service
- - Enterprise/Security/Cloud pricing is quote-based with no public calculator
- - Self-hosting carries real operational load: OpenSearch/Data Node, MongoDB, index and retention management
- - Audit logging and SIEM content sit in paid editions, not Open
Checkly
Pros
- + True monitoring as code: TypeScript + Playwright checks versioned in your repo and deployed via CLI
- + Useful free Hobby tier and clear published plan pricing
- + 22 global check locations plus private locations for internal services on Team+
- + Full check types (HTTP, TCP, DNS, ICMP, SSL/TLS, gRPC, traceroute, heartbeat) with rich alerting and status pages
- + Local test mode in CI catches broken checks before deploy; SOC 2 since 2022
Cons
- - Usage-based billing scales with frequency x locations x checks — overage at $4 per 1,000 runs adds up
- - Developer-only tool: no point-and-click path for non-technical teams
- - Synthetic monitoring only — not a replacement for APM, logs, or metrics platforms
- - No public uptime SLA for the platform itself; best features (1-second checks, parallel scheduling) gated to Enterprise
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