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Rapid7 InsightOps vs Security Onion comparison

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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

Rapid7 InsightOps
Ranking in Log Management
28th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Security Onion
Ranking in Log Management
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Rapid7 InsightOps is 0.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Security Onion is 1.5%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Security Onion1.5%
Rapid7 InsightOps0.8%
Other97.7%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1247523 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Sales Services Department at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Customization and automation streamline workflows for seamless operations
The features of Rapid7 InsightOps that I have found most valuable are the predefined policies and the use of correlation rules, which are very valuable because they eliminate the need to spend time creating those rules. This feature detects insider threats or compromised credentials by using user behavior analytics, which can collect other compromise indicators. It makes it easier to install and implement this solution because you can run it as normal behavior of users and then switch off to look for the anomalous behavior of any entities, such as laptops and others. In any violation or restricted behavior, the system will notify you that something unusual is occurring. The machine learning algorithms in Rapid7 InsightIDR for threat detection work quite effectively as part of the user entity behavior analytic model, allowing us to focus group normal typical behavior of users and then turn on the rule to spot any unexpected behavior. The automation features of Rapid7 InsightOps are quite satisfactory, as users appreciate these features, especially when integrating with the ticketing system. If something goes wrong, InsightOps will notify the ticketing system to create a ticket and assign it to the responsible person to handle the events found in the infrastructure. The customizable dashboards in Rapid7 InsightOps are quite valuable and interesting because SOC center operators spend most of their time investigating on those dashboards, making them easy to manage. Additionally, we can configure email reports for high-level talks, sending historical data without needing to look online, which is very convenient.
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

"We get way more out of it than we did with SecureWorks and we pay about a third of the price."
"The machine learning algorithms in Rapid7 InsightIDR for threat detection work quite effectively as part of the user entity behavior analytic model, allowing us to focus group normal typical behavior of users and then turn on the rule to spot any unexpected behavior."
"The most valuable feature of Rapid7 InsightOps is the search functionality."
"We can save logs as plain text."
"The ability to browse logs from multiple sources at the same time really speeds up root cause analysis."
"My advice to others is this is an easy-to-use solution and they should try it out."
"Integration of InsightOps with other tools, especially SIEM solutions, has generally improved operational efficiency."
"Once you start using InsightIDR, which works hand in glove with InsightOps, you will feel like you were operating in the stone age before."
"The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports."
"Security Onion is a completely open-source and free platform, making it a cost-effective solution that works smoothly and effectively for our organization."
"What I appreciate most about Security Onion is that it combines multiple security monitoring tools into one platform."
"Security Onion is the most mature solution in the market."
"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."
"We use Security Onion for internal vulnerability assessment."
"Security Onion is reliable and is a good product, having no glitches or latency problems."
"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."
 

Cons

"Since I used the beta, improvements are to be expected. The dashboard options could have been clearer, but I believe it is more a problem with the limited documentation available at the time."
"There are a few things I would like to do with a few more complex queries which I am not able to do right now, because it is a SaaS solution."
"Rapid7 InsightOps could improve by making the search query better. There are times when the search query is broken and it does not find anything."
"The solution takes a little bit of time when we load the website for the first time."
"The searching capability, or when you ask real time questions, is pretty decent but it's still not up to par with, say, Splunk."
"There were some difficulties in product setup, but after those issues were resolved, there were no issues."
"Improvement is needed in the dashboard of InsightOps, especially for less technical users."
"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."
"The product is not easy to learn."
"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."
"Security Onion's user interface could be improved."
"The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult."
"One way Security Onion could improve is by making the initial setup and configuration easier, especially for new users."
"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."
"What I would like to add is that if the interface or if there is less to work on technical knowledge."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is cheap."
"Security Onion is a free solution."
"Security Onion is an open-source solution."
"It is an open-source solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
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 Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Rapid7 InsightOps?
In my opinion, there are no specific areas of Rapid7 InsightIDR that need improvement because all solutions in the SIEM market, including InsightOps and its competitors, are doing the same things b...
What is your primary use case for Rapid7 InsightOps?
The usual use cases for Rapid7 InsightOps that I work with are to meet standard requirements such as PCI DSS and ISO standards, collecting data and protecting event logs. Rapid7 InsightOps plays a ...
What advice do you have for others considering Rapid7 InsightOps?
The integration capabilities of Rapid7 InsightIDR with other security or IT management tools are quite simple. To integrate with another solution, you just need that solution to push system logs in...
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, ...
 

Also Known As

InsightOps, Logentries
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Trimble Navigation Limited
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Rapid7 InsightOps vs. Security Onion and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.