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A Cloud Guru vs Security Onion comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

A Cloud Guru
Ranking in AWS Marketplace
14th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Training (1st), eLearning (2nd)
Security Onion
Ranking in AWS Marketplace
11th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (20th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the AWS Marketplace category, the mindshare of A Cloud Guru is 0.2%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Security Onion is 1.1%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
AWS Marketplace
 

Featured Reviews

Justin Wheeler - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides high-quality course content to study different tools and technologies
The certification courses are typically divided into multiple sections. At the end of each section, there are exam tips for that section. I would like to go through all the different exam tips the day before my exam. It'd be nice if there were a way to go through all the different exam tips more easily. Right now, I have to find every video, play it for however long it is, skip ahead until I find the next one, and then play that one. The solution could include a playlist-type feature where I can select the ones I want to play. Having an exam tips section for the certification courses would be helpful. It would be good if there were a way to subscribe to new content when it comes out. Right now, I have to check the tool daily to see if they upload new content. It does not have a newsletter I could subscribe to and get updates on when new courses drop. I've also seen that A Cloud Guru is not as fast at dropping new courses and making updates as some competitors like Udemy. Cloud Academy normally updates for new exams faster than A Cloud Guru. However, A Cloud Guru's quality is higher. After acquiring A Cloud Guru, Pluralsight has imported all the A Cloud Guru courses into the Pluralsight mobile app. When I click on the A Cloud Guru videos on the Pluralsight mobile app, I'm not authorized to view them even though I have subscriptions to Pluralsight and A Cloud Guru. I'm not sure if that's an A Cloud Guru bug or something from Pluralsight's side. I haven't dug too much into it because I normally go on my computer and navigate to the A Cloud Guru website, which works fine. Pluralsight and A Cloud Guru offer many similar courses and overlapping content. It can be hard for a user to tell whether to go to Pluralsight or A Cloud Guru for a particular course or content. The acquisition also introduced some confusion.
Jörg Kippe - PeerSpot reviewer
A mature and affordable solution that is easy to install and easy to update
The product takes time to learn, it's not that easy. In the beginning we had a lot of questions. If you want to use such a tool in an real (industrial) environment, you have to ask how to get the network data. Can we do a full packet capture? Can we provide agents to our end systems? There are no simple solutions to these questions. It's a general problem when running such systems in an industrial environment.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The hands-on labs are really helpful."
"A Cloud Guru's courses are of really high quality."
"The solution has labs that help to learn different technologies. The main value of using it is learning new technologies."
"The solution's lab feature is good and offers hands-on experience. It is easily accessible."
"A Cloud Guru has labs; we don't have to create them. It helps to be trained on multiple topics."
"The content is very easy to understand because they break it down in a way that anyone can understand."
"The platform is user-friendly and can be used by absolute beginners and more advanced users."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the hands-on experience it provides through very good labs."
"Security Onion is the most mature solution in the market."
"We use Security Onion for internal vulnerability assessment."
"The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports."
 

Cons

"Most of the tutorial contents in A Cloud Guru are very lengthy."
"It would be better if the product provided one-on-one tutoring or office hours for certain products."
"It'd be nice if there were a way to go through all the different exam tips more easily."
"There could be some performance improvements."
"The solution could work on their marketing and advertising. Many people know about platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and Coursera, but I only learned about A Cloud Guru through my company. They could focus on making their product more widely known."
"As people's maturity increases, there are areas that can be improved in terms of the learning paths."
"I would appreciate more interactive features where users can receive immediate feedback on their actions."
"Instead of covering a broad section of the exam and then offering labs, it would be better to provide targeted exercises right after the relevant lecture, such as creating an EC2 instance."
"The product is not easy to learn."
"Security Onion's user interface could be improved."
"The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution’s pricing is moderate."
"You need an annual license to use the platform. Its pricing is fine—good knowledge comes at a price—and doesn't include any extra costs."
"The solution's cloud content is expensive. Compared to other vendors, it is expensive."
"It is not expensive."
"A Cloud Guru is more expensive than other options on the market."
"I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"The pricing is good compared to other premium e-learning platforms."
"Security Onion is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is a free solution."
"It is an open-source solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
University
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Government
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What are A Cloud Guru's certification options?
Here's how you can publish an A Cloud Guru certificate on your LinkedIn profile: Log in to your A Cloud Guru account. Go to the Certificates page. Click the Export button next to the certificate ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for A Cloud Guru?
Since I'm interested in training certification, the solution is valuable for my career development. A Cloud Guru is more expensive than other options on the market. Whizlabs is a substantially chea...
What needs improvement with A Cloud Guru?
It would be better if the product provided one-on-one tutoring or office hours for certain products. I haven't seen that in A Cloud Guru. The only thing that really annoys me is that I have to log ...
What do you like most about Security Onion?
The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Security Onion?
Security Onion is an open-source solution. On a scale from one to ten, where ten is expensive and one is cheap, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten.
What needs improvement with Security Onion?
The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about A Cloud Guru vs. Security Onion and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.