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Security Onion vs VMware Aria Operations for Logs 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

Security Onion
Ranking in Log Management
19th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware Aria Operations for ...
Ranking in Log Management
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Security Onion is 4.5%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Operations for Logs is 1.4%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
VMware Aria Operations for Logs1.4%
Security Onion4.5%
Other94.1%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

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.
LarsChristensen - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient troubleshooting with precise log filtering and an easy setup
The tool could benefit from improved filter settings and dashboarding. While there are dashboards available, they are often created by community members and may not work after updates. It would be beneficial to have a roadmap for these dashboards to ensure consistent functionality. It would also be advantageous if the tool could process even large amounts of data faster, though this may be more related to data movement challenges rather than the software itself.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"We use Security Onion for internal vulnerability assessment."
"I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten."
"It gives the customer a quick overview, so they don't have to dig. There's a clear dashboard with many sensors in a single space. He gets a helicopter view of his environment, but he can investigate further if there are serious issues. It's pretty user-friendly."
"The ability to narrow into a specific time to filter heavy hitters and anomalies is extremely valuable."
"The interface of the solution is good."
"What I like is that you can have different storage locations for different applications."
"The ability to narrow into a specific time to filter heavy hitters and anomalies is extremely valuable."
"Log Insight correlates with the VMware product log. It can assemble the logs you want, making it easier to find the output, incident, or keyword you want to search."
"The tool helps my company deal with security and log analysis, which are very important areas for us...It is a scalable solution."
 

Cons

"Security Onion's user interface could be improved."
"The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult."
"The product is not easy to learn."
"It needs better integration with third-party analytics tools."
"The solution is a very good tool, but it has a lot of limitations. One of the main issues is around how you define your retention policy, for instance, in Log Insight. It doesn't have it. You can't define a log retention policy. You also can't define the destination or location for your logs. All of the logs are in one index or one bucket."
"The tool could be cheaper."
"Technical support should be improved."
"I don't use the solution on a day to day basis, so I'm not sure what specifically can be improved."
"From an improvement perspective, the tool needs to be made more user-friendly."
"The tool does not provide a centralized pane for monitoring."
"Log retention should have more options for user control."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is a free solution."
"The licensing cost for vRealize Log Insight is a little higher, so in terms of cost, it all depends upon what kind of environment you have. If you have a complete virtualized environment, or at least you're using a ninety-five percent virtualized environment, then vRealize Log Insight will play a very good role because it is a VMware component, so it has very tight integration with other VMware components and systems. This means you don't have to procure any other monitoring and management tool, and you don't need a separate automation tool. vRealize Log Insight will have an upper hand if your environment is purely virtualized on VMware. If you're using a mix of physical and virtual components, for example, a 50:50 ratio, then you need to have a third-party component to manage overall monitoring."
"Pricing could always be lower. If it were free, I would be more satisfied."
"The pricing has been updated recently."
"The license cost for any other monitoring tool is too high compared to this product."
"Pricing is good because it is part of the suite package. It comes in a bundle for us."
"It is not cheap. But it is worth it."
"I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"The product's price is reasonable, but when it comes to SQL licensing, it's a bit expensive."
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Top Industries

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

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What do you like most about vRealize Log Insight?
The events are notably more descriptive, aiding in security and event analysis. We've also integrated Sky Collector, providing valuable insights and solutions for troubleshooting.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vRealize Log Insight?
The cost of using VMware Aria Operations for Logs was very high, around two to three million dollars, although the exact figure is uncertain. The price was proving to be too much, especially with t...
What needs improvement with vRealize Log Insight?
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is not a cost-effective tool. Changing any telemetry requires creating a new template, such as changes to the VM disk size. Always having to create a new template ma...
 

Also Known As

No data available
vRealize Log Insight
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Wildlands Adventure Zoo, Medic Mobile, IBM, Seventy Seven Energy, Baystate Health, Osis, Oxford University, Columbia University, Siemens, Cardinal Health, Ashdod Port, Vasakronan, Sydney Adventist Hospital, University of Derby
Find out what your peers are saying about Security Onion vs. VMware Aria Operations for Logs and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.