AlienVault OSSIM vs Cribl comparison

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AlienVault OSSIM

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between AlienVault OSSIM and Cribl based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed AlienVault OSSIM vs. Cribl Report (Updated: June 2025).

AlienVault OSSIM vs. Cribl

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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)

8th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cribl

Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (14th), Log Management (9th), Observability Pipeline Software (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of AlienVault OSSIM is 3.6%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cribl is 0.8%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Featured Reviews

Aman Aijaz

Assistant Manager Global Security at Convergys Corporation

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.

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Phanindra Ponnada

Splunk SME at Sbase Technologies India PVT Lmtd

Provides good documentation and worth the investment

As of now, there are some environments where some organizations are still on legacy infrastructure, so they are still in virtual environments and are using old versions of devices. Some companies bought Splunk, while others bought Cribl for a very low-priced license. There are some protocols to connect from Cribl to Splunk. I understand Cribl has come into the market very recently, but the tool might have had a picture in its mind where organizations might also have some legacy infrastructure. In the future, with our protocols or our level of architecture, Cribl should not come and say that it is not compatible with them. If Cribl is the reason because I have to change my environment, then I will have to end up investing more. There are some organizations where the end machines have forwarders that forward the data to Cribl, and from it, the data is forwarded to Splunk. This is how general architecture works. There are two methods of connection between Cribl and Splunk. One is the S2S protocol, which collects logs from Cribl or sends data between Cribl and Splunk. There is another method called HTTP Event Collector (HEC) and HTTPS protocol. With Cribl, connecting to Splunk mostly uses the S2S protocol. The tool supports all the latest devices and platform devices, like all the latest operating systems. There are some organizations where there is legacy infrastructure or if they are still on the old platforms. Companies using old platforms have to consider HTTP Event Collector (HEC), and then they have to change their infrastructure setup in order to fulfill that setup. In order to have Google and Splunk set up in my organization, if I have to change my existing infrastructure connectivity or setup, that might incur more cost or more investment for me to have Cribl and Splunk. Cribl should provide compatibility, or else the tool's developers should speak to the people of such organizations and understand the challenges. Cribl could have developed some version that can give backward compatibility.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The open vault component and the checking of vulnerabilities are the most valuable features. The page management helps with this. If you know how your device is vulnerable at least you can do something about it."

"The threat alerts it gives me from time to time on harmful code within the network, or if they are generating any network traffic, are very useful."

"The product is majorly used for threat detection of the agents on servers and endpoints."

"The solution is free to use."

"Asset discovery is good."

"OSSIM is the only solution that includes the large number of modules that we need: a vulnerability scanner, a network IDS system, a host IDS system."

"There are a lot of people you will find using OSSIM since they are also offering OTX as a service"

"The initial setup was straightforward. I didn't have any problems."

More AlienVault OSSIM pros

"I'd rate the solution ten out of ten."

"My favorite option in Cribl is the Stream product."

"The capability to reduce logs in a user-friendly manner is a standout feature. Cribl allows us to view logs live as they are being processed, giving us quick feedback on the changes made."

"The platform's most valuable feature is the ability to transform data in real-time within the pipeline without sending it to a destination."

"Cribl offers other valuable features. For instance, you can replay data from an edge device, store your daily data in a stream, and replay specific event data into Splunk if a security incident occurs"

"The support team was very helpful and managed to get everything production-ready."

"Cribl offers easy plugin configurations and source collection settings, allowing us to collect logs from any source."

"The product's most valuable features include the internal management of events, coding perspective, data processing, and serialization."

More Cribl pros

Cons

"GUI could be improved."

"There needs to be more support or some kind of training program so users can self-learn the system more effectively."

"The correlation engine needs to be improved."

"The price of this solution is very high and it could be cheaper."

"There are somewhat more false positives with the user behavior analytics, which could benefit from an additional machine learning model to detect user patterns more rapidly."

"The documentation could be improved."

"AlienVault OSSIM should improve the deployment and make it unified like the USM."

"AlienVault OSSIM gives unwanted notifications."

More AlienVault OSSIM cons

"Cribl could improve by offering easier integrations with enterprise products, similar to what Splunk provides."

"Cribl should consider adding more features that are applicable to smaller firms, allowing broader access to their data migration through Cribl."

"Perhaps more flexibility in terms of metrics would be helpful."

"There have been several administrative issues. Another point is that the browsing functions aren't very intuitive."

"There is room for improvement in the documentation and knowledge base, particularly regarding configurations like sources where logs are being ingested"

"Cribl could have developed some version that can give backward compatibility."

"The sys logging could be enhanced to make it easier to identify errors, especially when dealing with multiple functions."

"Cribl doesn't have as many packs available"

More Cribl cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of AlienVault OSSIM is too high sometimes for us to present to our customers. The price should be lower. We are on a three-year license to use the solution. We had to pay extra for the support."

"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."

"The solution is open source, so it's free to use."

"We are using the community version, which can be used for free."

"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."

"AlienVault OSSIM is expensive compared to its competitors."

"OSSIM is open source, and USM is the paid license. So, if you want, you can switch to USM. There you will have to buy a license, and they have a support team that helps you out on issues you face."

"OSSIM is free."

More AlienVault OSSIM pricing and cost advice

"I would not say it is a cheaply priced tool as it has been doing wonders in the market. The tool has been budget-friendly for organizations."

"The product pricing is reasonable compared to other solutions."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions are best for your needs.

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859,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

University

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AlienVault OSSIM?

Asset discovery is good.

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cribl?

I am not aware of the pricing details, however, I know they use a credit format for billing.

What needs improvement with Cribl?

At the moment, I don't have specific feedback on what can be improved as I do not work with Cribl daily. Perhaps more flexibility in terms of metrics would be helpful.

What is your primary use case for Cribl?

I am using Cribl to have everything centralized in one tool in terms of data collection. We were working with different Splunk customers, and Cribl helps collect data and then send it to an S3 buck...

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Logstash vs Cribl

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Splunk Enterprise Security vs Cribl

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Product Reports

AlienVault OSSIM

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Download Cribl product report

Also Known As

OSSIM

No data available

Overview

AlienVault OSSIM, Open Source Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), provides you with a feature-rich open source SIEM complete with event collection, normalization and correlation. Launched by security engineers because of the lack of available open source products, AlienVault OSSIM was created specifically to address the reality many security professionals face: A SIEM, whether it is open source or commercial, is virtually useless without the basic security controls necessary for security visibility.

AT&T

Cribl optimizes log collection, data processing, and migration to Splunk Cloud, ensuring efficient data ingestion and management for improved operational efficiency.

Cribl offers seamless log collection directly from cloud sources, allowing users to visually extract necessary data and replay specific events for in-depth analysis. It provides robust management of events, parsing, and enrichment of data, along with effective log size reduction. Cribl is particularly beneficial for migrating enterprise logs, optimizing usage, and reducing costs while streamlining the transition between different log management tools.

What are Cribl's most important features?

Real-Time Data Transformation: Enables immediate data processing for accurate insights.
Simplified Log Collection: Gathers data from diverse sources effortlessly.
Powerful Data Reduction: Reduces log size without losing critical information.
Inbuilt Packs: Ready-to-use functions simplify complex tasks.
Live Testing: Allows testing before production deployment for reliability.
Master Node Updates: Manages worker groups efficiently for consistent performance.
Advanced Data Processing: Offers robust data serialization and coding perspectives.
Easy Plugin Configurations: Facilitates direct integration with reduced setup time.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Optimized Usage: Ensures effective resource management and cost reduction.
Streamlined Migration: Simplifies the transition between log management tools.
Enhanced Data Management: Improves data quality and processing efficiency.
Reduced Time and Effort: Direct-to-production capabilities save operational time.

Cribl is widely implemented in industries requiring extensive data management, such as technology and finance. Users leverage Cribl to handle log collection, processing, and migration efficiently, ensuring smooth operation and effective data analysis. It aids in managing temporary data storage during downtimes and better handling historical data, preventing data loss and allowing extended periods for viewing statistics and monitoring trends.

Sample Customers

Council Rock School District

Information Not Available

AlienVault OSSIM vs. Cribl