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AlienVault OSSIM vs NetWitness Platform comparison

AT&T and NetWitness are both solutions in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category. AT&T is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.3, while NetWitness is ranked #31 with an average rating of 8.0. AT&T holds a 3.2% mindshare in SIEM, compared to NetWitness’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of AT&T users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 75% of NetWitness users who would recommend it.
AlienVault OSSIM
Read 31 AlienVault OSSIM reviews
  • 5,143 Views
  • 5,040 Comparison Views
80% willing to recommend
NetWitness Platform
Read 37 NetWitness Platform reviews
  • 1,469 Views
  • 955 Comparison Views
75% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

NetWitness Platform and AlienVault OSSIM are reputable cybersecurity solutions known for their advanced threat detection capabilities. While users prefer AlienVault OSSIM's support and pricing, NetWitness Platform's comprehensive features justify its cost.

Features: NetWitness Platform offers deep packet inspection, threat intelligence, and more advanced extensive features. AlienVault OSSIM is recognized for its simplicity and integration capabilities, making it user-friendly.

Room for Improvement: NetWitness needs better scalability and third-party tool integration. AlienVault OSSIM requires enhanced documentation and more frequent updates, focusing on support improvements.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetWitness Platform's deployment is complex but supported by strong customer service. AlienVault OSSIM provides a straightforward deployment process with reliable customer support.

Pricing and ROI: NetWitness Platform has higher setup costs but offers significant ROI through its enhanced capabilities. AlienVault OSSIM offers competitive pricing and reasonable ROI, being more cost-effective upfront.

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To learn more, read our detailed AlienVault OSSIM vs. NetWitness Platform Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
AlienVault OSSIM vs. NetWitness Platform
July 2025
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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

AlienVault OSSIM
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
11th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetWitness Platform
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
31st
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (35th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of AlienVault OSSIM is 3.2%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetWitness Platform is 0.6%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

HarshBhardiya - PeerSpot reviewer
An open-source solution that provide good detection and more visibility
The solution is not scalable. It impacts so hard. In the initial stages, AlienVault OSSIM can be suitable for small environments. There may be limitations if the customer expresses a desire to expand and add more devices. In such cases, we would need to either explore additional solutions or work within the constraints of the existing setup. We have set up alerts and configured everything in AlienVault OSSIM. It actively monitors for any security incidents. It provides us with regular updates and notifications about any ongoing activities. Only one person is using the solution. It is the perfect solution for small businesses. I rate the solution’s scalability a three out of ten.
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MOTASHIM Al Razi - PeerSpot reviewer
It is a stable solution, but they should make the user interface easier to understand
The solution's initial setup takes work. We have to organize multiple paths and many features. The deployment process takes less than a week. But it takes a month to complete if we want to make the solution smarter by integrating it with various devices. I rate the process as a six out of ten.
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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"You pay monthly for the solution. I think it's one of the best products. If you compare with other companies, like LogRhythm, etc., the top 8 or 10 CMs, I think Alien Vault has the best price-performance ratio."
"Asset discovery is good."
"The tool's security detection is good. It helps us with login tracking and generating reports. We aim to identify potential issues, such as brute-force attacks on user accounts or server-level anomalies. For instance, if I receive a report indicating a server is at an abnormal level, I investigate and address the issue."
"The product is majorly used for threat detection of the agents on servers and endpoints."
"AlienVault OSSIM is an enterprise solution that sells easily. It is rated highly by organizations."
"The dashboard is the solution's most valuable aspect. It brings everything into one central point where I can actually look at it and go, "Okay, I understand what's going on.""
"The most valuable features of this solution are the data correlation and vulnerability assessment."
"With AlienVault you get everything in one box."
More AlienVault OSSIM pros
"The most valuable features are the packet inspection and the automated incident response."
"The most valuable features are the packet decoder, log decoder, and concentrator."
"The most valuable feature is the correlation. It can report in real-time and monitor the management."
"NetWitness can be highly beneficial for incident detection and response."
"Offers a good wireless feature."
"Possibility to investigate incidents based on logs and raw packets, such as extracting files sent over the network"
"The most valuable features are its ingestion of logs and raising of alerts based on those logs."
"Setting up NetWitness is straightforward. There are multiple connectors, including standard and specialized connectors. One purpose of the connectors is the enhanced capability integrate the custom applications. NetWitness comes with E6 appliances and application images that we use for the initial configurations and for the OS stack information. From there, you can consider the correlation rules, integrate the different log sources, and easily create correlation rules and backlog reports."
More NetWitness Platform pros
 

Cons

"Lacking in depth of reporting."
"AlienVault OSSIM failed to provide our company a full insight, while also giving out a lot of false positives."
"The correlation engine needs to be improved."
"GUI could be improved."
"They can add more compliance templates."
"The user interface could be improved."
"The user interface needs to be friendlier across the board."
"The price of this solution is very high and it could be cheaper."
More AlienVault OSSIM cons
"It is not so easy to customize this product."
"Lots of competing products have vulnerability protection built into their products, and this solution would be improved by including that support."
"The solution should have more integration capabilities with different platforms."
"The documentation is not as structured as I would like, personally, and I think that it can be improved and made much more user-friendly."
"An area for improvement would be better automation and more inbuilt use cases."
"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."
"Its technical support could be better."
"RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets can improve the threat level aspect, it is lacking compared to other solutions. Whenever any hacking activity or any other threat factor occurred they used to provide the coverages very fast when comparing RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets. I heard the other three solutions, from a discussion with my team members who had experience in other solutions, they used to say that. Whenever any issues happened across the globe RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets are a little bit slow improving those detection mechanisms."
More NetWitness Platform cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of AlienVault OSSIM is too high sometimes for us to present to our customers. The price should be lower. We are on a three-year license to use the solution. We had to pay extra for the support."
"The licensing fees for the non-community edition are paid on an annual basis, and there are no costs in addition to this."
"AlienVault OSSIM is free."
"OSSIM is open source, and USM is the paid license. So, if you want, you can switch to USM. There you will have to buy a license, and they have a support team that helps you out on issues you face."
"AlienVault OSSIM is expensive compared to its competitors."
"When comparing AlienVault OSSIM to Microsoft Sentinel, AlienVault OSSIM incurs additional costs due to its licensing price structure. If you are using AlienVault for security purposes at a certain level it can have a higher price point than the current pricing of Microsoft Sentinel."
"OSSIM is free."
"The solution is open source, so it's free to use."
More AlienVault OSSIM pricing and cost advice
"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."
"This is a pricey solution; it's not cheap."
"RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets do not have a subscription model, it's a one-time purchase. There is only a perpetual license."
"Our license is for one year."
"It’s cheaper to run virtual machines in a VMware environment."
"The product is expensive."
"The tool is very expensive, so I rate the pricing a ten out of ten. The solution has an annual subscription."
"It is cheap."
More NetWitness Platform pricing and cost advice
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Comparison Review

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Feb 26, 2015
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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…
Read full review
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
11%
University
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AlienVault OSSIM?
Asset discovery is good.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AlienVault OSSIM?
It depends. I would need to review their cost models, but generally, they are on a scaled basis based on throughput usage. Because it's a software as a service solution for their core product for U...
See all answers
What needs improvement with AlienVault OSSIM?
Scaling for USM is always challenging for any product unless it is purpose-built or overbuilt at the front end. They will use Palo Alto and its competitors, and LevelBlue will manage that implement...
See all answers
What do you like most about NetWitness Platform?
The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult.
See all answers
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 me.
See all answers
What needs improvement with NetWitness Platform?
There is currently no need for improvement in the SIEM ( /categories/security-information-and-event-management-siem ), though there could be potential enhancements by integrating with AI.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Wazuh vs AlienVault OSSIM
Compared 71% of the time
USM Anywhere vs AlienVault OSSIM Logo
USM Anywhere vs AlienVault OSSIM
Compared 6% of the time
Venusense USM vs AlienVault OSSIM Logo
Venusense USM vs AlienVault OSSIM
Compared 4% of the time
Elastic Security vs AlienVault OSSIM Logo
Elastic Security vs AlienVault OSSIM
Compared 4% of the time
Splunk Enterprise Security vs AlienVault OSSIM Logo
Splunk Enterprise Security vs AlienVault OSSIM
Compared 4% of the time
More AlienVault OSSIM Competitors
Splunk Enterprise Security vs NetWitness Platform Logo
Splunk Enterprise Security vs NetWitness Platform
Compared 23% of the time
IBM Security QRadar vs NetWitness Platform Logo
IBM Security QRadar vs NetWitness Platform
Compared 19% of the time
Elastic Security vs NetWitness Platform Logo
Elastic Security vs NetWitness Platform
Compared 12% of the time
RSA enVision vs NetWitness Platform Logo
RSA enVision vs NetWitness Platform
Compared 9% of the time
Trellix Network Detection and Response vs NetWitness Platform Logo
Trellix Network Detection and Response vs NetWitness Platform
Compared 9% of the time
More NetWitness Platform Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
AlienVault OSSIM
August 2025
AlienVault OSSIM reportDownload AlienVault OSSIM product report
Buyer's Guide
NetWitness Platform
August 2025
NetWitness Platform reportDownload NetWitness Platform product report
 

Also Known As

OSSIM
RSA Security Analytics
 

Overview

AlienVault OSSIM, Open Source Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), provides you with a feature-rich open source SIEM complete with event collection, normalization and correlation. Launched by security engineers because of the lack of available open source products, AlienVault OSSIM was created specifically to address the reality many security professionals face: A SIEM, whether it is open source or commercial, is virtually useless without the basic security controls necessary for security visibility.

AT&T

NetWitness Platform is an evolved SIEM and threat detection and response solution that functions as a single, unified platform for ALL your security data. It features an advanced analyst workbench for triaging alerts and incidents, and it orchestrates security operations programs end to end. In short: NetWitness Platform is all you need to run an intelligent SOC.

NetWitness
 

Sample Customers

Council Rock School District
Los Angeles World Airports, Reply
Buyer's Guide
AlienVault OSSIM vs. NetWitness Platform
July 2025
Free Report: AlienVault OSSIM vs. NetWitness Platform
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We monitor all Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.