Independent · sourced · Updated June 2026
Best Log Management (2026)
The cheapest log management is Better Stack at $0/mo. 7 offer a free tier (Better Stack, Grafana Cloud Logs, Loggly (SolarWinds)). This page compares 11 options on entry price, free tier, HIPAA/SOC 2 and best-for — every figure linked to its source, updated June 2026.
11 options compared on price, free tier, compliance and fit — ranked cheapest-first. Every figure links to the vendor's own page and the date we captured it; quote-only tiers show “—”, never a guess.
Key takeaways
- Cheapest: Better Stack at $0/mo (Free).
- Typical paid price: from $7/mo, median $19/mo, up to $79/mo — across 8 with published pricing.
- Free tier: Better Stack, Grafana Cloud Logs, Loggly (SolarWinds), New Relic Logs, Papertrail, Sematext Logs, SigNoz Cloud.
- HIPAA-ready: New Relic Logs, SigNoz Cloud, Logit.io, Datadog Logs, Sumo Logic.
- Tracked: 11 vendors, data current through 2026-06-15.
Comparison
| # | Log Management | Entry price | Free | HIPAA | SOC 2 | Best for | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Better Stack | $0/mo Free | Yes | No | Yes | Startups and SMBs wanting all-in-one observability + uptime monitoring at flat pricing | betterstack.com |
| 2 | Grafana Cloud Logs | $0/mo Free | Yes | — | Yes | Teams already using Grafana/Prometheus/Loki wanting a fully managed, no-ops cloud version | grafana.com |
| 3 | Loggly (SolarWinds) | $0/mo Free | Yes | — | — | Teams already in the SolarWinds ecosystem | sematext.com |
| 4 | New Relic Logs | $0/mo Free | Yes | Yes | — | Teams wanting a very generous free tier (100 GB/month) before committing | newrelic.com |
| 5 | Papertrail | $0/mo Free | Yes | — | — | Heroku-hosted apps needing instant, zero-config log aggregation | getapp.com |
| 6 | Sematext Logs | $0/mo Free | Yes | — | — | Small to mid-size engineering teams wanting affordable ELK-compatible log management | sematext.com |
| 7 | SigNoz Cloud | $0/mo Community (self-hosted) | Yes | Yes | Yes | OpenTelemetry-first engineering teams wanting a single platform for logs, traces, and metrics | signoz.io |
| 8 | Logit.io | $9/mo Development | No | Yes | Yes | UK/EU companies needing ISO 27001, GDPR, and Cyber Essentials alongside log management | logit.io |
| 9 | Datadog Logs | — | No | Yes | Yes | Enterprises already using Datadog for APM or infrastructure monitoring | quote-only |
| 10 | Logz.io | — | No | — | Yes | Teams already familiar with ELK/OpenSearch wanting a managed, scalable SaaS version | quote-only |
| 11 | Sumo Logic | — | No | Yes | Yes | SecOps teams needing unified log management and cloud SIEM in one platform | quote-only |
Prices are the lowest published self-serve monthly rate as captured on the linked source. Annual-billing and usage details are on each vendor's record in our open dataset.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest log management?
Better Stack has the lowest published entry price at $0/mo (Free), as of 2026-06-15.
How much does log management cost per month?
Across the 8 log management with published paid pricing, the median starting price is $19/mo, ranging from $7/mo to $79/mo, as of 2026-06-15. 7 also offer a free tier. 3 are quote-only.
Which log management have a free plan?
Better Stack, Grafana Cloud Logs, Loggly (SolarWinds), New Relic Logs, Papertrail, Sematext Logs, SigNoz Cloud offer a free tier.
Which log management support HIPAA?
New Relic Logs, SigNoz Cloud, Logit.io, Datadog Logs, Sumo Logic state HIPAA support (a BAA). Always confirm current scope with the vendor.
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How we compiled this
Pricing fetched directly from each vendor's official pricing page using WebFetch on 2026-06-14. Where the official page returned HTTP 403 or rendered prices via JS templates only, a reputable aggregator (GetApp, Sematext blog, SolarWinds Slashdot listing) was used as primary source, noted in each vendor's provenance. All USD figures reflect self-serve published rates. 'monthlyUsd' for annual plans is the annualized monthly rate; month-to-month rates noted where published. Loggly official pricing page returned HTTP 403; starting price sourced from GetApp (reputable aggregator). Papertrail official pricing page returned HTTP 403 on both /plans/ and /pricing/ paths; plans sourced from GetApp aggregator and corroborated by Slashdot starting-price listing. Sematext Logs official pricing page renders prices via JS templates; concrete plan prices sourced from Sematext's own blog comparison article. Sumo Logic publishes no public self-serve USD prices; all plans listed as null with contact-sales notes. Mezmo publishes no public self-serve USD prices. minutesIncluded, callsIncluded, overagePerMin, and overagePerCall are null on all plans as this is a non-telephony vertical.
Last verified 2026-06-15. We re-check published prices and compliance on a recurring cadence and update this page when they change.
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