Corelight vs VMware NSX comparison

Corelight and Broadcom are both solutions in the Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) category. Corelight is ranked #7, while Broadcom is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.5. Corelight holds a 8.0% mindshare in NTA, compared to Broadcom’s 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Corelight users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Corelight

Read 5 Corelight reviews

2,049 Views
1,352 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

VMware NSX

Read 106 VMware NSX reviews

6,812 Views
272 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Corelight

VMware NSX

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

VMware NSX and Corelight are two leading solutions in the network virtualization and network security analytics spaces. Based on user reviews, VMware NSX offers advantages in deployment and customer support, whereas Corelight stands out for its exceptional features and overall value.

Features: VMware NSX's robust network virtualization capabilities include micro-segmentation, automation, and comprehensive security measures. Corelight offers high-performance network visibility, detailed real-time analytics, and advanced threat detection.

Room for Improvement: VMware NSX could enhance scalability, reduce complexity, and improve user interface design. Corelight needs streamlined integration capabilities, a more intuitive management experience, and better reporting features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware NSX has a straightforward deployment process supported by responsive customer service. Corelight's deployment can be complex, but its support team is highly effective in resolving issues.

Pricing and ROI: VMware NSX has higher setup costs but delivers solid ROI through its extensive virtualization benefits. Corelight is worth its price due to the rich insight it offers, with competitive setup costs aligning with the robust value and insights provided, enhancing ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Corelight vs. VMware NSX Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Corelight vs. VMware NSX

December 2025

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Helped 881,082 peers since 2012

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

Corelight

Ranking in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)

7th

Ranking in Network Detection and Response (NDR)

13th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware NSX

Ranking in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)

5th

Ranking in Network Detection and Response (NDR)

6th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

106

Ranking in other categories

Network Virtualization (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (2nd), Network Automation (3rd), Microsegmentation Software (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) category, the mindshare of Corelight is 8.0%, down from 10.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware NSX is 2.6%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
VMware NSX	2.6%
Corelight	8.0%
Other	89.4%

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)

Featured Reviews

HamadaElewa

Technical Sales Manager at Spire Solutions

An expensive solution to monitor internet traffic with multiple dashboards

The huge library especially the open source link, makes it the main engine for Corelight with some enhancements in the commercial version. It has a very powerful level, such as signature-based attacks or behavioral attacks, with enhancements in the design. It is very flexible for intelligent implementations like IPs, especially between big companies and banks. Corelight is easy to understand and monitor what is going on behind the team. The solution is already integrated with other systems like Suricata, Elastic, and Microsoft tools. It's very easy to integrate signature-based or behavior-based engines. You can use Elastic for the dashboards to get it from Corelight, along with all the benefits and expandability.

Read full review

TAIYAB HASAN

Windows Redhat Linux Vmware & Azure & Cloud & Nutanix Ahv-Vmware & Backup Senior System Administrator at AlDawaa Medical Services

Has improved network visibility and security through micro-segmentation and SDN capabilities

This feature gives us flexibility and allows us to manage everything under one pane. We can see everything on one console, including network operations and behavior. Monitoring and security are among the best features for VMware NSX. For micro-segmentation, it's integrated with our endpoint security. If there are any issues with servers or VMs, it notifies us so we can isolate the servers and investigate. It provides distributed security features such as firewall and intrusion, IDS, IPS. The security level with IPS and IDS in VMware NSX is excellent. It also provides logical switching and routing which gives an extra layer for Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching requirements. The solution provides flexibility, automation, and self-service capabilities, resulting in cost savings as extensive expertise isn't required. Once automation and self-service are implemented, many tasks can be completed automatically. Load balancing is another excellent feature. Multiple servers can run on load balancing features, which is particularly useful since we have many application servers running. Sharing loads between servers provides the best performance.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is easy to deploy and easy to handle."

"The most valuable feature is the embedded IDS from Suricata."

"Corelight is easy to use."

"It's an easy way for us to get visibility in a client's environment."

"It's easy to create additional dashboards specific to supporting specific tasks."

"The most valuable features are stability and low cost."

"The installation is straightforward, it took a couple of hours."

"Provides flexibility to deploy and have network virtualization on different types of firewalls."

"This feature gives us flexibility and allows us to manage everything under one pane; we can see everything on one console, including network operations and behavior."

"The solution is very stable and reliable."

"The performance is good."

"It's a beneficial tool."

"We like that everything is integrated."

More VMware NSX pros

Cons

"Corelight hasn’t added features in a long time."

"They can enhance the interface of the product. They can make it more interactive and also easier to use for feature access."

"Machine learning could be a good improvement, but it's very costly."

"The solution’s architecture is complex and difficult to understand. There are multiple machines and VMs."

"In the next release, building a graphical user interface would be helpful."

"They have to work more and more on the integration for public cloud services and have cyber security platform integration."

"The price is rather high."

"I would like to have automating reporting built into common service management platforms, such as JIRA, Serviceaide, and ServiceNow."

"The solution is quite complex. You need to keep your thinking cap on and know what you are doing: Go to the training and listen to the solution architects when they come in because they have a lot of knowledge."

"The licensing model is expensive and could be more flexible, especially after Broadcom bought VMware. It made it an expensive licensing model with no other options to take something specific from the license itself."

"One drawback is this solution requires a lot of other products in the VMware ecosystem to have a full end-to-end operation orchestration monitoring. You have to buy a lot of add-ons to fully utilize the functionality."

"The support needs improvement."

"The vendor should integrate a basic load balancer in future versions"

More VMware NSX cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's a yearly fee and depends on what you are looking for."

"We are using the free version of the solution."

"The subscription is on a yearly basis."

"The licensing is renewed every three years. The cost for implementation and renovation are a huge portion of that price."

"I would rate the pricing of VMware NSX as seven out of ten"

"The solution is reasonable at the local level."

"VMware has always been geared towards enterprise and their pricing options are a bit high. Their price is higher than other options in the market."

"The price of VMware NSX is reasonable."

"The tool's pricing is reasonable."

More VMware NSX pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Government

11%

Computer Software Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	33
Midsize Enterprise	23
Large Enterprise	69

Questions from the Community

What is the biggest difference between Corelight and Vectra AI?

The two platforms take a fundamentally different approach to NDR. Corelight is limited to use cases that require the eventual forwarding of events and parsed data logs to a security team’s SIEM or ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Corelight?

It's easy to create additional dashboards specific to supporting specific tasks.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Corelight?

The solution is too expensive compared to others. If you have the technical knowledge, it's good. Corelight is a very big gap between you and others if you’re new.

See all answers

What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?

There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode & the UCS server wh...

See all answers

What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?

Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...

See all answers

What do you like most about VMware NSX?

The product has valuable features for security and network extension.

See all answers

Comparisons

Vectra AI vs Corelight

Compared 27% of the time

Darktrace vs Corelight

Compared 26% of the time

ExtraHop Reveal(x) vs Corelight

Compared 17% of the time

NetWitness NDR vs Corelight

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Corelight

Compared 7% of the time

More Corelight Competitors

Nutanix Flow Network Security vs VMware NSX

Compared 16% of the time

Illumio vs VMware NSX

Compared 15% of the time

Akamai Guardicore Segmentation vs VMware NSX

Compared 12% of the time

Cisco Secure Workload vs VMware NSX

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco ACI vs VMware NSX

Compared 5% of the time

More VMware NSX Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Detection and Response (NDR)

January 2026

Download Corelight product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware NSX

January 2026

Download VMware NSX product report

Also Known As

No data available

VMware Nicira, Lastline Defender

Overview

Corelight is the most powerful network visibility solution for information security professionals. We provide real-time data that organizations use to understand, detect, and prevent cyber attacks. Our solution is built on Zeek, the powerful and widely-used open source monitoring framework.

Corelight

VMware NSX is a comprehensive tool for network virtualization and security, offering advanced features like micro-segmentation and multi-cloud networking to enhance scalability and management efficiency within enterprises.

VMware NSX revolutionizes enterprise networking by integrating security and scalability into one streamlined platform. With capabilities like dynamic policy updates and automation, it simplifies complex configurations and provides robust API integration. Its support for Layer 4 and 7 load balancing, along with its seamless integration in multi-cloud environments, makes it a preferred choice among companies. Although deployment speed and management console features require refinement, NSX is an effective solution for private cloud and hybrid environments, enabling centralized orchestration and management of complex networks.

What are the key features of VMware NSX?

Micro-segmentation: Provides secure, granular network segmentation for enhanced security.
Distributed Firewall: Offers policy-driven firewall capabilities across all network endpoints.
Automation: Enables dynamic policy updates and simplifies network configurations.
API Integration: Facilitates seamless third-party integrations and improves configuration processes.
Multi-Cloud Networking: Supports seamless integration across various cloud environments.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Scalability: Offers significant improvements in network scalability and management efficiency.
Security: Ensures enhanced security through advanced features like micro-segmentation.
Cost-Effectiveness: Potential to reduce costs through network automation and efficiency improvements.
Flexibility: Supports various enterprise requirements with its comprehensive feature set.

In the tech industry, VMware NSX is instrumental in managing private and hybrid cloud environments, allowing companies to replace traditional networking with software-defined networks. In finance, it helps secure transactional data through micro-segmentation. Healthcare organizations leverage its flexibility for managing sensitive patient information securely and integrating cloud services.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Education First

City of Avondale, Lumeta, Kroll Ontrack, Heartland Payment Systems, Baystate Heallth, Exostar, Tribune Media, iGATE, NTT Communications, Synergent, California Natural Resources Agency, Bloomington Public Schools, Columbia Sportswear, Join Experience S.A, Schuberg Philis

Buyer's Guide

Corelight vs. VMware NSX

December 2025

Free Report: Corelight vs. VMware NSX

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