---
title: "OpenTelemetry Protocol (logs) | Grafana Labs"
description: "Sending logs via OTLP to Grafana Cloud"
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

## OTLP for logs

**What it’s for:** Teams already using OpenTelemetry Collector or SDKs who want a unified pipeline for logs, metrics, and traces.

**OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP)** is the standard way to send structured logs to Grafana Cloud’s Loki backend.

[OTLP logs flow](otlp-logs-flow.svg "OTLP logs flow")

## Trade-offs

**Best for:** Teams using OpenTelemetry Collector or SDKs

| Pros                                      | Cons                            |
|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| Same protocol for logs, metrics, traces   | Requires OTLP-compatible source |
| Structured logs with attributes preserved | More setup than simple HTTP     |
| Native Loki support                       |                                 |
| Unified telemetry pipeline                |                                 |

> **Note:** The linked documentation mentions Grafana Alloy as the recommended collector. Alloy is Grafana’s distribution of the OTel Collector with additional features. If you’re starting fresh, consider [Alloy](/docs/alloy/). This course is for teams already running the standard OTel Collector.

## Documentation

View the full documentation. *Learning path coming soon!*

[OpenTelemetry to Grafana Cloud](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana-cloud/send-data/otlp/send-data-otlp/)