Splunk licensing costs grow with data volume. Organizations collecting 1 TB/day pay approximately $150,000-200,000 annually. At 5 TB/day, costs exceed $500,000. These numbers assume standard enterprise pricing without premium add-ons or professional services.
LogZilla offers an alternative approach. Deploy LogZilla alongside or instead of Splunk. Reduce costs by 60-80% while adding AI-powered analysis capabilities Splunk does not provide.
Splunk Cost Drivers
Splunk pricing scales with ingestion volume:
| Daily Volume | Approximate Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| 100 GB | $30,000 - $50,000 |
| 500 GB | $100,000 - $150,000 |
| 1 TB | $150,000 - $200,000 |
| 5 TB | $500,000 - $700,000 |
| 10 TB | $900,000 - $1,200,000 |
Additional costs include:
- Premium apps and add-ons
- Professional services
- Training and certification
- Infrastructure (cloud or on-premises)
- Storage for retention requirements
Total cost of ownership often exceeds licensing by 50-100%.
LogZilla Deployment Options
Option 1: Splunk Replacement
Replace Splunk entirely with LogZilla:
Benefits:
- Eliminate Splunk licensing entirely
- AI-powered analysis included
- Natural language queries (no SPL)
- Lower infrastructure requirements
Considerations:
- Migration of existing dashboards
- User retraining
- Integration updates
Best for: Organizations seeking maximum cost reduction and willing to transition fully.
Option 2: Splunk Complement
Deploy LogZilla in front of Splunk:
text[Log Sources] → [LogZilla] → [Splunk] ↓ [Full Retention] [AI Analysis]
Benefits:
- Reduce Splunk ingestion 60-90%
- Maintain existing Splunk investment
- Add AI capability
- Full data retention in LogZilla
Considerations:
- Two platforms to manage
- Additional infrastructure
- Integration complexity
Best for: Organizations with significant Splunk investment seeking cost reduction without full migration.
Option 3: Gradual Migration
Start with LogZilla complement, migrate over time:
Phase 1: Deploy LogZilla for pre-processing Phase 2: Build new use cases in LogZilla Phase 3: Migrate existing use cases Phase 4: Reduce or eliminate Splunk
Best for: Risk-averse organizations seeking gradual transition.
Feature Comparison
| Capability | Splunk | LogZilla |
|---|---|---|
| Log Collection | Yes | Yes |
| Search | SPL required | Natural language + search |
| AI Analysis | Add-on cost | Included |
| Deduplication | Limited | Patented technology |
| Real-time Alerting | Yes | Yes |
| Dashboards | Yes | Yes |
| Compliance Reporting | Add-on | Included |
| On-premises AI | No | Yes (Ollama) |
| Air-gapped Deployment | Limited | Full support |
Cost Comparison Example
Scenario: 2 TB/day Enterprise
Current Splunk Deployment:
| Cost Category | Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| Splunk License | $350,000 |
| Infrastructure | $120,000 |
| Professional Services | $50,000 |
| Training | $20,000 |
| Total | $540,000 |
Option A: LogZilla Replacement:
| Cost Category | Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| LogZilla License | $96,000 |
| Infrastructure | $48,000 |
| Migration Services | $30,000 (year 1) |
| Total Year 1 | $174,000 |
| Total Year 2+ | $144,000 |
| Savings | $366,000 - $396,000/year |
Option B: LogZilla Complement:
| Cost Category | Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| Splunk License (400 GB) | $80,000 |
| LogZilla License | $72,000 |
| Infrastructure | $60,000 |
| Total | $212,000 |
| Savings | $328,000/year |
AI Capability Comparison
Splunk AI
- Requires Splunk AI add-on (additional cost)
- Cloud-only for most features
- SPL knowledge still required
- Limited natural language capability
LogZilla AI
- Included in base license
- On-premises or cloud
- Full natural language queries
- No query language required
- Air-gapped deployment supported
Example LogZilla query: "What security threats occurred in the last hour? Prioritize by severity and provide remediation steps."
Equivalent Splunk approach: Write SPL query, review results, manually correlate, research remediation.
Migration Considerations
Data Migration
- Historical data export from Splunk
- Import into LogZilla
- Validate data integrity
- Parallel operation during transition
Dashboard Migration
- Identify critical dashboards
- Recreate in LogZilla
- Validate functionality
- User acceptance testing
Integration Updates
- Update log forwarding configurations
- Modify alerting integrations
- Adjust automation workflows
- Test end-to-end functionality
User Training
- LogZilla interface orientation
- AI Copilot training
- Search and investigation workflows
- Dashboard creation
SPL to Natural Language Translation
One of the biggest barriers to Splunk migration is SPL expertise. Organizations invest years building SPL knowledge. LogZilla AI eliminates this dependency.
Common SPL Queries and Natural Language Equivalents
| SPL Query | LogZilla Natural Language |
|---|---|
index=security sourcetype=firewall action=deny | stats count by src_ip | "Show denied firewall connections grouped by source IP" |
index=auth sourcetype=linux_secure "Failed password" | timechart count | "Graph failed password attempts over time" |
index=network sourcetype=cisco_ios "interface.*down" | table host, _time, message | "List Cisco interface down events with host and time" |
index=app sourcetype=apache error | rex "(?<error_code>\d{3})" | stats count by error_code | "Count Apache errors by HTTP status code" |
Complex Analysis Without SPL
Traditional Splunk investigation requiring multiple queries:
textSPL Approach (multiple queries required): 1. index=security | stats count by src_ip | sort -count | head 10 2. index=security src_ip=<suspicious_ip> | table _time, action, dest_ip 3. index=auth src_ip=<suspicious_ip> | stats count by user 4. Manually correlate results 5. Research remediation steps
LogZilla AI approach (single prompt):
text"Analyze security events from the last 4 hours. Identify the top threat sources, show their activity timeline, correlate with authentication attempts, and provide remediation commands for our Cisco ASA firewalls."
The AI handles correlation, analysis, and remediation guidance automatically.
Preserving Institutional Knowledge
Organizations worry about losing SPL expertise during migration. LogZilla addresses this by:
- Documenting existing SPL queries during assessment
- Creating equivalent natural language prompts
- Training users on AI-powered investigation
- Maintaining search capability for users who prefer it
Risk Mitigation Strategies
Parallel Operation
Run LogZilla alongside Splunk during transition:
| Phase | Duration | Splunk Role | LogZilla Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment | 2 weeks | Primary | Evaluation |
| Pilot | 4 weeks | Primary | Pre-processing |
| Migration | 8 weeks | Reduced scope | Expanding scope |
| Validation | 2 weeks | Backup | Primary |
| Cutover | 1 week | Decommission | Full production |
Rollback Planning
Maintain rollback capability throughout migration:
- Keep Splunk licenses active during transition
- Preserve Splunk configurations
- Document rollback procedures
- Test rollback before cutover
Success Criteria
Define measurable success criteria before migration:
| Metric | Target |
|---|---|
| Query response time | <2 seconds |
| Alert latency | <30 seconds |
| User satisfaction | >80% positive |
| Cost reduction | >50% |
| Feature parity | 100% critical features |
Implementation Timeline
Quick Start (2-4 weeks)
- Deploy LogZilla in complement mode
- Configure log forwarding through LogZilla
- Enable deduplication for high-volume sources
- Validate Splunk ingestion reduction
Full Migration (8-12 weeks)
- Deploy LogZilla infrastructure
- Configure all log sources
- Migrate dashboards and alerts
- Train users
- Parallel operation
- Cutover and decommission Splunk
Common Migration Challenges
Organizations encounter predictable challenges during Splunk migration. Planning for these challenges ensures smoother transitions.
Challenge: Complex SPL Queries
Some organizations have thousands of saved searches and alerts built over years.
Solution: Prioritize by usage. Most organizations find that 20% of queries handle 80% of use cases. Migrate critical queries first, then address the long tail over time.
Challenge: Custom Apps and Add-ons
Splunk's app ecosystem provides specialized functionality.
Solution: Identify app dependencies during assessment. LogZilla's API and integration capabilities often provide equivalent functionality. Custom development may be required for specialized use cases.
Challenge: User Resistance
Teams familiar with Splunk may resist change.
Solution: Demonstrate AI capabilities that Splunk lacks. Natural language queries often convert skeptics when they see complex analysis completed in seconds without SPL knowledge.
Challenge: Compliance Requirements
Some compliance frameworks specifically mention Splunk.
Solution: Compliance frameworks require log management capabilities, not specific vendors. LogZilla meets the same requirements with documented control mappings.
Challenge: Data Volume During Migration
Migrating historical data while maintaining operations requires careful planning.
Solution: Prioritize recent data for migration. Historical data can remain in Splunk (read-only) during transition or export to cold storage for compliance retention. Most investigations focus on recent events.
Micro-FAQ
Can LogZilla replace Splunk entirely?
LogZilla can serve as a complete Splunk replacement or complement existing Splunk deployments. Many organizations use LogZilla to pre-process logs before Splunk, reducing ingestion costs while maintaining Splunk for specific use cases.
How much can LogZilla reduce Splunk costs?
Organizations typically reduce Splunk ingestion by 60-90% through deduplication and filtering. A 1 TB/day deployment might reduce to 200 GB/day, with proportional cost savings.
Does LogZilla have the same search capabilities as Splunk?
LogZilla provides fast search across all collected logs. Additionally, LogZilla AI Copilot enables natural language queries, eliminating the need to learn SPL syntax.
Can LogZilla forward filtered logs to Splunk?
Yes. LogZilla deploys in front of Splunk, deduplicating and filtering events before forwarding. Splunk receives only unique, high-value events while LogZilla retains the full dataset.
Next Steps
Organizations can reduce Splunk costs by 60-80% while gaining AI-powered analysis capabilities. LogZilla deploys as a Splunk replacement or complement, providing flexibility based on organizational requirements.
Download LogZilla vs Splunk comparison (PDF)
Watch AI-powered log analysis demos to see natural language queries replace SPL complexity.