Kibana alternatives: 2 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Nov 1, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

Common reasons people leave Kibana: works only with Elasticsearch, and machine learning and some alerting connectors need paid tiers. We ranked 2 alternatives by how directly each one replaces Kibana, then by reviews, real visits and how recently each app's facts were checked against its own website. Grafana currently ranks first.

Quick comparison

#	App	Pricing	Open source	Platforms	Verified facts	Score
1	Grafana	Open source	Yes	Web, Self-hosted	4 of 4	79.8
2	Graylog	Free plan + paid	No	Self-hosted, Linux, Web	6 of 6	59.4

1. GrafanaTop pick
Best for: Teams that want flexible dashboards over many data sources, self-hosted or as a managed cloud
Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted
79.8
score / 100
Why switch from Kibana
Dashboards across many data sources, including Elasticsearch, so you aren't tied to one backend.
Pros
Connects to almost any metrics, logs or SQL data source
Fully open-source stack you can self-host
Hosted cloud has a usable free tier
Cons
Self-hosting Loki, Tempo and Mimir at scale is real work
Building good dashboards takes time and query knowledge
Cloud usage pricing has many meters to track
Visit Grafana Compare with Kibana Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.387
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.15100
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Grafana a good Kibana alternative?
Verified facts
4 of 4 verified
License
AGPL-3.0
Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
Free tier
10k metric series, 50 GB logs, 14-day retention
Checked Oct 29, 2026grafana.com(opens source in a new tab)
Pro plan
From $19/month + usage
Checked Oct 29, 2026grafana.com(opens source in a new tab)
Logs on free tier
50 GB/month
Checked Oct 29, 2026grafana.com(opens source in a new tab)
2. Graylog
Best for: IT and security teams who want central log management on their own servers
Free plan + paidSelf-hostableSelf-hosted, Linux, Web
59.4
score / 100
Why switch from Kibana
Purpose-built log management with search, streams and alerts if logs are your main use.
Pros
Free self-managed edition for core logging
Flexible processing pipelines and streams
Grows into SIEM features if needed
Cons
SSPL licence is not OSI open source
Requires running OpenSearch and MongoDB
Key enterprise features are paid
Visit Graylog Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.369
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Graylog a good Kibana alternative?
Verified facts
6 of 6 verified
License
SSPL
Checked Oct 29, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
Free edition
Graylog Open, self-managed
Checked Oct 29, 2026graylog.org(opens source in a new tab)
Founded
2009
Checked Oct 29, 2026graylog.org(opens source in a new tab)
Starting price
From $15,000 a year (Graylog Enterprise)
Checked Nov 1, 2026graylog.org(opens source in a new tab)
Graylog Security plan
From $18,000 a year
Checked Nov 1, 2026graylog.org(opens source in a new tab)
Free plan
Yes, Graylog Open (self-managed)
Checked Nov 1, 2026graylog.org(opens source in a new tab)