AlienVault OSSIM vs Elastic Security comparison

AT&T and Elastic are both solutions in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category. AT&T is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.4, while Elastic is ranked #5 with an average rating of 7.8. AT&T holds a 2.8% mindshare in SIEM, compared to Elastic’s 5.0% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of AT&T users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of Elastic users who would recommend it.

AlienVault OSSIM

Read 31 AlienVault OSSIM reviews

4,916 Views
4,818 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Elastic Security

Read 65 Elastic Security reviews

11,217 Views
7,628 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

AlienVault OSSIM

Elastic Security

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Elastic Security and AlienVault OSSIM compete in the security analytics and management category. Elastic Security has the upper hand owing to its integration and analytics depth, offering greater customization and scalability.

Features: Elastic Security users highlight advanced analytics and integration capabilities, providing deep, customizable insights. AlienVault OSSIM is praised for its comprehensive out-of-the-box security features, appealing to those needing immediate utility. Elastic Security offers flexibility and depth, while AlienVault OSSIM focuses on ease of use and immediate functionality.

Room for Improvement: Elastic Security users mention the complexity of configurations and a steep learning curve. AlienVault OSSIM users highlight limitations in scalability and the need for more advanced analytics. Elastic Security could benefit from usability enhancements, whereas AlienVault OSSIM needs better scalability and analytics.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Elastic Security users find its deployment complex but appreciate its robust customer support. AlienVault OSSIM users report simpler deployment but mixed customer service experiences. Elastic Security demands more technical expertise for setup but offers superior support, while AlienVault OSSIM provides a smoother initial deployment with variable support quality.

Pricing and ROI: Elastic Security is seen as costly but delivers high ROI through extensive features and integration. AlienVault OSSIM is recognized for its lower upfront costs and reasonable ROI, particularly for smaller organizations. Despite the higher price, Elastic Security's comprehensive capabilities justify its cost, whereas AlienVault OSSIM offers a cost-effective solution with decent returns.

To learn more, read our detailed AlienVault OSSIM vs. Elastic Security Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM vs. Elastic Security

September 2025

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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)

12th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Elastic Security

Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

5th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Log Management (11th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (16th), Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) (7th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of AlienVault OSSIM is 2.8%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Elastic Security is 5.0%, down from 8.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Elastic Security	5.0%
AlienVault OSSIM	2.8%
Other	92.2%

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Featured Reviews

HarshBhardiya

SOC Engineer at Just Dial Limited

An open-source solution that provide good detection and more visibility

The solution is not scalable. It impacts so hard. In the initial stages, AlienVault OSSIM can be suitable for small environments. There may be limitations if the customer expresses a desire to expand and add more devices. In such cases, we would need to either explore additional solutions or work within the constraints of the existing setup. We have set up alerts and configured everything in AlienVault OSSIM. It actively monitors for any security incidents. It provides us with regular updates and notifications about any ongoing activities. Only one person is using the solution. It is the perfect solution for small businesses. I rate the solution’s scalability a three out of ten.

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SyedAli17

Assistant Director at PTA

Centralized monitoring improves security posture through rapid data processing

The processing part of Elastic Security is very interesting for us since we handle almost 7,000 to 8,000 alerts per minute. We require rapid processing speed for alerts and event data, and Elastic Security is very efficient at handling this level of data. Additionally, Elastic Security helps improve the security posture of Pakistan through centralized visibility and real-time processing.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of AlienVault OSSIM are vulnerability assessment, network intrusion detection system, response to critical events, and awareness of the whole network."

"You pay monthly for the solution. I think it's one of the best products. If you compare with other companies, like LogRhythm, etc., the top 8 or 10 CMs, I think Alien Vault has the best price-performance ratio."

"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."

"AlienVault OSSIM's GUI is very user-friendly."

"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."

"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."

"The threat policies of the solution are always very advanced and the best in the market. They are very persistent in terms of keeping up with security protocols."

More AlienVault OSSIM pros

"It is scalable."

"ELK is open-source, and it will give you the framework you need to build everything from scratch."

"What customers found most valuable in Elastic Security feature-wise is the search capability, in particular, the way of writing the search query and the speed of searching for results."

"We've found the initial setup to be quite straightforward."

"It's open-source and free to use."

"Elastic has a lot of beats, such as Winlogbeat and Filebeat. Beats are the agents that have to be installed on the terminals to send the data. When we install beats or Elastic agents on every terminal, they don't overload the terminals. In other SIEM solutions such as Splunk or QRadar, when beats or agents are installed on endpoints, they are very heavy for the terminals. They consume a lot of power of the terminals, whereas Elastic agents hardly consume any power and don't overload the terminals."

"Elastic Security offers advanced features such as machine learning and integration with ChatGPT."

"The most valuable feature is the speed, as it responds in a very short time."

More Elastic Security pros

Cons

"The main area where the AlienVault product was lacking around the 2018 timeframe was in its ability to scale."

"Sometimes technical issues take very long to get resolved."

"AlienVault OSSIM is costly."

"GUI could be improved."

"AlienVault OSSIM’s configuration and integration could be a little easier."

"AlienVault OSSIM could improve by having better integration with some of the newer tools."

"They can add more compliance templates."

"AlienVault OSSIM gives unwanted notifications."

More AlienVault OSSIM cons

"We'd like better premium support."

"Sometimes, the solution isn't the easiest to use."

"Elastic Security could improve the documentation. It would help if they were more simple and clean."

"The process of designing dashboards is a little cumbersome in Kibana. Unless you are an expert, you will not be able to use it. The process should be pretty straightforward. The authentication feature is what we are looking for. We would love to have a central authentication system in the open-source edition without the need for a license or an enterprise license. If they can give at least a simple authentication system within a company. In a large organization, authentication is very essential for security because logs can contain a lot of confidential data. Therefore, an authentication feature for who accesses it should be there."

"Improvements in Elastic Security could include refining and normalizing queries to make them more user-friendly, enhancing the user experience with better documentation, and addressing any latency issues."

"The biggest challenge has been related to the implementation."

"There should be a simulation environment to check whether my Elastic implementation is functioning perfectly fine. Other solutions have their own Android and iOS applications that I can install on my mobile so that I am continuously connected to the SIEM."

"The problem with ELK is it's difficult to administer. When you have a problem, it can be very, very difficult to rebuild indexes."

More Elastic Security cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"AlienVault OSSIM is free."

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

"We are using a free version of the solution. If you purchase a license there are more features available but the price is a little high. The solution should be cheaper to allow more customers to be able to afford it."

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

"AlienVault OSSIM is an open-source solution."

"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 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."

"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."

More AlienVault OSSIM pricing and cost advice

"It's a monthly cost with Elastic SIEM, but I am not sure of the exact cost."

"There is no charge for using the open-source version."

"It is easy to deploy, easy to use, and you get everything you need to become operational with it, and have nothing further to pay unless you want the OLED plugin."

"I find it better than Splunk in terms of cost-effectiveness. For cost-effectiveness, I would rate it a nine out of 10."

"I can say that the product is cheaply priced."

"Compared to other tools, Elastic Security is a cheaper solution."

"The solution is not expensive and costs around ten dollars a month."

"The licensing cost of Elastic Security is based on the daily ingestion rate. I can't recall the exact figure, but for 10GB of log action daily, it would cost around $20,000."

More Elastic Security pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

12%

University

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

10%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	18
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	40
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	14

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AlienVault OSSIM?

Asset discovery is good.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Datadog vs ELK: which one is good in terms of performance, cost and efficiency?

With Datadog, we have near-live visibility across our entire platform. We have seen APM metrics impacted several times lately using the dashboards we have created with Datadog; they are very good c...

See all answers

What do you like most about Elastic Security?

Elastic provides the capability to index quickly due to the reverse indexes it offers. This data is crucial as it contains critical information. The reverse index allows fast data indexing because ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Elastic Security?

I am satisfied with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing cost. It is a pure 10.

See all answers

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Compared 5% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 4% of the time

Rapid7 InsightIDR vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 2% of the time

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Compared 16% of the time

IBM Security QRadar vs Elastic Security

Compared 7% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Elastic Security

Compared 7% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Elastic Security

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Elastic Security

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM

September 2025

Download AlienVault OSSIM product report

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Security

September 2025

Download Elastic Security product report

Also Known As

OSSIM

Elastic SIEM, ELK Logstash

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

Elastic Security is a robust, open-source security solution designed to offer integrated threat prevention, detection, and response capabilities across an organization's entire digital estate. Part of the Elastic Stack (which includes Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana), Elastic Security leverages the power of search, analytics, and data aggregation to provide real-time insight into threats and vulnerabilities. It is a comprehensive platform that supports a wide range of security needs, from endpoint protection to cloud and network security, making it a versatile choice for organizations looking to enhance their cybersecurity posture.

Elastic Security combines the features of a security information and event management (SIEM) system with endpoint protection, allowing organizations to detect, investigate, and respond to threats in real time. This unified approach helps reduce complexity and improve the efficiency of security operations.

Additional offerings and benefits:

The platform utilizes advanced analytics, machine learning algorithms, and anomaly detection to identify threats and suspicious activities.
It offers extensive integration options with other tools and platforms, facilitating a more cohesive and comprehensive security ecosystem.
With Kibana, users gain access to powerful visualization tools and dashboards that provide real-time insight into security data.

Finally, Elastic Security benefits from a global community of users who contribute to its threat intelligence, helping to enhance its detection capabilities. This collaborative approach ensures that the solution remains on the cutting edge of cybersecurity, with up-to-date information on the latest threats and vulnerabilities.

Elastic

Sample Customers

Council Rock School District

Texas A&M, U.S. Air Force, NuScale Power, Martin's Point Health Care

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM vs. Elastic Security

September 2025

Free Report: AlienVault OSSIM vs. Elastic Security

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