Microsoft Purview Audit vs Splunk Enterprise Security comparison

Microsoft and Splunk are both solutions in the Log Management category. Microsoft is ranked #34 with an average rating of 8.3, while Splunk is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3. Microsoft holds a 1.1% mindshare in Log Management, compared to Splunk’s 6.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Splunk users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Purview Audit

Read 4 Microsoft Purview Audit reviews

2,496 Views
1,847 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Splunk Enterprise Security

Read 403 Splunk Enterprise Security reviews

40,673 Views
20,337 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Microsoft Purview Audit

Splunk Enterprise Security

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Splunk Enterprise Security and Microsoft Purview Audit are competing in the security and compliance sector, focusing on monitoring and data analysis. Microsoft Purview Audit gains a competitive edge due to its seamless integration within the Microsoft ecosystem, while Splunk's comprehensive data analytics capabilities stand out.

Features: Splunk Enterprise Security provides in-depth threat intelligence, advanced search capabilities, and customizable dashboards. Microsoft Purview Audit offers robust data governance features, audit management, and seamless compatibility with Microsoft's suite. A key distinction is Splunk's focus on threat analysis compared to Microsoft's comprehensive governance capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Splunk Enterprise Security involves a complex deployment process requiring technical expertise, supported by thorough customer service. Microsoft Purview Audit ensures a smoother deployment experience, especially benefiting customers within the Microsoft ecosystem, with extensive support resources. The fundamental difference is Purview’s integration-centric approach versus Splunk’s detailed customization.

Pricing and ROI: Splunk Enterprise Security requires substantial initial investment promising high ROI for large-scale operations. Microsoft Purview Audit offers a more economical setup, especially advantageous for organizations within the Microsoft ecosystem, presenting itself as a cost-effective choice with strategic integration benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Purview Audit vs. Splunk Enterprise Security Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Purview Audit vs. Splunk Enterprise Security

June 2026

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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

Microsoft Purview Audit

Ranking in Log Management

34th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Microsoft Security Suite (31st)

Splunk Enterprise Security

Ranking in Log Management

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

403

Ranking in other categories

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (1st), IT Operations Analytics (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Purview Audit is 1.1%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk Enterprise Security is 6.8%, down from 7.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Log Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Splunk Enterprise Security	6.8%
Microsoft Purview Audit	1.1%
Other	92.1%

Log Management

Featured Reviews

Oksana Kosukhina.

Cloud Solution Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Integrated auditing has strengthened data retention and improved incident investigations

I have seen areas for improvement, specifically in Microsoft Purview Audit or in general about Microsoft. I have had a situation with documentation. I had a customer who wanted to create alerts and they had Microsoft 365 Business Premium. In the documentation, it was noted that this license is enough for creating alerts. When we tried to make them, we noticed they cannot do it with Microsoft 365 E3 because the customer had limited features to manage alerts. The customer had to buy E3. We created Microsoft support requests, and they confirmed that the documentation displayed not the real situation and they have been going to update documentation. The same situation occurred now with implementing Microsoft Purview Audit in the last autumn. eDiscovery was combined with search and content search, and the documentation was not clear at the beginning. It was a little difficult to describe to customers that now it is a part of eDiscovery. Content search is a very simple functionality, while eDiscovery is a little difficult. I am not entirely sure why Microsoft is going in the way of combining these services because they are the same. However, for a customer who has never seen these services, it is difficult to understand quickly. The same situation occurs with litigation holds and some other holds. For any mail, I am trying to keep data. For example, emails are held for a year or two years, ten years, it does not matter. It is difficult to understand where to find this data and where these emails are being held. I need to use eDiscovery to find out all deleted data that was kept somewhere in some hidden folders of the mailbox. Regular customers and regular administrators know that on-premises Exchange, for example, allows them to find the data in some repository and review the list of kept data. However, with this hold, we do not have any functionality to review the list of kept data. It is difficult to understand for customers how to work with this. I had a case where I spent three or four hours working deeply with a customer to explain how to work with eDiscovery, why Content Search is not there when it was before, what is an eDiscovery case, and why we are talking about all of this just to review a list of kept emails. This is difficult.

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Sathis-Kumar

Senior Manager at Bank of America

Helps us detect cyber threats quickly and integrate multiple feeds effectively

Overall, the product is good, but when it comes to some infrastructure issues, we have to dig into more logs. There is no straightforward indication of an issue. Health check kind of dashboards are not available. More AI would help us, and more optimization, since security products run more queries. The AI module could suggest solutions, optimizing queries or workload balancing. If the product itself advises on running queries during peak times, it would be similar to what ChatGPT currently offers. We see quite a few issues on stability. Even last week, we faced something, and identifying bottlenecks is not easy. We need more SMEs, and there is no mechanism to tell us about indexer or search head issues. Self-monitoring dashboards could be beneficial. The technical support still requires more improvement. Often, primary support takes a lot of time and forwards most solutions to the engineering side. The primary support team has very limited knowledge to provide.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The platform has significantly enhanced our operational insight into the overall Microsoft 365 environment."

"We're easily saving at least one hour per day using this solution."

"The main Microsoft feature is that it offers common integration of services, of data, of identity, meaning user accounts, user access, and privileged access."

"The overall user experience with Microsoft Purview Audit is of higher quality than when it was branded as Compliance Center, and Microsoft consistently updates and evolves functionalities and the overall experience."

"Splunk Enterprise Security's dashboards are a key asset."

"The best part of Splunk Enterprise Security is its customizable settings."

"Splunk Enterprise Security's value lies in its ability to collect and analyze security logs, providing insightful dashboards."

"It's extremely scalable, it's a very robust solution and certainly has the capability of handling far bigger data requirements than a lot of the other tools."

"Splunk's interface is user-friendly, and it has apps and add-ons for most applications. We can easily normalize the data to make it readable and understand the logs. We easily get all the field extractions and enrichment done by using the apps and add-ons. This helps us understand the application logs because the raw data is useless unless we extract some useful information from it. These add-ons make it so much easier."

"The feature that I have found most valuable with Splunk is the ability to sift through a bunch of data very quickly."

"Splunk Enterprise Security provides the foundation for unified threat detection, investigation, and response, enabling fast identification of critical issues."

"We have created a few custom use cases for Splunk that have helped us detect threats faster. For example, we set up endpoint-related data models and specialized setups for various scenarios. It's more efficient than some other products I've used."

More Splunk Enterprise Security pros

Cons

"Areas for product improvement include enhancing customization options and integrating more comprehensive compliance features."

"I had a case where I spent three or four hours working deeply with a customer to explain how to work with eDiscovery, why Content Search is not there when it was before, what is an eDiscovery case, and why we are talking about all of this just to review a list of kept emails."

"We do have a Denial of Access happening."

"We are still in the early stages of leveraging Microsoft Purview Audit. Currently, it's primarily used for the audit function."

"I haven't found a way for me to create my own plugins and integrate them into Splunk, but this isn't necessarily a limitation; it could simply be a lack of knowledge on my part."

"Resource usage can probably be described as an area with shortcomings in the product where improvements are required."

"Its reporting can be improved. That's the only complaint I have heard. I don't need the reporting part, but I know that other people in the organization need it."

"The most significant challenges I face when using Splunk Enterprise Security for advanced threat detection include not having enough time to be in it, the resources and people to also be in there, and trying to configure it and teach people how to use it. A lack of resources prevents us from giving it the attention it needs."

"For on-premise, it's more about optimization. With such a heavy byte scale of data that we are operating on, the search for disparate data sometimes takes about a minute. This is understandable considering the amount of data that we are pumping into it. The only optimization that I recommend is better sharding, when it comes to Splunk, so that data retrieval can be faster."

"It needs a better way to export dynamic views without requiring a ton of code and user/pw."

"I would like to see future development in terms of ML (Machine Learning)."

"There is room for improvement for Splunk Enterprise Security. I moved away from Security Onion before switching to Splunk because Splunk was promising with Splunk AI, but now I am questioning if I made the right decision given that everybody is moving towards the AI aspect, especially since Splunk told me I cannot use Splunk AI on my platform and Security Onion already has the Gen-Sec SOC."

More Splunk Enterprise Security cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"I think the price could be improved."

"Splunk's costing is a little more difficult. The pricing method is complicated, and the way that costing is calculated in Splunk is a little more difficult."

"Splunk Enterprise Security is a worthwhile investment given the comprehensive range of features it offers."

"I remember Splunk being relatively affordable. Kibana was more reasonable, but you get more with Splunk. If I was suggesting something, I would probably suggest Splunk because it is better to pay a little bit more and get a lot more."

"Splunk is a bit pricier, but the benefits and ROI are huge."

"It is economical than other solutions."

"The Splunk licensing is high."

"Pricing and licensing are quite high compared to other tools or SIEM tools, but the features justify it."

More Splunk Enterprise Security pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

Vinod Shankar

Manager, Enterprise Risk Consulting at a tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Feb 26, 2015

HP ArcSight vs. IBM QRadar vs. McAfee Nitro vs. Splunk vs. RSA Security vs. LogRhythm

We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	126
Midsize Enterprise	59
Large Enterprise	277

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview Audit?

It is not so expensive in comparison with other products, but I can tell you about an example.

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What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Audit?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Audit?

I work with Defender for IoT by chance because I see that we have enough reviews for Defender for Office 365 today, and we need reviews for some Azure products. I work with Azure products such as L...

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What SOC product do you recommend?

For tools I’d recommend: -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is asking to miss details that are critical, and ending up a statistic. Also, rememb...

See all answers

What is a better choice, Splunk or Azure Sentinel?

It would really depend on (1) which logs you need to ingest and (2) what are your use cases Splunk is easy for ingestion of anything, but the charge per GB/Day Indexed and it gets expensive as log ...

See all answers

How does Splunk compare with Azure Monitor?

Splunk handles a high amount of data very well. We use Splunk to capture information and as an aggregator for monitoring information from different sources. Splunk is very good at alerting us if we...

See all answers

Comparisons

eSentire MDR for Log vs Microsoft Purview Audit

Compared 12% of the time

Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager vs Microsoft Purview Audit

Compared 8% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Data Lake vs Microsoft Purview Audit

Compared 6% of the time

SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server vs Microsoft Purview Audit

Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft Sentinel vs Microsoft Purview Audit

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Purview Audit Competitors

IBM Security QRadar vs Splunk Enterprise Security

Compared 8% of the time

Sentinel vs Splunk Enterprise Security

Compared 5% of the time

Elastic Security vs Splunk Enterprise Security

Compared 3% of the time

Wazuh vs Splunk Enterprise Security

Compared 3% of the time

Dynatrace vs Splunk Enterprise Security

Compared 2% of the time

More Splunk Enterprise Security Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Purview Audit

June 2026

Download Microsoft Purview Audit product report

Buyer's Guide

Splunk Enterprise Security

May 2026

Download Splunk Enterprise Security product report

Overview

Microsoft Purview Audit offers streamlined, user-friendly solutions for managing Microsoft 365 environments. It excels in security incident log management, privileged access control, and simplifying data access adjustments with integration between AD and Azure AD.

Key functionalities of Microsoft Purview Audit include capabilities tailored to monitor environment health, compliance, and security management within Active Directory and Microsoft ecosystems. Users can efficiently manage roles, access controls, and data retention protocols, making it a valuable resource for strategically-driven organizations with legal requirements. While the integration with Dataverse enhances its utility, user challenges arise due to complexity in certain aspects such as litigation holds and accessing hidden folder data. Additionally, users have reported issues with the precision of customization and compliance documentation, particularly when handling alerts and eDiscovery functions. Despite these challenges, Purview Audit remains a leading tool within the Microsoft suite for managing log retrieval and security oversight.

What are the key features of Microsoft Purview Audit?

User-friendly Dashboards: Easily track the health of Microsoft 365 environments.
Privileged Access Management: Efficiently manage and secure access to critical resources.
Log Management: Gain insights into security incidents through comprehensive log management.
Rules-based Access Control: Implement strict access protocols tailored to organizational frameworks.
Role-based Delegation: Streamline role delegation while adhering to security policies.
Zero Trust Security: Enhance security with a zero trust model for data protection.

What benefits should users look for?

Data Retention: Meet legal and compliance needs efficiently.
Easy Configuration: Simplify setup processes for quick implementation.
Seamless AD to Azure AD Migration: Transition effortlessly between directory services.
Detailed Audit Capabilities: Understand, monitor, and review security actions easily.

In industries with stringent data governance and compliance mandates, Microsoft Purview Audit is utilized to ensure a robust security posture. Users engage it for monitoring compliance within financial services, healthcare, and other sectors where data privacy is paramount. With its SaaS-based integration in Microsoft environments, organizations access refined log data leveraging platforms like Power Platform Admin Center, ensuring comprehensive oversight and operational efficiency.

Microsoft

Splunk Enterprise Security delivers powerful log management, rapid searches, and intuitive dashboards, enhancing real-time analytics and security measures. Its advanced machine learning and wide system compatibility streamline threat detection and incident response across diverse IT environments.

Splunk Enterprise Security stands out in security operations with robust features like comprehensive threat intelligence and seamless data integration. Its real-time analytics and customizable queries enable proactive threat analysis and efficient incident response. Integration with multiple third-party feeds allows detailed threat correlation and streamlined data visualization. Users find the intuitive UI and broad compatibility support efficient threat detection while reducing false positives. Despite its strengths, areas such as visualization capabilities and integration processes with cloud environments need enhancement. Users face a high learning curve, and improvements in automation, AI, documentation, and training are desired to maximize its potential.

What Are the Key Features of Splunk Enterprise Security?

Log Management: Efficiently manages and organizes a vast amount of logs for better data handling.
Rapid Data Search: Quickly retrieves relevant data for fast decision-making.
Flexible Dashboards: Customizable dashboards provide clear data visualization.
Comprehensive Threat Intelligence: Offers detailed insights to preemptively defend against threats.
Real-Time Analytics: Analyzes data in real-time to enhance response times.
Integration with Third-Party Feeds: Streamlines information flow from multiple sources.

What Benefits Should Users Investigate in Reviews?

Efficient Incident Response: Enhances the ability to respond promptly to threats.
False Positive Reduction: Minimizes incorrect threat alarms, making monitoring more efficient.
Threat Detection Speed: Accelerates the identification and evaluation of security threats.
Cost-Effectiveness: Potential savings through better licensing options and operational efficiency.
User Adaptability: Enhancements in documentation and training resources aid in overcoming the learning curve.

In specific industries like finance and healthcare, Splunk Enterprise Security is instrumental for log aggregation, SIEM functionalities, and compliance monitoring. Companies leverage its capabilities for proactive threat analysis and response, ensuring comprehensive security monitoring and integration with various tools for heightened operational intelligence.

Splunk

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Splunk has more than 7,000 customers spread across over 90 countries. These customers include Telenor, UniCredit, ideeli, McKenney's, Tesco, and SurveyMonkey.

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Purview Audit vs. Splunk Enterprise Security

June 2026

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