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Elastic Cloud vs OpenObserve

SEPT 2026 audit

A comparison of Elastic Cloud and OpenObserve built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.

Reviewed by Palash BagchiUpdated 26 criteria comparedSources last checked

The short answer

Choose Elastic Cloud if…

Teams that need full-text search and observability on the same underlying engine, or that want the option to self-host later — Elastic's dual identity as a search platform and an observability platform is the actual differentiator against single-purpose competitors.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Choose OpenObserve if…

Teams that want one bill they can predict — ingest, query, and retention included — with session replay and RUM in the same product rather than as separate purchases.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Consider something else if…

  • Elastic Cloud: The need is narrowly error tracking or APM — a purpose-built tool is usually simpler to operate than standing up an Elasticsearch cluster for one workload, and Elastic Cloud's per-resource pricing doesn't publish a flat entry price the way single-purpose competitors do.
  • OpenObserve: Ingest is $0.50 per GB against Grafana Cloud's $0.050, so the simplicity costs an order of magnitude at volume.

Neither quite fits? Every other option, ranked by iScore: Elastic Cloud alternatives · OpenObserve alternatives

18 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.

Visit Elastic Cloud documentationVisit OpenObserve documentation

No affiliate links, sponsored placements or paid rankings appear on this site. Ordering follows the sourced data and the stated criteria.

01.

At a glance.

CriterionElastic CloudOpenObserve
Pricing
Free tierNo — The only free offer here is a trial; no ongoing free tier is listed beside the Hosted and Serverless plans.No — Cloud offers a 14-day trial only; the self-hosted Enterprise build is free up to 50 GB/day
Kind of free offerFree trial — The only free offer here is a trial; no ongoing free tier is listed beside the Hosted and Serverless plans.Free trial
Credit card to startNoNo
Entry paid planElastic Cloud Hosted Standard, cheapest of four subscription tiers: as low as $99 per month for a production config of 120 GB storage across 2 zones. Gold $114, Platinum $131, Enterprise $184 per month on the same config basis. Serverless is metered, no plan fee.No minimum: Cloud Professional is pay-as-you-go from $0.50 per GB ingested plus $0.01 per GB queried, billed monthly with no upfront commitment.
Pricing modelThree deployment options priced differently: Hosted is resource-based, Serverless is usage-based — both pay-as-you-go monthly or prepaid — and Self-managed is licensed by node count and RAM.Two meters and nothing else: $0.50 per GB ingested and $0.01 per GB queried, with retention included rather than sold as a tier. OpenObserve frames it as no hidden tiers and no surprise bills.
Infrastructure
Regions
Hosted: 60 regions across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud (also Alibaba Cloud and FedRAMP). Serverless: generally available on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure.
Four OpenObserve Cloud regions: US West 2 (California, Azure), US East 2 (Ohio, AWS), EU Central 1 (Frankfurt, AWS) and Asia Pacific South 1 (Mumbai, AWS).
Uptime SLA99.95% monthly, for the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers, on both Hosted and Serverless. Not applicable to self-managed, where the customer operates the infrastructure.SLAs appear in the enterprise feature list alongside architecture reviews and volume discounts. No percentage is published on the pricing page.
Observability
Retention windowNo fixed window on Serverless: retention is priced per GB retained per month, as low as $0.017 (Logs Essentials) or $0.019 (Complete), and $0.005 for metrics.Included rather than priced: 15 months for metrics and 30 days for logs, traces, RUM and everything else, at no extra cost on pay-as-you-go.
Self-hostableSupportedSupported
Ingest price per GBAs low as $0.07 per GB ingested (logs, traces, RUM) on Serverless Observability Logs Essentials; as low as $0.09 on Observability Complete, with metrics at $0.023.$0.50 per GB ingested, quoted with a 30% annual-commitment discount already applied.
Query price
No separate query meter on Serverless Observability: billing is ingest plus retention only, with egress 50 GB free then $0.05 per GB.
$0.01 per GB queried, billed separately from ingest.
Support
Support on entry paid planFour support tiers, keyed to the Elastic Cloud subscription tier rather than bought separately. Platinum and Enterprise share an identical support SLA.Premium support is listed among the enterprise features. The pay-as-you-go cloud plan's support level is not stated; the page directs anyone wanting enterprise support to sales.
Compliance
SOC 2SOC 2 Type 2 audit by Coalfire covers Elasticsearch Service and support subscriptions; report available on request via the Trust Center.SOC 2 Type II certified; the report is requested through security@openobserve.ai or the trust portal.
ISO 27001Information Security Program certified on ISO 27001, including ISO 27017 and ISO 27018.ISO 27001 certification announced November 2025, with the certificate held in the trust portal; the security page itself makes no ISO representation.
HIPAA
HIPAA business associate agreements available on all Elastic Cloud subscription tiers on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
Enterprise-tier Cipher Keys are documented as giving encryption and compliance support for HIPAA. A feature-level statement in the Enterprise Features docs, not a certification, audit report or BAA.
GDPR / data residencyOperates in compliance with GDPR principles; customers can request a Data Processing Addendum through a support case.Customer selects the storage region and OpenObserve does not relocate stored data without instruction; a DPA covering EU and UK GDPR is published.
PCI DSS
PCI DSS listed among the certifications in the Elastic Trust Center, alongside SOC 2, ISO 27001 and FedRAMP.
Enterprise-tier Cipher Keys are documented as giving encryption and compliance support for PCI. A feature-level statement in the Enterprise Features docs, not a PCI DSS attestation or AOC.
Encryption at rest
Cluster data is encrypted at rest by default; TLS between Elasticsearch nodes and from the internet.
Not guaranteed by OpenObserve: storage-layer encryption and key management depend on the hosting provider and deployment architecture.
Customer-managed keys
Supported on Elastic Cloud Hosted via your cloud provider KMS, but only at the Enterprise subscription level; the key cannot yet be changed or removed once set.
Cipher Keys (Enterprise Edition and Cloud): you supply the key and may hold it in your own Akeyless external key management system. Keys decrypt encrypted log fields at query time; not storage-layer key management.
Role-based access controlPredefined cloud resource roles (Admin, Editor, Viewer, billing admin) for Hosted and Serverless; custom roles can be created on Serverless projects.Yes on Cloud (preconfigured) and Enterprise (via OpenFGA); not available in the open-source edition, where all users have unrestricted access.
Private networking / VPC
AWS PrivateLink and Azure Private Link for Hosted and Serverless; GCP Private Service Connect for Hosted only. IP filtering can be combined with private connections.
Named for BYOC, where the customer manages VPC peering, Transit Gateway or PrivateLink; for Cloud the SLA names only the customer's own internet egress. Read from the shared-responsibility tables: Cloud in section 4.2, BYOC in 4.3.
Dedicated infrastructure
Elasticsearch nodes run in isolated containers under least privilege; containers have no means of communicating with containers from another cluster. Scope: container-level isolation between customer clusters; no dedicated-hardware option is offered on this page.
Single-Tenant Hosted and OpenObserve-managed BYOC deployments are offered alongside multi-tenant Cloud, all under the 99.8% SLA.

Only criteria both providers publish appear here; a tinted cell marks a real difference. Criteria only one of them documents are listed below, and an absence there means we found no source — not that the feature is missing. How we source this.

The small bar above a value is inetGeek's own lean toward that side — computed from the same facts shown, never a number the provider published. See the picker below "The short answer" to weigh only the criteria you care about.

02.

Where they differ.

Entry paid plan

Elastic Cloud
Elastic Cloud Hosted Standard, cheapest of four subscription tiers: as low as $99 per month for a production config of 120 GB storage across 2 zones. Gold $114, Platinum $131, Enterprise $184 per month on the same config basis. Serverless is metered, no plan fee.
OpenObserve
No minimum: Cloud Professional is pay-as-you-go from $0.50 per GB ingested plus $0.01 per GB queried, billed monthly with no upfront commitment.
Sources (2) →

Pricing model

Elastic Cloud
Three deployment options priced differently: Hosted is resource-based, Serverless is usage-based — both pay-as-you-go monthly or prepaid — and Self-managed is licensed by node count and RAM.
OpenObserve
Two meters and nothing else: $0.50 per GB ingested and $0.01 per GB queried, with retention included rather than sold as a tier. OpenObserve frames it as no hidden tiers and no surprise bills.
Sources (2) →
  • Elastic Cloud Pricing ↗

    “Pricing Resource based pricing Pay as you go (monthly) or prepaid Usage based pricing Pay as you go (monthly) or prepaid License-based pricing Licensing based on number of nodes and used RAM”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • Pricing — OpenObserve ↗

    “Pay-as-you-go from $0.50/GB ingested and $0.01/GB queried, with retention included. No hidden tiers, no surprise bills”

    Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction

Regions

Elastic Cloud

Hosted: 60 regions across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud (also Alibaba Cloud and FedRAMP). Serverless: generally available on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure.

OpenObserve

Four OpenObserve Cloud regions: US West 2 (California, Azure), US East 2 (Ohio, AWS), EU Central 1 (Frankfurt, AWS) and Asia Pacific South 1 (Mumbai, AWS).

Sources (2) →

Uptime SLA

Elastic Cloud
99.95% monthly, for the Platinum and Enterprise subscription tiers, on both Hosted and Serverless. Not applicable to self-managed, where the customer operates the infrastructure.
OpenObserve
SLAs appear in the enterprise feature list alongside architecture reviews and volume discounts. No percentage is published on the pricing page.
Sources (2) →

Retention window

Elastic Cloud
No fixed window on Serverless: retention is priced per GB retained per month, as low as $0.017 (Logs Essentials) or $0.019 (Complete), and $0.005 for metrics.
OpenObserve
Included rather than priced: 15 months for metrics and 30 days for logs, traces, RUM and everything else, at no extra cost on pay-as-you-go.
Sources (2) →

Ingest price per GB

Elastic Cloud
As low as $0.07 per GB ingested (logs, traces, RUM) on Serverless Observability Logs Essentials; as low as $0.09 on Observability Complete, with metrics at $0.023.
OpenObserve
$0.50 per GB ingested, quoted with a 30% annual-commitment discount already applied.
Sources (2) →

Query price

Elastic Cloud
No separate query meter on Serverless Observability: billing is ingest plus retention only, with egress 50 GB free then $0.05 per GB.
OpenObserve
$0.01 per GB queried, billed separately from ingest.
Sources (2) →

Support on entry paid plan

Elastic Cloud
Four support tiers, keyed to the Elastic Cloud subscription tier rather than bought separately. Platinum and Enterprise share an identical support SLA.
OpenObserve
Premium support is listed among the enterprise features. The pay-as-you-go cloud plan's support level is not stated; the page directs anyone wanting enterprise support to sales.
Sources (2) →
  • Elastic Cloud Pricing ↗

    “four support tiers, depending on the elastic cloud subscription tier two subscription tiers (platinum and enterprise) with identical support sla”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • OpenObserve Pricing ↗

    “role-based access control (rbac) premium support deployment flexibility (public cloud, or bring your own cloud) architecture reviews volume discounts slas [...] for ingestion volumes above 50 gb per day or additional enterprise support, contact the openobserve sales team.”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction

SOC 2

Elastic Cloud
SOC 2 Type 2 audit by Coalfire covers Elasticsearch Service and support subscriptions; report available on request via the Trust Center.
OpenObserve
SOC 2 Type II certified; the report is requested through security@openobserve.ai or the trust portal.
Sources (2) →

ISO 27001

Elastic Cloud
Information Security Program certified on ISO 27001, including ISO 27017 and ISO 27018.
OpenObserve
ISO 27001 certification announced November 2025, with the certificate held in the trust portal; the security page itself makes no ISO representation.
Sources (2) →

HIPAA

Elastic Cloud
HIPAA business associate agreements available on all Elastic Cloud subscription tiers on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
OpenObserve
Enterprise-tier Cipher Keys are documented as giving encryption and compliance support for HIPAA. A feature-level statement in the Enterprise Features docs, not a certification, audit report or BAA.
Sources (2) →

GDPR / data residency

Elastic Cloud
Operates in compliance with GDPR principles; customers can request a Data Processing Addendum through a support case.
OpenObserve
Customer selects the storage region and OpenObserve does not relocate stored data without instruction; a DPA covering EU and UK GDPR is published.
Sources (2) →
  • Elastic Cloud Security | Elastic ↗

    “Today, Elastic is operating in compliance with the principles of GDPR. Elastic Cloud customers can request a Data Processing Addendum (DPA)”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

  • Security & Compliance | OpenObserve ↗

    “Customers select among the storage regions available for their service, as reflected in their order or deployment configuration. OpenObserve does not relocate stored Customer Data to another region without customer instructions or agreement.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

PCI DSS

Elastic Cloud
PCI DSS listed among the certifications in the Elastic Trust Center, alongside SOC 2, ISO 27001 and FedRAMP.
OpenObserve
Enterprise-tier Cipher Keys are documented as giving encryption and compliance support for PCI. A feature-level statement in the Enterprise Features docs, not a PCI DSS attestation or AOC.
Sources (2) →

Encryption at rest

Elastic Cloud
Cluster data is encrypted at rest by default; TLS between Elasticsearch nodes and from the internet.
OpenObserve
Not guaranteed by OpenObserve: storage-layer encryption and key management depend on the hosting provider and deployment architecture.
Sources (2) →

Customer-managed keys

Elastic Cloud
Supported on Elastic Cloud Hosted via your cloud provider KMS, but only at the Enterprise subscription level; the key cannot yet be changed or removed once set.
OpenObserve
Cipher Keys (Enterprise Edition and Cloud): you supply the key and may hold it in your own Akeyless external key management system. Keys decrypt encrypted log fields at query time; not storage-layer key management.
Sources (2) →

Role-based access control

Elastic Cloud
Predefined cloud resource roles (Admin, Editor, Viewer, billing admin) for Hosted and Serverless; custom roles can be created on Serverless projects.
OpenObserve
Yes on Cloud (preconfigured) and Enterprise (via OpenFGA); not available in the open-source edition, where all users have unrestricted access.
Sources (2) →

Private networking / VPC

Elastic Cloud
AWS PrivateLink and Azure Private Link for Hosted and Serverless; GCP Private Service Connect for Hosted only. IP filtering can be combined with private connections.
OpenObserve
Named for BYOC, where the customer manages VPC peering, Transit Gateway or PrivateLink; for Cloud the SLA names only the customer's own internet egress. Read from the shared-responsibility tables: Cloud in section 4.2, BYOC in 4.3.
Sources (2) →
  • Private connectivity | Elastic Docs ↗

    “Private connectivity is a secure way for your Elastic Cloud deployments and projects to communicate with other cloud provider services”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

  • OpenObserve Service Level Agreement ↗

    “Maintaining the Customer's own internet connectivity and egress required to reach the Service endpoints. [...] Managing VPC peering, Transit Gateways, or PrivateLink connections required for OpenObserve to access and manage the deployment in the Customer's cloud account.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

Dedicated infrastructure

Elastic Cloud
Elasticsearch nodes run in isolated containers under least privilege; containers have no means of communicating with containers from another cluster. Scope: container-level isolation between customer clusters; no dedicated-hardware option is offered on this page.
OpenObserve
Single-Tenant Hosted and OpenObserve-managed BYOC deployments are offered alongside multi-tenant Cloud, all under the 99.8% SLA.
Sources (2) →

When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.

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03.

Documented by only one.

These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing — except where we say we read the other provider's own page on a given date and it does not state it. Those rows lean, and the provider can correct them with a link.

When the free offer endsOpenObserve: 14 days.
Session replayOpenObserve: Supported
Hybrid search (vector + keyword)Elastic Cloud: Supported — combines vector similarity scores with BM25F text-relevance scores in a single hybrid query.
Metadata filteringElastic Cloud: Supported — vector search results can be filtered by metadata while preserving approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) search speed.
04.

Questions this comparison answers.

Entry paid plan: Elastic Cloud or OpenObserve?

Elastic Cloud: Elastic Cloud Hosted Standard, cheapest of four subscription tiers: as low as $99 per month for a production config of 120 GB storage across 2 zones. Gold $114, Platinum $131, Enterprise $184 per month on the same config basis. Serverless is metered, no plan fee.

OpenObserve: No minimum: Cloud Professional is pay-as-you-go from $0.50 per GB ingested plus $0.01 per GB queried, billed monthly with no upfront commitment.

Should I choose Elastic Cloud or OpenObserve?

Pick Elastic Cloud if Teams that need full-text search and observability on the same underlying engine, or that want the option to self-host later — Elastic's dual identity as a search platform and an observability platform is the actual differentiator against single-purpose competitors.

Pick OpenObserve if Teams that want one bill they can predict — ingest, query, and retention included — with session replay and RUM in the same product rather than as separate purchases.

Provider pages

Elastic CloudManaged Elasticsearch, Kibana and Elastic Observability, hosted or serverless across AWS, Google Cloud and Azure.OpenObserveOpen-source observability covering logs, metrics, traces, RUM and session replay, priced per GB with retention included.

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Comments

Every page here is sourced and dated.