# Beats vs logstash

**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-vs-logstash/42246
**Category:** Beats
**Created:** [February 19, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-vs-logstash/42246 "2016-02-19T13:47:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![liorg2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@liorg2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/liorg2)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-vs-logstash/42246/1 "2016-02-19T13:47:14Z")

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Whats the difference between beats and logstash please?

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### Author: ![magnusbaeck](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/magnusbaeck/32/44943_2.png) [@magnusbaeck](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/magnusbaeck)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-vs-logstash/42246/2 "2016-02-19T13:53:55Z")

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The programs in the Beats series are lightweight and tailored for specific purposes while Logstash is more generic and has a wide range of plugins for various purposes, at the cost of a higher overhead and footprint.

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### Author: ![liorg2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@liorg2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/liorg2)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-vs-logstash/42246/3 "2016-02-19T14:21:42Z")

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A litlle bit confusing.. 🙂 Whats the use case?

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### Author: ![plonka2000](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/plonka2000/32/5077_2.png) [@plonka2000](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/plonka2000)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-vs-logstash/42246/4 "2016-02-19T15:21:05Z")

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Its not that confusing.

`Beats` is a lightweight (small cpu/mem usage) for specific purposes (system metrics, logs, etc).

`Logstash` provides **_a lot more_** , via plugins, for input, filtering/mutation of events and output. Logstash is a lot bigger of an application, however.

There is the added benefit that you are not _required_ to use logstash when using beats, you can instead pipe direct into elasticsearch.

Here is a diagram of the interaction process:

[https://www.elastic.co/assets/bltbdd3db766780b321/beats%20platform.png](https://www.elastic.co/assets/bltbdd3db766780b321/beats%20platform.png)

If you're really confused about the usage, you should read up the product details [here](https://www.elastic.co/products/beats).

A little reading goes a long way. 😉

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### Author: ![liorg2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@liorg2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/liorg2)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-vs-logstash/42246/5 "2016-02-19T16:17:26Z")

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Cheers guys

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### Author: ![StivOstenberg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/stivostenberg/32/4681_2.png) [@StivOstenberg](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/StivOstenberg)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-vs-logstash/42246/6 "2017-04-26T22:10:33Z")

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Seems the graphic no longer exists and disappeared in a puff of logic

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### Author: ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/beats-vs-logstash/42246/7 "2017-07-05T21:49:37Z")

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