Graylog Free Plan 2026: What's Included & What's Not
Honest breakdown of the free tier limits and features
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: No free tier available
- Billing: Monthly and annual (save 15-20%)
- Hidden costs: Add ~35% for implementation, support, and training
Graylog offers a freemium model with limited features; upgrade to unlock more.
What's Included in the Free Plan
- 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
What's NOT Included (Paid Only)
- 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
Free Plan Limits
| Limit | Free Plan | Paid Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Log ingestion | Unlimited (infrastructure-limited) | Unlimited/Higher |
| Retention | Based on storage capacity | Unlimited/Higher |
| Users | Unlimited | Unlimited/Higher |
| Support | Community only | Unlimited/Higher |
You'll Need to Upgrade When...
- You exceed the Unlimited limit
- You need features like 10GB/day log ingestion (cloud-hosted) or Fully managed SaaS deployment
- You require premium support or SLA guarantees
- You need to remove branding or watermarks
- You need advanced integrations or API access
Hidden Restrictions on Free Plan
- Graylog branding may appear on your content or communications
- Support is limited to community forums or email with longer response times
- Export options may be restricted or include watermarks
- API access is typically limited or not available
- Advanced reporting and analytics require paid plans
Free vs Paid: Which Do You Need?
Free Plan is Enough If...
- You're an individual or very small team
- You need only basic features
- You don't mind usage limits
- Branding on output is acceptable
- Community support is sufficient
You Need Paid If...
- Your team is growing beyond limits
- You need advanced features
- Professional branding is required
- You need priority support
- Integrations/API access is critical
Free vs Graylog Cloud - Operations Plan Comparison
| Open Source (Free) $0 | Graylog Cloud - Operations $1250/$1,250/month for 10GB/day | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 12 included | 13+ included |
| Support | Community/Email | Priority Support |
| Branding | Graylog branding | Your branding |
| Best For | Self-hosting teams with infrastructure expertise wanting unlimited log ingestion without licensing costs | Teams wanting enterprise log management without self-hosting, needing operational visibility and troubleshooting |
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Graylog free?
Yes, Graylog offers a freemium plan with 12 core features included. However, there are limits on log ingestion, retention that may require upgrading.
02 What's included in Graylog's free plan?
Graylog's free plan includes: Unlimited log ingestion (self-hosted), Elasticsearch/OpenSearch backend, Web-based log search interface, Real-time search and filtering, Dashboards and widgets, and 7 more features. Key limits include Log ingestion: Unlimited (infrastructure-limited), Retention: Based on storage capacity, Users: Unlimited.
03 What's NOT included in Graylog's free plan?
The free plan excludes: 10GB/day log ingestion (cloud-hosted), Fully managed SaaS deployment, Built-in high availability, Automatic scaling and updates, Advanced search and filtering. You'll also have Graylog branding and limited support options.
04 When should I upgrade from Graylog's free plan?
Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like 10GB/day log ingestion (cloud-hosted) or Fully managed SaaS deployment, require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $1250/$1,250/month for 10GB/day.
05 Is Graylog's free plan really free forever?
Yes, Graylog's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit. However, feature and usage limits may restrict what you can do without upgrading to a paid plan.
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