Graylog is a capable log management platform, but turning it into a full security operations tool means add-ons, manual rule-building, and a separate stack for network monitoring. nPro delivers SIEM, XDR, and network monitoring as one self-hosted platform.
Graylog started as, and remains at its core, a log management and centralisation platform. It is good at collecting and searching logs. But a security team needs more than search: MITRE ATT&CK-aligned detection, cross-source correlation, network visibility, and compliance reporting out of the box. With Graylog, much of that is manual configuration, paid tiers, or bolt-on tooling.
nPro is built as a security platform from the ground up. Detection rules, correlation, network monitoring, and compliance dashboards ship in the box, and it runs on ClickHouse rather than an Elasticsearch/OpenSearch cluster, which means faster security analytics and far cheaper long-term retention. See the ClickHouse vs Elasticsearch comparison for why that matters.
Graylog does its core job well, and the honest comparison depends on what you are actually buying it for.
Graylog is noticeably easier to stand up and operate than an Elastic stack, and its search and alerting are strong for the operational logging use case. If centralised logging is the immediate need, it gets you there with less effort.
The open-source edition is a working product rather than a crippled trial. Worth checking which security features require the Enterprise edition before assuming the free tier covers your needs, since Enterprise returns to volume-based pricing.
nPro's behavioural analytics are still in development and are not comparable to a dedicated UEBA platform today. Its integration ecosystem is also smaller than the long-established platforms. If either is a requirement rather than a preference, weigh that honestly.
nPro has no SaaS option. That is deliberate, and it is also a commitment on your side. You need a Linux server that somebody patches, monitors and backs up. If your organisation has no appetite for running infrastructure, a hosted platform is the better fit whatever its licensing model looks like.
What you get in exchange is residency that does not depend on a vendor's regional policy, air-gapped operation where the network demands it, and a ClickHouse storage engine that takes materially less tuning to run than an Elasticsearch cluster. For regulated organisations that were going to self-host regardless, that trade is usually the easy part.
Self-hosted SIEM + XDR + network monitoring. Free tier, 5-minute deploy.