Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Graylog VS Azure Monitor

Compare Graylog VS Azure Monitor and see what are their differences

Graylog logo Graylog

Graylog is an open source log management platform for collecting, indexing, and analyzing both structured and unstructured data.

Azure Monitor logo Azure Monitor

Monitor and analyze applications, infrastructure, and network performance with Azure Monitor to identify problems in real time.
  • Graylog Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-20
  • Azure Monitor Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-16

Graylog

$ Details
Release Date
2012 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
Texas
City
Houston
Founder(s)
Hass Chapman
Employees
10 - 19

Graylog features and specs

  • Centralized Logging
    Graylog aggregates and encodes all logs into a central location, making it easier to manage and monitor log data across distributed systems.
  • Scalability
    Graylog is designed to scale horizontally, allowing users to expand capacity by adding more servers, which is vital for growing environments.
  • Real-time Search and Analysis
    Graylog provides powerful search and filtering capabilities in real-time, enabling quick troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
  • Alerting and Notification
    Graylog can send alerts based on log data and specified conditions, helping users to proactively respond to issues and mitigate risks efficiently.
  • Extensible and Customizable
    Graylog allows for plugins and provides REST APIs for integration with other services, offering high levels of customization to fit various business needs.
  • User-friendly Interface
    Graylog offers an intuitive web-based interface that simplifies the process of managing and visualizing log data, making it accessible even for those with minimal technical knowledge.

Possible disadvantages of Graylog

  • Complex Setup
    Setting up Graylog can be complicated and time-consuming, particularly for users not familiar with log management and system administration.
  • Resource Intensive
    Graylog can be resource-intensive, requiring significant CPU, memory, and storage resources, which could be a limitation for smaller environments.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, mastering Graylog's advanced features may require a steep learning curve and significant investment in training.
  • Potential Vendor Lock-in
    Relying heavily on Graylog's ecosystem for log management can create dependencies that may be challenging to transition away from if needed.
  • Cost for Enterprise Features
    While Graylog offers a free open-source version, some advanced features and enterprise-grade capabilities are only available in the paid version, potentially increasing costs.
  • Limited Out-of-the-box Dashboards
    Graylog's default dashboard capabilities might not meet all needs, requiring additional customization or third-party tools to create comprehensive visualizations.

Azure Monitor features and specs

  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    Azure Monitor provides end-to-end monitoring capabilities for applications, infrastructure, and networks, allowing users to gain holistic insights into their Azure and on-premises environments.
  • Integration with Azure Services
    Azure Monitor integrates seamlessly with other Azure services, like Azure Security Center and Azure Automation, enhancing the overall management and security capabilities of your cloud environment.
  • Scalability
    Designed to support large-scale cloud-based and hybrid environments, Azure Monitor scales to meet the needs of both small and large enterprise settings without compromising on performance.
  • Advanced Analytics
    With Azure Monitor, users can leverage advanced analytics tools, such as Azure Log Analytics, to derive meaningful insights from vast datasets quickly and efficiently.
  • Customizable Alerts and Notifications
    Users can set up customizable alerts and notifications based on specific metrics and logs, enabling proactive response to potential issues.

Possible disadvantages of Azure Monitor

  • Complexity
    The extensive range of features in Azure Monitor can be complex for new users to navigate, requiring a steep learning curve to fully leverage its capabilities.
  • Cost
    While Azure Monitor provides extensive features, the associated costs can be significant, especially when monitoring large-scale environments with detailed metrics and logs.
  • Data Retention Limits
    There are limits on how long data can be retained, and extending retention periods can lead to increased costs, which may be challenging for users needing long-term data analysis.
  • Performance Overhead
    Continuous monitoring and logging can introduce performance overhead, which may impact the performance of the infrastructure being monitored.
  • Configuration and Setup
    Initial configuration and setup of Azure Monitor can be time-consuming, requiring substantial effort to tailor the service to specific organizational needs.

Analysis of Graylog

Overall verdict

  • Graylog is considered a robust and reliable log management tool, especially suitable for organizations looking for an open-source solution with enterprise capabilities. Its strong community support and extensive documentation make it a popular choice among IT professionals.

Why this product is good

  • Graylog is highly regarded for its ability to centralize and manage log data from various sources in real-time. It offers powerful search and analysis capabilities with a simple interface and supports a wide range of plugins and integrations. Graylog also excels in scalability, allowing users to handle large volumes of data efficiently.

Recommended for

  • System administrators looking for a centralized log management solution
  • IT security teams requiring real-time log analysis and monitoring
  • Organizations operating in a scalable environment with large data volumes
  • Developers needing customizable dashboards and reporting tools
  • Businesses that prefer open-source software with enterprise features

Graylog videos

Graylog 3 0 OpenSource Demo

More videos:

  • Review - Graylog, Open Source Log Management
  • Review - 22. Graylog 3.0 Sidecar Windows Configuration

Azure Monitor videos

What is Azure Monitor?

More videos:

  • Review - An overview of Azure Monitor
  • Review - Azure Monitor best practices and recommendations | Azure Monitor Virtual Series

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Graylog and Azure Monitor)
Monitoring Tools
88 88%
12% 12
Log Management
91 91%
9% 9
Performance Monitoring
72 72%
28% 28
Error Tracking
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Graylog and Azure Monitor

Graylog Reviews

The Top 14 Free and Open Source SIEM Tools For 2022
Our last tool but by no means the least is Graylog. It is a log management platform that gathers data from different locations across your network infrastructure.
Source: logit.io
Top 10 Log Management Services
Graylog is a well-known log management tool because of its services. It provides a user interface just like some other log management tools. Almost all of the provided features are the same other than reading from Syslog files. Here you cannot read directly read from the Syslog files. It is inconvenient because you have to send your messages to Graylog.
Best Log Management Tools: Useful Tools for Log Management, Monitoring, Analytics, and More
Graylog is a free and open-source log management tool that supports in-depth log collection and analysis. Used by teams in Network Security, IT Ops and DevOps, you can count on Graylog’s ability to discern any potential risks to security, lets you follow compliance rules, and helps to understand the root cause of any particular error or problem that your apps are experiencing.
Source: stackify.com

Azure Monitor Reviews

We have no reviews of Azure Monitor yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Azure Monitor might be a bit more popular than Graylog. We know about 4 links to it since March 2021 and only 3 links to Graylog. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Graylog mentions (3)

  • Datadog vs. Splunk: Observability Tools Comparison
    GraylogGraylog is an open-source platform that provides log management, search, and real-time analysis. It also performs SIEM operations, making it a perfect alternative to Splunk. - Source: dev.to / 5 days ago
  • Enhancing API Observability Series (Part 2): Log Analysis
    Graylog: Supports various log sources and formats, providing real-time search, analysis, and visualization functionalities. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Join us June 24 at 11:00 AM EDT: "All Things Configured” Discord Show with our founder, Lennart Koopman
    Join our new Graylog Community Discord channel for our new chat/call-in show, “All Things Configured”. Our founder, Lennart Koopman, will host the show with Jeff Darrington, Senior Technical Marketing Manager, as his guest. Jeff’s well-known to many of you as the star of our Graylog How-To series of videos and blog posts on Graylog.org. Get a jump on the event, which will be live on Friday, June 24 at 11:00 AM EDT. Source: almost 3 years ago

Azure Monitor mentions (4)

  • 10 Best Cloud Monitoring Tools for 2025
    Azure Monitor oversees applications and services on Microsoft Azure. It collects and analyzes telemetry data, helping organizations maximize the performance and availability of their applications and proactively identify issues. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Top 10 Strategies for Cloud Cost Optimization in 2025
    Monitoring cloud cost anomalies is crucial for preventing unexpected expenses and staying within budget. Advanced tools like Amazon CloudWatch, and Azure Monitor provide features to help detect, analyze, and address unusual spending patterns. These tools can identify deviations from normal usage and enable you to set real-time alerts for spikes or drops in resource consumption and costs. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Microsoft Announces the General Availability of Azure Automanage Machine Best Practices
    During the recent Ignite Conference, Microsoft announced the general availability (GA) of Azure Automanage Machine Best Practices for Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) and Arc-enabled servers (the company’s multi-cloud management solution). This consolidated management solution, in short, named Azure Automanage, simplifies daily server management by handling the initial setup and configuration of Azure best practice... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Top 30 Microsoft Azure Services
    Here are a few services that make the overall Azure experience so amazing. Every Azure resource automatically generates metrics and logs. Azure Monitor collects, analyzes and acts on this data to ensure availability, maximize performance and proactively detect problems. Azure Active Directory is Azure’s cloud Identity Access Management system. Azure AD provides single sign on for your apps and governs access by... - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Graylog and Azure Monitor, you can also consider the following products

Sumo Logic - Sumo Logic is a secure, purpose-built cloud-based machine data analytics service that leverages big data for real-time IT insights

Dynatrace - Cloud-based quality testing, performance monitoring and analytics for mobile apps and websites. Get started with Keynote today!

Datadog - See metrics from all of your apps, tools & services in one place with Datadog's cloud monitoring as a service solution. Try it for free.

Logz.io - Logz.io provides log analysis software with alerts, role-based access, unlimited scalability and free ELK apps. Index, search & visualize your log data!

Zabbix - Track, record, alert and visualize performance and availability of IT resources

Splunk - Splunk's operational intelligence platform helps unearth intelligent insights from machine data.