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Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs Security Onion comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

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

Fortinet FortiAnalyzer
Ranking in Log Management
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
101
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Security Onion
Ranking in Log Management
18th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
AWS Marketplace (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is 2.0%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Security Onion is 5.5%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Manikandan Kannan - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplifying log management by displaying detailed access information
The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is its ability to simplify and display logs clearly, providing details like which IPs are accessing the system, the destination, and the policies applied. This visualization and detail make managing logs more straightforward. In conjunction with our VMware setup, Fortinet FortiAnalyzer enhances organizational efficiency, meeting the standard log retention period for up to a year.
Jörg Kippe - PeerSpot reviewer
A mature and affordable solution that is easy to install and easy to update
The product takes time to learn, it's not that easy. In the beginning we had a lot of questions. If you want to use such a tool in an real (industrial) environment, you have to ask how to get the network data. Can we do a full packet capture? Can we provide agents to our end systems? There are no simple solutions to these questions. It's a general problem when running such systems in an industrial environment.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Provides detailed log reports"
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"The feature that I have found the most valuable is to be able to see everything in our network in a single task. A single menu and the graphical bar charts that it provides to give insights are very useful. It also gives very good metrics on bandwidth utilization, CPU, and device performance. It is very simple and easy to use as well."
"The log analysis and reporting are both quite good."
"Initial setup is ok."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is its capability for analyzing and providing visually comprehensive reports, making it easier to understand the network environment."
"This solution offers one view of incident management which has been the most valuable feature."
"Support is helpful."
"We use Security Onion for internal vulnerability assessment."
"The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports."
"Security Onion is the most mature solution in the market."
 

Cons

"The deployment is complex and has room for improvement."
"I don't find Fortinet FortiAnalyzer to be as robust as Check Point Security Management."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer can improve by introducing integration with other Fortinet solutions with automation with one interface would be helpful."
"The pricing could be better."
"There is no issue with the hardware appliance. However, when discussing the cloud options, they offer very limited features, especially in terms of reporting and analyzing data."
"The traffic monitoring could be better, and stability could be improved."
"Their pricing model is not the best and needs work."
"The pricing could be better. They could work to make it more competitive on the market."
"The product is not easy to learn."
"Security Onion's user interface could be improved."
"The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its worth spending on FortiAnalyzer if you have multiple firewalls in your network."
"The cost and pricing should be in accordance with the calculation of log storage capacity for a time period required for historical analysis."
"We have around 12 devices and yearly we spend approximately $14,000."
"It is not very expensive when customers understand the value of this product and the importance of the information that it provides for security."
"I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"I won't say the solution is too costly since it is available at a fair price."
"It is expensive for small business customers. It is only available for customers with a high number of firewalls to manage or to report. If a customer has only five boxes of FortiGate, the price of FortiAnalyzer can be more than the five boxes. So, we can't easily put this solution for small business customers."
"Compared to other products, the price is a little bit high."
"Security Onion is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is a free solution."
"It is an open-source solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
The reporting features, which offer customization, real-time insights, and compliance support, are particularly noteworthy aspects.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
In the Indian market, Fortinet's pricing is very competitive, allowing us to win most of our deals. It is supportive in terms of pricing, offering a good balance for mid-sized enterprises.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
Currently, Fortinet FortiAnalyzer provides a very basic level of correlation facilities. I would like to see improvements in the integration of better correlation capabilities. This would help in a...
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.
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.
What needs improvement with Security Onion?
The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

General Directorate of Information Technology
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs. Security Onion and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.