head to head · open source
effect vs Logstash
effect has 16,097 GitHub stars, 747 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Logstash has 14,944 stars, 3,496 forks, 2,254 open issues and last shipped yesterday. effect leads on adoption by 8% (16,097 vs 14,944 stars). effect is written in TypeScript under MIT; Logstash is written in Java under a custom or non-standard licence. effect has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Logstash 23%. effect was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| effect | Logstash | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 747 | ⑂ 3.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick effect if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Logstash if
- You want the Logstash feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and Logstash fits your workflow better
About effect
Effect is a TypeScript library for building robust, maintainable, type safe, and production grade applications. It lives in the TypeScript and JavaScript ecosystem, distributed as the core effect package alongside a monorepo of integration packages that extend it. The project is MIT licensed, has been developed for roughly seven years, and currently ships Effect V4 as a release candidate, with the main branch holding v4 development and the v3 branch retaining the previous line.
read the full effect overview →
About Logstash
Logstash is a server side data processing pipeline that transports and processes logs, events, or other data. It is part of the Elastic Stack with Beats, Elasticsearch, and Kibana, and it sits in the Infrastructure & Operations / Monitoring & Observability category. The project uses Java and JRuby, and its topics describe it as an ETL framework for logging, real time processing, and streaming.
read the full Logstash overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is effect or Logstash more popular?
effect has 16,097 GitHub stars and Logstash has 14,944. effect has the larger community by that measure.
Are effect and Logstash free?
Both are open source. effect is licensed under MIT, and Logstash has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between effect and Logstash?
effect is written in TypeScript and Logstash in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, effect or Logstash?
Choose effect if you want the larger community (16,097 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Logstash if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.