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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
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
104
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Security Onion
Ranking in Log Management
20th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
AWS Marketplace (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is 1.9%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Security Onion is 5.3%, up from 4.0% 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

"With Fortinet FortiAnalyzer, it is easy to get reports and read specific logs."
"The solution is easy to use and easy to integrate."
"Its robust security and performance are the two main features. We also use the log reporting feature."
"FortiAnalyzer helps us discover what's happening on the network."
"The product can scale."
"The analyzer is the most valuable feature."
"It gives you live logs, which can be really helpful during troubleshooting."
"Special notifications about compromised phones are valuable because we have some guest networks, and sometimes, people are connecting phones that are connected to compromised websites. We want to be informed about it. We sometimes have some cases where we want to analyze the connection from inside to outside ports. So, it helps with a lot of things. It depends on our needs."
"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."
"We use Security Onion for internal vulnerability assessment."
 

Cons

"I feel that Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is a little bit heavy, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The pricing could be better. They could work to make it more competitive on the market."
"The only issue is the cost of the licenses."
"The UI could use some improvement. It can be tough for a beginner to navigate because you don't know what to do even if you read the guide. I've talked to some users who said that they couldn't figure out what to do even after looking at the documentation."
"In terms of what could be improved, sometimes it's lagging and it also has some graphical issues with the GUI."
"The log view for syslog in Fortinet FortiAnalyzer could be improved. A more comprehensive dashboard for syslog would enhance its value."
"The solution could improve by allowing the ability to search logs in integrated solutions."
"A possible improvement for FortiAnalyzer could be in threat intelligence. This feature might be enhanced to provide better insights and more efficient operations."
"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

"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."
"We have around 12 devices and yearly we spend approximately $14,000."
"The price is not expensive when compared to other solutions like Palo Alto."
"The price of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is expensive."
"The pricing model is subscription-based."
"t varies depending on your needs. However, after-sales support is expensive."
"We pay for an annual license."
"The cost of the license is high."
"It is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is a free solution."
"Security Onion is an open-source solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
University
11%
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?
There are no extra expenses included aside from the licensing fee for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer, which I am paying annually.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
There are some downsides and areas that require improvement in Fortinet FortiAnalyzer. Fortinet FortiAnalyzer needs to improve in its utilization of AI to enhance its security log analysis.
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: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.