Graylog
Open core log management platform with SIEM features, event definitions, and alerting.
What Is Graylog?
Graylog centralizes log collection and search on the OpenSearch backend, with pipelines, event definitions, and alerting. The open core covers a functional SIEM baseline, while commercial plans add features such as the correlation engine, data lake storage, risk scoring, and anomaly detection. Graylog 7.1, released in May 2026, added automatic investigation creation based on asset risk thresholds and expanded anomaly detection baselines.
Use Cases
Log-first teams that want search and pipeline tooling.
Strengths and Limitations
Strengths
- +Pipeline rules evaluate, modify, and route messages as they arrive.
- +Graylog Open includes event definitions with threshold and event-based alerts.
- +Official deb and rpm packages and Docker images for self-hosting.
Limitations
- -The correlation engine, risk scoring, and anomaly detection require paid Enterprise or Security licenses.
- -Graylog Open gets a small set of Illuminate content packs; most prebuilt content targets the paid editions.
Defensive Use
Central log collection with rule-based correlation and alerting for security monitoring.
Graylog Alternatives
| Tool | License | Platforms | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elastic Security SIEM and XDR built on the Elastic Stack with open detection rules and endpoint integration. | Elastic-2.0 (Security solution, detection rules); AGPL-3.0-only OR SSPL-1.0 OR Elastic-2.0 (Elasticsearch, Kibana core) | Web, Linux, macOS, Windows | Free / Commercial |
| OpenSearch Security Analytics Open source SIEM plugin for OpenSearch with native Sigma rule support and free alerting. | Apache-2.0 | Linux, Windows | Open Source |
| Wazuh Open-source SIEM and XDR platform providing endpoint monitoring, log analysis, file integrity checks, and threat detection. | GPL-2.0-only WITH OpenSSL-exception | Linux, Windows, macOS, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX | Free / Commercial |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Graylog?→
Graylog centralizes log collection and search on the OpenSearch backend, with pipelines, event definitions, and alerting. The open core covers a functional SIEM baseline, while commercial plans add features such as the correlation engine, data lake storage, risk scoring, and anomaly detection. Graylog 7.1, released in May 2026, added automatic investigation creation based on asset risk thresholds and expanded anomaly detection baselines.
What is Graylog used for?→
Log-first teams that want search and pipeline tooling.
What are the strengths of Graylog?→
- +Pipeline rules evaluate, modify, and route messages as they arrive.
- +Graylog Open includes event definitions with threshold and event-based alerts.
- +Official deb and rpm packages and Docker images for self-hosting.
What are the limitations of Graylog?→
- +The correlation engine, risk scoring, and anomaly detection require paid Enterprise or Security licenses.
- +Graylog Open gets a small set of Illuminate content packs; most prebuilt content targets the paid editions.
How is Graylog used defensively?→
Central log collection with rule-based correlation and alerting for security monitoring.