Kibana vs OpenSearch
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?
Kibana
Visualization and exploration for Elasticsearch data
VS
OpenSearch
Search and observability suite with logs and dashboards
| Feature | Kibana | OpenSearch |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 21,230 | ★ 13,480 |
| First released | 2013 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Splunk, Datadog | Elasticsearch, Splunk |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Kibana or OpenSearch better?
Kibana is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OpenSearch if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Kibana and OpenSearch free and open-source?
Yes. Kibana is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and OpenSearch under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kibana and OpenSearch with Docker?
Kibana: yes. OpenSearch: yes.