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IBM Security QRadar vs LogRhythm SIEM vs NetWitness Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of IBM Security QRadar is 3.7%, down from 5.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of LogRhythm SIEM is 2.1%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetWitness Platform is 0.3%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Md. Shahriar Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
Real-time incident detection and user-friendly dashboard benefit daily operations
There are many types of AI, and this AI is very limited in SQL and features. There may be potential for improvement. So far, it seems very limited. It shows some good features in the correlation part, but I think there is room for improvement. For instance, when creating rules, it can suggest more rules, reducing the effort needed. If AI-related support can suggest rules and integrate with existing security devices like MD, IPS, this SIM can create more relevant rules. Sometimes logs I receive don't mean anything, and I need technical stakeholders to share or forward logs, but these are sometimes inadequate. Keywords can help identify insufficient logs. I often lack time to verify logs. Sharing false positive results could be reduced to help my team.
Mokhammad Rakhman - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly dashboard and machine learning capabilities improve threat hunting efficiency
LogRhythm SIEM has strong machine-learning capabilities with behavioral rules and analysis. The seamless integration for case management, along with a user-friendly dashboard user interface, makes tasks like threat hunting more efficient. Analytics and behavioral analysis help me save time with rule creation. Its scalability allows me to add components as needed. Overall, LogRhythm SIEM offers end-to-end visibility with a reasonable price.
MdZaman - PeerSpot reviewer
Really scalable for enterprise customers
The solution should have more integration capabilities with different platforms. The API is nearly open and scalable, so the solution can integrate with many platforms. The solution has more than 200 log sources in the scalability to support, but this is its limit. Installation is pretty easy. However, there are a couple of modules involved, so it is not as easy as it could be. We are talking about a distributed module, not a single-module type. This is what makes things a bit complex, instead of easier. I rate it as a seven out of ten on its installation and configuration capabilities.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It'll get you from point A to B."
"QRadar has somewhat of a new structure recently from last gen. They have moved from the standard UI based infrastructure."
"I have found IBM QRadar to be scalable."
"The most valuable features would have to be the products' ability to customize vulnerability management settings."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is its artificial intelligence component, Watson. Its contribution is pretty good from a machine-learning artificial intelligence perspective. This compliments the orchestration automation component, as well."
"We can easily monitor many things using this tool."
"This solution has excellent security analytics."
"In terms of the most valuable features, the log collections and log processing mechanisms are good. They have good dashboards."
"LogRhythm's GUI is easy to explore. We also like other features, such as its integration with other security solutions, log correlation, and the deployment of use cases."
"In general, the visibility of events and advanced analysis of events are good."
"The most useful feature that I've found so far is the search function. I like all the different ways you're able to search through metadata and the different ways you're able to correlate or search through logs to find out what's going on."
"We use this solution to examine disparate log sources and provide a cohesive method to search for anomalous behavior."
"Overall, my rating for LogRhythm SIEM is nine out of ten."
"We now have a central point of monitoring for all potential threats."
"LogRhythm has shown to us, to this point in time, that it has the capabilities of being able to deliver actionable intelligence to the security engineers and analysts."
"We have to be able to show the evidence, and LogRhythm does a great job of putting it forward and making it easy to create reports with nice looking dashboards, which show off what we are doing as a security program."
"It's quite economical compared to other solutions in the market."
"The most valuable feature is the security that it provides."
"Their technical support responds quickly and are knowledgable."
"Offers a good wireless feature."
"NetWitness Platform is valuable for creating rules that the solution must detect."
"The most valuable feature of RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets are the alerts and correlations tools."
"The development of use cases on the SSA console is quite user friendly. This means that the security analyst or the researcher does not have to learn another language."
"The most valuable features are its ingestion of logs and raising of alerts based on those logs."
 

Cons

"The solution lacks vendor support."
"There should be more opportunity for community kind of distribution where, for example, if there was a zero-day threat targeting companies."
"I would like to see some artificial intelligence and alternative solutions."
"The pricing of the solution is a bit high. If they could lower it, that would be ideal."
"The usability of interfaces could be improved."
"It doesn't have a SOAR system by default. You need to purchase it additionally, which is the main problem with QRadar."
"A lot of information that we receive for the devices is IP-based, but it would help if we could have a default dashboard in which we can add more details about the assets for which we are receiving the information. For example, if it is a Windows or Linux device, we only get the IP for that particular device. We don't really get the name and other details of that particular device. For that, you have to drill down into your own asset management system. It would be good to have a place where we can probably add this information so that we don't have to look into other tools."
"Each module requires a separate license and a separate cost."
"More help and assistance with some of the open source products, everything seems to be focused on Windows versus giving some guidance and some documentation on how to use it."
"Only area I can think of to improve on is the proof reading and using the guides before releasing them. Out the the 20+ guides I used one had issues with wrong information in it."
"I would probably look for more things to go into the web console that is currently on the fat client."
"Sometimes, the tool fails to get the correlated events that triggered the alerts."
"LogRhythm NextGen SIEM is currently based only on the Windows platform. This means that some of our customers have to purchase a Windows license elsewhere. If LogRhythm can move to a Linux platform or a proprietary platform, it would be very helpful."
"LogRhythm SIEM can improve its user interface. The current interface is quite complex and can be challenging to navigate. While it offers many valuable features, understanding how to access and utilize them efficiently takes time. Simplifying the client console's user interface would significantly enhance the user experience and make it more user-friendly."
"Sometimes the Platform Manager crashes because it's built around Windows."
"Stability has probably been one area where Health Checks have not been great with the product. We have been told that they are going to improve Health Checks on product, though we do struggle with them on a daily basis."
"They should implement algorithms to digest that data and produce additional, more advanced reporting, alerting and support of internal security teams."
"The initial setup is complex. There are other solutions that are easier to implement."
"The threat detection capability and centralizing and upgrading capability need to be improved. The threat alert capability needs to be improved as well because there is some lag time at present. They need to work on their database search too."
"The product's licensing models are complex to understand. This particular area needs improvement."
"Technical support could be improved."
"Health monitoring of the event sources and devices."
"The implementation needs assistance."
"The tool's integration capability isn't so great."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution has a licensing model that is based on events per second so it scales to need and budget."
"QRadar's price is reasonable compared to LogRhythm."
"On a scale of one to ten, I rate the price a one, where one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is a cheap product."
"The pricing is higher but cheaper than others and there are no additional costs."
"It's not expensive for the resources that it gives you."
"Most of the time, it is easier and cheaper to buy a new product or the QRadar box."
"Pricing (based on EPS) will be more accurate."
"The solution is costly and the price differs depending on the vendor you use."
"I give the price a six out of ten."
"Look for whatever will give you the most value. That's the main point. It is not one size fits all."
"If you don't have your staff, absolutely look into the co-pilot and factor that into your cost evaluation."
"In comparison to the competition, they are more affordable. This allows us to do more with less."
"We have seen a measurable decrease in the mean time to detect and respond to threats. As it comes out new features and new releases, the window is becoming a lot narrower because you can pivot a lot more with the data. Therefore, the new features and enhancements are reducing that."
"NextGen SIEM's pricing is moderate."
"It costs a great amount, but its pricing is competitive with some of the other vendors. For licensing and support, we pay about 20,000. There are no additional costs or anything like that."
"The support which allows more customized to the environment when we are deploying new systems is called Professional Service and is very expensive. The technical annual support and there is an annual fee."
"The tool is very expensive, so I rate the pricing a ten out of ten. The solution has an annual subscription."
"Our license is for one year."
"The licenses are good but the cost is very expensive."
"This is a pricey solution; it's not cheap."
"In comparison to other SIEM solutions such as Splunk, NetWitness is less costly."
"It is cheap."
"The NetWitness Platform may be affordable only for enterprise-level customers, as it may not be within the budget of small and medium-sized businesses."
"We have yearly licensing costs. The license fee can be based on the volume of EPS. Some organizations may have, as a gentlemanly gesture, 10,000 EPS and get a 3,000 EPS license but actually use 5,000 EPS."
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Comparison Review

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Feb 26, 2015
HP ArcSight vs. IBM QRadar vs. ​McAfee Nitro vs. Splunk vs. RSA Security vs. LogRhythm
We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
25%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Insurance Company
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What are the biggest differences between Securonix UEBA, Exabeam, and IBM QRadar?
It mostly depends on your use-cases and environment. Exabeam and Securonix have a stronger UEBA feature set, friendli...
What SOC product do you recommend?
For tools I’d recommend: -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is a...
What is the difference between log management and SIEM?
Rony, Daniel's answer is right on the money. There are many solutions for each in the market, a lot depends upon you...
What needs improvement with LogRhythm NextGen SIEM?
The SOAR capabilities need improvements as they currently require programming knowledge. A more user-friendly user in...
What do you like most about LogRhythm SIEM?
I find LogRhythm's log management capabilities to be beneficial.
What do you like most about NetWitness Platform?
The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetWitness Platform?
The pricing is comparable to others, and I consider the cost to be intermediate. Specific cost details are unknown to...
What needs improvement with NetWitness Platform?
There is currently no need for improvement in the SIEM ( /categories/security-information-and-event-management-siem )...
 

Also Known As

IBM QRadar, QRadar SIEM, QRadar UBA, QRadar on Cloud, IBM QRadar Advisor with Watson
LogRhythm NextGen SIEM, LogRhythm, LogRhythm Threat Lifecycle Management, LogRhythm TLM
RSA Security Analytics
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Clients across multiple industries, such as energy, financial, retail, healthcare, government, communications, and education use QRadar.
Macy's, NASA, Fujitsu, US Air Force, EY, Abbott, HD Supply, SAB Miller, UCLA, Raytheon, Amtrak, Cargill
Los Angeles World Airports, Reply
Find out what your peers are saying about Wazuh, Splunk, Datadog and others in Log Management. Updated: April 2025.
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