Splunk vs Elastic Security -- SIEM & Security Analytics Compared
Elastic Security offers a compelling open-source alternative to Splunk, eliminating per-GB ingest pricing while providing unified SIEM, EDR, and cloud security. Splunk offers a more mature analytics platform with deeper SPL capabilities and a larger app ecosystem, but at significantly higher cost.
Choose Elastic Security if you want an open-source SIEM with no per-GB costs and unified endpoint protection. Choose Splunk if you need the most mature analytics platform with the largest ecosystem and your budget supports enterprise licensing.
| Feature | Elastic Security | Splunk |
|---|---|---|
| Core SIEM | Detection engine with EQL and KQL | Correlation searches with SPL |
| Pricing Model | Resource-based, no per-GB cost | Workload or ingest-based pricing |
| Endpoint Security | Built-in EDR (Elastic Agent) | Requires separate product |
| Open Source | Yes (Elastic License 2.0) | No |
| Query Language | KQL, EQL, ES|QL | SPL (Search Processing Language) |
| App Ecosystem | Growing integrations library | 2,500+ Splunkbase apps |
| Cloud Security | Built-in CSPM and KSPM | Via add-ons and integrations |
| Threat Intelligence | Built-in TI integration | Splunk Intelligence Management |
Common questions about choosing between Splunk and Elastic Security.
Elastic Security offers a compelling open-source alternative to Splunk, eliminating per-GB ingest pricing while providing unified SIEM, EDR, and cloud security. Splunk offers a more mature analytics platform with deeper SPL capabilities and a larger app ecosystem, but at significantly higher cost.
Choose Elastic Security if you want an open-source SIEM with no per-GB costs and unified endpoint protection. Choose Splunk if you need the most mature analytics platform with the largest ecosystem and your budget supports enterprise licensing.
Elastic Security pricing: Free (basic) / From $95/month (Cloud) / Enterprise custom. Splunk pricing: From $1,800/year (workload pricing) / Enterprise custom. Elastic Security's pricing model is resource-based (nodes/capacity), while Splunk uses workload-based or ingest-based pricing.
Yes, you can migrate from Splunk to Elastic Security. The migration process depends on your specific setup and the features you use. Both platforms offer APIs that can facilitate automated migration. Consider running both tools in parallel during the transition to ensure zero downtime.
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