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Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs Splunk User Behavior Analytics comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 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

Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
16th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Splunk User Behavior Analytics
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is 2.7%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk User Behavior Analytics is 1.9%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Splunk User Behavior Analytics1.9%
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT2.7%
Other95.4%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Jack Poon - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers ease of setup and good documentation
When it comes to the product's deployment phase, we have a lot of vendor support. We have a lot of skills here in Hong Kong. Our company doesn't find any problem deploying Cisco solutions. The solution is deployed on an on-premises version. Speaking about the time required to deploy the solution, I would say that we have quite a lot of previous experience with deploying Cisco products. We have our company's standard design document, which we need to follow. We have a standard testing procedure for all those features. We just take out some appropriate parts and then compile them into one document for an individual project. It is actually quite easy for us to do the documentation, so it just takes one or two hours, and we can do the implementation because all the materials and testing procedures are already in our company standard documents, so it is not that difficult for us.
Subhayu Chakraborty - PeerSpot reviewer
Automatic reports streamline tasks and offers easy report gathering
The dashboard part could be improved. While using it, I noticed two options: Classic, which is adequate yet only in black and white, and another one that is more advanced or smart, though I forgot the exact term. I encountered several issues while trying to create solutions for this advanced version, which seem unrelated to query or data issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution can be integrated with some network electors like Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco ISE, and Active Directory to provide the client with authentication certificates."
"The most valuable feature is the visibility that we have across the virtual environment."
"Cisco technical support is unbeatable. It offers a premium service every time."
"It simplifies the configuration process by offering pre-defined base configurations, including security and connectivity settings."
"The tool's most valuable feature is threat detection, which is important because we have multiple layers not only in Cisco."
"Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is easy to configure and the reporting is great. It's also very user-friendly."
"Solid intrusion detection and prevention that scales easily in very large environments."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the filtering."
"Splunk User Behavior Analytics is known for its advanced analytics and data correlation capabilities, which help in detecting patterns, anomalies, and security threats."
"The solution is extremely scalable. Our customers are regularly scaling up after installing Splunk."
"This intelligent user behavior analytics package is easy to configure and use while remaining feature filled."
"The solution is fast, flexible, and easy to use."
"Splunk is highly valuable for query purposes."
"The most valuable features are the indexing and powerful search features."
"It's easily scalable."
"The product is at the forefront of auto-remediation networking. It's great."
 

Cons

"The implementation could be a bit easier."
"The main dashboard of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT could improve."
"The initial setup is a little difficult compared to other products in the market. It depends on the environment. If we are doing any migration, it might take months in a brown-field environment."
"There are problems setting up VPNs for some regions."
"Integration with other components — even Cisco's own products — can be enhanced to improve administrative experience."
"The cloud can be improved."
"With the next release, I would like to see some PBR, so that you can do the configuration with the features."
"I would like to have analytics included in the suite."
"The price of Splunk UBA is too high."
"In terms of improvements, advanced reporting could see enhancements as there are some issues with latency."
"If the price was lowered and the setup process was less complex, I would consider rating it higher."
"Enhancing the storage model that they are using is necessary."
"The initial setup was complex because some of the configurations that we required needed customization."
"Currently, a lot of network operations need improvement. We still need people to handle incidents. Our vision is to leverage status and convert it directly from the network devices. It would be ideal if we could take action using APIs and API code and remove manual processes."
"High data ingestion costs can be an issue, especially for large enterprises, as Splunk charges based on the amount of data processed."
"It could be easier to scale the solution if you are using it on-premise, not in the cloud."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."
"I don't know the exact amount, but most of the time when I go to a company with a proposition, they will say, "This thing that you are selling is good, but it's expensive. Why don't you propose something like FortiGate, Check Point, or Palo Alto?" Cisco device are expensive compared to other devices."
"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."
"The cost is per port and can be expensive but it does include training and support for three years."
"We have a three-year license for this solution."
"I am not aware of the price, but it is expensive."
"I hope we can increase the free license to be more than 5 gig a day. This would help people who want to introduce a POC or a demo license for the solution."
"There are additional costs associated with the integrator."
"Pricing varies based on the packages you choose and the volume of your usage."
"My biggest complaint is the way they do pricing... You can never know the pricing for next year. Every single time you adjust to something new, the price goes up. It's impossible to truly budget for it. It goes up constantly."
"The licensing costs is around 10,000 dollars."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five. There are some other tools in the market that are more expensive than Cisco. There are no additional c...
What needs improvement with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
Cisco offers the Cisco DNA Center, which is a source that provides crucial information for us to monitor performance, and see whether there is any trouble. We are using Cisco DNA center, but again,...
What do you like most about Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
The solution's most valuable feature is Splunk queries, which allow us to query the logs and analyze the attack vectors.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
In terms of setup cost, pricing, and licensing, Splunk User Behavior Analytics is not an inexpensive product. The setup requires numerous components including storage, networking, identity access, ...
What needs improvement with Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
There are improvements that could be made to Splunk User Behavior Analytics as any product will have advantages and disadvantages. Scalability is one consideration. For example, the advantages incl...
 

Also Known As

Sourcefire SNORT
Caspida, Splunk UBA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CareCore, City of Biel, Dimension Data, LightEdge, Lone Star College System, National Rugby League, Port Aventura, Smart City Networks, Telecom Italia, The Department of Education in Western Australia
8 Securities, AAA Western, AdvancedMD, Amaya, Cerner Corporation, CJ O Shopping, CloudShare, Crossroads Foundation, 7-Eleven Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs. Splunk User Behavior Analytics and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.