Splunk vs Elastic Security (2026): $0 vs $95 — Which Wins?
Compare / Splunk vs Elastic Security
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Team size
25 seats

Splunk vs Elastic Security

Observability Platforms pricing comparison · 2026

Splunk pricing ranges from $0–$800000/month, while Elastic Security ranges from $95–$175/month per resource. These products use different pricing models ( vs Per-seat subscription), so a direct price comparison isn't meaningful — costs depend on usage volume and mix.

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See pricing on each vendor's site
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Compare
2 products · Observability Platforms
Side-by-side · live
Splunk
Splunk pricing is based on custom quotes for Workload, Ingest, and Entity pricing models.
verified 21d ago
$690 $60K
View pricing →
Elastic Security
Elastic Security pricing ranges from $95 to $175/month per resource as of March 2026.
verified 27d ago
$690 $60K
View pricing →
Verdict · Vendr median · year 1
Elastic saves $59K vs Splunk · 25 seats
Cheapest $690
Spread 99%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Pricing model unknown
Pricing model unknown
no public list price found
Gold
$33K/yr
year 1 license · $109/seat
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
Median annual
$60K/yr
Vendr · n=0 · limited data avg 15% negotiated
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$690/yr
Vendr · n=93
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 15 sourced facts
12 hidden-cost · 2 contract · Vendr median
Last verified 3w ago
Confidence Limited confidence
Sources 4 sourced facts
2 hidden-cost · Vendr median · 1 review platform
Last verified 3w ago
Confidence High confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
5 documented
  • Enterprise Security (ES) Add-on Required for SIEM
    $10,000/year minimum
    2 sources
  • Data Pipeline Tools to Control Ingestion Costs
    20-30% of license costs
    2 sources
  • On-Premise Infrastructure and Storage Costs
    15-25% of license costs
    2 sources
  • Training and Expertise Costs
    5-10% of license costs
    2 sources
  • Cloud Egress Charges When Integrating with Azure/AWS
    $500-$5,000/month
    1 source
2 documented
  • Platinum License Per-Node Pricing Complexity
    $120,000/year difference between on-prem and cloud for equivalent deployment
    1 source
  • Cloud Deployment Premium
    $120,000/year premium for cloud vs on-prem
    1 source
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
No public ratings yet
Best for
Testing and small deployments
Watch out
Prohibitively expensive pricing model
TrustRadius
9.9/5 (14)
Best for
Small teams getting started with security operations and log analytics
Watch out
Limited memory analysis details
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Option A

Splunk

$0–$800000
/month
4 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Option B

Elastic Security

$95–$175
/month per resource
4 plans
Full pricing breakdown →

Different Pricing Models

Direct price comparison isn't meaningful here — Splunk uses pricing while Elastic Security uses Per-seat subscription pricing. Your actual cost will depend on usage volume, team size, or both. Here's each product in its native unit.

Splunk

$0–$800000 / month
See full Splunk pricing →
vs
Per-seat subscription

Elastic Security

$95–$175 / month per resource
See full Elastic Security pricing →

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan Splunk Elastic Security
Free Free /month $95 /per month
Workload Pricing Custom $109 /per month
Ingest Pricing Custom $125 /per month
Entity Pricing Custom $175 /per month

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

Splunk

8 scenarios
$1,800
Small Business (1-10GB daily)
$18,000 per year (license only), $20,000 - $56,500 first-year total including implementation and training
$50,000
Medium Enterprise (50GB daily)
$90,000 per year (license), additional 30-50% for infrastructure, storage, and maintenance
$400,000
Large Enterprise (500GB+ daily)
$800,000+ per year including licensing, infrastructure, storage overhead, and operational costs
See all 8 scenarios →

Elastic Security

4 scenarios
$95/month
Startup Security (Standard tier)
per resource for Standard tier with basic security features
$375/month ($125 × 3 resources)
Mid-Size SOC (Platinum tier, 3 resources)
for Platinum tier with EDR and threat hunting
$1,750
Enterprise Security (Enterprise tier, 10+ resources)
+/month ($175 × 10+ resources) with dedicated support and SLA guarantees
See all 4 scenarios →

Market Intelligence

Splunk

Median annual cost
$60,000
Average negotiated discount
15%

Elastic Security

Median annual cost
$690
Based on
93 deals

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

Splunk 8 hidden costs

critical
Enterprise Security (ES) Add-on Required for SIEM $10,000/year minimum
high
Data Pipeline Tools to Control Ingestion Costs 20-30% of license costs
high
On-Premise Infrastructure and Storage Costs 15-25% of license costs
medium
Training and Expertise Costs 5-10% of license costs
medium
Cloud Egress Charges When Integrating with Azure/AWS $500-$5,000/month
See all Splunk hidden costs →

Elastic Security 2 hidden costs

high
Platinum License Per-Node Pricing Complexity $120,000/year difference between on-prem and cloud for equivalent deployment
critical
Cloud Deployment Premium $120,000/year premium for cloud vs on-prem
See all Elastic Security hidden costs →

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