Graylog vs Better Stack (Logtail)
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Graylog and Better Stack (Logtail).
Quick Verdict
3.4/5
Graylog
0 reviews
4.2/5
Better Stack (Logtail)
0 reviews
Better Stack (Logtail) is rated higher (4.2 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. Better Stack's Logtail is a modern log management tool backed by ClickHouse with SQL queries over your logs. Real-time tail, 15-day free retention, and integration with their uptime monitoring.
Graylog Centralized log management and analysis for infrastructure teams | Better Stack (Logtail) Real-time log management and server monitoring for development teams | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.4 (0 reviews) | 4.2 (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 | Small-to-mid engineering teams that want logs, uptime, on-call and a status page in one product, with SQL-based log queries and predictable bundle pricing — especially those hosting data in Europe. |
| 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 tierapi access |
| Visit Graylog → | Visit Better Stack (Logtail) → | |
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
Better Stack (Logtail)
Pros
- + Genuine free tier: 3 GB logs, 10 monitors and a status page, not a time-limited trial
- + SQL over logs via ClickHouse — no proprietary query language to learn
- + Logs, uptime, on-call and status pages from one vendor with one account
- + Published per-region bundle pricing, including the Singapore surcharge
- + OpenTelemetry-native with eBPF collectors and pre-billing VRL redaction/dropping
- + On-call with unlimited phone and SMS alerts included at no extra cost
Cons
- - Responder licenses ($34/month each, plus $9 for workflow features) add up for larger teams
- - Enterprise status-page features (white-label, SSO, IP allowlisting) cost $250 per page per month
- - No published platform uptime SLA on the pricing page
- - US and Singapore data regions cost substantially more than Europe for identical bundles
- - Thinner third-party integration and dashboard ecosystem than Datadog or Grafana
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