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

APM Metrics: The Ultimate Guide
Learn
7 Minute Read

APM Metrics: The Ultimate Guide

Go beyond traditional APM and extend your monitoring strategy to include metrics that are important in cloud-native, DevOps-oriented environments.
Scalability in IT: The Complete Guide To Scaling
Learn
5 Minute Read

Scalability in IT: The Complete Guide To Scaling

Scalability is one of the main selling points of migrating to the cloud. What exactly does it mean & how do you do it? Get the full story here.
IT & Technology Salaries: Tech Pay Trends
Learn
6 Minute Read

IT & Technology Salaries: Tech Pay Trends

This blog post will review, roundup, and summarize some of the latest trends for IT salaries and roles to help you get a clear view of the landscape.
What is Network Security?
Learn
8 Minute Read

What is Network Security?

Learn the basics of network security and how to secure your organization’s networks.
Continuous Data: The Complete Guide
Learn
6 Minute Read

Continuous Data: The Complete Guide

Continuous data enables higher accuracy from predictions, deeper insights, and more informed decisions. Learn how to maximize value from continuous data.
11 Common Data Types: A Comprehensive Guide
Learn
7 Minute Read

11 Common Data Types: A Comprehensive Guide

Explore 11 common data types in this comprehensive guide, covering integers, strings, booleans, and more. Learn their purpose and applications for data visualization.
The Dunning-Kruger Effect Explained
Learn
6 Minute Read

The Dunning-Kruger Effect Explained

The Dunning-Kruger Effect is a natural bias where a person with minimal knowledge or skill may overvalue their capabilities. Learn all about this effect here.
TCP/IP: What It Is & How It Works
Learn
5 Minute Read

TCP/IP: What It Is & How It Works

Learn all about TCP/IP and its 5 layers. TCP/IP is a universal transmission framework that establishes connections across diverse devices.
AI Risk Management in 2026: What You Need To Know
Learn
8 Minute Read

AI Risk Management in 2026: What You Need To Know

Risk management applies to AI, too! Get the full story on AI Risk Management, including the risks to know, a risk approach, and an in-depth look at NIST’s AI RMF.