diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b88e88c..068c010 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@ subprojects/Catch2-*
 subprojects/CLI11-*
 subprojects/fmt-*
 subprojects/packagecache
+subprojects/spdlog-*
 subprojects/sqlite-amalgamation-*
 subprojects/nlohmann_json-*
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 92231fb..1657030 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ catch_dep = subproject('catch2', default_options: 'werror=false').get_variable('
 cli11_dep = subproject('cli11', default_options: 'werror=false').get_variable('CLI11_dep')
 fmt_dep   = subproject('fmt', default_options: 'werror=false').get_variable('fmt_dep')
 json_dep = subproject('nlohmann_json', default_options: 'werror=false').get_variable('nlohmann_json_dep')
+spdlog_dep   = subproject('spdlog', default_options: 'werror=false').get_variable('spdlog_dep')
 sqlite3_dep = subproject('sqlite3', default_options: 'werror=false').get_variable('sqlite3_dep')
 
 # the lib dependency is all of the common funtionality shared between the CLI
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ lib_src = [
         'src/uenv/env.cpp',
         'src/uenv/envvars.cpp',
         'src/uenv/lex.cpp',
+        'src/uenv/log.cpp',
         'src/uenv/meta.cpp',
         'src/uenv/parse.cpp',
         'src/util/strings.cpp',
@@ -37,7 +39,7 @@ lib_inc = include_directories('src')
 
 lib_dep = declare_dependency(
         sources: lib_src,
-        dependencies: [sqlite3_dep, fmt_dep, json_dep],
+        dependencies: [sqlite3_dep, fmt_dep, spdlog_dep, json_dep],
         include_directories: lib_inc
 )
 
@@ -51,7 +53,7 @@ uenv_dep = [sqlite3_dep]
 
 uenv = executable('uenv',
         sources: uenv_src,
-        dependencies: [uenv_dep, lib_dep, fmt_dep, cli11_dep],
+        dependencies: [uenv_dep, lib_dep, fmt_dep, spdlog_dep, cli11_dep],
         c_args: ['-DVERSION="@0@"'.format(version)],
         install: true)
 
diff --git a/src/cli/start.cpp b/src/cli/start.cpp
index 0cf2bc9..55cc35b 100644
--- a/src/cli/start.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/start.cpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <fmt/core.h>
 #include <fmt/ranges.h>
 #include <fmt/std.h>
+#include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
 
 #include <uenv/env.h>
 #include <uenv/meta.h>
@@ -36,12 +37,13 @@ void start_args::add_cli(CLI::App& cli,
 
 int start(const start_args& args,
           [[maybe_unused]] const global_settings& globals) {
-    fmt::println("running start with options {}", args);
+    spdlog::debug("running start with options {}", args);
+
     const auto env =
         concretise_env(args.uenv_description, args.view_description);
 
     if (!env) {
-        fmt::print("[error] {}\n", env.error());
+        spdlog::error("{}", env.error());
         return 1;
     }
 
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ int start(const start_args& args,
     auto env_vars = uenv::getenv(*env);
 
     if (auto rval = uenv::setenv(env_vars); !rval) {
-        fmt::print("[error] setting environment variables {}\n", rval.error());
+        spdlog::error("setting environment variables {}", rval.error());
         return 1;
     }
 
@@ -63,15 +65,16 @@ int start(const start_args& args,
     // find the current shell (zsh, bash, etc)
     auto shell = util::current_shell();
     if (!shell) {
-        fmt::print("[error] unable to determine the current shell because {}\n",
-                   shell.error());
+        spdlog::error("unable to determine the current shell because {}",
+                      shell.error());
+        return 1;
     }
-    fmt::println("[log] shell found: {}", shell->string());
+    spdlog::info("shell found: {}", shell->string());
 
     commands.push_back("--");
     commands.push_back(shell->string());
 
-    fmt::print("[log] exec {}\n", fmt::join(commands, " "));
+    spdlog::info("exec {}", fmt::join(commands, " "));
     return util::exec(commands);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/cli/uenv.cpp b/src/cli/uenv.cpp
index fbff942..4963025 100644
--- a/src/cli/uenv.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/uenv.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 #include <CLI/CLI.hpp>
 #include <fmt/color.h>
 #include <fmt/core.h>
+#include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
+
+#include <uenv/log.h>
 
 #include "start.h"
 #include "uenv.h"
@@ -23,7 +26,19 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
 
     CLI11_PARSE(cli, argc, argv);
 
-    fmt::print(fmt::emphasis::bold | fg(fmt::color::orange), "{}\n", settings);
+    // Warnings and errors are always logged. The verbosity level is increased
+    // with repeated uses of --verbose.
+    spdlog::level::level_enum console_log_level = spdlog::level::warn;
+    if (settings.verbose == 1) {
+        console_log_level = spdlog::level::info;
+    } else if (settings.verbose == 2) {
+        console_log_level = spdlog::level::debug;
+    } else if (settings.verbose >= 3) {
+        console_log_level = spdlog::level::trace;
+    }
+    uenv::init_log(console_log_level, spdlog::level::trace);
+
+    spdlog::debug("{}", settings);
 
     switch (settings.mode) {
     case uenv::mode_start:
diff --git a/src/cli/uenv.h b/src/cli/uenv.h
index aaaab72..ae39398 100644
--- a/src/cli/uenv.h
+++ b/src/cli/uenv.h
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ constexpr int mode_start = 1;
 // constexpr int mode_run = 3;
 
 struct global_settings {
-    bool verbose = false;
+    int verbose = 0;
     bool no_color = false;
     int mode = mode_none;
 
diff --git a/src/uenv/env.cpp b/src/uenv/env.cpp
index 0cd277b..196b731 100644
--- a/src/uenv/env.cpp
+++ b/src/uenv/env.cpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 
 #include <fmt/core.h>
+#include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
 
 #include <uenv/env.h>
 #include <uenv/parse.h>
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ concretise_env(const std::string& uenv_args,
                     fmt::format("no mount point provided for {}", desc));
             }
         }
-        fmt::println("{} will be mounted at {}", desc, mount);
+        spdlog::info("{} will be mounted at {}", desc, mount);
 
         // check that the mount point exists
         if (!fs::exists(mount)) {
@@ -111,13 +112,13 @@ concretise_env(const std::string& uenv_args,
                 name = std::move(result->name);
                 description = std::move(result->description);
                 views = std::move(result->views);
-                fmt::println("loaded meta with name {}", name);
+                spdlog::debug("loaded meta with name {}", name);
             } else {
-                fmt::println("error loading the uenv meta data in {}: {}",
-                             *env_meta_path, result.error());
+                spdlog::error("error loading the uenv meta data in {}: {}",
+                              *env_meta_path, result.error());
             }
         } else {
-            fmt::println("the meta data file {} does not exist", meta_path);
+            spdlog::debug("the meta data file {} does not exist", meta_path);
             description = "";
             // generate a unique name for the uenv
             name = "anonymous";
diff --git a/src/uenv/log.cpp b/src/uenv/log.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9d599d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/uenv/log.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#include <memory>
+
+#include "spdlog/sinks/stdout_color_sinks.h"
+#include "spdlog/sinks/syslog_sink.h"
+#include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
+
+#include "log.h"
+
+namespace uenv {
+void init_log(spdlog::level::level_enum console_log_level,
+              spdlog::level::level_enum syslog_log_level) {
+    auto console_sink = std::make_shared<spdlog::sinks::stderr_color_sink_st>();
+    console_sink->set_level(console_log_level);
+
+    auto syslog_sink = std::make_shared<spdlog::sinks::syslog_sink_st>(
+        "uenv", LOG_PID, 0, false);
+    syslog_sink->set_level(syslog_log_level);
+
+    // The default logger is a combined logger that dispatches to the console
+    // and syslog. We explicitly set the level to trace to allow all messages to
+    // pass through the combined logger. The lower level loggers will filter
+    // messages at their level.
+    spdlog::set_default_logger(std::make_shared<spdlog::logger>(
+        "uenv", spdlog::sinks_init_list({console_sink, syslog_sink})));
+    spdlog::set_level(spdlog::level::trace);
+    spdlog::set_pattern("[%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%e] [%n] [%^%l%$] %v");
+}
+} // namespace uenv
diff --git a/src/uenv/log.h b/src/uenv/log.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c060f51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/uenv/log.h
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
+
+namespace uenv {
+void init_log(spdlog::level::level_enum console_log_level,
+              spdlog::level::level_enum syslog_log_level);
+}
diff --git a/src/util/shell.cpp b/src/util/shell.cpp
index 47c7106..d35165f 100644
--- a/src/util/shell.cpp
+++ b/src/util/shell.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 #include <fmt/core.h>
+#include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
 
 #include <util/expected.h>
 
@@ -41,11 +42,11 @@ int exec(const std::vector<std::string>& args) {
     }
     argv.push_back(nullptr);
 
-    fmt::println("running {}", argv[0]);
+    spdlog::info("running {}", argv[0]);
     int r = execvp(argv[0], argv.data());
     // } // end unsafe
 
-    fmt::print("[error] unable to launch a new shell\n");
+    spdlog::error("unable to launch a new shell");
 
     return r;
 }
diff --git a/subprojects/spdlog.wrap b/subprojects/spdlog.wrap
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..af00d5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/subprojects/spdlog.wrap
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+[wrap-file]
+directory = spdlog-1.14.1
+source_url = https://github.com/gabime/spdlog/archive/refs/tags/v1.14.1.tar.gz
+source_filename = spdlog-1.14.1.tar.gz
+source_hash = 1586508029a7d0670dfcb2d97575dcdc242d3868a259742b69f100801ab4e16b
+patch_filename = spdlog_1.14.1-1_patch.zip
+patch_url = https://wrapdb.mesonbuild.com/v2/spdlog_1.14.1-1/get_patch
+patch_hash = ae878e732330ea1048f90d7e117c40c0cd2a6fb8ae5492c7955818ce3aaade6c
+source_fallback_url = https://github.com/mesonbuild/wrapdb/releases/download/spdlog_1.14.1-1/spdlog-1.14.1.tar.gz
+wrapdb_version = 1.14.1-1
+
+[provide]
+spdlog = spdlog_dep
diff --git a/test/unit/main.cpp b/test/unit/main.cpp
index 2c344d5..9f94c54 100644
--- a/test/unit/main.cpp
+++ b/test/unit/main.cpp
@@ -1,2 +1,10 @@
 #define CATCH_CONFIG_MAIN
 #include <catch2/catch_all.hpp>
+
+#include <uenv/log.h>
+
+static struct unit_init_log {
+    unit_init_log() {
+        uenv::init_log(spdlog::level::trace, spdlog::level::off);
+    }
+} uil{};