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

Rapid7 InsightIDR vs Sentinel comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 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

Rapid7 InsightIDR
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
14th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (5th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (26th), Threat Deception Platforms (5th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (17th)
Sentinel
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
13th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of Rapid7 InsightIDR is 2.5%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sentinel is 3.6%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Asim Naeem - PeerSpot reviewer
Providing comprehensive insight into alerts while working towards AI enhancement
I definitely recommend Rapid7 InsightIDR. It is becoming better, with improvements being continuously made to the product. Right now, I do not have any advice about Rapid7 for other users because every organization or user has different criteria or multiple use cases, so I refrain from commenting on that. I rate the overall solution seven out of ten.
JaideepSingh - PeerSpot reviewer
An automated solution that helped me detect threats in less than half the time it used to take
Sentinel gave us logs to tell us what's going right and wrong in your environment so we could secure the network. We also got multiple kinds of logs. By running some queries from the logs, we could find and fix the anomalies in the environment. Sentinel's threat visibility was great at telling us if we had something going on in our environment. We had to set up alerts in our environment based on the logs. If we had the right alerts set up, we got notified about threats and where security was lacking, so we could also take care of that. Sentinel's threat intelligence helped us prepare and take proactive steps for potential threats before they hit. Having preparation before a threat has helped our security operations. When I was using it, I used to keep going into my dashboards and looking for any threats on a weekly basis, or maybe two or three times a week. Based on that, we would recommend certain changes to the server and infrastructure teams to block or allow some ports. Sentinel's threat intelligence helped plan security against risks.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"InsightIDR has allowed us to find potential security issues that we did not know existed, and get remediation quickly."
"The web interface is great — very useful and user-friendly."
"It improved my organization by building a security alerting program."
"I definitely recommend Rapid7 InsightIDR."
"The product works well. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"If you were on other solutions, you would notice that they use agents from third-party, from open-source, from a native OS, or from other tools. Here, however, it is an agent from Rapid7 itself. This adds to the solution's overall capabilities."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. As a cloud tool, the product is highly scalable."
"It is a very stable solution."
"The tool is simple to use."
"The native integration with out-of-the box format is hassle free and allows data to be used advantageously."
"The solution lets us get all the logs properly and regularly monitor customer infrastructure."
"Sentinel gave us logs to tell us what's going right and wrong in your environment so we could secure the network."
"We can do advanced hunting queries and modify SQL queries to get desired results based on the rules triggering over the console."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it provides a central locking system for many event sources."
"The most valuable feature is the flexible log for identifying security threats inside an application. Sentinel is very good at this."
"The solution's Kusto Query Language (KQL) execution time is pretty good."
 

Cons

"It would be useful to import threat intelligence in YARA format along with known incorrect email addresses.​"
"One of the things that could be better is digital forensics. It is there, but it can be better. They could provide more on the endpoint detection level."
"It takes time for the product's support team to resolve issues, making it an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The interface for doing investigation needs to be enhanced with minor improvements that would make it more useful."
"Customised alert recipients need to be added to allow better first-line action and quicker response. Configurable honeypots would be a welcome addition."
"Tenable Nessus is easier to deal with. It's more efficient and accurate. InsightIDR is heavier than Tenable in terms of performance and scanning. Rapid7 would be much easier to use if it had a network connector like Tenable. Tenable's connector allows continuous monitoring over the B caps."
"The searching feature in Rapid7 InsightIDR needs to evolve"
"The product allows us to make only 30 custom rules."
"Creating a drag-and-drop dashboard or workbook in Sentinel is a little more complex compared to other tools like LogRhythm and IBM QRadar."
"It is an ancient product."
"I rate Sentinel a six out of ten for scalability."
"You need a lot of Unix scripting knowledge in order to manage the tool, which is one of the main issues that we faced."
"There is a need for more flexibility in customization, especially when working with different vendors and platforms."
"There is no integration in the web-side of the tool."
"The solution does not allow outsourced authorizations."
"The dashboard and customer view should be improved"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Rapid7 InsightIDR is priced very well and is cost-effective."
"The pricing and licensing are competitive."
"It is a reasonably priced solution."
"The team is very willing to work with companies. My suggestion is to call the Rapid7 sales department and see how they can help.​"
"It is more reasonably priced than other vendors."
"It is on a yearly basis. For our own company, for about 250 users, it was 16,000 euros a year."
"The pricing is good, and it is not very expensive."
"Rapid7 InsightIDR is a cheaply priced product. On a scale of one to ten, where one is very expensive, and ten is very cheap, I rate the product's price at seven or eight."
"Sentinel is moderately priced."
"Sentinel is a subscription-based solution."
"The solution’s pricing is aligned with its competitors."
"Sentinel's slightly on the expensive side."
"We receive a pricing discount because of our ongoing partnership with Micro Focus."
"We inquired about getting support from the vendor, Micro Focus, but the cost was very high."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions are best for your needs.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about Rapid7 InsightIDR?
During simulations or demonstrations, the tool generates alerts, providing details such as the specific application, its origin, and potential threats. For instance, it can identify if an applicati...
What do you like most about NetIQ Sentinel?
The solution lets us get all the logs properly and regularly monitor customer infrastructure.
What needs improvement with NetIQ Sentinel?
There are still a few vendor-specific devices for which Sentinel needs to work on integration, such as Netskope devices. Also, we often face region-wise outages during operation due to product team...
 

Also Known As

InsightIDR
NetIQ Sentinel, Novell SIEM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Liberty Wines, Pioneer Telephone, Visier
Faysal Bank, GaVI, Handelsbanken, ISC Mªnster, Lambeth Council, Swisscard, The Municipality of Siena, Tukes, University of Dayton, University of the Sunshine Coast
Find out what your peers are saying about Rapid7 InsightIDR vs. Sentinel and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.