No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Security Onion vs VMware Aria Operations for Logs comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

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
22nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware Aria Operations for ...
Ranking in Log Management
18th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Security Onion is 1.6%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Operations for Logs is 1.1%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
VMware Aria Operations for Logs1.1%
Security Onion1.6%
Other97.3%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Hiten Nandasana - PeerSpot reviewer
Angular developer at Flourish software
Centralized monitoring has strengthened threat detection and supports faster incident investigations
Security Onion is a completely open-source and free platform, making it a cost-effective solution that works smoothly and effectively for our organization. Security Onion integrates well with our existing tools, primarily using Linux systems in our organization, allowing us to monitor logs and manage threat detection and operations in the public cloud effectively. Security Onion is very helpful in meeting compliance requirements and supports regular standards for our environment. I advise organizations that use Linux or have network security knowledge to consider Security Onion, as it satisfies requirements such as threat detection and log management systems. I would rate this review eight out of ten.
DineshKumar21 - PeerSpot reviewer
Service Delivery Manager at DXC Technology
Comprehensive monitoring has improved performance, capacity planning, and multi-source log analysis
VMware Aria Operations for Logs would be used to completely monitor the health of your environment. Second is to understand your existing capacity and forecast your capacity for the next year or so. Third would be on performance management, understanding how the environment is performing, and what has to be done to optimize it. We use VMware Aria Operations for Logs for these purposes. We also use VMware Aria Operations for Logs to monitor non-VMware components as well. VMware Aria Operations for Logs is now part of a bigger suite with several modules added. You have an option to collect logs from various sources and then you can do some sorts of analytics from it as well. All of this can be done with VMware Aria Operations for Logs.

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 a completely open-source and free platform, making it a cost-effective solution that works smoothly and effectively for our organization."
"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."
"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."
"The setup and installation are very easy."
"It is a highly stable solution...It is a highly scalable solution."
"VMware Aria Operations for Logs is a very stable product."
"The system's management and its alerts are the most valuable aspects of the solution."
"The tool helps my company deal with security and log analysis, which are very important areas for us...It is a scalable solution."
"The virtualization solution supports data center virtualization, network and security."
"vRealize Log Insight has been running without any issues."
 

Cons

"Security Onion's user interface could be improved."
"Security Onion can be made easier to set up initially, as it is somewhat difficult at the start, but once configured, it becomes a great tool to use."
"The product is not easy to learn."
"The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult."
"Customer service and support have declined. Six months ago, I would have rated it as an eight or nine. Currently, it feels more like a four, five, or six."
"From an improvement perspective, the tool needs to be made more user-friendly."
"Log retention should have more options for user control."
"The solution isn't user-friendly for admins."
"But the license cost is too much."
"It needs better integration with third-party analytics tools."
"Integration with other vendors is something that could be improved, they could add more vendors."
"Documentation is lacking, including some guide as to how to use the expressions. It is not clear how to look for a log, for example. Some examples in the documentation might be helpful. I think that VMware had good documentation, but it's no longer hosted. The documentation is not as easy to understand as it was before."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Security Onion is a free solution."
"It is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is an open-source solution."
"I am not sure what the exact cost is. However, I believe the vRealize suite costs $2,500.00 per year."
"Pricing is good because it is part of the suite package. It comes in a bundle for us."
"The license cost for any other monitoring tool is too high compared to this product."
"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."
"The product's price is reasonable, but when it comes to SQL licensing, it's a bit expensive."
"Pricing could always be lower. If it were free, I would be more satisfied."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Log Management solutions are best for your needs.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
12%
University
12%
Government
9%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise13
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Security Onion?
Security Onion does not require any cost, as it is open-source and free.
What needs improvement with Security Onion?
Security Onion can be made easier to set up initially, as it is somewhat difficult at the start, but once configured, it becomes a great tool to use. I assigned a rating of eight out of ten because...
What advice do you have for others considering Security Onion?
Security Onion is a completely open-source and free platform, making it a cost-effective solution that works smoothly and effectively for our organization. Security Onion integrates well with our e...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vRealize Log Insight?
VMware Aria Operations for Logs does have device licenses. The license is perpetual and you do not have to pay monthly as it is a one time purchase. The only thing is if you are looking for support...
What needs improvement with vRealize Log Insight?
VMware periodically provides upgrades and updates to the product. They are also extending support to various third party hardware as well. I am not sure whether they have any ready made APIs for cl...
What is your primary use case for vRealize Log Insight?
We have been using this for the last five years.
 

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 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.