Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

rsyslog VS Splunk

Compare rsyslog VS Splunk and see what are their differences

rsyslog logo rsyslog

Rsyslog is an enhanced syslogd supporting, among others, MySQL, PostgreSQL, failover log...

Splunk logo Splunk

Splunk's operational intelligence platform helps unearth intelligent insights from machine data.
  • rsyslog Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-01
  • Splunk Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-20

rsyslog features and specs

  • High Performance
    Rsyslog is designed for high performance, capable of processing thousands of messages per second and efficiently handling large volumes of log data.
  • Modular Architecture
    Its modular architecture allows for the addition of various plugins and modules to extend functionality and customize the logging system as needed.
  • Advanced Filtering
    Rsyslog offers advanced filtering capabilities, using both simple and complex filters to fine-tune which logs are collected and where they are sent.
  • Network Support
    It has strong support for remote logging via protocols such as TCP, UDP, and RELP, making it a robust solution for centralized logging.
  • Reliability
    Features such as disk-assisted queues and failover actions ensure that log messages are not lost, improving overall reliability.
  • Compatibility
    Rsyslog is compatible with existing syslog implementations and can drop-in replace older syslog daemons without significant changes.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source software, it is freely available for use and modification, supported by an active community.

Possible disadvantages of rsyslog

  • Complex Configuration
    The configuration syntax of rsyslog can be complex and unintuitive, requiring a steep learning curve for beginners.
  • Documentation Quality
    While comprehensive, the documentation can sometimes be difficult to navigate and understand, which might pose challenges for new users.
  • Resource Consumption
    Although efficient, rsyslog can be resource-intensive in certain configurations, potentially impacting system performance if not properly optimized.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies for various modules and plugins can be cumbersome and may require additional effort to ensure compatibility.
  • Version Inconsistency
    Different distributions might include various versions of rsyslog, leading to inconsistencies in features and behaviors across environments.

Splunk features and specs

  • Powerful Data Analysis
    Splunk provides robust data indexing and search capabilities, allowing users to analyze large volumes of log data with high flexibility and efficiency.
  • Real-Time Processing
    Splunk enables real-time monitoring and analysis of data, which helps in immediate detection of anomalies and operational issues.
  • Scalability
    Splunk can efficiently scale to handle large amounts of data from various sources, making it suitable for both small businesses and large enterprises.
  • Wide Range of Integrations
    Splunk offers extensive integration options with numerous third-party applications and services, enhancing its functionalities and utility.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    Splunk comes with a highly intuitive and user-friendly interface, which makes it easier for users to navigate and leverage its features without extensive training.
  • Advanced Security Features
    Splunk includes comprehensive security features such as access controls, data encryption, and auditing capabilities to ensure data protection and compliance.

Possible disadvantages of Splunk

  • High Cost
    Splunk is considered expensive compared to other data analytics tools, which can be a significant constraint for smaller organizations or those with limited budgets.
  • Complex Licensing
    The licensing model for Splunk can be complex and confusing, often leading to issues in predicting costs and understanding the full extent of required licensing.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, there is a steep learning curve associated with mastering Splunk’s advanced features and query language, which can be challenging for new users.
  • Resource Intensive
    Splunk can be resource-intensive, requiring substantial computational power and storage, which might necessitate additional hardware investments.
  • Custom App Development
    Building custom apps and dashboards in Splunk may require specialized knowledge of its proprietary language, which can limit customization for users without technical expertise.

rsyslog videos

[LINUX] #11 Rsyslog Server Log Analyzer e Mysql

More videos:

  • Review - Ubuntu: How can I configure logrotate without having `/etc/logrotate.d/rsyslog`?

Splunk videos

"Splunk Product Overview"

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Splunk in 60 Minutes | Splunk Tutorial For Beginners | Splunk Training | Splunk Tutorial | Edureka
  • Demo - Splunk Incident Review Demo

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to rsyslog and Splunk)
Monitoring Tools
22 22%
78% 78
Log Management
18 18%
82% 82
Security & Privacy
100 100%
0% 0
Performance Monitoring
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using rsyslog and Splunk. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare rsyslog and Splunk

rsyslog Reviews

Best Log Management Tools: Useful Tools for Log Management, Monitoring, Analytics, and More
Rsyslog is a blazing-fast system built for log processing. It offers great performance benchmarks, tight security features, and a modular design for custom modifications. Rsyslog has grown from a singular logging system to be able to parse and sort logs from an extended range of sources, which it can then transform and provide an output to be used in dedicated log analysis...
Source: stackify.com

Splunk Reviews

The 10 Best Nagios Alternatives in 2024 (Paid and Open-source)
What sets Splunk apart, likely contributing to its premium price, is its expansive network. With over 2,200 partners spanning various industries, Splunk ensures users can fully leverage the platform. Additionally, boasting a community of over 18,000 active members and 1,800 Splunk experts, users have access to support for problem-solving, architecture, deployment, and...
Source: betterstack.com
Top 10 Grafana Alternatives in 2024
Splunk’s security and data monitoring features make it a potent alternative to Grafana. The platform helps collect and store extensive data from multiple platforms like databases, messaging systems, and network devices.
Source: middleware.io
Top 11 Grafana Alternatives & Competitors [2024]
Splunk's strengths lie in its adeptness at handling large-scale data ingestion and robust analytics capabilities. This makes it invaluable for organizations with complex data monitoring needs, particularly in enterprise security and observability.
Source: signoz.io
10 Best Grafana Alternatives [2023 Comparison]
Splunk is a well-known log management solution that’s been around forever. It offers a variety of observability solutions, making it an ideal Grafana alternative in terms of functionality. Splunk offers users Log Management, Synthetic monitoring, Infrastructure Monitoring, APM, Security Monitoring, and more.
Source: sematext.com
Top 11 Best SIEM Tools in 2022 For Real-Time Incident Response and Security
Splunk provides improved security operations like customizable dashboards, asset investigator, statistical analysis, and incident review, classification, and investigation. It has features of alerts management, risk scores, etc. It provides security services to the public sectors, financial services, and healthcare.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Splunk seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 19 times since March 2021. 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.

rsyslog mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of rsyslog yet. Tracking of rsyslog recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Splunk mentions (19)

  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (April 2025)
    Splunk (A Cisco Company) [https://splunk.com] | Principal Software Engineer, Backend | Remote (Vancouver / Toronto, Canada) Splunk is here to build a safer and more resilient digital world. The world's leading enterprises use our unified security and observability platform to keep their digital systems secure and reliable. The role I'm hiring for is to lead the effort for a new API that will power Splunk's new... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • Can I install apps on Free 60 day Enterprise?
    I'm using the free 60day Enterprise license and tried to install different apps from the "Browse more apps" menu in Splunk Enterprise, but it doesn't accept my credentials when I try to log in. I tried my username and password from splunk.com(which I'm sure it works, because I tried it straight away on the official website). Also I tried using my username and password with which I'm accessing Splunk Enterprise,... Source: over 1 year ago
  • Can someone explain this before I go a little crazy? xD
    I'm noticing a questionable trend in Splunk question/answer structure for these free courses on splunk.com So I go to an exam dump to try and compare to something I have studied thus far. (Prepping for entry level 1002). Source: over 1 year ago
  • Where exactly can I start to learn?
    With your splunk.com username, you can login to Splunk trainings portals as well https://www.splunk.com/en_us/training.html .. There are lots of free trainings available. Enroll yourself, complete them, you will gain more confidence. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • VAST 3.0 released. Open-Source Security Data Pipelines with Kusto-like syntax
    VAST is an open-source SecDataOps project for working with data from open-source security tools. Version 3.0 adds a pipeline syntax similar to splunk, Kusto, PRQL, and Zed. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing rsyslog and Splunk, you can also consider the following products

Fluentd - Fluentd is a cross platform open source data collection solution originally developed at Treasure Data.

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.

Wazuh - Open Source Host and Endpoint Security

NewRelic - New Relic is a Software Analytics company that makes sense of billions of metrics across millions of apps. We help the people who build modern software understand the stories their data is trying to tell them.

logstash - logstash is a tool for managing events and logs.

Grafana - Data visualization & Monitoring with support for Graphite, InfluxDB, Prometheus, Elasticsearch and many more databases