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 #12 with an average rating of 7.4, while SolarWinds is ranked #35 with an average rating of 7.7. AT&T holds a 1.6% 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

4,307 Views
4,221 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Security Event M...

Read 27 SolarWinds Security Event Manager reviews

1,775 Views
1,704 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)

12th

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)

35th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of AlienVault OSSIM is 1.6%, down from 4.1% 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	1.6%
SolarWinds Security Event Manager	1.0%
Other	97.4%

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

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

"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."

"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."

"With AlienVault you get everything in one box."

"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.""

"Most of the SOC or SIEM enterprise class products are very expensive, whereas with OSSIM you can start out with a smaller setup and then expand as you wish."

"The solution is free to use."

More AlienVault OSSIM pros

"The most valuable feature is the reporting."

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

"The most valuable feature is the ease of use for the end user."

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

"We did previously use a different solution, but SolarWinds is much better; it's easy to interact with SolarWinds, easy to operate, easy to configure, and generally easier compared to what we were working with before."

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is the analysis and the knowledge about the incidence that we trace."

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

"The scalability of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is good."

More SolarWinds Security Event Manager pros

Cons

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

"They can add more compliance templates."

"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 correlation engine needs to be improved."

"Sometimes it takes very long for your issue to get resolved."

"The initial setup was a bit complex. You've got to do a lot of reading. It's not an intuitive implementation."

"The correlation engine needs to be improved."

"It's so hard to configure and explore something new on it."

More AlienVault OSSIM cons

"Training for this solution needs to be improved, as new employees are sometimes unfamiliar with the product."

"The reporting could be more robust. It can be a lot more granular and that will make it a lot more useful in comparison to how it is incorporated at the moment."

"The company had to use a third party for the implementation of the solution."

"There is no correlation made between log entries, so no threat information is presented."

"There are no multiple dashboards which would allow you to see information side-by-side."

"It won't tell you when your backups are failing, but it will give you hints when your database is running on full recovery."

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

"The only issue is the pricetag. SolarWinds is a costly solution."

More SolarWinds Security Event Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"I used the paid version of the tool and found it to be expensive. It has been a while since I changed to Securonix. I will have to check whether AlienVault charges per device, user, or log."

"AlienVault OSSIM is expensive compared to its competitors."

"AlienVault OSSIM is an open-source solution."

"OSSIM is free."

"AlienVault OSSIM is free."

"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."

"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."

More AlienVault OSSIM pricing and cost advice

"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."

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

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

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

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

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

12%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

University

Construction Company

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...

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What needs improvement with AlienVault OSSIM?

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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

March 2026

Download AlienVault OSSIM product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Security Event Manager

February 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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