Elastic Security vs Microsoft Sentinel
SIEM pricing comparison · 2026
Elastic Security uses custom pricing, while Microsoft Sentinel ranges from $2.46–$5.20/GB ingested. These products use different pricing models ( vs Per-seat subscription), so a direct price comparison isn't meaningful — costs depend on usage volume and mix.
Sources & confidence
Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.
Plans at a glance
Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.
Contract terms
The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.
What users say
Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.
Elastic Security and Microsoft Sentinel represent different approaches to cloud SIEM. Elastic Security is built on the open Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Kibana, Beats) with subscription plans from $95/month, offering a transparent per-node model. Microsoft Sentinel is a pure-cloud SaaS SIEM with consumption pricing at $2.46–$5.20/GB ingested. Elastic Security's open-source core is unique—you can self-host at infrastructure cost only, or use Elastic Cloud for managed deployments.
Plan-by-Plan Pricing
| Plan | Elastic Security | Microsoft Sentinel |
|---|---|---|
| Free and open (self-managed) | Free /user/month | $5.20 /per GB ingested |
| Standard | Custom | $2.96 /per GB with commitment |
| Gold | Custom | $2.46 /per GB with high-volume commitment |
| Platinum | Custom | — |
| Enterprise | Custom | — |
Market Intelligence
Elastic Security
- Median annual cost
- $690
- Based on
- 93 deals
Microsoft Sentinel
- Median annual cost
- $692
- Based on
- 12 deals
Contract Terms
| Term | Elastic Security | Microsoft Sentinel |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-renewal | — | — |
| Cancellation | 30 days | — |
| Minimum commitment | — | Commitment tiers require daily volume commitments; Pay-As-You-Go has no minimum commitment |
| Price escalation | — | Users report ~10% annual price increases on Azure services; tier restructuring has caused effective 30% cost increases through deprecation of lower-cost tiers |
Continue researching
Our Verdict
Choose Elastic Security if you want open-source flexibility, need to combine security and observability on one platform (Elastic can handle logs, APM, and SIEM on the same cluster), or have engineering resources to customize detections and dashboards. Self-hosted Elastic Security has no per-GB ingestion fees.
Choose Microsoft Sentinel if you prefer a fully managed SaaS SIEM without infrastructure management, run a Microsoft-heavy environment with native Azure/M365 integrations, or need enterprise security with Microsoft's threat intelligence and compliance features baked in.
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Elastic Security open source?
Elastic's core (Elasticsearch, Kibana) is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0. Basic security features are free; advanced features (machine learning, detection rules, endpoint protection) require a paid subscription starting at $95/month per node. Kibana ECS and detection rules are freely available on GitHub.
02 Can Elastic Security replace Microsoft Sentinel for a Microsoft shop?
It can, but with more integration work. Elastic has connectors for Azure AD, Microsoft 365, and Defender, but they require manual configuration vs Sentinel's native one-click integration. For Microsoft-heavy environments, Sentinel's zero-configuration Microsoft integration is a significant advantage.