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CrowdStrike Observability [EOL] vs Security Onion comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 26, 2026

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

CrowdStrike Observability [...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.9
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Security Onion
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (11th)
 

Featured Reviews

HectorRios - PeerSpot reviewer
IT COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKS at Américas BPS
Has provided reliable alerts and helped identify infrastructure issues through detailed reporting
The best features of CrowdStrike Observability include the way they show issues to the client or agent, and their data collection method is interesting because they use an agent-less approach in some cases, collecting data from infrastructure such as firewalls. Additionally, they have the agent, but the presentation in the management console is excellent as we have observability end-to-end with the servers and all the services configured in the use cases. The intelligent alerting feature is excellent and configured on our console, being highly effective as it detects real alerts and just warnings or real issues. Identifying performance bottlenecks is important because they collect numerous MD5 or hash keys including movements or playbooks. The way they organize that in the console is excellent, allowing you to have reports detecting issues, which not only includes detection but also provides solutions to those issues.
CO
Security Operation Center Analyst at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Improved threat detection and incident response has revealed training and usability gaps
What I would like to add is that if the interface or if there is less to work on technical knowledge. For example, people with no technical knowledge cannot use this, so they need to have at least a deep or substantial level of technical knowledge to be able to use these tools. If there is a way there can be an optimization to accommodate those with no technical knowledge in the process using tools compared to tools such as Sentinel and Splunk, which also doesn't require much technical knowledge to be able to use. That would also help. I think Security Onion could be improved by making the user interface more intuitive for new users and simplifying the initial setup and configuration process. Security Onion needs to be simplified so that those with less technical knowledge can be able to come in and use it. Guidance on prioritizing alerts will also be helpful, especially in an environment where security analysts deal with a high volume of security events. I also would like to mention that it needs to be more straightforward integration with other security tools. There needs to be a handshake between Security Onion and other same tools to help in endpoint detection and protection against threats. Another improvement that could also enhance is the reporting and visualization of the key metrics such as detection time, the incident, the overall interface of the analysis, and the false rate, which will also give Security Onion a better view for security analysts to be able to use and understand it. I would like to see the interface to be more simplified. I also would like to see the visualization to be more improved. I also would like to see the support features to be something that junior analysts or those coming in to start up their careers can be able to use without needing deep technical knowledge.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The price is worth it."
"The intelligent alerting feature is excellent and configured on our console, being highly effective as it detects real alerts and just warnings or real issues."
"CrowdStrike Observability offers strong predictive analytics capabilities, and the intelligent alerting system helps minimize noise and optimize IT resources effectively."
"In the logs and the trajectory, it shows detailed information about where the source of infection comes from, how it travels, and how to reach there."
"The best features of CrowdStrike Observability include the way they show issues to the client or agent, and their data collection method is interesting because they use an agent-less approach in some cases, collecting data from infrastructure such as firewalls."
"CrowdStrike Observability is a signature-less solution where you don't need to update your endpoints or the CrowdStrike Observability agents regularly, and it is completely based on AI and ML search engines."
"The log aggregation and correlation of data are notable features that enhance our operations."
"The dashboard and user interface of CrowdStrike Observability are quite good, and the support is responsive."
"What I appreciate most about Security Onion is that it combines multiple security monitoring tools into one platform."
"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 has positively impacted my organization by enabling students to analyze logs, understand network traffic, comprehend intrusion detection, and utilize threat hunting and incident response skills in a practical environment, which are best practices we have implemented with the students."
"Tools such as Suricata and Zeek help identify suspicious network activity and provide detailed information for investigating and analyzing the potential threat which is coming to any organization."
"Security Onion brings these tools together in one platform, making it easier to investigate security events and understand what's happening across the network."
"The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports."
"We use Security Onion for internal vulnerability assessment."
"Security Onion is reliable and is a good product, having no glitches or latency problems."
 

Cons

"For reporting or log management, having a longer duration for backup without needing to purchase a paid subscription would be beneficial. Currently, there is a default ninety-day backup period."
"Technical support received a rating of 4 out of 10."
"The customer service is not satisfactory for me. The support is only available in English, and my users in LATAM regions such as Peru and Colombia require local language support, which is not currently provided."
"From the different deployments I have worked with, the shortcomings of CrowdStrike Observability are often because of what clients are able to share with CrowdStrike."
"The areas of CrowdStrike Observability that have room for improvement include the approach towards customer issues, where resolution takes time."
"We had some difficulties at the beginning, but at this moment they are improving, so probably in some months I will give them a ten."
"The pricing is very high and small companies cannot afford it. They should reduce the price because the backend infrastructure is the same."
"Integration with Huawei should be more straightforward."
"One of the improvements for Security Onion could be to address the issue of many logs and false positive alerts by reducing the number of false positives, as storage management is very hard sometimes due to a lack of storage space for logs, and they could implement methods to expand storage."
"One way Security Onion could improve is by making the initial setup and configuration easier, especially for new users."
"The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult."
"The biggest challenges I have experienced with Security Onion are the learning curve and resource requirements, as it is not necessarily something you can install and immediately understand without networking and Linux knowledge."
"The product is not easy to learn."
"Security Onion's user interface could be improved."
"Security Onion also has an enterprise version and support available; sometimes the community version is not capable enough to solve the purpose, so the enterprise edition can help."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"It is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is a free solution."
"Security Onion is an open-source solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Construction Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Comms Service Provider
12%
University
11%
Government
10%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with CrowdStrike Observability?
From the different deployments I have worked with, the shortcomings of CrowdStrike Observability are often because of what clients are able to share with CrowdStrike. If there are limitations in wh...
What is your primary use case for CrowdStrike Observability?
We are currently using a complete suite of anti-malware software and other security products in our company. I have worked with both the on-premises version and the cloud version, but I am more fam...
What advice do you have for others considering CrowdStrike Observability?
I am probably familiar with CrowdStrike Observability. I first heard of CrowdStrike Observability a couple of years ago, and I only really started looking into it about a year ago. I cannot comment...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Security Onion?
I have not had a problem with pricing, setup cost, and licensing because my experience with Security Onion's pricing has been positive. Security Onion is open-source, so I was able to use its core ...
What needs improvement with Security Onion?
One way Security Onion could improve is by making the initial setup and configuration easier, especially for new users. When I first started working with it, I experienced challenges configuring ne...
What advice do you have for others considering Security Onion?
I would give Security Onion a rating of 10 out of 10. I have used other platforms, and I can tell that Security Onion provides powerful security monitoring and investigation tools in one platform, ...
 

Overview

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