AWS CloudTrail
7.0#50 in log management softwareFrom $0.03 a monthFree planWebAPI
VisitAWS CloudTrail vs Grafana Loki
Grafana Loki
8.9#1 in log management softwareFrom $19 a monthFree planWebAPILinuxSelf-hosted
VisitWhat both publish
| Fact | AWS CloudTrail | Grafana Loki |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment options | cloud | self-hosted |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Live log tailing | No | Yes |
| Log pipelines | No | Yes |
| Purpose | CloudTrail tracks user activity and API calls across AWS services for auditing, security monitoring, and operational troubleshooting. | Loki is a log aggregation system designed to store and query logs from applications and infrastructure. |
AWS CloudTrail plans
- Event historyFree
- Trail management events$2 a month
- Trail data events$0.10 a month
- Trail data event aggregation$0.03 a month
- Trail network activity events$0.10 a month
- CloudWatch Logs delivery$0.25 a month
Grafana Loki plans
- Grafana Cloud Logs FreeFree
- Grafana Loki OSS self-hostedFree
- Loki (self-hosted)Free
- Grafana Cloud Logs Pro$19 a month
- Grafana Cloud Logs Enterprise—
Pick AWS CloudTrail if…
You want what its maker publishes above — check its page for the details.
Pick Grafana Loki if…
Loki suits teams that need to aggregate and query application or infrastructure logs and can manage a self-hosted deployment or use Grafana Cloud Logs. Its label-based indexing and LogQL are central considerations for selecting it.