Splunk Light: An Introduction and Beginner's Guide

Splunk Light was a version of Splunk’s flagship log search and analysis software that launched in 2015, designed specifically for small IT environments. Splunk Light enabled users to gather and correlate date from all types of sources, formats, and locations. In addition to logfile search and analysis, Splunk Light’s alerts and dashboards helped users get started with critical IT monitoring & observability features quickly and easily.

If you were thinking about trying Splunk Light, you can get all of the benefits of that platform in Splunk Enterprise or Splunk Cloud (depending on your deployment preference).

Splunk Light End-of-Life (EoL)

In March 2020, it was announced that Splunk Light and Splunk Light Cloud would reach End-of-Sale on May 1, 2020 and eventually would reach End-of-Support and End-of-Life. Customers of Splunk Light and Splunk Light Cloud have the option to migrate to Splunk Enterprise.

Per the announcement, the End-of-Life Timetable was as follows:

Splunk Light vs Splunk Light Cloud

In September of 2015, the cloud service (SaaS) version of Splunk Light was made available. This deployment option included the same benefits of the original on-premises version of Splunk Light, but without the headaches of purchasing, setting up, and maintaining a server. As mentioned previously, both Splunk Light and Splunk Light Cloud were officially End-of-Life’d in June 2021.

Splunk Light vs Splunk Light Free

There were a variety of differences between Splunk Light and Splunk Light Free. This table elaborates on the differences.

Features
Splunk Light Free
Splunk Light
Daily Indexing Volume
Up to 500MB
Up to 20GB
Search and Reporting
Yes
Yes
Dashboards
Yes
Yes
Alerting
No
Yes
Accounts
1 Admin
Up to 5, Admin and User
Add-ons
Yes
Yes

Splunk Light vs Splunk Enterprise

Differences between Splunk Light and Splunk Enterprise included:

Features
Splunk Enterprise
Splunk Light
Maximum daily indexing volume
Unlimited
20GB
Maximum users
Unlimited
5
Data collection add-ons
Yes
Yes
Apps
Yes
No
Monitoring and alerting
Yes
Yes
Dashboards and reports
Yes
Yes
Search and analysis
Yes
Yes
Automatic data enrichment
Yes
Yes
Anomaly detection
Yes
Yes
Scalability
Unlimited
Single Server
Access control
Customizable
User and Admin only

Related Articles

What is the Pareto Principle? The 80/20 Rule, Explained
Learn
5 Minute Read

What is the Pareto Principle? The 80/20 Rule, Explained

The Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, explains how a small number of causes often drive most outcomes. Learn how it applies to business, economics, and more.
What Is Customer Analytics?
Learn
9 Minute Read

What Is Customer Analytics?

Learn how to analyze customer data, improve engagement, boost sales, and gain a competitive edge.
Machine Customers: A Complete Introduction
Learn
5 Minute Read

Machine Customers: A Complete Introduction

Machine customers are AI-powered software programs and smart devices that engage in transactions without human intervention. Read on to learn more.
IT & System Availability + High Availability: The Ultimate Guide
Learn
11 Minute Read

IT & System Availability + High Availability: The Ultimate Guide

Learn IT & system availability best practices, high availability strategies, and monitoring techniques to minimize downtime and ensure optimal performance.
Change Management for IT: Understanding IT Changes with ITSM and the ITIL® 4 Framework
Learn
6 Minute Read

Change Management for IT: Understanding IT Changes with ITSM and the ITIL® 4 Framework

This blog post covers the basics of change management in all areas of IT - from DevOps to ITIL and more.
Risk Tolerance vs. Risk Appetite: How To Understand Risk & Determine Your Risk Tolerance and Appetite
Learn
9 Minute Read

Risk Tolerance vs. Risk Appetite: How To Understand Risk & Determine Your Risk Tolerance and Appetite

Learn about how risk tolerance and risk appetite shape how organizations identify and manage risks in line with wider corporate goals.
Website Performance Monitoring: The Complete Guide
Learn
6 Minute Read

Website Performance Monitoring: The Complete Guide

In this blog post we'll take a look at website performance monitoring best practices, why it matters, and how to improve your website's performance.
Top 8 Incident Response Metrics To Know
Learn
7 Minute Read

Top 8 Incident Response Metrics To Know

In this post, we'll cover eight key metrics essential to incident response, including clear definitions and examples.
AI Governance in 2026: A Full Perspective on Governance for Artificial Intelligence
Learn
9 Minute Read

AI Governance in 2026: A Full Perspective on Governance for Artificial Intelligence

In this article, we'll have a look at an overview of AI governance, exploring the key concepts, challenges, and potential solutions.