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Kali Linux vs Security Onion comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Kali Linux
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Operating Systems (OS) for Business (10th)
Security Onion
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (22nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Kali Linux and Security Onion aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Kali Linux is designed for Operating Systems (OS) for Business and holds a mindshare of 3.5%, up 1.7% compared to last year.
Security Onion, on the other hand, focuses on Log Management, holds 3.4% mindshare, down 5.8% since last year.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Kali Linux3.5%
Rocky Linux11.1%
Ubuntu Linux9.0%
Other76.4%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
Log Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Security Onion3.4%
Wazuh8.3%
Splunk Enterprise Security6.9%
Other81.4%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Ciyagi Ciyagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solution Architect & Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Runs efficiently across devices and streamlines penetration testing workflows
Kali Linux could be improved by including more tools. I would personally like to see improvements in Kali Linux, particularly regarding Grub issues that sometimes occur when installing the VM. Additionally, I have experienced problems when updating Kali Linux from a higher version to a lower version, which resulted in crashes. These Grub issues should be resolved. I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data.
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

"Kali Linux has helped me learn faster and understand concepts better; you get a sense of appreciation when completing tasks on your own machine without help or hints from available tools or operating systems, with minimal guidance."
"The tools available in Kali Linux are incredibly effective for conducting security assessments."
"Kali Linux is a very good tool and a good overall operating system to use when it comes to penetration testing, as it has a wonderful set of tools."
"In general, Kali Linux is used for hosting applications, developing new applications, and operating systems. It's also used in containers and nodes. The tool offers a smaller footprint than Windows because it lacks the functionality of graphical user interfaces. One advantage of Kali Linux is its lower maintenance requirements than Windows, with slower update cycles and easier maintenance procedures."
"If you are looking for faster, better performance or scalability, then Kali Linux is the best."
"The outcomes from using Kali Linux in our organization are significant; we experienced reduced cybersecurity attacks and improved application security, leading to decreased attack surfaces and quicker testing cycles that enabled faster launches and installations."
"The solution's most valuable feature is that it is very easy to use."
"Kali Linux stands out compared to other operating systems I have used for security work because it is a specific distribution of Linux that has all the required tools pre-loaded and configured."
"Security Onion is the most mature solution in the market."
"We use Security Onion for internal vulnerability assessment."
"The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports."
 

Cons

"Any new user or someone without deep expertise won't be able to understand how to scale or manage it"
"There are areas for improvement in Kali Linux, particularly regarding its use of the Linux kernel, which requires external additional patching, and the fact that network services are disabled by default, which complicates usage; enhancing user-friendliness through more GUI-based tools and better integration could be beneficial."
"From an improvement perspective, Kali Linux could include more ML to help with academic literature, as it is one of the areas where there are shortcomings in the solution."
"I would like for them to offer more features for the free version in order for users to test them in their internal environment before purchasing."
"The installation process of Kali Linux can be slow, particularly when installing and upgrading packages within virtualized environments."
"Many users utilize Kali Linux through virtual machines. Sometimes Kali Linux has issues detecting hardware such as inbuilt or external Wi-Fi adapters."
"The product should improve its security features."
"I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data."
"The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult."
"The product is not easy to learn."
"Security Onion's user interface could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Kali Linux is open source."
"Kali Linux offers a perpetual license, meaning you pay for it once and can use it. While free versions of Linux are available, Kali Linux, being an enterprise edition, usually comes with a perpetual license. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."
"The price is good because Kali Linux already provides a good bundle of tools."
"Kali Linux is a free product, and you don't have to pay for a license."
"The licensing fee is expensive compared to other products."
"There is no need to make any payments towards the licensing costs since it is a solution that is available for free."
"The tool is open-source."
"I have used the free version."
"It is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is an open-source solution."
"Security Onion is a free solution."
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881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
14%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Educational Organization
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
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 Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise16
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Kali Linux?
I use the tool with Nmap to perform network audits. We use it to find vulnerabilities in our network through attacks. It's for those who want to launch or create viruses or perform attacks on syste...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kali Linux?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Kali Linux has been that it was free to use.
What needs improvement with Kali Linux?
I think Kali Linux is good, but there is a widespread misunderstanding related to Kali Linux because many people believe Kali Linux is a tool for hackers and that anything can be hacked using it. T...
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.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Kali Linux vs. Security Onion and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.