Side by side
ClickStack vs Grafana Loki
Both stand on log management software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan Open source APILinuxSelf-hosted+1
Choose ClickStack if you want an open-source observability stack that unifies telemetry and supports multiple deployment models. Its managed service adds operational support through ClickHouse Cloud. Look elsewhere if log pipelines are essential, since they are not included in the listed capabilities.
Visit ClickStack Free plan Open source APILinuxSelf-hosted+2
Loki offers several ingestion and installation paths, plus querying and alerting for aggregated logs. Plan for an authenticating reverse proxy and take care with label cardinality.
Visit Grafana LokiThe facts
| ClickStack | Grafana Loki | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Self-hosted, Web | API, Linux, Self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Basic: $53 a month | Grafana Cloud Logs Pro: $19 a month |
| Plans published | 5 | 5 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | clickhouse.com | grafana.com |
| On log management software | #2 of 111 | #1 of 111 |
ClickStack: what it does well
- Combines logs, metrics, traces, session replays, and errors.
- Supports native OpenTelemetry collection with a bundled collector.
- Offers Lucene-style search, SQL access, dashboards, and alerts.
- Accepts non-OTel wide events when they include a timestamp.
- Open-source option supports self-hosted, hybrid, or cloud deployment.
What to know first
- The listed feature set does not include log pipelines.
- The managed trial ends after 30 days or when credits run out.
- The managed trial includes $300 in ClickHouse Cloud credits.
Grafana Loki: what it does well
- Horizontally scalable and highly available
- LogQL queries work in Grafana or LogCLI
- Supports alerting rules on incoming logs
- Integrates natively with Prometheus, Grafana, and Kubernetes
What to know first
- Does not include an authentication layer
- High-cardinality labels can reduce performance and cost-effectiveness
- Self-hosted Loki requires a reverse proxy for authentication
Alternatives to ClickStack Alternatives to Grafana Loki The whole list