AlienVault OSSIM vs Sentinel comparison

AT&T and OpenText are both solutions in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category. AT&T is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.3, while OpenText is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.2. AT&T holds a 3.2% mindshare in SIEM, compared to OpenText’s 3.6% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of AT&T users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 81% of OpenText users who would recommend it.

AlienVault OSSIM

Read 31 AlienVault OSSIM reviews

5,143 Views
5,040 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Sentinel

Read 16 Sentinel reviews

2,736 Views
2,681 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

AlienVault OSSIM

Sentinel

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Sentinel and AlienVault OSSIM compete in the cybersecurity sector. Sentinel has the upper hand in pricing and customer service, while AlienVault OSSIM is preferred for its robust features.

Features: Sentinel users like its real-time threat detection, comprehensive reporting tools, and user-friendly interface. AlienVault OSSIM users value its integration capabilities with various security tools, extensive threat intelligence, and advanced monitoring features.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest Sentinel improve scalability, alert management, and user interface intuitiveness. AlienVault OSSIM users highlight the need for a more intuitive interface, faster processing speeds, and better user documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sentinel is praised for its straightforward deployment process and responsive customer service. AlienVault OSSIM users find the setup more complex but recognize the comprehensive support provided post-deployment.

Pricing and ROI: Sentinel is generally seen as cost-effective with a quicker ROI. Users find AlienVault OSSIM pricier with a longer ROI period, but its advanced capabilities justify the investment.

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

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM vs. Sentinel

July 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 865,164 peers since 2012

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)

11th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Sentinel

Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

13th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of AlienVault OSSIM is 3.2%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sentinel is 3.6%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

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.

Read full review

JaideepSingh

Technology Specialist at a government with 51-200 employees

An automated solution that helped me detect threats in less than half the time it used to take

Sentinel gave us logs to tell us what's going right and wrong in your environment so we could secure the network. We also got multiple kinds of logs. By running some queries from the logs, we could find and fix the anomalies in the environment. Sentinel's threat visibility was great at telling us if we had something going on in our environment. We had to set up alerts in our environment based on the logs. If we had the right alerts set up, we got notified about threats and where security was lacking, so we could also take care of that. Sentinel's threat intelligence helped us prepare and take proactive steps for potential threats before they hit. Having preparation before a threat has helped our security operations. When I was using it, I used to keep going into my dashboards and looking for any threats on a weekly basis, or maybe two or three times a week. Based on that, we would recommend certain changes to the server and infrastructure teams to block or allow some ports. Sentinel's threat intelligence helped plan security against risks.

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 initial setup is straightforward."

"Its user-friendliness is the most valuable. It is very easy to use and explore. The dashboard is very well packaged and integrated. You don't have to spend a lot of time in configuring it and checking out the RPM etc. It is also free and very powerful."

"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."

"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."

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

"The most valuable features of this solution are the data correlation and vulnerability assessment."

"The solution is very stable. Compared to Qradar and Splunk, it's very stable."

"The solution has a very good open source community, and whenever we have problems, we are always able to resolve it online."

More AlienVault OSSIM pros

"The tool is simple to use."

"The solution lets us get all the logs properly and regularly monitor customer infrastructure."

"One of the most valuable features is the business intelligence engine. It's very important because it keeps track of everything that's happening and alerts us if something is different than expected. The first time I used it, I was shocked at how well it performed. Another valuable feature that I think makes this product worth the price you pay for it is that it connects to basically every system that provides some form of logging, and it's very easy to set up what triggers this."

"The most valuable feature is the flexible log for identifying security threats inside an application. Sentinel is very good at this."

"The stability is phenomenal and we never had any issues with downtime or even had to restart."

"Sentinel gave us logs to tell us what's going right and wrong in your environment so we could secure the network."

"The native integration with out-of-the box format is hassle free and allows data to be used advantageously."

"It makes everything easier by automating some tasks and growing with our needs."

More Sentinel pros

Cons

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

"I would like the solution to be able to integrate with my firewall, my IDS and my Honeypot solutions so that it can provide real-time reporting as things occur and then have alert sent to me on my phone when suspicious activity is happening."

"AlienVault OSSIM failed to provide our company a full insight, while also giving out a lot of false positives."

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

"It's under heavy traffic. If you have heavy traffic, the system is slow."

"I suggest more in-built rules based on modern threats and environments to make it a more competitive solution."

"The documentation could be improved."

"I don't like to work on OSSIM because it is unpredictable."

More AlienVault OSSIM cons

"There is a need for more flexibility in customization, especially when working with different vendors and platforms."

"You need a lot of Unix scripting knowledge in order to manage the tool, which is one of the main issues that we faced."

"This product's connection to certain types of cloud systems could be improved. We can do Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, but there are a lot of other things happening in the cloud that we do not connect well enough to. This product could be improved with better connection to cloud-based solutions."

"It is an ancient product."

"The solution does not allow outsourced authorizations."

"I rate Sentinel a six out of ten for scalability."

"Creating a drag-and-drop dashboard or workbook in Sentinel is a little more complex compared to other tools like LogRhythm and IBM QRadar."

"There is no integration in the web-side of the tool."

More Sentinel cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"OSSIM is free."

"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."

"AlienVault OSSIM is free."

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

"AlienVault OSSIM is expensive compared to its competitors."

"The licensing fees for the non-community edition are paid on an annual basis, and there are no costs in addition to this."

"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."

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

More AlienVault OSSIM pricing and cost advice

"We receive a pricing discount because of our ongoing partnership with Micro Focus."

"Sentinel is a subscription-based solution."

"We inquired about getting support from the vendor, Micro Focus, but the cost was very high."

"The solution’s pricing is aligned with its competitors."

"Sentinel's slightly on the expensive side."

"Sentinel is moderately priced."

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.

See recommendations

865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

11%

University

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing 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.

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

What do you like most about NetIQ Sentinel?

The solution lets us get all the logs properly and regularly monitor customer infrastructure.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetIQ Sentinel?

Sentinel is moderately priced.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetIQ Sentinel?

There are still a few vendor-specific devices for which Sentinel needs to work on integration, such as Netskope devices. Also, we often face region-wise outages during operation due to product team...

See all answers

Comparisons

Wazuh vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 71% of the time

USM Anywhere vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 6% of the time

Venusense USM vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 4% of the time

Elastic Security vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 4% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 4% of the time

More AlienVault OSSIM Competitors

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Sentinel

Compared 16% of the time

IBM Security QRadar vs Sentinel

Compared 16% of the time

Wazuh vs Sentinel

Compared 15% of the time

Google Chronicle Suite vs Sentinel

Compared 12% of the time

Cortex XSIAM vs Sentinel

Compared 6% of the time

More Sentinel Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM

August 2025

Download AlienVault OSSIM product report

Buyer's Guide

Sentinel

July 2025

Download Sentinel product report

Also Known As

OSSIM

NetIQ Sentinel, Novell SIEM

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

Sentinel is a full-featured Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution that simplifies the deployment, management and day-to-day use of SIEM, readily adapts to dynamic enterprise environments and delivers the true "actionable intelligence" security professionals need to quickly understand their threat posture and prioritize response.

OpenText

Sample Customers

Council Rock School District

Faysal Bank, GaVI, Handelsbanken, ISC Mªnster, Lambeth Council, Swisscard, The Municipality of Siena, Tukes, University of Dayton, University of the Sunshine Coast

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM vs. Sentinel

July 2025

Free Report: AlienVault OSSIM vs. Sentinel

Find out what your peers are saying about AlienVault OSSIM vs. Sentinel and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our AlienVault OSSIM vs. Sentinel report.

See our list of best Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) vendors.

We monitor all Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.