AlienVault OSSIM vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager comparison

AlienVault OSSIM vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager

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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)

12th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Security Event M...

Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

24th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of AlienVault OSSIM is 2.6%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
AlienVault OSSIM	2.6%
SolarWinds Security Event Manager	0.7%
Other	96.7%

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Featured Reviews

HarshBhardiya

SOC Engineer at Just Dial Limited

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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Yashokanth Partkunan

Managed Services Engineer at Loop1 Systems

Has supported client needs efficiently but requires deeper analysis features and faster support

The log analyzing capability of SolarWinds Security Event Manager should go into more depth than the current environment. More modification and enhancements are required on the dashboard side in order to make it closer to optimal performance. From observation and feedback from users, they need more functionality related to monitoring, and in-depth analyzing needs to be improved.

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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

"The product is easy to use."

"You can customize the dashboards as well as the reporting."

"The open vault component and the checking of vulnerabilities are the most valuable features. The page management helps with this. If you know how your device is vulnerable at least you can do something about it."

"Better than other SIEM solutions because almost everything can be integrated."

"The most valuable features of AlienVault OSSIM are case management, ease of configuration, and investigation."

"I recommend it due to the experience of the people running it."

"OSSIM is the only solution that includes the large number of modules that we need: a vulnerability scanner, a network IDS system, a host IDS system."

"The solution is very stable. Compared to Qradar and Splunk, it's very stable."

More AlienVault OSSIM pros

"The graphical user interface is very user-friendly. SolarWinds is a hybrid solution so you can use it across many platforms."

"It performs network behavior monitoring, log monitoring, and disaster recovery monitoring."

"The solution helps me to go back in time and search for different events. For example, if you wanted to know who activated an account; you could go back in time and find out."

"It has in-depth monitoring capabilities and an easy way for setting up dashboards. I can expand in various areas, or I can reduce areas. It supports different types of breakdowns, filters, and rules. It is very simple for an out-of-the-box type of product. It doesn't take a lot of time to figure it out, which is unlike some of the solutions that I have looked at. It meets all the aspects."

"SolarWinds Security Event Manager has been generally working well."

"The most valuable feature is the ease of use for the end user."

"The solution helps you monitor database instances, application instances, other customer application things, Linux servers, IBM servers, and Oracle servers."

"The out of the box reports and dashboard. It was easy to trim down these windows to something we could quickly use."

More SolarWinds Security Event Manager pros

Cons

"They can add more compliance templates."

"I don't like to work on OSSIM because it is unpredictable."

"The documentation could be improved."

"The user interface needs to be friendlier across the board."

"It's under heavy traffic. If you have heavy traffic, the system is slow."

"The main area where the AlienVault product was lacking around the 2018 timeframe was in its ability to scale."

"When comparing AlienVault OSSIM to other solutions it looks a bit outdated. Additionally, they need to improve their integration."

"We need more dashboards and we need more customization for dashboards."

More AlienVault OSSIM cons

"The solution's technical support is okay, but we don't have an SLA, and sometimes the response times are very slow."

"We used the support from SolarWinds Security Event Manager and they are knowledgeable but challenging to get in contact with them."

"The log analyzing capability of SolarWinds Security Event Manager should go into more depth than the current environment."

"The reporting could be more robust. It can be a lot more granular and that will make it a lot more useful in comparison to how it is incorporated at the moment."

"It can be difficult for users who are inexperienced with the solution."

"I imagine we will have to develop our own reports soon, this seems to be more cumbersome."

"One of the drawbacks of being so flexible is that it is also a fairly complicated software application to install, configure, and maintain."

"We have automated threat detection in the Alliance Security, Antoinette. However, if these features could be further enhanced, it would simplify my work, potentially allowing me to allocate more time to address complex issues."

More SolarWinds Security Event Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"AlienVault OSSIM is free."

"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."

"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."

"I used the paid version of the tool and found it to be expensive. It has been a while since I changed to Securonix. I will have to check whether AlienVault charges per device, user, or log."

"The licensing fees for the non-community edition are paid on an annual basis, and there are no costs in addition to this."

"The solution is open source, so it's free to use."

"AlienVault OSSIM is an open-source solution."

"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."

More AlienVault OSSIM pricing and cost advice

"We do a yearly license renewal. For a year, the solution costs roughly $500,000 USD. There are no costs beyond this yearly fee."

"The price of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is reasonable."

"Licensing is on devices, so if you have many, then this may be high."

"The pricing model would benefit from having package deals with other SolarWinds products."

"Licenses can only be purchased in blocks of fifty at a time."

"It is in the appropriate mid-range. It is not as expensive as some of the other solutions. It is also not cheap."

"The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

12%

University

Educational Organization

University

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

10%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	18
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AlienVault OSSIM?

Asset discovery is good.

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...

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...

What do you like most about SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?

The solution helps you monitor database instances, application instances, other customer application things, Linux servers, IBM servers, and Oracle servers.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?

The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten.

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?

I think the customization area in the tool can be considered as an area of concern where improvements are required In the future, I want to see the tool have better customization abilities with som...

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Comparisons

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Compared 7% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 5% of the time

Elastic Security vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 32% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager

Compared 21% of the time

IBM Security QRadar vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager

Compared 14% of the time

LogRhythm SIEM vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager

Compared 9% of the time

ManageEngine Log360 vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager

Compared 9% of the time

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Product Reports

AlienVault OSSIM

Download AlienVault OSSIM product report

SolarWinds Security Event Manager

Download SolarWinds Security Event Manager product report

SolarWinds Security Event Manager report

Also Known As

OSSIM

SolarWinds LEM, Solarwinds SIEM, TriGeo, Log and Event Manager

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

When TriGeo was acquired by SolarWinds, TriGeo SIM became known as SolarWinds Log & Event Manager. This product is a leading Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) product and log management solution, which provides log collection, analysis, and real-time correlation.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Council Rock School District

NetSuite, EasyStreet, Legacy Texas Bank, and Energy Federal Credit Union, to name a few.

AlienVault OSSIM vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager