The Best Alternatives to Splunk

Making sense of mountains of machine-generated data is one of the biggest challenges of large businesses and enterprises. This data is usually complex to understand and it comes in an unstructured format. On top of that, it is not always suitable for analysis, manual troubleshooting, and visualization. Splunk fills this void.

Here is our list of the Top Splunk Alternatives:

1. Graylog – EDITOR’S CHOICE This cloud-based log management tool offers an observability package and a pre-written SIEM. You can choose to construct your own monitoring system or SIEM with the free, open source on-premises version of the log manager, which runs on Linux or Docker. Get a demo of Graylog Security.
2. ManageEngine OpManager – FREE TRIAL A cost-effective alternative to Splunk with robust monitoring capabilities, user-friendly interface, and customizable dashboards. Download a 30-day free trial.
3. Datadog Infrastructure Monitoring – FREE TRIAL This tool lets you capture events from Splunk and add them to key metrics charts or analyze the data in the dashboard. This is a cloud-based service. Access a 14-day free trial.
4. ManageEngine Log360 – FREE TRIAL This SIEM offers a data viewer for manual analysis plus automated threat detection. Runs on Windows Server. Get a 30-day free trial.
5. Site24x7 Log Management – FREE TRIAL This cloud-based system is able to collect logs from on-premises systems and cloud platforms, providing consolidation and searching functions. Start a 30-day free trial.
6. Sumo Logic A SaaS data analytics platform that can gather log data from your site and manage it.
7. LogZilla A log collection, management, and analysis package that is available in free and paid versions. Install it on a bare metal server or a cloud server.
8. SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability This is a monitoring package that is able to discover, map, and monitor assets on site or on the cloud.
9. Loggly A cloud-based log management service that collects and consolidates log messages from a wide range of sources and also provides a log analyzer and data viewer.
10. jKool A SaaS data analyzer that can be fed with logs or live system performance data and is available in free and paid versions.
11. Mixpanel A cloud-based data analyzer that can be used for a variety of data inputs, including log files.
12. Fluentd A free, open source data collection system that can gather and consolidate log messages. Available for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

You can give machine data to Splunk and it will do the hard work. This is a piece of software capable of searching, analyzing, and visualizing machine data generated from websites, applications, and devices. As soon as Splunk processes all important data, you’ll be able to find and isolate problems in real time. With the processed and extracted data, the software will also be able to provide detailed reports and graphs.

Splunk is a really powerful tool but unfortunately, it is not free (as is the great software out there)

If you have the budget, go for it. But as your data scales, it can get expensive as compared to other products out there, especially those that are open source.

Luckily there are many good options for machine data analytics tools in the market. In the following section, we will describe the best Splunk alternatives for log monitoring, management, search, and more.

The Best Splunk Alternatives

Below you'll find a description of each software package we recommend along with some screenshots and details on where to download each product.

1. Graylog – FREE TRIAL

Graylog is a cloud-based log processor and it is available in a system monitoring package, called Graylog Enterprise and a pre-written SIEM tool, called Graylog Enterprise. Graylog Security applies detection rules to incoming log messages, which gives it near-live operations. This is exactly the same method of operation that Splunk Enterprise Security uses.

You also get the core log management function with Graylog Security and you also get the system monitoring features of the Graylog Enterprise package. Both functions are available as tabs in the Graylog dashboard. Alternatively, download the base log management package for free – it runs on Linux or Docker.

Access a demo of Graylog Security.

2. ManageEngine OpManager – FREE TRIAL

ManageEngine OpManager is the best alternative to Splunk due to its cost-effectiveness and comprehensive monitoring capabilities. It offers detailed insights into network, application, and server performance, similar to Splunk, but at a more affordable price point. The user-friendly interface makes it accessible for users of all experience levels, and the customizable dashboards allow for tailored performance views and reports.

Additionally, its robust automated alert system enables proactive issue detection and resolution, ensuring efficient and reliable IT management. Overall, ManageEngine OpManager provides a powerful and versatile monitoring solution that rivals Splunk without the high cost.

Download a 30-day free trial.

ManageEngine OpManager Download a 30-day FREE Trial

3. Datadog Infrastructure Monitoring – FREE TRIAL

Datadog Infrastructure is a monitor for the applications and services that lie behind user-facing software. The system can be expanded by integrations that add functionality and there is an integration for Splunk.

The Splunk functions of Datadog read in log data collected by Splunk. This data can then be added to charts of collected metrics that Datadog already displays in its dashboard. It is also possible to run off reports in Datadog based on Splunk-sourced data files.

There are three editions of Datadog Infrastructure. These plans are:

• Free – $0/month for up to five hosts
• Pro – $15/month per host
• Enterprise – $23.month per host

The Splunk integration is not available with the Free option.

Datadog Infrastructure is a cloud-based platform. You can access a 14-day free trial of either of the paid plans.

Datadog Infrastructure Start 14-day FREE Trial

4. ManageEngine Log360 – FREE TRIAL

ManageEngine Log360 is a data search tool that provides facilities for both manual and automated analysis. The service collects, consolidates, and manages logs and also provides a SIEM for security monitoring.

The Log360 package contains a central server and endpoint agents. Those agents collect log data and send them to the log manager. There are also collector agents for cloud platforms.

The log management system displays recently arrived records in a data viewer and also stores those logs in files. Files can be read into the data viewer, which includes analytical tools. The SIEM performs automated data analysis, looking for intruder activity. If it identifies anomalous behavior it will raise an alert. Log360 shows alerts in the system dashboard and can also feed them through service desk team management packages.

There are three editions of Log360: Free, Standard, and Professional. You need to contact the Sales Department of ManageEngine to get a quote for the paid versions. You can get a 30-day free trial of Log360.

ManageEngine Log360 Start 30-day FREE Trial

5. Site24x7 Log Management- FREE TRIAL

Site24x7 Log Management is a unit on a cloud platform of system monitoring and management tools. This log server is able to collect messages from on-premises software and devices and it can also accept logs ent from cloud platforms.

The cloud-based log manager provides a console that shows log message throughput per source type and also translates log message formats into a standard layout so that they can be searched and filed together. A data viewer support manual analysis with sort, filter, and group functions.

The Log Management unit is integrated into all of its subscription editions, each of which has its own pricing structure. An example is the infrastructure edition, which includes a log processing allowance of 500 MB per month along with other utilities at a price of $9 per month. Extra log processing capacity costs $10 per month for each 10 GB extension.

Site24x7 is a cloud-based system, so you sign up online to access the system console. You can access a 30-day free trial.

Site24x7 Start 30-day FREE Trial

6. Sumo Logic

SumoLogic is a cloud-based machine data analytics software aimed for large-scale businesses. It helps you gather and analyze machine-log generated data. SumoLogic provides log management and time series metrics of the machine-generated log data so that you can have real-time insights. With this tool, you can implement your own Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, or hybrid applications.

Some Features

• A powerful search mechanism.
• Real-time dashboards.
• Alert and notify system.
• Out-of-the-box apps.
• VM Support

SumoLogic is able to collect terabytes of data from any application, device, sensor, or cloud. Instead of running 3rd party data collection equipment, Sumo Logic provides a centralized logging and metrics collection platform. The light and automatic collectors do all the work for you.

There are three pricing models, Free, Professional ($90/month per 1GB ADI), and Enterprise ($150/month per 1GB ADI). Get started with the free version if you are looking to try Sumo Logic in small projects.

7. LogZilla

LogZilla is considered the world’s first Network Event Orchestrator “NEO” and leader in real-time network data insights delivery. It is a powerful network operations software aimed for enterprises. LogZilla can scale up to 65K nodes and consume over 850,000 of events per second.

You can access this massive domain, all from a single and central interface. The LogZilla centralized HTML5 web user interface allows you full mobility. The software can be installed in bare metal, cloud, or hybrid environments.

There are two versions of the software, NEO Enterprise, and NEO free. The price is not published on their site, but you can get in contact with sales. You can get LogZilla NEO free version just by paying with a Tweet or LinkedIn.

8. SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability

SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability discovers, maps, and monitors IT assets across platforms. The tool identifies live connections between entities and the applications that perform those links.

Hybrid Cloud Observability presents a stack of application stack layers, showing a live performance graph for each layer placed one on top of the other so that you can correlate activity between them.

The service also shows, on demand, the movement of data from one location, through networks and applications to its destination along a route of network and internet links.

You can use this system’s AI-based alerting mechanism to leave the tool to watch over your IT system while you attend to other tasks – you will be drawn back to the console if a problem arises.

A recent report – 2022 GigaOm Radar for Cloud Observability – compares the observability products of different providers ranks SolarWinds highly.

Here are some screenshots of Hybrid Cloud Observability’s key features. Register for access to a free demo.

9. Loggly

Loggly was acquired by SolarWinds in 2018. It is a cloud-based log management and analytics SaaS platform. It a solution that focuses on DevOps teams.

Loggly does not need any proprietary software agents to collect machine data. It can perform log analysis to a large variety of log sources. In addition, it can collect data from systems that are compatible with Syslog and JSON.

Its powerful searching mechanism allows you to filter the massive volumes of machine-generated log data and get faster MTTR (Mean Time to Repair). You can also monitor application performance, system behavior, or unusual activity with Loggly’s real-time log monitoring.

The price tiers are; Lite (Free), Standard ($79.00/month), Pro ($199.00/month), and Enterprise ($349.00/month). Sign up to Loggly to get a free trial.

10. jKool

Advanced visualization and analysis SaaS solution for machine-generated data. Jkool can examine logs, performance, metrics, and transactions in real-time or historically. JKool is highly scalable. With this tool, you can easily detect multiple patterns, variations, and bottlenecks within and across many different apps.

All of this can be visualized from its centralized web-based user interface, which is highly customizable. The dashboard includes multiple view tabs that provide, charts, comparisons, heat maps, and topology.

Installation and Setup?

Use this software as a service in the cloud or deploy it in your datacenter. It can be installed on premises, accessed from the cloud, or via different channels, such as IBM Blumix or Docker.

There are two pricing models, Personal (Free) and Business (Get a quote). Sign up for a free trial. No downloads, everything on the cloud.

11. Mixpanel

A user-analytics tool designed for the product, marketing, and data teams. It analyzes internal and external data across the full customer journey. Mixpanel makes data-driven decisions easier for established large companies. It can help get insights into their acquisition, activation, retention, and revenue.

Some Features

• Automatic Insights.
• Mobile A/B Testing
• Funnels, Retention, Engagement.
• Versatile Data Visualization

Mixpanel is easy to navigate and learn. Its dashboard allows you to customize as you like and check specific KPIs. You can share the dashboard with your team even if members don’t have a Mixpanel account. You can also drill down into the actions a user has taken in your product. And if you need help with automation activities, its Machine Learning model can help you improve customer engagement.

Deployment?  Mixpanel can be deployed within the Cloud as a SaaS platform and accessed through its web interface. It also allows full mobility with its mobile apps, Android and iOS.

The pricing model includes three versions, Free (limited), Basic ($999/yr), and Enterprise (contact them). Sign up to start with the Free version to test the product with 5million data points.

12. Fluentd

Fluentd is an open source data collection software. It helps you unify the collection and ingestion of machine-generated data. This tool analyzes event logs, application logs, and clickstreams in real time. It was originally designed as a unifying layer between different log inputs and outputs.

Best Features? Fluentd allows easy filtering, buffering, and routing of data thanks to:

• Access logs with Apache.
• Alerting with Nagios.
• App logs with its Frontend and Backend.
• Analysis with MongoDB, MySQL, and Hadoop.
• Archiving with Amazon S3
• Databases.

Fluentd is highly flexible. Its 500+ plugins help with the integration of different types of data inputs and outputs. Fluentd is supported by Linux, MacOS, and Windows.

Fluentd is free and open source. Get the current Fluentd stable version.

13. LogFaces

LogFaces, developed by MoonLit Software, is an enterprise logging suite. The solution features a centralized log server and a powerful log viewer. It can aggregate, analyze, store, and send log data. LogFaces can be used with logging frameworks such as Apache log4j and other open-source projects.

LogFaces provide great services. With it, users can create log perspectives or filters, which are log stream views coming from the log server. They can direct a log server on which data to send to a log viewer. It is also possible to configure audible alerts when there is an error in the data.

The LogFaces server should be installed on-premises.

There is no free version. The product comes on two pricing versions, Enterprise Edition ($599 per year) and Site Edition ($1499 per year). Get 20 days fully-featured trial.

14. Sentry

Sentry is an open-source error tracking tool delivered as a hosted service. It is categorized as an application monitoring software with a with a focus on error reporting. Sentry helps developers keep track and fix system crashes in real-time.

Sentry is cross-platform and works on most popular Linux distributions. It contains a full API to dispatch events from many languages. Official Sentry SDKs, include JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Java, and many more. These SDKs will attach to the runtime environment framework and automatically attempt to report errors. When errors occur, Sentry can be configured to send notifications via email or SMS.

For more information, Sentry has amazing product documentation.

There are three pricing plans included on the website, Developer (Free), Team (Starts at $26/mo), and Business (Starts at $80/mo). Sign up and download a free developer version for an unlimited time.

15. Syslog-ng

Syslog-ng develops log management products. The tool is based on the implementation of the Unix Syslog protocol. The software comes in three different versions Log Management Appliance, Software, and the Free Open-source version.

Other Important Features

• Collect and index any log data and perform complex searches.
• Protect sensitive data with granular access policies.
• Create in-depth reports to help you with regulatory compliance.
• Send log data to third-party tools.

The Syslog-ng Appliance and Software versions are able to scale to large enterprise environments. The software is a centralized platform capable of collecting and delivering any log data, whether is network traffic, performance metrics, or user activity.  With Syslog-ng you can gain a large insight into your entire IT environment by removing data silos.

The price for the premium version is not published on the site, but you can request a quote. The open source version is 100% free. Get the free and open source version of Syslog-ng. You can also download a trial of the Premium Edition and Syslog-ng Store box.

16. Elasticsearch/Logstash

The Elasticsearch stack (ELK Stack) built on an open source foundation, allows you to take data from any source, and search, analyze and visualize it in real time. The stack is compromised by three tools, Logstash, Elasticsearch, and Kibana, which are designed to be used as an integrated solution.

The Elasticsearch allows you to search and analyze your data. The Kibana is the extensible user interface that allows you to configure and manage the Elastic Stack. The Logstash is a data collection and log-parsing engine. It can ingest data simultaneously from multiples inputs (any source and format) and send it to a stash (For example, Elastisearch).

Elastic has three pricing models, Open source (free), Gold, and Platinium (request a quote). You can download the free and open source version of Elastic.

Conclusion

Finding a good Alternative to Splunk shouldn't be difficult with all the options from above. Splunk is a great tool and software package, but we understand that sometimes you may need a different solution or additional features that splunk doesn't offer to suite your needs.

Some of the Splunk Alternatives above have Cloud management interfaces, such as Graylog, with allows you to manage this all from a online dashboard, as opposed to having it on-premises. These solutions are great for those who do not want to incur additional costs and such for hardware and licensing.

We Recommend you sign up for some Trials (for the SaaS/Cloud products) or Download a couple of the On-premise software solutions and see which one fits your needs best as a Splunk Alternative!

Splunk Alternatives FAQs