--- title: Elastic Cloud Serverless description: Elastic Cloud Serverless lets you run Elasticsearch, Vector Database, Observability, and Security as fully managed serverless projects - no cluster management,... url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/serverless products: - Elastic Cloud Serverless - Elastic Documentation applies_to: - Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available --- # Elastic Cloud Serverless Elastic Cloud Serverless lets you run Elasticsearch, Vector Database, Observability, and Security as fully managed serverless projects - no cluster management, no need to manage underlying infrastructure, no upgrades. Elastic manages the infrastructure so you can focus on your data. ## How Serverless works In Serverless, the resource you work with is a _project_, and each project is dedicated to a single use case. Projects belong to an Elastic Cloud organization, where users, roles, and billing are managed. Serverless projects use the core components of the Elastic Stack, such as Elasticsearch and Kibana, and are based on an architecture that decouples compute and storage. Search and indexing operations are separated, which offers high flexibility for scaling your workloads while ensuring a high level of performance. Rather than provisioning resources as needed, Serverless scales to your actual usage in real time, so you don't size resources for peak load. Serverless projects are versionless and continuously updated by Elastic, so you don't need to select a Elastic Stack version or plan an upgrade. Your connections and configurations are unaffected by updates, and API versioning and quality testing keep your clients compatible. Although the `GET /` root API returns a version number, it is used as a [client compatibility version](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/differences-from-other-elasticsearch-offerings#elasticsearch-differences-serverless-version-reporting). Setup is quick. You sign up for a trial or log in to an existing organization, then create a project in the Elastic Cloud console, and your project is ready in minutes. Compared to [Elastic Cloud Hosted](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/cloud-hosted), [Elastic Cloud Enterprise](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise), [Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-on-k8s), and [self-managed clusters](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed), you don't need to make infrastructure decisions in Serverless: there are no node counts, hardware profiles, or Elastic Stack versions to select, and no upgrades or snapshots to perform. In exchange, some cluster-level capabilities are unavailable in Serverless, such as [Elasticsearch authentication realms](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/users-roles/cluster-or-deployment-auth/authentication-realms), user-initiated snapshots, and custom plugins.To compare Serverless against every other deployment type, review the [detailed deployment comparison](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/deployment-comparison). If you're choosing between Elastic Cloud Hosted and Serverless specifically, [compare their core features and capabilities](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud#general-what-is-serverless-elastic-differences-between-serverless-projects-and-hosted-deployments-on-ecloud), then review the [feature-level comparison](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/differences-from-other-elasticsearch-offerings) to check the specific features you depend on. ### Benefits of Serverless projects **Management free:** Elastic manages the underlying Elastic cluster, so you can focus on your data. With serverless projects, Elastic is responsible for automatic upgrades, data backups, and business continuity. **Autoscale:** To meet your performance requirements, the system automatically adjusts to your workloads. For example, when you have a short-term spike on the data you ingest, more resources are allocated for that period of time. When the spike is over, the system uses less resources, without any action on your end. Some project-level limits apply to ensure performance and stability, including a [limit on the number of indices per project](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/differences-from-other-elasticsearch-offerings#elasticsearch-differences-serverless-index-size) that can be adjusted by request. **Optimized data storage:** Your data is stored in cost-efficient, general storage. A cache layer is available on top of the general storage for recent and frequently queried data that provides faster search speed. The size of the cache layer and the volume of data it holds depend on [settings](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/project-settings) that you can configure for each project. **Dedicated experiences:** All serverless solutions are built on the Elastic Search Platform and include the core capabilities of the Elastic Stack. They also each offer a distinct experience and specific capabilities that help you focus on your data, goals, and use cases. **Pay per usage:** Each serverless project type includes product-specific and usage-based pricing. **Data and performance control**. Control your project data and query performance against your project data. - **Data:** Choose the data you want to ingest and the method to ingest it. By default, data is stored indefinitely in your project, and you define the retention settings for your data streams. - **Performance:** For granular control over costs and query performance against your project data, serverless projects come with a set of predefined settings you can edit. ## Deploy a Serverless project This section covers the tasks you perform to create, configure, and manage serverless projects. Start with the following steps to get a project running, then use the configuration pages to tune the project to your workload. ### Get started Choose the project type that matches your use case, select a feature tier if your project type has one, create the project, then connect to it. Each Serverless project is purpose-built for a specific use case. Elasticsearch, Observability, and Security projects correspond to the same [solutions](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/solutions) available on other deployments; Elasticsearch Vector Database is an additional Serverless-only project type. | Project type | Use case | What you get | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | [Elasticsearch Serverless](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/solutions/elasticsearch-solution-project) | You're building search-powered applications and want to define your own mappings, index settings, and queries | Search and analytics across structured data, logs, metrics, documents, and vectors, with UI tools such as Agent Builder and query rules | | [Elasticsearch Vector Database](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/solutions/vector-database) | You're building semantic search, RAG, or other AI-powered retrieval on embeddings | Built-in models and vector-optimized defaults, plus compressed vector storage and pricing that follows storage and reserved search capacity rather than query volume | | [Elastic Observability Serverless](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/solutions/observability) | You're monitoring the health and performance of your own applications and infrastructure | Logs, metrics, traces, and APM data with prebuilt dashboards, SLOs, and alerting | | [Elastic Security Serverless](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/solutions/security) | You're detecting, investigating, and responding to security threats | SIEM with prebuilt and custom detection rules, dashboards, and investigation tools. Endpoint protection and cloud protection are optional add-ons | Not sure which to choose? Start with the Elasticsearch solution for general-purpose search and analytics if you don't need the additional features of Elastic Observability, Elastic Security, or the preconfigured defaults of Elasticsearch Vector Database. Elastic Observability Serverless and Elastic Security Serverless projects have feature tiers. The tier determines which capabilities are available and how the project is billed. Compare the [Observability tiers](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/solutions/observability/observability-serverless-feature-tiers) and the [Security tiers](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/solutions/security/security-serverless-feature-tiers) before you create the project. You can change the tier later in [project settings](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/project-settings#project-features-add-ons). [Create a serverless project](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/create-serverless-project) in the Elastic Cloud console, either as part of a free trial or in an existing organization.You choose the cloud provider and a [region](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/regions) during setup, which is the geographic location of the data center that hosts your project. The region determines where your data resides and affects latency relative to your clients, data sources, and other connected services. You cannot change the region after the project is created.A project's type is fixed after you create it, but you can create as many projects as you need. That means you can create one project of each type to [evaluate](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/get-started/evaluate-elastic) them side by side, then delete the ones you don't keep. To send data to your project or query it from your own applications, point your clients, tools, and data shippers at it. Find your [project connection details](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/find-connection-details-serverless): the Elasticsearch endpoint and an API key, which together authenticate every request. Serverless does not support username and password authentication for these connections. ### Configure and manage your project Review these pages to learn about the settings you can control and the tools you can use to manage projects at scale. - [Serverless regions](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/regions): Check which AWS, Azure, and GCP regions are currently available for serverless projects. - [Serverless project settings](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/project-settings): Configure Search AI Lake settings, feature tiers, tags, and connection aliases. These settings are your main controls over data retention, query performance, and cost. - [Manage serverless projects using the API](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/manage-serverless-projects-using-api): Create and manage projects programmatically with the [Elastic Cloud Serverless API](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elastic-cloud-serverless/), for provisioning at scale or as part of your own automations. Calls are authenticated with an [Elastic Cloud API key](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/api-keys/elastic-cloud-api-keys). - [Tools and APIs for Elastic Cloud](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/tools-apis): Find the APIs, clients, and tools available to your project, including the Elasticsearch and Kibana Serverless APIs and Terraform provisioning. ## Move data to and from Serverless If you already have an Elastic cluster or deployment, and you want to move to Serverless, then you can migrate your data. Because versioned Elastic Stack clusters and deployments use a different architecture from Serverless, you can't convert directly to a Serverless project. Instead, you can migrate your documents into a new project. [Other types of data](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/manage-data/migrate#migration-data-types) need to be recreated in your project. - [Migrate Elasticsearch data using the reindex API](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/manage-data/migrate/migrate-data-using-reindex-api): Copy documents into a project with the [reindex API](https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elasticsearch-serverless/operation/operation-reindex), using your existing deployment as the remote source. - [Migrate Elasticsearch data using Logstash](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/manage-data/migrate/migrate-with-logstash): Move data to and from Serverless projects using Logstash with Elasticsearch input and output plugins. ## Operate and secure your projects After you create your project, review the following sections to learn how to administer, secure, and monitor your project, optimize it for performance and cost, and get support. ### Billing and pricing The dimensions you're charged for depend on the project type and feature tier you select, so review the billing dimensions for your project type to understand what drives your costs. - [Serverless project billing dimensions](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/cloud-organization/billing/serverless-project-billing-dimensions): Learn about the usage dimensions you're charged for so you can estimate cost and control usage. - Pricing for [Elasticsearch Serverless](https://www.elastic.co/pricing/serverless-search), [Elasticsearch Vector Database](https://cloud.elastic.co/pricing/serverless?s=vectordb), [Observability](https://www.elastic.co/pricing/serverless-observability), and [Elastic Security Serverless](https://www.elastic.co/pricing/serverless-security). - [AutoOps for Elastic Cloud Serverless](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/monitor/autoops/autoops-for-serverless): Monitor usage patterns and billing dimensions in your project. ### Secure and control access Control who can reach your organization and projects, from user accounts and programmatic access through to network-level restrictions. - [Manage your Cloud organization](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/cloud-organization): Learn how your projects, members, and account settings are grouped under one Elastic Cloud organization. - [Cloud organization users](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/users-roles/cloud-organization): Learn how user access works in your organization, including invitations, roles, and SSO. Users are authenticated at the organization level, because Serverless does not support [Elasticsearch authentication realms](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/users-roles/cluster-or-deployment-auth/authentication-realms). - [Serverless project custom roles](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/users-roles/serverless-custom-roles): Create project-level roles for more tailored access. - [Serverless project API keys](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/api-keys/serverless-project-api-keys): Authenticate applications, service accounts, and automation against a single project's APIs. - [Elastic Cloud API keys](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/api-keys/elastic-cloud-api-keys): Authenticate against organization-level APIs, or create one key that spans multiple projects. These keys are required for the Elastic Cloud Serverless API and for cross-project search. - [Application connections](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/app-connections): Let users authorize external applications to act on their behalf with OAuth 2.1, instead of static API keys. Currently supported for MCP clients connecting to the Elastic Agent Builder MCP server. - [Manage IP filters in ECH or Serverless](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/security/ip-filtering-cloud): Limit how your projects can be accessed by IP address. - [Private connectivity](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/security/private-connectivity): Connect to your projects over your cloud provider's private network. Projects support AWS PrivateLink and Azure Private Link. - [Configure cross-project search](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/cross-project-search-config): Set up cross-project search so projects in your organization can search each other's data, and control the scope and access of those searches. - [Browser access requirements](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud#browser-access): Allow required domains, including `kibana.estccdn.com`. If this domain is blocked, Kibana might appear as a blank page. - [Elastic Trust Center](https://www.elastic.co/trust): Compliance and privacy standards for the Elastic platform. ### Monitor and get support Elastic operates and monitors the infrastructure behind your project, so your own monitoring focuses on project usage, performance, and service availability rather than cluster internals. - [AutoOps for Elastic Cloud Serverless](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/monitor/autoops/autoops-for-serverless): View health, performance, and usage data for your project. - [Service status](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/cloud-organization/service-status): Check current availability and subscribe to updates when a cloud region is affected. - [Raise a support case](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/troubleshoot#contact-us): Raise a case for your subscription as you do today. In the body of the case, mention you are working with a Serverless project. Elastic backs up your projects and is responsible for business continuity, so you are unable to request project backups or take your own snapshots. If you experience data loss or corruption, you can request an emergency restore by [contacting Support](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/troubleshoot#contact-us). ## Learn more Use these resources to go deeper on how Serverless is built, what's planned, and how projects compare to other deployment types. - [Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Elastic Cloud Serverless projects](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/serverless-faq): Find answers to common questions about pricing, regions, moving data, backups, authentication, converting between project types, and support. - [Elastic Cloud Serverless architecture blog](https://www.elastic.co/blog/elastic-cloud-serverless): More background on the product and architecture. - [Elastic Cloud Serverless roadmap](https://github.com/orgs/elastic/projects/2066/views/2?sliceBy%5Bvalue%5D=Serverless&filterQuery=): Upcoming features.