Kibana vs Redash: What are the differences?

Introduction

Kibana and Redash are both data visualization and exploration tools, but they have some key differences that set them apart.

1. Data Sources:

Kibana is primarily designed to work with Elasticsearch, a distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine, while Redash can connect to various data sources such as SQL databases, MongoDB, Google Sheets, and more. This means that Kibana is more focused on analyzing and visualizing data stored in Elasticsearch, whereas Redash offers greater flexibility in working with different data sources.

2. Ease of Use:

Kibana provides a more user-friendly interface that is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it suitable for both technical and non-technical users. On the other hand, Redash offers a simpler interface with fewer features, which can make it easier for beginners to get started, but may limit the capabilities for more advanced users.

3. Visualization Options:

Both Kibana and Redash offer a range of visualization options, including charts, graphs, and dashboards. However, Kibana provides a wider variety of visualizations and customization options, allowing users to create more complex and interactive visual representations of their data. Redash, while still offering basic visualizations, may be more limited in terms of advanced visualization options.

4. Alerting and Monitoring:

Kibana includes built-in alerting and monitoring functionality, allowing users to set up alerts based on predefined conditions and monitor the health and performance of their data. Redash, on the other hand, does not have built-in alerting and monitoring features, although it can be integrated with external tools for this purpose.

5. Collaboration and Sharing:

Both Kibana and Redash offer features for collaboration and sharing of visualizations and dashboards. However, Kibana provides more advanced collaboration options, allowing users to work together on dashboards in real-time and share visualizations with others through its user management system. Redash also supports collaboration and sharing, but it may require additional setup and configuration.

6. Community Support:

Kibana has a larger and more active community support compared to Redash. This means that there are more resources, tutorials, and plugins available for Kibana, which can be helpful in troubleshooting and extending its functionalities. Redash also has a community support, but it may be relatively smaller compared to Kibana.

In summary, Kibana is more focused on Elasticsearch and provides a wider range of visualization options, built-in alerting and monitoring features, advanced collaboration options, and has a larger community support. Redash, on the other hand, offers flexibility in working with various data sources, a simpler interface, basic visualizations, and collaboration and sharing capabilities, but with a potentially smaller community support.