Audyense
Graylog
VerifiedDevOps · graylog.org
Overview
Graylog is a log management and SIEM platform that collects, parses, searches, and analyzes log data from servers, network devices, cloud services, and applications. It ships as a free, source-available Open edition for self-hosted deployment, alongside paid Enterprise, Security (SIEM), and managed Cloud tiers built on the same core engine.
The problem Graylog solves
Ops and security teams juggling logs from Linux/Windows servers, firewalls, cloud services, and network appliances often need fast search across huge log volumes without committing to Splunk-level spend. Graylog solves this by combining a genuinely free, self-hosted open-source core with paid Enterprise and Security (SIEM) tiers on the same engine, though teams should budget time for a real setup and clustering learning curve and expect to pair it with something like Grafana if dashboard polish matters.
Decision context
Use these points to test whether the product fits your operation, not just whether it has a long feature list.
- Published starting price: Free. Confirm user, usage, and feature limits for the plan you would actually buy.
- Deployment: cloud, on_premise, hybrid. Check security, data-residency, and access requirements for every team that will use it.
- Verified integrations include AWS S3, Microsoft 365 / Azure, Okta, Cisco Meraki, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet FortiGate. Validate sync direction and plan limits for the connections that matter.
- This record was last checked on 7/31/2026; pricing and features can change.
How to evaluate Graylog
A listing helps create a shortlist; a trial with the team’s real workflow decides whether the tool fits. Use this reading with the structured facts and confirm changes with the vendor.
Workflow fit
The record describes it as a fit for Ops/security teams with Linux and infrastructure expertise who want a self-hosted, cost-controlled alternative to Splunk or the ELK stack, Organizations needing fast full-text search across large log volumes (one G2 reviewer cited searching 50 million records in seconds), Teams that want log management and a lightweight SIEM (threat detection, Sigma-style rules) from the same vendor. Check that this context matches the volume, roles, and processes your team needs it to support.
Pilot questions
- Can Graylog complete the critical workflow without manual work outside the product?
- Do the recorded connections (AWS S3, Microsoft 365 / Azure, Okta, Cisco Meraki) support the sync direction, permissions, and volume we need?
- What user, usage, storage, support, or security limits appear after the headline starting price?
Evidence and freshness
This record was checked on 7/31/2026. That date tells you when the record was reviewed, not that the vendor has left its terms unchanged since then.
Best for
- Ops/security teams with Linux and infrastructure expertise who want a self-hosted, cost-controlled alternative to Splunk or the ELK stack
- Organizations needing fast full-text search across large log volumes (one G2 reviewer cited searching 50 million records in seconds)
- Teams that want log management and a lightweight SIEM (threat detection, Sigma-style rules) from the same vendor
Not a fit if
- Teams wanting a polished, low-configuration SaaS with minimal setup — multiple reviews flag a steep learning curve for multi-node deployments
- Teams that need best-in-class dashboard/visualization design out of the box, since reviewers consistently rate this behind tools like Grafana
Why it’s listed
- Established, widely-deployed open-source-rooted log platform (founded 2009) with named enterprise customers including DHL, Deloitte, Siemens, and Vodafone per Graylog's own site.
- Has a verifiable multi-platform review footprint (G2: 4.4/5 from ~120 reviews; Capterra: 4.6/5 from 32 reviews) rather than being an unvetted new entrant.
Pricing
Graylog Open
FreeFree, source-available edition for self-managed log collection, search, and dashboards.
- Unlimited self-hosted log ingestion (infrastructure-limited)
- Search and basic dashboards
- Community support and documentation
- Runs on your own Elasticsearch/OpenSearch + MongoDB stack
Graylog Cloud - Operations
$1,250 per month, starting at 10GB/day ingestGraylog-managed SaaS log management for IT operations teams.
- Managed SaaS deployment with 99.5% SLA
- Scalable ingestion starting at 10GB/day
- 30-day default retention (extendable)
- Dashboards, alerting, and role-based access control
Graylog Cloud - Security
$1,550 per month, starting at 10GB/day ingestManaged SaaS SIEM tier layered on top of Cloud Operations for threat detection and compliance reporting.
- Everything in Cloud Operations
- Sigma-style detection rules and threat intelligence feeds
- Compliance reporting support (e.g., PCI-DSS, HIPAA)
- Anomaly detection
- 99.9% SLA
Graylog Enterprise
Custom pricingSelf-hosted log management for IT operations with enterprise support and advanced features.
- Self-hosted, unlimited ingestion (infrastructure-limited)
- S3 archival
- Advanced RBAC
- Professional support with SLA
Graylog Security
Custom pricingSelf-hosted SIEM tier for threat detection and security investigation, built on the Enterprise core.
- Everything in Graylog Enterprise
- SIEM threat detection and investigation workflows
- ML-based anomaly detection
- Predictable, ingest-based licensing
Features
Integrations
Pros & cons
Pros
- Fast, powerful full-text search over large log datasets
- Genuine free/open-source edition with core log collection and search features, not just a crippled trial
- Large, active community and documentation base that reviewers cite as easy to get help from
- Built-in alerting and integration with tools like Slack and PagerDuty without extra tooling
Cons
- Steep learning curve for initial setup, especially multi-node/clustered deployments
- Dashboard and visualization capabilities seen as weaker than dedicated tools like Grafana
- Manual index rotation / disk management needed to avoid data loss when storage fills up
- Enterprise/Security self-hosted pricing seen by some reviewers as steep once negotiated past the published floor
What we found
G2 puts Graylog at 4.4/5 across roughly 120 reviews (ease-of-setup scored notably lower at 7.6/10, pointing to a real setup learning curve), while Capterra rates it 4.6/5 from 32 reviews, with value-for-money (4.7) as its strongest category.
Ratings and review counts come from public review platforms. We link to the original source and keep the underlying review text out of this profile.
User reviews
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