Elastic Security vs Amazon GuardDuty

Elastic Security9.0Visit Amazon GuardDuty8.5Visit

Higher score Elastic Security #2 in Security Monitoring 9.0/10 Free plan · 14-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 0 of 2 features Visit Elastic

vs

Amazon GuardDuty #8 in Security Monitoring 8.5/10 30-day trial Free trial✓ 0 of 2 features Visit AWS GuardDuty

• Elastic Security fits best

  Teams seeking flexible, lower-cost security analytics

• Amazon GuardDuty fits best

  Teams running workloads on AWS

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Side by side

Feature	Elastic Security 9.0/10 Visit ↗	Amazon GuardDuty 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.5
Ranking	#2 in Security Monitoring	#8 in Security Monitoring
Best for	Teams seeking flexible, lower-cost security analytics	Teams running workloads on AWS
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	$0.09/GB usage-based	—
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	14 days	30 days
Free trial length	14 days	30 days
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Integrations	10 integrations	15 integrations
Features Elastic Security 0/2 · Amazon GuardDuty 0/2
Automated response	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Log search	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Deployment	Hybrid	Not checked yet
Data source coverage	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Data retention	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Alerting channels	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Detection rules include prebuilt MITRE ATT&CK mappings and custom KQL or Lucene. ES|QL supports threat hunting alongside triage, investigation, and case workflows. Integrates with cloud, Kubernetes, endpoint, network, and ticketing sources.	Monitors AWS logs, workloads, and data across multiple protection plans Covers EKS, EC2, Fargate, Lambda, S3, RDS, and AI workloads Routes findings into EventBridge-based notification and response workflows
Cons	Paid pricing is based on ingested data, so costs vary with usage. Retention is priced separately from ingestion. Advanced analytics and endpoint capabilities are reserved for the Complete plan.	Coverage is limited to AWS cloud environments Pay-as-you-go costs vary by data source and AWS Region The 30-day offer is a trial, not a permanent free plan
Our verdict	Elastic Security brings security data collection and analytics together for security operations teams that need to detect, investigate, and respond to threats across endpoints, cloud environments, and networks. Its detection engine… Read the review →	Amazon GuardDuty is a managed threat detection service for teams monitoring AWS accounts, workloads, and data. It analyzes AWS logs and activity to generate security findings with severity and resource details. Coverage spans foundational… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Elastic Security — where it wins

  • Detection rules include prebuilt MITRE ATT&CK mappings and custom KQL or Lucene.
  • ES|QL supports threat hunting alongside triage, investigation, and case workflows.
  • Integrates with cloud, Kubernetes, endpoint, network, and ticketing sources.

  Where it doesn't

  • Paid pricing is based on ingested data, so costs vary with usage.
  • Retention is priced separately from ingestion.
  • Advanced analytics and endpoint capabilities are reserved for the Complete plan.

• Amazon GuardDuty — where it wins

  • Monitors AWS logs, workloads, and data across multiple protection plans
  • Covers EKS, EC2, Fargate, Lambda, S3, RDS, and AI workloads
  • Routes findings into EventBridge-based notification and response workflows

  Where it doesn't

  • Coverage is limited to AWS cloud environments
  • Pay-as-you-go costs vary by data source and AWS Region
  • The 30-day offer is a trial, not a permanent free plan

• Elastic Security9.0/10 · Free plan · 14-day trial

  Flexible SIEM analytics with a free self-managed option and usage-based paid plans.

  Visit ElasticFull verdict →
• Amazon GuardDuty8.5/10 · 30-day trial

  Broad AWS threat detection with findings and response workflows, limited to AWS environments.

  Visit AWS GuardDutyFull verdict →