AuditKit and Retraced are both open-source audit logging solutions for SaaS applications. Retraced was one of the earlier open-source options but has seen limited maintenance. AuditKit builds on the same concept while adding managed cloud hosting, cryptographic immutability, SIEM integrations, and a modern developer experience.
| Feature | AuditKit | Retraced |
|---|---|---|
| Open source | ||
| Managed cloud | — | |
| Tamper-proof (hash chain) | — | |
| Merkle tree proofs | — | |
| Tenant-scoped access | ||
| Embeddable viewer | ||
| SIEM streaming | — | |
| Multi-language SDKs | — | |
| Self-hostable | ||
| GraphQL API | — | |
| AI anomaly detection | — | |
| Setup time | 5 min | 1 week |
| Price (100K events) | $39/mo | Free |
Retraced is self-host only, meaning you handle all the infrastructure, scaling, and uptime yourself. AuditKit offers a managed cloud so you can start logging events immediately without provisioning any servers.
AuditKit uses hash chains and Merkle tree proofs to make audit logs verifiably tamper-proof. Retraced stores events in a database without cryptographic integrity guarantees.
AuditKit provides multi-language SDKs, a GraphQL API, and SIEM streaming out of the box. Retraced has limited SDK support and no built-in SIEM export capabilities.
AuditKit is actively maintained with regular releases, documentation, and community support. Retraced has seen minimal updates in recent years, leaving teams to maintain their own forks.
Collect evidence, organize controls, and deliver tamper-proof audit packages from $99/mo.
Why open-source audit logging builds more trust with enterprise customers than proprietary solutions.
Both offer tamper-proof logging, but AuditKit is open source, self-hostable, and more affordable.
The real cost of building audit logging in-house versus using a purpose-built platform.