Quickwit
Quickwit is a free, open-source search and analytics engine for querying data stored in cloud or shared storage.
What Quickwit is
Quickwit is a free, open-source search and analytics engine for querying data stored in cloud or shared storage. It runs full-text searches, aggregation queries, and Elasticsearch query language requests with sub-second latency. Documented uses include log management, distributed tracing, conversational data, and event-based analytics. Quickwit separates compute from storage and uses stateless indexers and searchers, allowing single-node or multi-node deployments. Storage options include Amazon S3 and compatible services, Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage, MinIO, and local files. Ingestion sources include Kafka, Pulsar, Kinesis, S3 with SQS notifications, OpenTelemetry, Fluent Bit, and Vector. It accepts JSON logs through REST and supports OpenTelemetry and Jaeger protocols. Linux is officially supported; macOS binaries are provided but macOS is not officially supported. Docker, Helm, and Glasskube installation routes are available.
Good
- Free and open source under Apache 2.0
- Sub-second search on cloud storage
- Supports logs, traces, and event analytics
- Multiple ingestion integrations
- Single-node or multi-node deployment
Watch out
- Linux is the only officially supported operating system
- File-backed metastore cannot run multiple instances
- Poor fit for mutable data
- Not suited to low-latency e-commerce search
Who it suits
Quickwit suits teams managing logs, traces, or event data who want open-source search over cloud storage. It fits distributed deployments and users able to run Linux or compatible installation methods.
Verdict
Quickwit combines cloud-storage search with distributed log and trace ingestion. Its Linux support and metastore limits matter when planning deployment, especially for heavy workloads.
Plans and prices
From Quickwit's own pricing page, checked 9 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Quickwit Enterprise License | Priced on request | Enterprise license; page’s example includes estimated infrastructure and license costs for 1 TB/day ingestion and 30-day retention · Contact sales for an accurate quote. |
The facts
Each one read from Quickwit's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Architecture
- Quickwit decouples compute and storage and uses stateless indexers and searchers.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- Quickwit can run as a single node or as a multi-node cluster, and is distributed as a binary or Docker image with a Helm chart for Kubernetes.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Deployment limit
- The file-backed metastore does not support multiple instances running at the same time; the documentation recommends PostgreSQL for heavy workloads.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Deployment limitation
- A file-backed metastore does not support multiple instances running at the same time; the documentation recommends PostgreSQL for heavy workloads.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Deployment options
- bothchecked 24 Sep 2026
- Ingestion integrations
- Documented ingestion sources include its Ingest API, local files, Kafka, Pulsar, Kinesis, and S3 files using SQS notifications; log shippers such as OpenTelemetry, Fluent Bit, and Vector can also send data.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Log ingestion
- Quickwit provides a REST API for JSON-formatted logs and supports OpenTelemetry gRPC and HTTP protobuf protocols.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Notable limitation
- The introduction says Quickwit is a poor fit for low-latency e-commerce search and mutable data.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Open source
- Quickwit describes its software as open and free, and its installation page lists the Apache 2.0 license.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Product
- Quickwit is an open-source distributed search engine designed for search and analytics on large datasets stored on cloud storage.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Scalability
- The documentation says Quickwit is designed as a horizontally scalable distributed system with indexer, searcher, metastore, control plane, and janitor services.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Search
- Quickwit supports full-text search and aggregation queries, Elasticsearch query language support, and sub-second search on cloud storage.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Security and compliance
- The product overview lists support for infrequent targeted deletions for GDPR use cases.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Security and privacy
- The homepage lists support for infrequent, targeted deletions for GDPR use cases.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Storage and compute
- Quickwit separates compute from storage and supports shared storage such as Amazon S3 or MinIO for cluster deployments.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Storage integrations
- Supported storage providers include Amazon S3 and S3-compatible services, Azure Blob Storage, local files, and Google Cloud Storage.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Structured log parsing
- Yeschecked 24 Sep 2026
- Support
- The official site links to community support through GitHub and Discord.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Support and community
- The site links to a Discord community and offers a book-a-demo link from its homepage.checked 9 Oct 2026
The company
- Company update
- Quickwit announced in January 2025 that it was joining Datadog while planning an Apache 2.0 release for the open-source community.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Founded
- 2021checked 28 Sep 2026
Money
- Free plan
- Nochecked 24 Sep 2026
Where it runs
- Installation platforms
- Quickwit provides Linux and macOS binaries, a Docker image, a Helm chart, and Glasskube installation; Linux is its only officially supported operating system.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Platform support
- Quickwit is officially supported only on Linux; macOS and FreeBSD are not officially supported but should work, and binaries are provided for Linux and macOS.checked 9 Oct 2026
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