Grafana is a lightweight, open-source visualization platform optimized for metrics and time-series data with lower total cost of ownership, while Splunk is an enterprise-grade platform designed for log aggregation, security analytics, and machine learning with higher pricing but broader indexing capabilities.
Grafana vs Splunk — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Open-source visualization and observability platform supporting 80+ data sources
Enterprise data platform for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine-generated data.
Starting Price. Data Indexing Model. Log Aggregation Strength. Deployment Flexibility. Learning Curve. Enterprise ML/AI Capabilities. Average Implementation Time
Choose Grafana if you need cost-effective metrics visualization, prefer self-hosted control, and can implement separate log aggregation—ideal for DevOps, SRE, and startup teams. Choose Splunk if you require enterprise-grade log analytics, advanced security intelligence, machine learning capabilities, and have substantial budget—essential for large enterprises, security operations, and compliance-heavy organizations.
Grafana: Yes, full support | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Free (open-source) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Requires Loki plugin | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Plugin-based with limited support | Splunk: N/A
Mean Time to Response (MTTR) Improvement
Grafana: Available (Apache 2.0) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Alert grouping available | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Requires integration (OnCall) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 58,000+ (as of 2026) | Splunk: 2,500+ (proprietary, less open)
Grafana: 90+ (Prometheus, Elasticsearch, Datadog, etc.) | Splunk: 150+ (broader enterprise data ecosystem)
Grafana: None (external source dependent) | Splunk: 30 days included
Grafana: 2-4 (depends on datasource type) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Basic (via connected datasources) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: No—requires external datasource | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 30-60 (needs datasource setup) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 14-28 days | Splunk: 2,880 (4-8 weeks average)
Supported Technologies (Languages/Frameworks)
Grafana: 300+ via integrations | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 500K+ monthly active users | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: $25-150+ per user | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: PromQL, SQL, or source-native language | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Visualization only (external routing required) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: $0 (open-source) or $9 (Grafana Cloud) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 450+ pre-built plugins | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 100+ via plugins (manual integration required) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 2-5 days (infrastructure knowledge required) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, managed cloud (Grafana Cloud) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Limited; basic alerting rules, ML via separate module | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Community support; no guaranteed SLA | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Unlimited (self-hosted) or 15 days (Grafana Cloud free) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Unlimited on self-hosted; 1 on Grafana Cloud free | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: $0 (free open-source) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Basic text filtering | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Limited (requires integration with APM platforms) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: AGPL v3 (user-friendly for most use cases) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 0.001 seconds (milliseconds) | Splunk: N/A
Enterprise Annual License Cost (Single Server)
Grafana: $0 (self-hosted free tier) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 5-10 (intuitive interface) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Supported via RBAC and data source filtering | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: $10 (Grafana Cloud Starter) | Splunk: $4,500+ (minimum commitment)
Grafana: 3-5 (basic anomaly detection) | Splunk: 50+
Grafana: Basic RBAC, no SIEM module | Splunk: Enterprise Security module, threat detection, compliance dashboards
Grafana: $12,000 for Grafana Enterprise | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Limited—primarily Prometheus-style queries | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Single container with optional Prometheus | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: $0-3 (self-hosted) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: No, requires external tools | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 30-240 minutes (varies) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: No native features | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: $0-2,500 (self-hosted) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 400+ plugins (Prometheus, InfluxDB, CloudWatch, etc.) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 5-10 seconds (typical) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: 7-14 days (JSON, API, plugin config) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: $120-$3,588/year (Grafana Cloud) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Basic math and aggregation functions | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: $0 (open-source) | Splunk: $5,000 minimum
Grafana: No (time-series focused) | Splunk: Yes (native)
Grafana: 0.5-2 seconds | Splunk: 1-5 seconds
Grafana: 3-5 (via plugins) | Splunk: 20+ (anomaly detection, forecasting, UEBA)
Grafana: 5-10 minutes with templates | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: Basic text filters | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: No (plugin-based) | Splunk: N/A
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: 15-60 minutes (depends on alert configuration)
Starting Annual Cost (single user/endpoint)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: Varies by threat rules configured
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: 800+ apps in Splunkbase
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: Heavy (varies, 500MB+)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: Via SOAR integration (external)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: 4-8 (managed cloud)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: 6 (HIPAA, SOC2, PCI-DSS, FedRAMP, GDPR, ISO27001)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: 15+ (threat detection, predictive analytics, correlation, clustering)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: Unlimited (license-dependent)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: 1 (24/7 enterprise SLA)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: 120 months (10 years)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: 700+ integrations
Default Data Retention (included in pricing)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: Sampling-dependent (configurable)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: 12 (HIPAA, PCI, SOC2, NIST)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: Not applicable (generates alerts)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: Limited (dashboards only)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: Full ML for anomaly detection, forecasting, root cause analysis
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: FedRAMP Authorized
Base Monthly Pricing (1GB/day ingestion)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: 400+ built-in detections
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: Limited (add-on required)
Maximum Data Ingestion Per Day (Enterprise)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: Unlimited (licensing dependent)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: $3,600 ($120/day minimum)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: 30 (upgradeable to unlimited)
Grafana: N/A | Splunk: Requires add-on license ($X additional)
How to choose between Grafana and Splunk
Grafana vs Splunk — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Grafana vs Splunk. Contains 156 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Grafana vs Splunk — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Grafana vs Splunk.
Which platform is better for log aggregation?
Splunk has superior log aggregation with native full-text indexing across all data. Grafana requires separate tools like Loki for log storage. If logs are your primary use case, Splunk is the better choice. For metrics-focused monitoring, Grafana excels.
Can I use Grafana without paying anything?
Yes. Grafana's open-source version is completely free and production-ready. You only pay for Grafana Cloud ($79+/month) or Enterprise features ($10k+/year). Splunk requires paid licenses starting at $5,000/year.
Grafana has a gentler learning curve with an intuitive UI and straightforward query syntax. Splunk requires learning SPL (Search Processing Language), which is more complex. Grafana users typically become productive in 1-2 weeks vs 4-6 weeks for Splunk.
Which platform is better for security operations?
Splunk is purpose-built for security with SIEM, SOAR, User Behavior Analytics, and threat detection. It's the industry standard for SOC teams. Grafana can monitor security metrics but isn't designed for log-based security analytics.
What's the total cost of ownership over 3 years for a 100-person company?
Grafana: $30,000-$60,000 (licenses + implementation + infrastructure). Splunk: $150,000-$300,000+ depending on data volume ingestion. Grafana's TCO is typically 60-70% lower for comparable monitoring capabilities.
How to Choose Between Grafana and Splunk
Starting Price: Grafana has $0 (open-source) / $79/month (cloud), while Splunk has $5,000+/year minimum.
Data Indexing Model: Grafana has Time-series metrics, logs via Loki plugin, while Splunk has Full-text indexing of all log data.
Log Aggregation Strength: Grafana has Requires separate tool (Loki, Promtail), while Splunk has Native, built-in log aggregation.
Deployment Flexibility: Grafana has Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, cloud-native, while Splunk has Self-hosted, cloud, hybrid (more complex).
Learning Curve: Grafana has Moderate (straightforward UI, query language simple), while Splunk has Steep (SPL language, complex workflows).
Enterprise ML/AI Capabilities: Grafana has Limited built-in ML, plugin ecosystem exists, while Splunk has Advanced: anomaly detection, forecasting, UEBA.
Average Implementation Time: Grafana has 2-4 weeks, while Splunk has 8-16 weeks.