Elastic Observability vs Security Onion comparison

Elastic and Security Onion Solutions, LLC are both solutions in the Log Management category. Elastic is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.7, while Security Onion Solutions, LLC is ranked #20 with an average rating of 8.5. Elastic holds a 1.2% mindshare in Log Management, compared to Security Onion Solutions, LLC’s 3.7% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Elastic users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 66% of Security Onion Solutions, LLC users who would recommend it.

Elastic Observability

Read 29 Elastic Observability reviews

8,436 Views
2,025 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Security Onion

Read 3 Security Onion reviews

8,105 Views
6,889 Comparison Views

66% willing to recommend

Elastic Observability

Security Onion

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Elastic Observability and Security Onion compete in observability and network security. Elastic Observability has an edge in deployment speed and integration, whereas Security Onion is favored for its robust security features.

Features: Elastic Observability offers versatile monitoring, strong integration across tools, and real-time data analysis. Security Onion provides comprehensive network security, threat detection, and intrusion detection systems.

Room for Improvement: Elastic Observability can enhance its analytics dashboard, simplify configuration, and improve user interface. Security Onion needs better system updates, enhanced scalability, and streamlined process improvements.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Elastic Observability is known for straightforward deployment and responsive support. Security Onion requires more complex setup but offers detailed documentation.

Pricing and ROI: Elastic Observability is cost-effective with competitive pricing and high ROI. Security Onion is free but may incur additional infrastructure costs, with ROI linked to robust security.

To learn more, read our detailed Elastic Observability vs. Security Onion Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability vs. Security Onion

December 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

Elastic Observability

Ranking in Log Management

14th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (6th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (9th), Container Monitoring (4th), Cloud Monitoring Software (7th)

Security Onion

Ranking in Log Management

20th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Elastic Observability is 1.2%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Security Onion is 3.7%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Log Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Elastic Observability	1.2%
Security Onion	3.7%
Other	95.1%

Log Management

Featured Reviews

Mohammed-Abdelalim

Assistant Vice President at QualityKiosk Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Has provided powerful customization for unique monitoring needs but needs more out-of-the-box capabilities

In my opinion, the best features of Elastic Observability are their flexibility to integrate with other existing systems and the ability to build a unified monitoring tool that can integrate with existing ones and end-to-end user journeys which require a lot of customizations. The greatest feature in Elastic is the ability to customize. This is similar to my comments about customizable dashboards in Elastic because it's visible to the analyst. However, it's very great. Customizing these dashboards can meet the customer's specific use cases and specific stories that they have in their environment, their special environment that doesn't look like other environments. The dashboarding in Elastic is highly customizable to the level of logos. If the customer wants his company logo in the dashboard, it can be done.

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Anish Bajracharya

Postgraduate at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees

Provides good threat hunting by finding infected ports, but its initial setup is difficult

The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports. I have used the Squert tool within Security Onion the most for threat hunting The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult. I have been using Security Onion for one year.…

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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

"Good design and easy to use once implemented."

"The solution allows us to dig deep into data."

"The solution has been stable in our usage."

"For full stack observability, Elastic is the best tool compared with any other tool ."

"It is scalable and supports multitenancy, which is beneficial for MSPs."

"The architecture and system's stability are simple."

"I think Elastic Observability is already in very good shape."

"It's easy to deploy, and it's very flexible."

More Elastic Observability pros

"We use Security Onion for internal vulnerability assessment."

"Security Onion is the most mature solution in the market."

"The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports."

Cons

"It lacked some capabilities when handling on-prem devices, like network observability, package flow analysis, and device performance data on the infrastructure side."

"The solution needs to use more AI. Once the product onboards AI, users would more effectively be able to track endpoints for specific messages."

"Elastic Observability is reactive rather than proactive. It should act as an ITSM tool and be able to create tickets and alerts on Jira."

"Elastic Observability’s price could be improved."

"When opening tickets, we cannot use our team mailbox."

"The tool's scalability involves a more complex implementation process. It requires careful calculations to determine the number of nodes needed, the specifications of each node, and the configuration of hot, warm, and cold zones for data storage. Additionally, managing log retention policies adds further complexity. The solution's pricing also needs to be cheaper."

"Elastic Observability is an excellent product for monitoring and visibility, but it lacks predictive analytics. Most solutions are aligned with the AIOps requirements, but this piece is missing in Elastic and should be included."

"One example is the inability to monitor very old databases with the newest version."

More Elastic Observability cons

"The product is not easy to learn."

"The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult."

"Security Onion's user interface could be improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing is one of those situations where the more you use it, the more you pay."

"The price of Elastic Observability is expensive."

"The product’s pricing needs improvement."

"We have been using the open-source version."

"There are two types: cloud and SaaS. They charge based on data ingestion, ingest rate, hard retention, and warm retention. I believe it costs around $25,000 annually to ingest 30GB of data daily. That is the SaaS version. There is also a self-managed license where the customer manages their own infrastructure on-prem. In such cases, there are three license tiers that respectively cost $5,000 annually per node, $7,000 per node, and $12,500 per node."

"We will buy a premium license after POC."

"The product is not that cheap."

"So far, there are just the standard licensing fees. Several of the components are embedded in the license or are even open source. They're even free depending on what you use, which makes it even more appealing to someone that is discussing pricing of the solution."

More Elastic Observability pricing and cost advice

"Security Onion is a free solution."

"It is an open-source solution."

"Security Onion is an open-source solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Government

University

12%

Government

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	16

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Elastic Observability?

Elastic Observability significantly improves incident response time by providing quick access to logs and data across various sources. For instance, searching for specific keywords in logs spanning...

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

The problem is their licensing model, which is a bit confusing. Many customers struggle to understand their total cost of ownership because Elastic licensing is not dependent on easy, quantifiable ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Elastic Observability?

After careful consideration about areas for improvement in Elastic Observability, aspects such as pricing, customization, implementation, and scalability could be improved. As a user of the system,...

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What do you like most about Security Onion?

The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports.

See all answers

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

Security Onion is an open-source solution. On a scale from one to ten, where ten is expensive and one is cheap, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Security Onion?

The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sentry vs Elastic Observability

Compared 8% of the time

Dynatrace vs Elastic Observability

Compared 7% of the time

New Relic vs Elastic Observability

Compared 7% of the time

Grafana vs Elastic Observability

Compared 7% of the time

Zabbix vs Elastic Observability

Compared 6% of the time

More Elastic Observability Competitors

Wazuh vs Security Onion

Compared 47% of the time

Elastic Stack vs Security Onion

Compared 12% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Security Onion

Compared 11% of the time

Graylog Enterprise vs Security Onion

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Purview Audit vs Security Onion

Compared 1% of the time

More Security Onion Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability

January 2026

Download Elastic Observability product report

Buyer's Guide

Log Management

January 2026

Download Security Onion product report

Overview

Elastic Observability offers a comprehensive suite for log analytics, application performance monitoring, and machine learning. It integrates seamlessly with platforms like Teams and Slack, enhancing data visualization and scalability for real-time insights.

Elastic Observability is designed to support production environments with features like logging, data collection, and infrastructure tracking. Centralized logging and powerful search functionalities make incident response and performance tracking efficient. Elastic APM and Kibana facilitate detailed data visualization, promoting rapid troubleshooting and effective system performance analysis. Integrated services and extensive connectivity options enhance its role in business and technical decision-making by providing actionable data insights.

What are the most important features of Elastic Observability?

Centralized Logging: Streamlines the collection, analysis, and storage of log data.
Powerful Search: Provides robust search capabilities for quick access to relevant information.
Scalability: Supports growing data needs across diverse environments.
Real-time Telemetry: Ensures up-to-date insights and monitoring.
Platform Integration: Seamlessly connects with services like Teams and Slack.
Data Visualization: Enhances visibility with Elastic APM and Kibana.

What benefits and ROI should users explore in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Offers significant savings through efficient data management.
Rapid Incident Response: Minimizes downtime with quick troubleshooting tools.
Comprehensive Insights: Supports better business decisions with detailed data analysis.
Performance Tracking: Enables assessment of system effectiveness and improvements.

Elastic Observability is employed across industries for critical operations, such as in finance for transaction monitoring, in healthcare for secure data management, and in technology for optimizing application performance. Its data-driven approach aids efficient event tracing, supporting diverse industry requirements.

Elastic

Security Onion is an open-source Linux distribution for intrusion detection, network security monitoring, and log management. It offers comprehensive solutions for enterprises seeking to enhance their cybersecurity infrastructure.

Security Onion provides a full suite of tools to detect and respond to cybersecurity threats efficiently. As a robust and versatile distribution, it includes capabilities for real-time analysis, network visibility, and threat detection, making it indispensable for security operations centers. Users value this tool for its integration of open-source software with advanced analytics, affording professionals a detailed overview of network traffic and potential intrusions.

What are Security Onion’s most important features?

Intrusion Detection: Utilizes Suricata or Zeek for effective threat monitoring.
Network Security Monitoring: Offers powerful visualization tools for network analysis.
Log Management: Centralizes log collection and analysis.
Comprehensive Dashboards: Provides integrated dashboards for threat visibility.

What benefits or ROI should you look for in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Reduced cybersecurity costs due to its open-source nature.
Improved Threat Detection: Enhanced ability to identify and respond to threats quickly.
Integration Capability: Seamless integration with existing security infrastructures.
Scalability: Support for scaling network security operations as needed.

Security Onion finds extensive application in industries such as finance, healthcare, and government sectors, where robust network monitoring is critical. Its ability to integrate with existing security tools makes it a preferred choice for organizations looking to strengthen their cybersecurity posture.

Security Onion Solutions, LLC

Sample Customers

PSCU, Entel, VITAS, Mimecast, Barrett Steel, Butterfield Bank

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Elastic Observability vs. Security Onion

December 2025

Free Report: Elastic Observability vs. Security Onion

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