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Grafana Loki 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

Grafana Loki
Ranking in Log Management
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Security Onion
Ranking in Log Management
29th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Grafana Loki is 3.5%, down from 8.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Security Onion is 2.3%, down from 5.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Grafana Loki3.5%
Security Onion2.3%
Other94.2%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2350791 - PeerSpot reviewer
Regional Associate & Engineer at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Offers cost-effective log management with strong correlation features across observability tools
Grafana Loki's open-source capability is a significant benefit. Grafana has invested in making their enterprise tools competitive with other APM tools, facilitating cross-correlation with Mimir and Tempo for metrics and tracing. The tool offers good search functionality, and its on-premises capability is advantageous. The indexing performance is strong, making it a robust log management tool. Grafana Loki is notably cost-effective.
Jörg Kippe - PeerSpot reviewer
Scientist at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
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

"Grafana Loki is easy to monitor and detect errors."
"The log collection feature is good and the solution is easily understandable. v"
"We are using Grafana Loki as a database for real-time metrics."
"Loki also utilizes the same service discovery mechanism as used by Prometheus. So, whatever labeled metadata you see in Prometheus, you have the exact same metadata in the Loki system. Given this level of intricacy and the attempt to address these challenges, I firmly believe that Loki deserves praise for the work."
"Different types of integrations with various sources are the most helpful and useful features of Grafana Loki that I found for myself."
"Grafana Loki's open-source capability is a significant benefit, and Grafana has invested in making their enterprise tools competitive with other APM tools, facilitating cross-correlation with Mimir and Tempo for metrics and tracing."
"There are new features like that pilot code and things like that for profiling."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that it is an open-source tool that is stable and flexible."
"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

"We face some bugs when we install the latest version of Grafana Loki."
"The solution's scalability depends on the team managing the Grafana instance."
"Improvements could be made in the enablement of the product, addressing the complexity of implementing these tools."
"The product must improve its UI."
"The Docker container partition feature needs improvement as they do not reuse the space and goes into a pending state."
"I do not see any areas for improvement at the moment."
"The platform's stability needs improvement."
"My main concern is the recommended production-grade setup. They suggest using tools like Tanka or Jsonnet. They should simplify the process to increase adoption."
"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

"You can use the free version of Grafana Loki on-premises."
"Grafana Loki is a free, open-source solution."
"I use the solution's open-source version. Grafana Loki is a completely free solution for me."
"I use the open-source version of the product."
"The cost is less than other paid services like CloudWatch."
"My company doesn't need to pay for the licensing cost of the solution."
"Since we are using the open-source version of Grafana Loki, we are not paying anything for the solution."
"We use a free version."
"It is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is a free solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
12%
Government
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise4
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Grafana Loki?
Since it is an open source tool, there are no charges or fees.
What needs improvement with Grafana Loki?
Improvements could be made in the enablement of the product, addressing the complexity of implementing these tools.
What advice do you have for others considering Grafana Loki?
A lot of our customers are service providers, internet service providers, government, defense contractors, and some enterprise software and finance organizations, so it spans across the board. Cost...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Grafana Loki vs. Security Onion and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.