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Cribl vs SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cribl
Ranking in Log Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (5th), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (7th), Observability Pipeline Software (1st)
SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Ranking in Log Management
25th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Cribl is 2.6%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server is 1.3%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cribl2.6%
SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server1.3%
Other96.1%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Aman Verma - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Has helped reduce daily log volume significantly and streamline data routing across multiple destinations
Regarding complexity, as I mentioned before, Cribl is very simple to use. When I started 2.5 years ago, it was very easy to learn. I learned Cribl within a week, and even though I was a fresher at the time, it was easy to understand and not complex enough that someone would need to spend money on labs. It's not that complex to learn. Regarding cost efficiency, it's very good because nowadays the SIEM tools we use are too expensive on license, and SIEM tools base their license on how many logs get ingested. The unwanted logs, particularly firewall logs, represent a significant portion of unnecessary ingestion. Cribl saves our license by filtering out half of the firewall logs that are unwanted. Our main purpose for using Cribl is to save our license and save money. Currently, everyone is moving toward AI agents. We currently use regex, and AI agents could help us create those regex patterns to drop events or add raw data to events. Currently, we sit down, review the logs, and create regex patterns manually, which can be time-consuming. An AI agent could reduce this time. I read some articles indicating that Cribl Cloud has started using AI and considering MCPs and model context, but I'm not certain how far along they are. If Cribl asked me what they could improve, that would be my suggestion. The support is very good, and I had a few issues with Cribl where I raised support cases and received good responses, which is better than the quick response I didn't get from other SIEM tools and vendor tools I use. Compared to other SIEM tools, Cribl is cheaper than Splunk and DataDogs. However, it's still a bit expensive from my point of view, though I won't call it expensive. Overall, I think 99% of companies use Cribl before their SIEM tools, and compared to SIEM tools, Cribl is cheaper. Companies can use any SIEM tool such as Google, Splunk, or Cisco, and Cribl is cheaper than those SIEM tools. They might have a slight chance to reduce costs further, but I'm not the correct person to evaluate that since I'm more focused on the operational side. Regarding training, it was quite easy to grasp. It took me almost a week to understand the basic functionalities and what Cribl does. Getting more expertise took additional time, but basic functionalities and understanding what Cribl does took around four to five days. One point I want to mention is that Cribl could improve their labs or training materials in their Cribl Cloud or whatever portal they have.
SJ
Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Valuable log segregation aids in auditing, but Windows integration needs enhancement
Our primary use case for Kiwi Syslog is for gathering logs necessary for auditing purposes I appreciate that with Kiwi Syslog, we can segregate the logs based on the display, such as using different colors and fonts, which helps greatly in identifying logs by their severity. This feature is…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Cribl has been instrumental in containing our data costs, especially as we use leading log aggregation and SIEM tools known for their heavy licensing costs by ingest."
"The Stream product benefits us as it gives us the ability to reduce and streamline the logs that we have getting into our SIEM."
"We save about 75% percent of our costs by processing network and firewall logs through Cribl."
"Enhancing those events to optimize, to add new fields or to remove the extra fields that are of no use helps us in log reduction by dumping the raw logs and only ingesting the interested fields, which helps us in 50 to 60% volume reduction."
"Cribl's interface is user-friendly and easy to learn, making it simple to teach new users how to use it."
"Cribl acts as a super product because it enables one source to send to multiple destinations using only one copy."
"The features of Cribl that I appreciate the most are the vendor agnosticism and the ability to send data almost anywhere you want, regardless of the data type, the format, or the destination; it's very flexible, and we've been able to integrate it with the tools that we have used in the past and are planning to use in the future."
"I think it is cost-efficient because overall, after using Cribl, it helps users save cost and time."
"Simplicity is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the alerting based on the security logs."
"The best thing about Kiwi Syslog is that it filters logs into different levels."
"I appreciate that with Kiwi Syslog, we can segregate the logs based on the display, such as using different colors and fonts, which helps greatly in identifying logs by their severity."
"Overall, I rate SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server ten out of ten."
"I definitely recommend this solution."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server is its performance and management. Additionally, the solution integrates well."
"If anyone needs log management, we recommend SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server."
 

Cons

"The sys logging could be enhanced to make it easier to identify errors, especially when dealing with multiple functions."
"However, the endpoint plug-in tool can use some refinement, as it tends to hit system resources and can sometimes be detrimental to systems to the point where it must be turned off and a scan restarted when a user is offline."
"I think it is a bit expensive. I heard that this might be expensive."
"There is no alerting mechanism for the leader/worker nodes status."
"Improvement could be made in the logging area, as sometimes we encounter issues in a pipeline or something, and it's not immediately obvious when you look at the logs that the pipeline is failing."
"The user interface of Cribl Search can be more simplified because for non-technical users, it is quite difficult to grasp."
"Improvement could be made in the logging area, as sometimes we encounter issues in a pipeline or something, and it's not immediately obvious when you look at the logs that the pipeline is failing."
"Cribl could have developed some version that can give backward compatibility."
"Technical support could definitely be better."
"The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly."
"I would like to see a more user-friendly and customizable dashboard."
"I would like to have email notifications for emergency logs."
"The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly. This is a significant concern, as it led to losing a deal due to the inability to provide Windows logs effectively."
"SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server could improve by reducing the price."
"SolarWinds pricing is perceived as very high in the market, which can be a barrier for many customers."
"There is a need for an on-premises solution, which could lead to easier sales in larger markets."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product pricing is reasonable compared to other solutions."
"I would not say it is a cheaply priced tool as it has been doing wonders in the market. The tool has been budget-friendly for organizations."
"The price of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server could improve."
"We subscribe and pay directly on the website."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
6%
Computer Software Company
5%
Government
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise34
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cribl?
I'd highly recommend other organizations to use Cribl Search because it did help us a lot with data processing and everything.
What needs improvement with Cribl?
The user interface is acceptable, but I think a person who is just starting to use it will need to go through documentation because there is a steep learning curve to become familiar with Cribl Str...
What is your primary use case for Cribl?
I am using Cribl Stream for data routing and data processing as part of my company's IT team. We primarily use it for monitoring and collecting data.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
SolarWinds pricing is perceived as very high in the market, which can be a barrier for many customers.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly. This is a significant concern, as it led to losing a deal due to the inability to provide Windows logs effectively. It should be more user-fri...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
Our primary use case for Kiwi Syslog is for gathering logs necessary for auditing purposes.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Kiwi Syslog Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Holy Cross Energy, West Texas A&M University, Medium Enterprise Industrial Manufacturing Company
Find out what your peers are saying about Cribl vs. SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.