﻿---
title: Detailed deployment comparison
description: This reference provides detailed comparisons of features and capabilities across Elastic's deployment options: self-managed deployments, Elastic Cloud...
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/deploy/deployment-comparison
---

# Detailed deployment comparison
This reference provides detailed comparisons of features and capabilities across Elastic's deployment options: self-managed deployments, Elastic Cloud Hosted, and Serverless. For a high-level overview of deployment types and guidance on choosing between them, see the [overview](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/deploy).
For more details about feature availability in Serverless, check [Compare Elastic Cloud Hosted and Serverless](/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/differences-from-other-elasticsearch-offerings#elasticsearch-differences-serverless-feature-categories).

## Security


| Feature/capability                                                                                                                                                         | Self-managed | Elastic Cloud Hosted | Serverless                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|----------------------|---------------------------------------|
| [Security configurations](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/security)Security configurations                                | Full control | Limited control      | Limited control                       |
| [Authentication realms](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/users-roles)Authentication realms                                 | Available    | Available            | Available, through Elastic Cloud only |
| [Custom roles](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/users-roles)Custom roles                                                   | Available    | Available            | Available                             |
| [Audit logging](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/security/logging-configuration/security-event-audit-logging)Audit logging | Available    | Available            | No                                    |


## Infrastructure and cluster management


| Feature/capability                      | Self-managed         | Elastic Cloud Hosted                     | Serverless                               |
|-----------------------------------------|----------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| Hosting                                 | Any infrastructure   | Elastic Cloud through AWS, Azure, or GCP | Elastic Cloud through AWS, Azure, or GCP |
| Hardware configuration                  | Full control         | Limited control                          | Managed by Elastic                       |
| Autoscaling                             | No                   | Available                                | Automatic                                |
| Data tiers management                   | Through ILM policies | Available                                | No data tiers                            |
| Snapshot management                     | Custom               | Available                                | Managed by Elastic                       |
| High availability and disaster recovery | Available            | Available                                | Managed by Elastic                       |
| Shard management and replicas           | Available            | Available                                | Managed by Elastic                       |


## Monitoring


| Feature/capability                                                                                                                                   | Self-managed                  | Elastic Cloud Hosted          | Serverless                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [Deployment health monitoring](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/monitor)Deployment health monitoring | AutoOps or monitoring cluster | AutoOps or monitoring cluster | Managed by Elastic                                                                                                                                                                            |
| [Alerting](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/explore-analyze/alerts-cases)Alerting                                  | Watcher or Kibana alerts      | Watcher or Kibana alerts      | Alerts ([why?](/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/differences-from-other-elasticsearch-offerings#elasticsearch-differences-serverless-features-replaced)why?) |


## Data lifecycle


| Feature/capability                                                                                                                                    | Self-managed                           | Elastic Cloud Hosted                   | Serverless                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [Data lifecycle management](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/manage-data/lifecycle)Data lifecycle management        | ILM, data tiers, data stream lifecycle | ILM, data tiers, data stream lifecycle | Data stream lifecycle ([why?](/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/differences-from-other-elasticsearch-offerings#elasticsearch-differences-serverless-features-replaced)why?) |
| [Snapshot management](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/tools/snapshot-and-restore)Snapshot management | Custom                                 | Available                              | Managed by Elastic                                                                                                                                                                                           |


## Integrations and extensions


| Feature/capability               | Self-managed | Elastic Cloud Hosted | Serverless                                                                                                                                                                               |
|----------------------------------|--------------|----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Custom plugins and bundles       | Available    | Available            | No                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| Self-managed connectors          | Available    | Limited              | Limited                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| Elasticsearch-Hadoop integration | Available    | Available            | No                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| Cross cluster search (CCS)       | Available    | Available            | [Planned](/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/differences-from-other-elasticsearch-offerings#elasticsearch-differences-serverless-feature-planned)Planned |
| Cross cluster replication        | Available    | Available            | [Planned](/elastic/docs-content/pull/3897/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/differences-from-other-elasticsearch-offerings#elasticsearch-differences-serverless-feature-planned)Planned |


## Development and testing features


| Feature/capability               | Self-managed | Elastic Cloud Hosted | Serverless |
|----------------------------------|--------------|----------------------|------------|
| Advanced testing and development | Available    | No                   | No         |
| Java (JVM) customization         | Available    | No                   | No         |