Quick Answer
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Graylog pricing varies by team size and features, ranging from $15 to $18 per month in 2026. Your actual cost depends on the tier you choose, contract length, and negotiated discounts.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: Yes
  • Billing: Monthly and annual (save 15-20%)
  • Hidden costs: Add ~35% for implementation, support, and training

Graylog offers 5 pricing tiers: Open Source (Free), Graylog Cloud - Operations, Graylog Cloud - Security, Graylog Enterprise (Self-Hosted), Graylog API Security. Standard paid plans include Open Source (Free) at $0/free (self-hosted), Graylog Cloud - Operations at $1250/$1,250/month for 10GB/day, Graylog Cloud - Security at $1550/$1,550/month for 10GB/day. The Graylog Cloud - Operations plan is teams wanting enterprise log management without self-hosting, needing operational visibility and troubleshooting.

Compared to other log management software, Graylog is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.

Last verified: February 2026 | Sources: 1 pricing pages and reviews

Graylog is a powerful open-source log management platform trusted by 50,000+ organizations worldwide, including NASA, Cisco, and LinkedIn. Built on Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, Graylog offers enterprise-grade log aggregation, real-time search, and security analytics at a fraction of Splunk's cost. Available as free Open Source (self-hosted), managed Graylog Cloud (SaaS), and self-hosted Enterprise with support, Graylog excels in flexibility, avoiding vendor lock-in, and providing SIEM-like capabilities for security teams without the complexity of traditional SIEM platforms.

Graylog pricing spans free to enterprise tiers: Open Source is completely free (self-hosted, unlimited logs) but requires infrastructure ($500-5,000/month) and DevOps time (20-40 hours/month). Graylog Cloud Operations starts at $1,250/month for 10GB/day. Graylog Cloud Security starts at $1,550/month for 10GB/day with SIEM features. Graylog API Security starts at $1,500/month. Self-hosted Enterprise has custom pricing based on daily volume. For 10GB/day, Graylog Cloud ($15,000/year) saves 60% vs Splunk ($36,500/year).

In this guide, we break down Graylog's Open Source, Cloud Operations, Cloud Security, and Enterprise pricing models, compare costs to Splunk and ELK, reveal hidden costs including self-hosted infrastructure ($500-10,000/month), DevOps maintenance (20-40 hours/month), extended retention fees, and provide negotiation strategies for securing 15-35% discounts on 50GB+ daily volumes.

All Graylog Plans & Pricing

Plan Monthly Annual Best For
Open Source (Free) Log ingestion: Unlimited (infrastructure-limited)Retention: Based on storage capacity Free Free 0 Self-hosting teams with infrastructure expertise wanting unlimited log ingestion without licensing costs
Graylog Cloud - Operations Daily ingestion: 10GB (scalable)Retention: 30 days (default, extendable) $1250 /$1,250/month for 10GB/day Custom Teams wanting enterprise log management without self-hosting, needing operational visibility and troubleshooting
Graylog Cloud - Security Daily ingestion: 10GB (scalable)Retention: 30-90 days (configurable) $1550 /$1,550/month for 10GB/day Custom Security teams and SOCs needing threat detection, incident response, and compliance without Splunk's cost
Graylog Enterprise (Self-Hosted) Daily ingestion: Based on license purchasedRetention: Unlimited (storage-dependent) Contact Contact Large enterprises requiring self-hosted deployment, unlimited retention, and advanced enterprise features with support
Graylog API Security Daily ingestion: Custom based on API volumeSupport: Priority Contact Contact Organizations with API-first architectures needing specialized API security monitoring and threat detection
View all features by plan

Open Source (Free)

  • Unlimited log ingestion (self-hosted)
  • Elasticsearch/OpenSearch backend
  • Web-based log search interface
  • Real-time search and filtering
  • Dashboards and widgets
  • Stream processing and routing
  • Alert conditions and notifications
  • User management and permissions
  • REST API access
  • Grok pattern extraction
  • Community support via forums and Slack
  • No licensing restrictions

Graylog Cloud - Operations

  • 10GB/day log ingestion (cloud-hosted)
  • Fully managed SaaS deployment
  • Built-in high availability
  • Automatic scaling and updates
  • Advanced search and filtering
  • Custom dashboards and reports
  • Stream processing and enrichment
  • Alert management with integrations
  • RBAC with LDAP/Active Directory
  • REST API and CLI access
  • Pipeline processing rules
  • Email and chat support
  • 99.5% uptime SLA

Graylog Cloud - Security

  • Everything in Operations
  • 10GB/day log ingestion for security logs
  • Built-in security content (Sigma rules)
  • Threat intelligence integrations
  • Security event correlation
  • Incident investigation workspace
  • Compliance reporting (SOC 2, PCI-DSS, HIPAA)
  • Log integrity verification
  • Advanced anomaly detection
  • SIEM-like capabilities
  • Priority security support
  • 99.9% uptime SLA

Graylog Enterprise (Self-Hosted)

  • Self-hosted on your infrastructure
  • Unlimited data ingestion (infrastructure-limited)
  • All Open Source features plus:
  • Archive to S3/MinIO for long-term storage
  • Audit logging and compliance features
  • Advanced RBAC and authentication (SAML, OAuth)
  • Report generation and scheduling
  • Correlation engine for multi-log analysis
  • Anomaly detection with ML
  • Professional support with SLA
  • Training and onboarding
  • License based on daily ingestion volume

Graylog API Security

  • Specialized for API traffic monitoring
  • Real-time API threat detection
  • API inventory and discovery
  • Anomaly detection for API usage
  • GraphQL and REST API monitoring
  • API security posture management
  • Compliance reporting for API security
  • Integration with API gateways
  • Cloud-native deployment
  • Priority support
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Hidden Costs to Budget For

Watch for 10 hidden costs
  • Self-hosted infrastructure costs $500-5,000+/month - Open Source is free software but requires servers, storage, and DevOps time (Elasticsearch cluster, MongoDB, Graylog nodes)
  • DevOps maintenance time 20-40 hours/month - Self-hosted deployments need ongoing updates, scaling, backup/restore, and troubleshooting (equivalent to $4,000-10,000 monthly labor cost)
  • Elasticsearch/OpenSearch licensing for Enterprise - Self-hosted Enterprise requires separate Elasticsearch or OpenSearch clusters with their own licensing and infrastructure costs
  • Extended retention storage costs - Graylog Cloud's 30-day default retention. Extending to 90-180 days adds storage costs; long-term archival to S3 costs $0.023/GB/month plus retrieval fees
  • Training and certification $1,000-3,000 per admin - Graylog's powerful but complex features (pipelines, streams, extractors) require formal training for effective administration
  • Professional services for migration $10,000-50,000+ - Migrating from Splunk, ELK, or legacy systems requires custom data ingestion pipelines, dashboard recreation, and rule migration
  • High availability setup doubles infrastructure costs - Production deployments require multi-node clusters (3+ Graylog nodes, 3+ Elasticsearch nodes) for redundancy
  • Bandwidth costs for cloud ingestion - Graylog Cloud charges for log ingestion, but egress from your infrastructure to Graylog's cloud incurs AWS/GCP/Azure bandwidth fees ($0.08-0.12/GB)
  • Security content licensing - While Graylog Security includes Sigma rules, integrating premium threat intelligence feeds (STIX/TAXII) costs $5,000-20,000/year per feed
  • Volume scaling beyond base tier - Graylog Cloud pricing jumps significantly: 10GB/day at $1,250/month, but 50GB/day can cost $5,000-6,500/month without volume discounts
Tip

Ask your Graylog sales rep about these costs upfront. Getting them in writing before signing can save you from surprise charges later.

Full hidden costs breakdown →

Frequently Asked Questions

01 How much does Graylog cost?

Graylog offers free Open Source (self-hosted, unlimited logs) and paid cloud/enterprise plans. Graylog Cloud Operations starts at $1,250/month for 10GB/day. Graylog Cloud Security starts at $1,550/month for 10GB/day with SIEM features. Graylog API Security starts at $1,500/month. Self-hosted Enterprise pricing is custom based on daily volume. Open Source is free but requires infrastructure ($500-5,000/month) and DevOps time (20-40 hours/month).

02 Is Graylog free?

Yes, Graylog Open Source is completely free with unlimited log ingestion, dashboards, alerts, and no licensing restrictions. However, it requires self-hosting (servers, Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, MongoDB) costing $500-5,000/month in infrastructure plus 20-40 hours/month DevOps maintenance. Free version lacks enterprise features (archival, advanced RBAC, ML anomaly detection, professional support). Graylog Cloud ($1,250+/month) eliminates infrastructure management.

03 How does Graylog pricing compare to Splunk?

Graylog is significantly cheaper than Splunk. For 10GB/day: Graylog Cloud $1,250/month ($15,000/year) vs Splunk Cloud ~$36,500/year - Graylog saves 60%. At 50GB/day: Graylog ~$5,000-6,500/month vs Splunk ~$150,000+/year. Graylog Open Source (free self-hosted) offers best ROI if you have DevOps resources. Splunk provides more advanced ML, Enterprise Security, and ecosystem apps; Graylog excels at cost-effective log analysis and SIEM-lite.

04 What's included in Graylog Cloud Operations vs Security?

Operations ($1,250/month for 10GB/day) includes: managed SaaS, search, dashboards, alerts, stream processing, RBAC, 99.5% SLA, email/chat support. Security ($1,550/month) adds: built-in Sigma rules, threat intelligence, event correlation, incident investigation, compliance reporting, log integrity verification, anomaly detection, 99.9% SLA, priority security support. Choose Operations for general log management; choose Security for SOC/SIEM use cases.

05 Can I negotiate Graylog pricing?

Yes, Graylog Cloud and Enterprise pricing is negotiable for 50GB+ daily volumes. Expect 15-25% discounts with annual commitments. At 100GB+ daily, negotiate 25-35% discounts and include extended retention, professional services, and training. Best timing: fiscal year-end (Q4) or quarter-end. Leverage competitive quotes from Logz.io, Sumo Logic, or self-hosted ELK estimates. Multi-year contracts (2-3 years) unlock deeper discounts (30-40%).

06 Is Graylog suitable for small teams?

Graylog Open Source is excellent for small teams with DevOps skills willing to self-host - unlimited logs at infrastructure cost ($500-2,000/month for 10-50GB/day). However, Graylog Cloud ($1,250/month minimum) is expensive for startups vs alternatives: Logz.io $333/month (10GB/day), Papertrail $230/month (100GB/month), or Loggly $159/month (1GB/day). Choose Graylog if you need SIEM-like features or already run Elasticsearch; choose alternatives for simpler use cases.

07 What infrastructure is needed for self-hosted Graylog?

Self-hosted Graylog requires: (1) Graylog server nodes (1-3+ for HA, 4GB+ RAM each), (2) Elasticsearch/OpenSearch cluster (3+ nodes, 8GB+ RAM, SSD storage for hot data), (3) MongoDB (replica set, 4GB RAM), (4) Load balancer for HA. Minimum setup for 10GB/day: 3 Graylog nodes + 3 ES nodes + MongoDB = ~$1,000-2,000/month AWS/cloud costs. At 100GB/day, expect $5,000-10,000/month infrastructure. Add DevOps time (20-40 hours/month).

08 Does Graylog offer education or startup discounts?

Graylog does not publicly advertise dedicated education or startup programs. However, Open Source is ideal for cash-constrained startups - completely free with self-hosting. For Graylog Cloud/Enterprise, contact sales with proof of accelerator enrollment (Y Combinator, Techstars) or AWS/GCP startup credits to request custom pricing. Academic institutions should inquire about research/education licensing for large deployments requiring enterprise features and support.

09 What's the difference between Graylog and ELK Stack?

Graylog is built on ELK (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana equivalent) but offers: (1) Superior stream processing and routing vs Logstash, (2) More intuitive UI than Kibana for log search/alerts, (3) Built-in alerting vs ELK's X-Pack requirement, (4) Better RBAC and multi-tenancy, (5) Free Open Source vs ELK's restrictive Elastic License. However, ELK has larger ecosystem and advanced features (Canvas, ML). Choose Graylog for easier management; choose ELK for flexibility and ecosystem.

10 Can Graylog replace Splunk for security use cases?

Graylog Security ($1,550/month for 10GB/day) provides SIEM-lite capabilities at 60-80% cost savings vs Splunk Enterprise Security. It includes: Sigma rules, threat intelligence, event correlation, incident investigation, compliance reporting, and anomaly detection. However, Splunk offers more mature security content, advanced ML (UBA/UEBA), extensive app ecosystem, and deeper analyst workflows. Choose Graylog for mid-market SOCs (50-200GB/day); choose Splunk for Fortune 500 security operations requiring best-in-class features.

11 How does Graylog handle data retention and archival?

Graylog Cloud includes 30-day searchable retention by default, extendable to 90-180 days with additional storage costs. For long-term compliance archival (years), Graylog Enterprise (self-hosted) offers built-in Archive feature to export old logs to S3/MinIO/HDFS at $0.023/GB/month. Open Source requires custom scripting or using Curator to move old indices to cold storage. Unlike Splunk's SmartStore, Graylog's archival is simpler but less integrated with search.