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AlienVault OSSIM vs Cortex XSIAM 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

AlienVault OSSIM
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
10th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cortex XSIAM
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
17th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (6th), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of AlienVault OSSIM is 3.7%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cortex XSIAM is 2.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Aman Aijaz - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy-to-scale open-source solution used for monitoring events on devices
The area for improvement is a lot. When I started using it on our enterprise side, the issue we faced was, for example, if we were running at that time on AlienVault OSSIM v5.7.4. So, for some orders, we had to install some packages, and when we tried installing that package, some dependencies got upgraded to a new version. Now once that dependency got upgraded, the SQL, since you might be aware that OSSIM uses SQL database, now SQL and all the dependency in everything was not on the same version, and that caused the database to crash. The aforementioned area should be eased out by upgrading the patches and upgrading dependencies. This kind of thing is a disadvantage of OSSIM, and I would like them to work on this. But I have also raised service requests many times and gave it a push on the community section too. However, since it is a local source, they don't reply much over there. That is why I don't like to work on OSSIM because it is unpredictable. Once the storage goes above 50 percent, it starts behaving unpredictably. If you get stuck with a situation, then you need to drill a lockdown into that. Sometimes you get no luck. Then you have to just reimage the server with the new fresh OS of AlienVault. As for additional features, not much because if you move to the newer version, it is kind of getting more stable. But, to make my life easier, then I would say try to give more features. I know it's open source, so they also cannot provide me with more features. But still, if they can provide me with more features because right now it's becoming old. Right now, we are even moving from SIEM to Security Data Lake. So when we move to it, this will be literally outdated. No one can even expect anything out of it. The way security is moving, it will be outdated very soon. They have to also provide something new to keep this going for the future also.
AKASH MAJUMDER - PeerSpot reviewer
Incident response times have significantly reduced with efficient device integration and log parsing capabilities
Cortex XSIAM needs improvements in terms of data onboarding, parsers, and third-party integration supports. Additionally, a future update request is to enable tagging of endpoints in groups, similar to a feature available in Cortex XDR. The AI analytics need fine-tuning because some use cases are not working from my side.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Network traffic analysis is highly efficient."
"AlienVault OSSIM is an enterprise solution that sells easily. It is rated highly by organizations."
"It has helped us remediate threats in the past by providing significant events that assisted in identifying suspicious activities, such as logins from multiple countries."
"You can customize the dashboards as well as the reporting."
"The dashboard is the solution's most valuable aspect. It brings everything into one central point where I can actually look at it and go, "Okay, I understand what's going on.""
"The solution is very stable. Compared to Qradar and Splunk, it's very stable."
"AlienVault OSSIM's GUI is very user-friendly."
"The initial setup was straightforward. I didn't have any problems."
"It is an effective solution in terms of performance and functionalities."
"Cortex XSIAM enhances our ability to apply endpoint protection policies, implement restrictions, conduct scans, and engage in sandboxing."
"The automation capabilities significantly improve response times by allowing us to respond to incidents from a single dashboard rather than navigating multiple dashboards."
"Since implementing Cortex XSIAM, incident response times have been significantly reduced by approximately twenty percent."
"It operates on a single, extensive database which enables it to excel in detecting threats and anomalies across the network and endpoints, delivering a highly effective and comprehensive security solution."
"Its ability to deliver a substantial amount of security intelligence greatly enhances and optimizes our security operations program."
"One of the valued aspects of the product is its use of artificial intelligence to detect security vulnerabilities."
"One of the valued aspects of the product is its use of artificial intelligence to detect security vulnerabilities."
 

Cons

"It's so hard to configure and explore something new on it."
"Lacking in depth of reporting."
"AlienVault OSSIM’s configuration and integration could be a little easier."
"The solution is not scalable."
"It's under heavy traffic. If you have heavy traffic, the system is slow."
"GUI could be improved."
"The solution needs more integration with cyber intelligence systems."
"The correlation engine needs to be improved."
"The standard integrations are very limited, and the integrations available are not listed in the marketplace."
"Cortex could improve the detection and online resolution of security vulnerabilities."
"The support could be a bit faster."
"Cortex XSIAM is pretty expensive, and the licensing process is not very comfortable compared to CrowdStrike."
"Cortex XSIAM needs improvements in terms of data onboarding, parsers, and third-party integration supports."
"Further integration capabilities with various other software products that can seamlessly tie into Cortex XSIAM would be advantageous."
"It could provide more integration with a large variety of products."
"The platform isn't very developer-friendly and it should provide more flexibility and ease."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open source, so it's free to use."
"AlienVault OSSIM is expensive compared to its competitors."
"AlienVault pricing is the best. Whatever cost you are paying, you are getting a return on every penny... It's not like your IBM, your QRadar, or Splunk, where the cost is too high."
"OSSIM is free."
"The licensing fees for the non-community edition are paid on an annual basis, and there are no costs in addition to this."
"AlienVault OSSIM is an open-source solution."
"When comparing AlienVault OSSIM to Microsoft Sentinel, AlienVault OSSIM incurs additional costs due to its licensing price structure. If you are using AlienVault for security purposes at a certain level it can have a higher price point than the current pricing of Microsoft Sentinel."
"We are using the community version, which can be used for free."
"Since Palo Alto is trying to get as many new customers as possible, they're offering very competitive pricing."
"The solution is expensive compared to its competitors."
"The product cost could be considered value for money compared to other solutions in the market, though it is quite high."
"The solution comes at a significant cost."
"In terms of pricing, we found Cortex XSIAM to offer a very reasonable and competitive rate."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AlienVault OSSIM?
It depends. I would need to review their cost models, but generally, they are on a scaled basis based on throughput usage. Because it's a software as a service solution for their core product for U...
What needs improvement with AlienVault OSSIM?
Scaling for USM is always challenging for any product unless it is purpose-built or overbuilt at the front end. They will use Palo Alto and its competitors, and LevelBlue will manage that implement...
What do you like most about Cortex XSIAM?
It is an effective solution in terms of performance and functionalities.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cortex XSIAM?
The licensing cost of Cortex XSIAM is more or less the same as Splunk, making it quite expensive compared to other tools. There are additional expenses for more functionalities.
What needs improvement with Cortex XSIAM?
Cortex XSIAM needs improvements in terms of data onboarding, parsers, and third-party integration supports. Additionally, a future update request is to enable tagging of endpoints in groups, simila...
 

Also Known As

OSSIM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Council Rock School District
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about AlienVault OSSIM vs. Cortex XSIAM and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.