Elastic Stack (ELK)
The official creators of Elasticsearch, Kibana, Beats, and Logstash.
Overview
The Elastic Stack, commonly known as the ELK Stack, is a set of open-source tools for data ingestion, enrichment, storage, analysis, and visualization. It consists of Elasticsearch (search and analytics engine), Logstash (data processing pipeline), Kibana (visualization), and Beats (data shippers). It's widely used for log management, search, and security analytics.
✨ Key Features
- Distributed Search and Analytics Engine (Elasticsearch)
- Data Ingestion and Processing (Logstash, Beats)
- Data Visualization and Exploration (Kibana)
- Observability (Logs, Metrics, APM)
- Security (SIEM, Endpoint Security)
🎯 Key Differentiators
- Powerful and flexible open-source foundation
- Strong full-text search capabilities
- Comprehensive stack for search, observability, and security
Unique Value: Provides a highly flexible and scalable open-source platform to solve a wide range of data challenges, from logging to search to security.
🎯 Use Cases (5)
✅ Best For
- Self-hosted log management for large-scale systems
- Powering search functionality for websites and applications
- Open-source SIEM for security teams
💡 Check With Vendor
Verify these considerations match your specific requirements:
- Teams without the resources to manage a complex, distributed system
- Users looking for a simple, out-of-the-box SaaS solution
🏆 Alternatives
Offers more flexibility and a lower cost of entry (via open source) than proprietary platforms like Splunk, but requires more operational expertise to manage.
💻 Platforms
✅ Offline Mode Available
🔌 Integrations
🛟 Support Options
- ✓ Email Support
- ✓ Dedicated Support (Enterprise tier)
🔒 Compliance & Security
💰 Pricing
✓ 14-day free trial
Free tier: Open source components are free. Elastic Cloud has a free tier.
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