Top Splunk Alternatives in 2023 You Can Try

Jack

By Jack

Update on

Splunk alternatives

In this article, you are going to get all the information about spunk alternatives and find the perfect Splunk alternatives that have all the features that people love about Splunk, such as speed, ease of use, deployment, scalability, and cost.

Obtaining all of that in alternative software can get very hard to find because the market is filled with all sorts of software telling you that they have what you need, but they refuse to put it on the front wall of their webpage.

That’s why this list features all the Splunk alternatives that you need to know to make a change in your system. Before we dive down to know what are alternatives to Splunk that you can use, we have to take a strong look at the software Splunk.

So we can more details about what this software is and what are the advantages and disadvantages that it carries within.

What Is Splunk?

Splunk

In 2007, Splunk saw its foot in the technical market. At first, it was just another software that was available to download. But quickly adding more updates and fixing a lot of bugs, Splunk quickly becomes one of the best leading log management services in the market. What made spunk so unique compared to its competitors?

Splunk provided a great event management SIEM and security incident with an in-depth log analysis that made the software a far better option than anything else available in the market at that time.

For an organization that generated a large volume of log fines and machine data every single day, Splunk easily became one of the best choices to go for since it offered security and event management analysis in a matter of few minutes.

Thanks to the spunk, we live in an era where every little thing changes more rapidly than ever before. The newer technology didn’t just start from nowhere; it rather used the old methods as a foundation to improve itself to reach for more success rate.

The picture is the same for Splunk; modern architectures have made the log analysis much better and faster than it used to be before. No longer do big organizations have to stick to only one type of software to do their specific task, with more options available in the market.

They can go for Splunk alternatives. That included risk because going for the alternatives will confuse you for the first few minutes. Because you will be using a new product for the first time, there will always be a fear of delivery or production. Once you put enough hours into the new alternative software, you will easily manage the new software to do your bidding.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Splunk

Advantages

Splunk was more than just a good log collection tool. It has other features that make Splunk one of the best options. Splunk featured tool ingests, parses, and indexes all the data, including machine data, event logs, server logs, and network events.

You can monitor activity and issues in your facility so you can see what can be improved upon and the things that should be removed from the infrastructure to boost performance.

By the way, here is a comprehensive comparison of Splunk vs. ELK for your reference.

Disadvantages

Splunk is expensive. Large-scale companies where the data takes the highest priority would be able to take benefit from the software compared to small-scale organizations. The cost of Splunk for GB is $4,500, Which is a lot for a small-scale organization to handle regularly.

That is the reason why many companies have started looking for Splunk alternatives. Spunk has another disadvantage of providing a slower search speed and being incapable of handling a large amount of data; all these reasons are making many companies, both small-scale & large-scale, look for a better alternative.

List of Splunk Alternatives

#1 – LogDNA

LogDNA is one of the best Splunk alternatives available in the market today; exactly what is so special about it? LogDNA removes all the challenges from the other log management services. It features a logging model that is powerful and efficient.

LogDNA features deployment models for cloud-based, on-premise, private cloud, and multi-cloud for its users. With this many options, many users pick LogDNA as their long management problem solver.

Making LodDNA the best Splunk alternative to help from a small business to a large-scale organizations. The method that gets executed here is simple; you will get to collect logs from the host. And this process will be done by an installed agent.

LogDNA provides you with the speed that you need and the accessibility of the logs to all the other departments in your office. Unlike with Splunk, here you can search for the logs faster because LogDNA features a well-optimized elastic search.

With these features, you are now able to index, filter, and tall logs at a much faster rate than before. If you don’t like the user interface of the web, then you will have all the functions to change the dashboard to fit more to your style so you can see a little bit better than feeling confused.

Now that you got all the aspects of this Splunk alternative, what about the price point? With LogDNA, you would get the planning system. There is no need to pay more to get all the options that you are never going to use.

Here the plan starts at $1.50 per GB every month. With this plan, you are going to get unlimited ingestion and retention. If you climb higher on the ladder, you are going to see the enterprise plan here. You have to pay $3 per GB.

#2 – Elastic Stack

Elastic Stack is an open-source log management system that has four separate projects. These four projects define each sector of the Elastic Stack. One is Elasticsearch for searching purposes, Logstash for ingestion and pipeline processing, and Kibana, a visualization tool for Elasticsearch, and Beats, to collect and send data to Logstash.

Out of many features, Elastic Stack brings forth, being open-source and free to use. By being open-source, it has an active community featuring a group of people all belonging to different industries.

Here you will have access to all sorts of plugins that will make your work much easier. If an enterprise wants to adapt Elastic Stack, then it has to install an extensive setup, so then Elastic Stack can take on the large-scale log management solution.

Let’s get into the pricing details of Elastic Search; you will not have access to all the functionality of Elasticsearch if you stick to the free version. For an enterprise, it can take up to $2,000,000 to run at that scale for three years.

#3 – Fluentd

For the ingestion of structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data sets, you have Fluentd. It allows them to convert and route the data for different platforms, services, and applications.

Fluentd is not a log shipping or management service; it only serves your data collection and routing of that to the destination address. There are plug-ins you can add to the system to do another task that may not come in the package. Fluentd is starting to pick up momentum in the market, and it is a popular choice over Logstash.

Let’s get into the pricing details of the services that it provides. Just like Elasticsearch, the pricing here also sees a rise once you start to cover a wider area. The installation is a lengthy process with tons of customization, but it requires less memory and CPU to run.

Some may find it useful, but going through the excruciating installation process can turn the idea of installing Fluentd. If you are looking for a simple data collection feature, then Fluentd is one of the best Splunk alternatives to go for.

#4 – Sumo Logic

The company first garnered attention from the public when it declared itself as a cloud-based competitor to Splunk. It is a log management platform that automatically maintains your log volume and promises to support terabytes of ingested data per day.

Sumo Logic also keeps a record of everything that gets used with their service; it will be very useful to track the health of your system to find the improvements and the weakness. Sumo logic uses installed collectors to faster collect and transfer data from the host system to the destination address.

Sumo Logic is a cloud-based service that will cost you $108 per month; the plan comes with 3GB of ingestion and 30 GB of log data retention. You can start a trial period to fully utilize the software before considering investing money.

#5 – Loggly

Loggly is another cloud-based log management solution Splunk alternative that offers ingestion without any client. This will allow you to transmit logs over HTTP/HTTPS. Loggly supports Docker, AWS, Syslog, Heroku, Windows, and Linux logs. You can even create custom parsing rules for a new format. Just like every alternative on the list,

Loggly offers Field Explorer; this will let you search, filter, and conclude the longs on a single screen. The quick view of all the events with the ability to select fields to filter the values is the best thing about Loggly. You can create search parameters and apply them without typing in a query. You can use them as alerts for updates and notifications.

For the enterprise, the basic plan starts at $349 per month, and the standard plan begins at only $79 per month, but you will receive 30 GB per month for ingestion, 30 days of retention, and fewer features with the package.

#6 – jKool

You can do search queries as fast as possible with this system, it uses English-like query language. With the real-time subscription, you will be able to identify performance and capacity issues. There is no need to get new hardware, as it would run directly from the cloud. It also has a free version.

#7 – Mix Panel

You can monitor your data in real-time without losing valuable information. Mix Panel will help spot new errors so you can remove them faster before it spreads; the web UI is simple and easier to navigate. For the price point, the initial plan starts at $150, with a wide range of supported platforms

#8 – LogFaces

For better support services, you can choose LogFaces. Here, you can email your queries if you feel stuck in the program. Then LogFaces will help you with your problem as fast as possible. There is a desktop variant of LogFaces. The downside of this service is that there is no free version for you to try before buying it. It will cost you $599 per year

#9 – Sentry

Here is a free, open-source Splunk alternative tool to spot errors and solve them quickly and effectively. Maintaining a server on your own can be a difficult task, especially if you don’t know the work that takes place for maintenance; you can pick a sentry to take care of all of that. The pricing starts at $26 per year to $449 per year.

#10 – Syslog-ng

Another open-source software is only for the Unix-Like operating system. There are two variations of the software, one is open source, and the other one is premium. The software is easier to navigate with many filtering options, but it doesn’t contain any advanced filtering options.

Choosing the Right Splunk Alternative

Selecting the appropriate Splunk alternative for your organization’s needs can be a crucial decision. Consider the following factors when making your choice:

Considerations based on Use Case

Evaluate the specific requirements of your use case. Determine the volume and variety of data you need to manage, the level of real-time analysis required, and any specific compliance or security considerations.

Evaluating the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Take into account the pricing model of each alternative, including data volume, licensing, and infrastructure costs. Consider long-term scalability and growth projections to assess the overall cost of ownership.

Trial Periods and Proof of Concept (PoC)

Most alternatives offer trial periods or PoC options. Take advantage of these to test the solutions in your environment and validate their capabilities against your use case.

Seeking User Feedback and Reviews

Read user reviews, testimonials, and case studies to understand how each alternative performs in real-world scenarios. Look for feedback from organizations similar to yours or facing similar challenges.

Consulting with Experts or Peers

Seek advice from industry experts, consultants, or peers who have experience with Splunk alternatives. Their insights and firsthand experiences can help you make an informed decision.

FAQs

Q1: What are the main drawbacks of using Splunk? Splunk can be expensive, especially for organizations dealing with large data volumes. Scaling Splunk horizontally across multiple servers can be complex, and as data grows, the performance can degrade. Additionally, the licensing structure may not always align with specific business needs, leading to cost inefficiencies.

Q2: Is it easy to migrate from Splunk to alternative solutions? Migrating from Splunk to alternative solutions can vary in complexity depending on the specific requirements and data volumes. It’s important to plan the migration process carefully, ensuring data integrity, compatibility, and seamless transition of functionalities.

Q3: Are Splunk alternatives cost-effective? Many Splunk alternatives offer more flexible pricing models, allowing organizations to optimize costs based on their data volumes and specific needs. Open-source alternatives provide cost advantages, while subscription-based options often provide comprehensive features with predictable pricing.

Q4: Can Splunk alternatives handle large-scale data ingestion? Yes, many Splunk alternatives are designed to handle large-scale data ingestion from diverse sources. They offer horizontal scalability, efficient storage, and querying mechanisms to accommodate high data volumes.

Q5: Which Splunk alternative is best for real-time log analysis? Several alternatives excel at real-time log analysis, including Elastic Stack, Graylog, Sumo Logic, Datadog, Grafana Loki, Humio, and Prometheus. Each has its own strengths and suitability based on specific use cases and requirements. Evaluate the features, scalability, and ease of use to determine the best fit for your real-time log analysis needs.

In The End

The decision is up to you to go for the perfect Splunk alternatives that meet all of your needs without breaking the budget. First, you need to analyze the service that you will be using before making any purchase.

Once you find all the subject information, you can choose the package that delivers only that so that you will save plenty of money in the future.

Jack
Jack

Ten years of experience in information and computer technology. Passionate about electronic devices, smartphones, computers, and modern technology.

THERE’S MORE TO READ.