Google Cloud Logging vs syslog-ng
Google Cloud Logging
cloud.google.comsyslog-ng
syslog-ng.comSide by side
| Figure | Google Cloud Logging | syslog-ng |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.01/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 13 | 6 |
| Spec score · Log Management Software | 9.5 (#2) | 9.1 (#11) |
| Spec score · Log Analysis Software | 9.2 (#2) | 8.6 (#6) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Official integrations include Cloud Monitoring, Error Reporting, Cloud Trace, Pub/Sub, Cloud Storage and BigQuery. | The product pages list destinations and integrations including Elasticsearch, Hadoop, Kafka, MongoDB, SQL databases, Redis, Splunk, and SIEM tools. |
| Purpose | Cloud Logging is a fully managed, real-time log management service for storage, search, analysis, and alerting at exabyte scale. | syslog-ng collects logs from infrastructure sources, processes them, and routes or stores them for analysis. |
| Rating on Capterra | 0.0 out of 5 from 0 reviews | 4.3 out of 5 from 3 reviews |
| Support | The product page directs customers who need help getting started to contact sales. | Commercial customers can access certified engineers, global coverage, and support services; Open Source Edition users are directed to community support and documentation. |
| What it does | Cloud Logging is a fully managed service for storing, searching, analyzing, monitoring and alerting on log data at very large scale. | syslog-ng is an enhanced log daemon that receives syslog, unstructured text, message queues, SQL and NoSQL data and routes or stores it. |
Plans
Google Cloud Logging
- Logging storage (non-vended network logs)$0.50, paid once
- Vended network logs storage$0.25, paid once
- Logging retention beyond default period$0.01 a month
- Free allotmentFree
- Log AnalyticsFree
- Log RouterFree
- Logs RouterFree
- Extended retention$0.01 a month
- Logging retention$0.01 a month
- Vended network logs storage$0.25, paid once
syslog-ng
- syslog-ng Open Source EditionFree
- syslog-ng Premium Edition trialFree
- Syslog-ng Basic$2,800, paid once
- syslog-ng Premium EditionPriced on request
- syslog-ng Premium Edition MarketplacePriced on request
- syslog-ng Store BoxPriced on request
In their own words
Google Cloud Logging
Google Cloud Logging is a managed cloud service for storing, searching, analyzing and alerting on logs. Logs Explorer supports query-based searches, sorting, histogram views, field exploration and saved queries. Log Analytics uses BigQuery for SQL analysis, and log data can also be accessed in BigQuery alongside other business data. Google Cloud platform logs are ingested without setup; GKE workload logs are captured automatically, while the Ops Agent collects VM workload logs. Logs Router can send logs to external systems through Pub/Sub, and Cloud Storage can hold archives. Regional log buckets keep and process workload data in a selected region, with configurable access controls and retention. The service integrates with Cloud Monitoring, Error Reporting and Cloud Trace. Cloud Audit Logs records administrative activity and resource access, and its entries are immutable; the product page states 400 days of audit-log retention at no additional cost. Standard logging storage includes the first 50 GiB per project per month free, and new Google Cloud customers are offered $300 in credits. The listed deployment is cloud; platforms include API, Linux and web.
syslog-ng
syslog-ng collects infrastructure logs, processes them, and routes or stores them for analysis. Its free Open Source Edition can collect, parse, classify, rewrite, and correlate logs before sending them to analysis tools or storing them. Premium Edition adds filtering and real-time pattern correlation to reduce and normalize log data, plus disk buffering, client-side failover, and application-layer acknowledgements. It supports TLS-encrypted transfer and encrypted log storage with X.509 certificates for mutual authentication. Store Box offers access-controlled search and custom reports that can help with compliance work. Listed destinations include Elasticsearch, Hadoop, Kafka, MongoDB, SQL databases, Redis, Splunk, and SIEM tools. Premium licensing is based on Log Source Hosts, with annual support available; Store Box licensing depends on Log Source Hosts and hardware configuration. Open Source Edition is GPL/LGPL licensed and community supported. Commercial customers can access certified engineers and support services; Premium Edition and Store Box offer free trials.