Kibana
Kibana · founded 2012
What it is
Kibana is an open-source web interface for querying, analyzing, visualizing, and managing Elasticsearch data. Its tools include Discover, Dashboards, Maps, alerting, and a developer console. Interactive dashboards can combine metrics, charts, graphs, maps, tables, live data, drilldowns, and saved queries, and can be embedded. Data may come from Elasticsearch, Elastic Agent, Logstash, Beats, OpenTelemetry, APIs, cloud services, files, logs, metrics, traces, and events. Kibana also supports data ingestion into Elasticsearch, no-code machine learning for anomalies and rare events, and geospatial analysis with multilayer maps and distance filters. The self-managed Free and open tier includes the Elastic Stack, Kibana, native authentication, role-based access controls, and TLS encryption, with community support. Elastic Cloud Hosted and Serverless offer a free trial. The Standard hosted plan is listed at $99 a month, as low as, based on cloud production configuration; other plans and support options are also listed.
For and against
For
- Interactive dashboards can be embedded.
- Dashboards include maps, tables, and drilldowns.
- Free self-managed tier includes native authentication and TLS.
- No-code machine learning supports anomaly detection.
- Integrates alert workflows with Slack and PagerDuty.
Against
- Free self-managed support is community-based.
- Standard hosted plan is listed at $99 a month, as low as.
- Platinum and Enterprise prices are listed per contact.
The verdict
Kibana combines Elasticsearch data exploration with dashboards, maps, alerting, and machine-learning tools. The free self-managed option includes security features but community support; hosted plans add paid options and support levels.
Who it suits
Kibana suits teams that need to explore Elasticsearch data and build interactive dashboards. Its maps, alerting, machine-learning tools, and embedded dashboards may suit teams with those needs.
Plans and prices
Free and open
Self-managed Elastic Stack · Kibana interface included · Community support
Read 28 Sep 2026 · elastic.co
Standard
Elastic Cloud Hosted · AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud · Dashboards and visualizations · Maps and alerting
Read 28 Sep 2026 · elastic.co
Gold
Everything in Standard · Reporting · Third-party alerting actions · Watcher
Read 28 Sep 2026 · elastic.co
Platinum
Everything in Gold · Advanced Elastic Stack security · Machine-learning anomaly detection · Supervised learning
Read 28 Sep 2026 · elastic.co
Enterprise
Everything in Platinum · Elastic Maps Server · Cross-cluster search · AI-assisted capabilities
Read 28 Sep 2026 · elastic.co
On the record
- Supported apps
- Kibana provides Discover, Dashboards, Dev Tools Console, Maps, alerting, and developer console capabilities.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Company relationship
- Elastic describes itself as the company behind Elasticsearch.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Dashboard features
- Dashboards support metrics, XY charts, graphs, maps, tables, live data, drilldowns, and reusable saved queries.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Dashboard type
- interactiveelastic.co · read 20 Sep 2026
- Data ingestion
- Data can be ingested from logs, metrics, or documents into Elasticsearch, including via OTel, Logstash, and Beats.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Data sources
- Elasticsearch,Elastic Agent,Logstash,Beats,OpenTelemetry,APIs,AWS,Microsoft Azure,Google Cloud,Amazon S3,Amazon ECS,web content,files,logs,metrics,traces,and eventselastic.co · read 20 Sep 2026
- Embedded dashboards
- Yeselastic.co · read 20 Sep 2026
- Free tier
- The self-managed Free and open tier includes the full Elastic Stack, including Kibana.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Free tier limits
- Self-managed Free includes community support rather than guaranteed paid support.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Free trial
- Elastic Cloud Hosted and Serverless offer a free trial.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Geospatial analysis
- Kibana supports multilayer maps, distance filters, shape overlays, and offline basemaps and boundaries.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- System integrations
- Alert workflows integrate with Slack, PagerDuty, ServiceNow, and more than 100 additional systems.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Machine learning
- Kibana offers no-code machine learning for anomalies, rare events, message patterns, and alerting.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Hosted support
- Elastic Cloud Hosted support levels include web-based, business-hours, enhanced, and premium support.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Open-source interface
- Kibana is an open source interface for querying, analyzing, visualizing, and managing Elasticsearch data.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Platform
- webelastic.co · read 20 Sep 2026
- Security certification
- Enterprise self-managed includes FIPS 140-3 compliance and controls for GDPR, HIPAA, and FedRAMP requirements.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
- Security encryption
- Self-managed Free includes native authentication, RBAC, and TLS encryption.elastic.co · read 28 Sep 2026
