Elastic Apm vs Elasticsearch

Detailed comparison across 10 dimensions

Winner: Elasticsearch

Elasticsearch clearly comes out ahead of Elastic APM on Staquest's weighted six-dimension score. Elasticsearch has a free tier; Elastic APM does not.

Quick Overview

Overview	Elastic APMAPM solution integrated with the ELK stack for full-stack visibility.	ElasticsearchDistributed search and analytics engine.
Type	hybrid	hybrid
Company	Elastic	Elastic N.V.
Free Tier
Has API
Open Source
Learning Curve	-	-
Integration	-	-
Trending	Stable	Stable
GitHub Stars	-	-
Industries	DevelopmentSaaS & Cloud	DevelopmentData & Analytics
Categories	observability-apm	database
Website	Visit	Visit

Dimension Scores

Winners by Dimension

Overall Winner

Elasticsearch

Elastic Apm: 5.5Elasticsearch: 6.0(+4.9 pts)

Pricing Value

Tie15% weight

Elastic Apm

8.0

Elasticsearch

8.0

Features

Tie15% weight

Elastic Apm

3.0

Elasticsearch

3.0

Free Tier

Elasticsearch10% weight

Elastic Apm

2.0

Elasticsearch

7.5

Ease of Use

Tie10% weight

Elastic Apm

5.0

Elasticsearch

5.0

Scalability

Elastic Apm10% weight

Elastic Apm

10.0

Elasticsearch

9.4

Integrations

Tie10% weight

Elastic Apm

8.0

Elasticsearch

8.0

API Quality

Tie10% weight

Elastic Apm

6.0

Elasticsearch

6.0

Momentum

Tie10% weight

Elastic Apm

3.0

Elasticsearch

3.0

Community

Tie5% weight

Elastic Apm

3.0

Elasticsearch

3.0

Open Source

Tie5% weight

Elastic Apm

7.0

Elasticsearch

7.0

Pricing Comparison

Elastic APM

Standard–

usage based

Core Elastic Stack features
basic security
alerting
observability integrations
basic APM

Gold–

usage based

Everything in Standard
Advanced reporting
Watcher alerting
multi-stack monitoring
enhanced security workflows

Platinum–

usage based

Everything in Gold
Advanced Elastic Stack security
Machine learning (anomaly detection)
cross-cluster replication
advanced observability features (e.g., service maps, SLOs)

Enterprise

Contact sales

usage based

Everything in Platinum
Searchable snapshots
Elastic Maps Server
AI Assistant
advanced workflow automation

Elasticsearch

Try locally

Free

View pricing

open source

Elasticsearch + Kibana
No account required
No credit card required

Free cloud trial

Free

View pricing

freemium

Fully managed on AWS, GCP, or Azure
Production-ready
Search, Observability, and Security included
Agent Builder ready

Talk to an expert

Contact sales

View pricing

custom

Architecture review
Migration planning
AI strategy consulting

Feature Comparison

Feature	elastic-apm	elasticsearch
Advanced Elastic Stack Security
Agent Builder Ready
Advanced Observability Features (E.G., Service Maps, Slos)
Ai Strategy Consulting
Advanced Reporting
Architecture Review
Advanced Workflow Automation
Elasticsearch + Kibana
Ai Assistant
Fully Managed On Aws, Gcp, Or Azure
Alerting
Migration Planning
Basic Apm
No Account Required
Basic Security
No Credit Card Required
Core Elastic Stack Features
Production-Ready
Cross-Cluster Replication
Search, Observability, And Security Included
Elastic Maps Server
Enhanced Security Workflows
Everything In Gold
Everything In Platinum
Everything In Standard
Machine Learning (Anomaly Detection)
Multi-Stack Monitoring
Observability Integrations
Searchable Snapshots
Watcher Alerting

Showing 30 of 30 features

Dashes mean the feature isn't listed in our data. The tool may still support it.

Frequently asked questions

Is Elastic APM or Elasticsearch better?

On Staquest's weighted six-dimension scoring, Elasticsearch comes out ahead overall, though Elastic APM can be the better fit depending on your priorities — see the dimension-by-dimension breakdown above.

Does Elastic APM or Elasticsearch have a free tier?

Elasticsearch offers a free tier; Elastic APM does not currently list one.

View Elastic Apm View Elasticsearch