Cribl Stream vs Elastic Agent

Cribl Stream9.4Visit Elastic Agent9.1Visit

Higher score Cribl Stream #1 in Telemetry Pipeline Software 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 6 of 6 features Visit Cribl Stream

vs

Elastic Agent #3 in Telemetry Pipeline Software 9.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 6 of 6 features Visit Elastic Agent

• Cribl Stream fits best

  Teams needing broad, flexible telemetry routing

• Elastic Agent fits best

  Elastic-centered teams needing agent management

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Side by side

Feature	Cribl Stream 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Elastic Agent 9.1/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	9.1
Ranking	#1 in Telemetry Pipeline Software	#3 in Telemetry Pipeline Software
Best for	Teams needing broad, flexible telemetry routing	Elastic-centered teams needing agent management
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free
Starting price	—	Free
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Community, Docs · 24/7	Docs, Community
Integrations	80+ integrations	300+ integrations
Built for	Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Cribl Stream 6/6 · Elastic Agent 6/6
Logs support	✓	✓
Metrics support	✓	✓
Traces support	✓	✓
Transform rules	✓	✓
Multi-destination routing	✓	✓
Data enrichment	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Both	Both
Our review
Pros	Supports logs, metrics, and traces across diverse telemetry sources Filters, transforms, enriches, routes, samples, and replays telemetry Portable Packs plus REST APIs, SDKs, and Terraform support	Free and open plan includes Fleet management and integrations Collects logs, metrics, traces, and security telemetry Supports more than 300 integrations and multiple outputs
Cons	Advanced workspace and identity controls are limited to Enterprise tiers Dedicated 24×7 support is available only with Enterprise plans Broad configuration options may exceed the needs of simple pipelines	Advanced security and compliance require Platinum Enterprise features include advanced AI and orchestration Not open source and has no AI features in the agent
Our verdict	Cribl Stream is observability pipeline software for IT and security teams that need to collect, prepare, and route telemetry before it reaches analytics, security, observability, or storage systems. It supports logs, metrics, and traces,… Read the review →	Elastic Agent is a unified host agent for collecting and forwarding logs, metrics, traces, availability data, and security telemetry into the Elastic Stack. It is aimed at teams that want centralized control through Fleet, with support for… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Cribl Stream — where it wins

  • Supports logs, metrics, and traces across diverse telemetry sources
  • Filters, transforms, enriches, routes, samples, and replays telemetry
  • Portable Packs plus REST APIs, SDKs, and Terraform support

  Where it doesn't

  • Advanced workspace and identity controls are limited to Enterprise tiers
  • Dedicated 24×7 support is available only with Enterprise plans
  • Broad configuration options may exceed the needs of simple pipelines

• Elastic Agent — where it wins

  • Free and open plan includes Fleet management and integrations
  • Collects logs, metrics, traces, and security telemetry
  • Supports more than 300 integrations and multiple outputs

  Where it doesn't

  • Advanced security and compliance require Platinum
  • Enterprise features include advanced AI and orchestration
  • Not open source and has no AI features in the agent

• Cribl Stream9.4/10 · Free plan

  A broad routing and transformation layer for teams managing varied telemetry flows.

  Visit Cribl StreamFull verdict →
• Elastic Agent9.1/10 · Free plan

  A free, flexible agent for teams managing telemetry through Elastic and Fleet.

  Visit Elastic AgentFull verdict →