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Graylog Enterprise vs SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Graylog Enterprise
Ranking in Log Management
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Ranking in Log Management
27th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Graylog Enterprise is 2.5%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server is 1.2%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Graylog Enterprise2.5%
SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server1.2%
Other96.3%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Merit Ronald - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at Absa Bank Uganda
Centralized log insights have reduced investigation time and improve security response
One improvement I want to see in Graylog Enterprise is artificial intelligence to help us automatically identify unusual patterns and suggest possible causes. I also want to see more ready-made dashboards and alert templates for common security use cases to help us gain value from the platform faster after deployment. Lastly, I want to see improvements in handling very large volumes of data, especially after searching, and a more user-friendly log management system, particularly in large environments. I give Graylog Enterprise a 9 out of 10 because it has a limitation of a steep learning curve for new users due to the many configuration options. It takes considerable time to become comfortable with creating searches, dashboards, and alerts. Additionally, in very large environments with large volumes of logs, it requires careful planning, and its data retention is quite limited.
SJ
Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Valuable log segregation aids in auditing, but Windows integration needs enhancement
Our primary use case for Kiwi Syslog is for gathering logs necessary for auditing purposes I appreciate that with Kiwi Syslog, we can segregate the logs based on the display, such as using different colors and fonts, which helps greatly in identifying logs by their severity. This feature is…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best feature of Graylog is the Elasticsearch integration. We can integrate and we can run filters, such as an event of interest, and those logs we can send to any SIEM tool or as an analytic. Additionally, there are clear and well-documented implementation instructions on their website to follow if needed."
"Everything stands out as valuable, including the fact that I can quantify and qualify the logs, create pipelines and process the logs in any way I like, and create charts or data maps."
"Message forwarding through the in-built module."
"One of the most valuable features is that you are able to do a very detailed search through the log messages in the overview."
"Graylog is worth the given effort."
"What I like about Graylog is that it's real-time and you have access to the raw data. So, you ingest it, and you have access to every message and every data item you ingest. You can then build analytics on top of that. You can look at the raw data, and you can do some volumetric estimations, such as how big traffic you have, how many messages of data of a type you have, etc."
"We're using the Community edition, but I know that it has really good dashboarding and alerts."
"I like the simplicity of the solution, the fact that it's open source and user friendly."
"The most valuable features of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server include its ability to provide network mapping and deliver information to my customers about their networks through various methods."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the alerting based on the security logs."
"We are very happy with the stability of the solution."
"I appreciate that with Kiwi Syslog, we can segregate the logs based on the display, such as using different colors and fonts, which helps greatly in identifying logs by their severity."
"The best thing about Kiwi Syslog is that it filters logs into different levels."
"Simplicity is the most valuable feature."
"Overall, I rate SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server ten out of ten."
"I definitely recommend this solution."
 

Cons

"We ran into problems with Elasticsearch throwing a circuit-breaking exception due to field data size being too large. It turned out that the heap size directly impacted this size in a high-throughput environment, causing unexplained instability in Graylog. We were able to troubleshoot on the Elasticsearch size, but we should have been able to reference some minimum requirements for Graylog to know that our settings weren't sufficient."
"Graylog could improve the process of creating rules. We have to create them manually by doing parses and applying them. Other SIEM solutions have basic rules and you can create and get more events of interest."
"Dashboards, stream alerts and parsing could be improved."
"The alerting system could be more flexible."
"Elasticsearch recommendations for tuning could be better. Graylog doesn't have direct support for running the system inside of Kubernetes, so it can be challenging to fill in the gaps and set up containers in a way that is both performant and stable."
"Graylog Enterprise performs well overall; however, the UI could be improved because the SOC team creates multiple dashboards based on their use cases, and creating dashboards is complex."
"The technical support is a weak point in this product. It's not so easy to contact them and they don't answer immediately."
"I hope to see improvements in Graylog for more interactivity, user-friendliness, and creating alerts. The initial setup is complex."
"Technical support could definitely be better."
"I would like to see better search functions and better filters in the next release."
"There is a need for an on-premises solution, which could lead to easier sales in larger markets."
"The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly."
"I would like to have email notifications for emergency logs."
"The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly. This is a significant concern, as it led to losing a deal due to the inability to provide Windows logs effectively."
"SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server could improve by reducing the price."
"I would like to see a more user-friendly and customizable dashboard."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using the free version of the product. However, the paid version is expensive."
"I use the free version of Graylog."
"Graylog is a free open-source solution. The free version has a capacity limitation of 2 GB daily, if you want to go above this you have to purchase a license."
"There is an open source version and an enterprise version. I wouldn't recommend the enterprise version, but as an open source solution, it is solid and works really well."
"It's open source and free. They have a paid version, but we never looked into that because we never needed the features of the paid version."
"We're using the Community edition."
"​You get a lot out-of-the-box with the non-enterprise version, so give it a try first."
"I am using a community edition. I have not looked at the enterprise offering from Graylog."
"The price of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server could improve."
"We subscribe and pay directly on the website."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Graylog?
I am not sure about the pricing, setup cost, and licensing because that was dealt with by a different team that handled the licensing and procurement.
What needs improvement with Graylog?
Graylog Enterprise performs well overall; however, the UI could be improved because the SOC team creates multiple dashboards based on their use cases, and creating dashboards is complex. If there w...
What is your primary use case for Graylog?
Graylog Enterprise is used primarily for log management and to perform security analytics. It helps the organization collect logs from different sources and centralize them in one place. We can sea...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
SolarWinds pricing is perceived as very high in the market, which can be a barrier for many customers.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly. This is a significant concern, as it led to losing a deal due to the inability to provide Windows logs effectively. It should be more user-fri...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
Our primary use case for Kiwi Syslog is for gathering logs necessary for auditing purposes.
 

Also Known As

Graylog2
Kiwi Syslog Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Blue Cross Blue Shield, eBay, Cisco, LinkedIn, SAP, King.com, Twilio, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Holy Cross Energy, West Texas A&M University, Medium Enterprise Industrial Manufacturing Company
Find out what your peers are saying about Graylog Enterprise vs. SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,647 professionals have used our research since 2012.