AlienVault OSSIM vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager comparison

AT&T and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category. AT&T is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.4, while SolarWinds is ranked #36 with an average rating of 7.7. AT&T holds a 1.4% mindshare in SIEM, compared to SolarWinds’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of AT&T users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 82% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

AlienVault OSSIM

Read 31 AlienVault OSSIM reviews

4,551 Views
4,460 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Security Event M...

Read 27 SolarWinds Security Event Manager reviews

2,192 Views
2,104 Comparison Views

82% willing to recommend

AlienVault OSSIM

SolarWinds Security Event M...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

SolarWinds Security Event Manager and AlienVault OSSIM are leading products in the security event management category. SolarWinds has an edge in support and pricing, while AlienVault is preferred for its robust features.

Features: SolarWinds Security Event Manager is praised for its log management, automated threat detection, and compliance reporting. AlienVault OSSIM integrates with other security tools, offering comprehensive asset discovery, vulnerability assessment, and behavior monitoring.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds could benefit from a more streamlined configuration process and enhanced scalability options. AlienVault needs better documentation and improved performance handling larger data sets.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds Security Event Manager is noted for its straightforward deployment and exceptional customer service. AlienVault OSSIM, while more complex to deploy, offers extensive integrations but has mixed reviews on customer service responsiveness.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds Security Event Manager is favored for its transparent pricing and good return on investment. AlienVault OSSIM, considered more costly, justifies its price through its rich feature set and comprehensive security functionalities.

To learn more, read our detailed AlienVault OSSIM vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager

March 2026

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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)

13th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Security Event M...

Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

36th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of AlienVault OSSIM is 1.4%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is 1.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
AlienVault OSSIM	1.4%
SolarWinds Security Event Manager	1.0%
Other	97.6%

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Featured Reviews

Brandon Pearce

Independent Contractor at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees

Enables cost-effective security management for small businesses

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 implementation. The main area where the AlienVault product was lacking around the 2018 timeframe was in its ability to scale. By pushing it to a cloud-based system, they've largely alleviated scale issues. It's native in Amazon but will also run in Azure. They have worked with cloud service providers to offer enough throughput at a cost reasonable for a corporation. Scaling was their biggest problem, and they've largely conquered those issues.

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Yashokanth Partkunan

Managed Services Engineer at Loop1 Systems

Has supported client needs efficiently but requires deeper analysis features and faster support

The log analyzing capability of SolarWinds Security Event Manager should go into more depth than the current environment. More modification and enhancements are required on the dashboard side in order to make it closer to optimal performance. From observation and feedback from users, they need more functionality related to monitoring, and in-depth analyzing needs to be improved.

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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 solution is free to use."

"The paid version of the solution has reporting and better scalability options."

"The product is easy to use."

"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."

"AlienVault OSSIM is an enterprise solution that sells easily. It is rated highly by organizations."

"The most valuable feature is the logging capability."

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

"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

"This tool is simple to use."

"SolarWinds has provided greater visibility into incidents and activities on the network."

"User-friendly configuration is key, and the configurations are simple, not complex."

"It supports high availability, which is very helpful."

"We were suffering from a lack of visibility into our logs, so we implemented SolarWinds LEM."

"SolarWinds' stability is fine; I don't think we've had any software issues."

"The graphical user interface is very user-friendly. SolarWinds is a hybrid solution so you can use it across many platforms."

"If you have no monitoring tool in place, SolarWinds SIEM is a good place to start and very inexpensive."

More SolarWinds Security Event Manager pros

Cons

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

"There needs to be more focus on the NOC and IIS in terms of developing applications for behavior detection."

"It does not give me a prompt response for any such malicious traffic; it takes time to get that alert from the AlienVault system."

"The log collection is okay, but tracing the logs or tracing the events is a bit difficult."

"When comparing AlienVault OSSIM to other solutions it looks a bit outdated. Additionally, they need to improve their integration."

"The user interface needs to be friendlier across the board."

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

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

More AlienVault OSSIM cons

"It takes a long time to perform a root cause analysis."

"We used the support from SolarWinds Security Event Manager and they are knowledgeable but challenging to get in contact with them."

"It is a very technical program. They can simplify it so that it isn't so hard to deal with."

"I think the product can use some improvement on the reporting side. The reporting could be easier and more robust."

"It is a very technical program. They can simplify it so that it isn't so hard to deal with."

"The main area that would mean a big improvement for me would be for the product to include multiple dashboards."

"I would like to have a more customizable dashboard."

"I would like to be able to dig deeper into the visibility of events or incidents to determine whether they are malicious, such as by doing behavior analysis."

More SolarWinds Security Event Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"AlienVault OSSIM is an open-source solution."

"OSSIM is free."

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

"AlienVault 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."

"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."

"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."

"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."

More AlienVault OSSIM pricing and cost advice

"The pricing model would benefit from having package deals with other SolarWinds products."

"It is in the appropriate mid-range. It is not as expensive as some of the other solutions. It is also not cheap."

"Licensing is on devices, so if you have many, then this may be high."

"The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten."

"Licenses can only be purchased in blocks of fifty at a time."

"We do a yearly license renewal. For a year, the solution costs roughly $500,000 USD. There are no costs beyond this yearly fee."

"The price of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is reasonable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

13%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Construction Company

10%

University

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	19
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	7

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?

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?

The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?

I work with all SolarWinds products mostly, including Network Configuration Manager and NPM. I am a reseller. I usually recommend SolarWinds products for Loop1. It's for the bigger ones; we are the...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM

April 2026

Download AlienVault OSSIM product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Security Event Manager

March 2026

SolarWinds Security Event Manager report

Download SolarWinds Security Event Manager product report

Also Known As

OSSIM

SolarWinds LEM, Solarwinds SIEM, TriGeo, Log and Event Manager

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

When TriGeo was acquired by SolarWinds, TriGeo SIM became known as SolarWinds Log & Event Manager. This product is a leading Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) product and log management solution, which provides log collection, analysis, and real-time correlation.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Council Rock School District

NetSuite, EasyStreet, Legacy Texas Bank, and Energy Federal Credit Union, to name a few.

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager

March 2026

Free Report: AlienVault OSSIM vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager

Find out what your peers are saying about AlienVault OSSIM vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.

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