Graylog vs mtail
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Graylog
Centralized log management and analysis platform
VS
mtail
Extract Prometheus metrics from application log files
| Feature | Graylog | mtail |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | SSPL-1.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,105 | ★ 4,024 |
| First released | 2010 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Splunk, Datadog Logs | Splunk, Datadog Log Metrics |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Graylog or mtail better?
Neither is universally better. Graylog has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Graylog and mtail free and open-source?
Yes. Graylog is licensed under SSPL-1.0 and mtail under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Graylog and mtail with Docker?
Graylog: yes. mtail: yes.