Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs Security Onion comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 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

Fortinet FortiAnalyzer
Ranking in Log Management
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Security Onion
Ranking in Log Management
20th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is 1.7%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Security Onion is 3.7%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiAnalyzer1.7%
Security Onion3.7%
Other94.6%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Manikandan Kannan - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Technology at Techfruits
Simplifying log management by displaying detailed access information
The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is its ability to simplify and display logs clearly, providing details like which IPs are accessing the system, the destination, and the policies applied. This visualization and detail make managing logs more straightforward. In conjunction with our VMware setup, Fortinet FortiAnalyzer enhances organizational efficiency, meeting the standard log retention period for up to a year.
Anish Bajracharya - PeerSpot reviewer
Postgraduate at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Provides good threat hunting by finding infected ports, but its initial setup is difficult
The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports. I have used the Squert tool within Security Onion the most for threat hunting The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult. I have been using Security Onion for one year.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The scalability of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is excellent at a rating of ten out of ten."
"Storage in SSD helps in generating customized reports."
"Special notifications about compromised phones are valuable because we have some guest networks, and sometimes, people are connecting phones that are connected to compromised websites. We want to be informed about it. We sometimes have some cases where we want to analyze the connection from inside to outside ports. So, it helps with a lot of things. It depends on our needs."
"One of the most valuable features is the ability to analyze data in real-time using AR features to pull data from the industrial DB. You can know what is going on and see in milliseconds where the network is underperforming."
"Report generation is very easy"
"There are customizable workflows that you can work with. You can automate certain tasks in FortiAnaylzer in the incidents and events sections."
"The event handling solution in the platform is very good and useful."
"It has a simplified and user-friendly interface."
"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 the most mature solution in the market."
 

Cons

"It doesn't easily integrate with other solutions."
"The product should be integrated with other third-party solutions for context exchange."
"Pricing should be about 10-20% lower."
"One area for improvement could be better support for third-party products, as it doesn't have as much visibility with these compared to Fortinet's own products."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer could improve by having better integration with other vendors."
"There is no issue with the hardware appliance. However, when discussing the cloud options, they offer very limited features, especially in terms of reporting and analyzing data."
"I believe that its technical support is the only aspect that requires significant improvement."
"Pricing-wise, it not affordable for the normal customer. Most of the people want to see different types of reporting, but FortiAnalyzer's fee is a little bit difficult."
"Security Onion's user interface could be improved."
"The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult."
"The product is not easy to learn."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have several products including Fortinet Wireless, FortiGate Firewalls, and FortiAnalyzer, which are bundled together and cost approximately $50,000 USD annually."
"The cost and pricing should be in accordance with the calculation of log storage capacity for a time period required for historical analysis."
"Its price is okay for us. Fortinet products are cheaper than other solutions."
"The cost of the license is high."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is quite an expensive tool."
"The price of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is expensive."
"I won't say the solution is too costly since it is available at a fair price."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is very expensive."
"Security Onion is an open-source solution."
"It is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is a free solution."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Log Management solutions are best for your needs.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
University
12%
Government
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business58
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise31
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
The pricing of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is okay. For smaller companies, the pricing is acceptable.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
I don't know what the main room for improvement is for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer, but perhaps I don't have much experience, so I cannot answer this question comprehensively.
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
I am using Fortinet and Red Hat myself as a consultant. I am dealing with Fortinet products and can provide information about them. I am working with Fortinet products, including firewalls and othe...
What do you like most about Security Onion?
The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Security Onion?
Security Onion is an open-source solution. On a scale from one to ten, where ten is expensive and one is cheap, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten.
What needs improvement with Security Onion?
The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

General Directorate of Information Technology
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs. Security Onion and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.