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

ISACs: Information Sharing & Analysis Centers
Learn
6 Minute Read

ISACs: Information Sharing & Analysis Centers

ISACs provide a way for organizations to collaborate on threat intelligence, so they can form better cybersecurity offensive & defensive strategies.
Most Common AWS Vulnerabilities Today
Learn
3 Minute Read

Most Common AWS Vulnerabilities Today

AWS users must secure their AWS systems against all known security vulnerabilities. Learn about the most common AWS vulnerabilities here.
Industry Cloud Platforms, Explained
Learn
4 Minute Read

Industry Cloud Platforms, Explained

Industry cloud platforms aim to solve the problems that are common in public, generic cloud services. Learn all about this emerging topic here.
Maturity Models for IT & Technology
Learn
4 Minute Read

Maturity Models for IT & Technology

A maturity model is one way to compare your performance against an established benchmark. In our case, we’re looking at maturity models in IT and technology.
Sustainable Technology in 2026
Learn
7 Minute Read

Sustainable Technology in 2026

Sustainable technology doesn’t get enough attention. Find out what sustainable IT means and how companies and individuals can use tech more sustainably.
What is Virtualization?
Learn
10 Minute Read

What is Virtualization?

In this blog post, we'll look at the various types of virtualization, benefits, challenges, and getting started.
What is a DDoS Attack?
Learn
6 Minute Read

What is a DDoS Attack?

DDoS attacks are on the rise and they can be disastrous. Get trends & stats, know indicators of attack, and learn how to prevent these jam-packed attacks.
What is Real User Monitoring?
Learn
6 Minute Read

What is Real User Monitoring?

Real User Monitoring (RUM) helps you monitor visitors' activities, revealing critical insights into the user experience. Get the expert story here.
Container Orchestration: A Beginner's Guide
Learn
11 Minute Read

Container Orchestration: A Beginner's Guide

This blog post explores container orchestration and automation for software development and IT organizations.