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Cribl vs syslog-ng comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 12, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Cribl
Ranking in Log Management
13th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (14th), Data Integration (17th), Cloud Data Integration (13th), Data Preparation Tools (4th)
syslog-ng
Ranking in Log Management
15th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Cribl is 1.0%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of syslog-ng is 3.1%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Hariram G - PeerSpot reviewer
Collects logs from various cloud sources with reduced costs and improved efficiency
Cribl has simplified many aspects of the onboarding process, but there's still room for improvement. Currently, no other tools in the market truly compete with Cribl in its niche. Splunk is trying to retain customers by developing ingest actions to reduce licensing costs, hoping to prevent them from switching to Cribl. There is no alerting mechanism for the leader/worker nodes status. Since Cribl plays a major role in the mid-layer between the source and destination, there's a slight risk of losing data at some points while receiving real time data. It would be helpful if Cribl could temporarily store or index the data for a specific time range. This would prevent data loss during downtime. Additionally, there's room for improvement in how Cribl handles historical data. Currently, I can't view trends beyond a week, and even then, it’s often limited to just 24 hours. Since Cribl doesn’t index the data but only forwards it, extending the period for viewing statistics and monitoring trends would be a valuable enhancement.
RyanVargas - PeerSpot reviewer
It's a user-friendly open-source solution that can replace or augment a commercial product in some cases
I rate syslog-ng 10 out of 10. It's free and easy to use. It has built-in tools that help us index the various logs sent to it. It's a solid log product. If you're looking for a SIEM solution, syslog-ng will work as a stopgap measure at beginning of the project. It can also work as an injector for a true SIEM solution. You can send all the logs to syslog-ng and forward all the data to the SIEM solution after you've cleaned up the data and got the pertinent information. It's a good front end for a commercial SIEM solution, which becomes more expensive as you load more data into it. I would highly recommend syslog-ng for that use case. However, if you lack the expertise, you might need to go with a cloud-based SIEM instead. You need some in-house expertise or an outside consultant to manage it and set it up.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Cribl offers other valuable features. For instance, you can replay data from an edge device, store your daily data in a stream, and replay specific event data into Splunk if a security incident occurs"
"The product's most valuable features include the internal management of events, coding perspective, data processing, and serialization."
"I'd rate the solution ten out of ten."
"My favorite option in Cribl is the Stream product."
"The capability to reduce logs in a user-friendly manner is a standout feature. Cribl allows us to view logs live as they are being processed, giving us quick feedback on the changes made."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the ability to transform data in real-time within the pipeline without sending it to a destination."
"The support team was very helpful and managed to get everything production-ready."
"When it comes to the product's installation phase, it is not tough for people who have good knowledge...The tool is worth the investment."
"Syslog-ng has a separate config file in addition to the core configuration."
"The ability to extract and store the logs is the most valuable feature of syslog-ng."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"Syslog-ng provides easy access to all my logs. It helps me show managers and other clients precisely where an incident occurred. I also like it because you can integrate syslog-ng with multiple solutions to allow real-time monitoring."
"For us, the most valuable feature is the use of compound search for searching logs at a specific time, by a specific user, or specific behavior."
 

Cons

"There have been several administrative issues. Another point is that the browsing functions aren't very intuitive."
"Cribl doesn't have as many packs available"
"Cribl could improve by offering easier integrations with enterprise products, similar to what Splunk provides."
"Cribl could have developed some version that can give backward compatibility."
"The sys logging could be enhanced to make it easier to identify errors, especially when dealing with multiple functions."
"There is room for improvement in the documentation and knowledge base, particularly regarding configurations like sources where logs are being ingested"
"Cribl should consider adding more features that are applicable to smaller firms, allowing broader access to their data migration through Cribl."
"Perhaps more flexibility in terms of metrics would be helpful."
"The filtering has room for improvement."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"There is always the potential for additional integration and protocol extensions."
"It's hard to find people who know how to use syslog-ng. I often find problems with configurations, and solutions aren't integrated correctly with syslog-ng. For example, there might be data with extra decimals, or the collector agents are incorrectly named. It isn't a problem with the solution; it's a lack of professionals."
"There is room for improvement in terms of observability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would not say it is a cheaply priced tool as it has been doing wonders in the market. The tool has been budget-friendly for organizations."
"The product pricing is reasonable compared to other solutions."
"Syslog-ng is a free open-source solution."
"Syslog-ng is open-source."
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824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cribl?
I am not aware of the pricing details, however, I know they use a credit format for billing.
What needs improvement with Cribl?
At the moment, I don't have specific feedback on what can be improved as I do not work with Cribl daily. Perhaps more flexibility in terms of metrics would be helpful.
What is your primary use case for Cribl?
I am using Cribl to have everything centralized in one tool in terms of data collection. We were working with different Splunk customers, and Cribl helps collect data and then send it to an S3 buck...
What do you like most about syslog-ng?
For us, the most valuable feature is the use of compound search for searching logs at a specific time, by a specific user, or specific behavior.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for syslog-ng?
The pricing is in the middle. I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with one being expensive and ten being cheap.
What needs improvement with syslog-ng?
There is room for improvement in terms of observability. Additionally, a possible new feature could be Kafka integration.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Tecnocom, University of Victoria, University of Exeter, Datapath
Find out what your peers are saying about Cribl vs. syslog-ng and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.