Graylog vs Grafana Loki
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Graylog
Centralized log management and analysis platform
VS
Grafana Loki
Log aggregation system inspired by Prometheus
| Feature | Graylog | Grafana Loki |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 90 · Excellent | 98 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | SSPL-1.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Java | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,144 | ★ 28,937 |
| First released | 2010 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Splunk, Datadog Logs | Splunk, Datadog Logs |
What are Graylog and Grafana Loki?
Graylog
Graylog is a centralized log management platform that collects, indexes, and analyzes machine data in real time. It offers powerful search, dashboards, and alerting for troubleshooting and security monitoring.
- Centralized log collection
- Fast full-text search
- Dashboards and alerts
- Stream-based routing
Grafana Loki
Grafana Loki is a horizontally scalable, highly available log aggregation system. Unlike other log systems, it indexes only metadata labels rather than full text, making it cost-effective and simple to operate.
- Label-based log indexing
- LogQL query language
- Tight Grafana integration
- Object storage backend
Graylog vs Grafana Loki: key differences
Graylog is written in Java, while Grafana Loki is built with Go. Licensing differs — SSPL-1.0 for Graylog versus AGPL-3.0 for Grafana Loki. Grafana Loki is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Graylog. Graylog is the more established project (first released 2010), while Grafana Loki arrived in 2018. Grafana Loki has the considerably larger community, at 28,937 GitHub stars versus 8,144.
Why pick each one
Choose Graylog if…
- Powerful search and pipelines
- Polished web UI
Watch out for
- Needs OpenSearch and MongoDB
- Memory hungry
Choose Grafana Loki if…
- Cheap to run compared to full-text indexers
- Familiar Prometheus-style labels
Watch out for
- Limited full-text search
- Requires Grafana for best experience
Frequently asked questions
Is Graylog or Grafana Loki better?
Neither is universally better. Grafana Loki has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Graylog and Grafana Loki free and open-source?
Yes. Graylog is licensed under SSPL-1.0 and Grafana Loki under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Graylog and Grafana Loki with Docker?
Graylog: yes. Grafana Loki: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Graylog or Grafana Loki?
Grafana Loki has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Graylog. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.