Graylog is a powerful log management platform with a security edition. Wazuh is a security-first XDR/SIEM. Confusing them costs SOC teams real money. Here is the breakdown.
Scope of the product
- Graylog Open: log collection, parsing, search, dashboards. Security features live in Graylog Security (paid).
- Wazuh: agent-based XDR + SIEM. Includes FIM, SCA, vulnerability detection, active response and MITRE mapping as core, free features.
Endpoint visibility
Graylog ships logs via Beats or syslog, it does not run on the endpoint. Wazuh agent gives you real endpoint telemetry: process events, file integrity, package inventory, configuration assessment.
Pricing
- Graylog Open is free. Graylog Security and Enterprise are commercial.
- Wazuh is fully open-source with no paid tier required for production.
Which to pick
- Pick Graylog if log management for non-security teams is your primary need.
- Pick Wazuh if you need an actual SIEM/XDR with built-in detection content and endpoint coverage.
- Use both: Wazuh for the security plane, Graylog for everything else, with shared OpenSearch storage if you want.
Want a hybrid pipeline? Our team designs Wazuh + Graylog architectures for environments that need both.
Official reference
Commands and configuration in this guide are based on the official Wazuh documentation. For the canonical source, see:
WazuhGraylogSIEM ComparisonLog Management