Graylog vs VictoriaLogs
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
VictoriaLogs
Fast and resource-efficient open-source log database
| Feature | Graylog | VictoriaLogs |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 90 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | SSPL-1.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,144 | ★ 2,311 |
| First released | 2010 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Splunk, Datadog Logs | Splunk, Elasticsearch |
What are Graylog and VictoriaLogs?
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
VictoriaLogs
VictoriaLogs is an open-source log management solution from the VictoriaMetrics team. It offers fast full-text search, low resource usage, and the purpose-built LogsQL query language for analyzing logs at scale.
- LogsQL query language
- Low memory and disk usage
- High ingestion throughput
- Single-binary deployment
Graylog vs VictoriaLogs: key differences
Graylog is written in Java, while VictoriaLogs is built with Go. Licensing differs — SSPL-1.0 for Graylog versus Apache-2.0 for VictoriaLogs. VictoriaLogs is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Graylog. Graylog is the more established project (first released 2010), while VictoriaLogs arrived in 2023. Graylog has the considerably larger community, at 8,144 GitHub stars versus 2,311.
Why pick each one
Choose Graylog if…
- Powerful search and pipelines
- Polished web UI
Watch out for
- Needs OpenSearch and MongoDB
- Memory hungry
Choose VictoriaLogs if…
- Very efficient on hardware
- Fast log queries
Watch out for
- Newer and less battle-tested
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Graylog or VictoriaLogs 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 VictoriaLogs free and open-source?
Yes. Graylog is licensed under SSPL-1.0 and VictoriaLogs under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Graylog and VictoriaLogs with Docker?
Graylog: yes. VictoriaLogs: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Graylog or VictoriaLogs?
VictoriaLogs has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Graylog. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.